- Joined
- Aug 26, 2006
- Messages
- 133
- Reaction score
- 0
 
Last edited:
I was looking at profiles of neurosurgeons at some random hospital on the
internet and I noticed that some doctors have been in practice since early 1970's.
ok so if they have been making around $300,000 a year since 1970's,
they should have made way over $10 million by now.
why are they still in practice with that much money?
shouldn't they have retired already or started their own "non-medical
business" and made much more money?
just wondering what y'all think
as a surgeon making a lot of money, would you retire as early as possible or
stay in practice until you can't possible work anymore?
I wouldn't assume such a person earned $300k every year -- salaries tend to rise with seniority, and 70's income was a little different than today. But people's expenses tend to rise as their income levels rise, so that kind of income may be necessary to maintain a certain lifestyle. If you live in a big house, have multiple children in college, or maybe have legal expenses, alimony, family health expenses, bad investments and the like, you may not be able to retire even assuming arguendo such a longterm high income.
Additionally, if you are the kind of person with the drive to be a neurosurgeon, you are very likely to become bored in retirement. There's only so much golfing you can do before you go stir crazy. Someone with such drive will want to keep their hand in the game as long as they are capable.
I hate Law2Doc with a passion, but he's right...
that's why I want to go in to Rads
I wouldn't assume such a person earned $300k every year -- salaries tend to rise with seniority, and 70's income was a little different than today. But people's expenses tend to rise as their income levels rise, so that kind of income may be necessary to maintain a certain lifestyle. If you live in a big house, have multiple children in college, or maybe have legal expenses, alimony, family health expenses, bad investments and the like, you may not be able to retire even assuming arguendo such a longterm high income.
Additionally, if you are the kind of person with the drive to be a neurosurgeon, you are very likely to become bored in retirement. There's only so much golfing you can do before you go stir crazy. Someone with such drive will want to keep their hand in the game as long as they are capable.
Maybe because they went into medicine for the purpose of making a diffrence in someone's life and not so much because of the money like others....why are they still in practice with that much money?
shouldn't they have retired already or started their own "non-medical
business" and made much more money?
Maybe because they went into medicine for the purpose of making a diffrence in someone's life and not so much because of the money like others....
Ed
Maybe because they went into medicine for the purpose of making a diffrence in someone's life and not so much because of the money like others....
Ed
I hate that bastard, Law2Doc, as well but I second your opinion. He's totally right.
the height of your horse will make your fall even more amusing
Wait, so you are saying (OP) that everyone's goal in life should be business and money, and medicine is just another means by which to realize said goal? Thats kinda a ****ty way to look at medicine. Additionally, there are football players making millions that go bankrupt. Doesnt matter how much you bring in, what matters is the speed at which it goes back out.
WAIT!! HOLD THE PRESSES! people get JOBS to make MONEY? WHATTTT?????????????????????? Holy crap! This is complete news to me!
WAIT!! HOLD THE PRESSES! people get JOBS to make MONEY? WHATTTT?????????????????????? Holy crap! This is complete news to me!
rich is a vague term, surgeons have to sacrifice some precious years of their lives, ie if you're a med student from 24-28 then 28-33 you'll be doing your surgical residency ie busting your ass day in and day out (and making **** for money) and then maybe 32-36 learning a subspecialty... so you'll be 37 before the bills start rolling in and your youth, 20s, and most of your 30s will be gone...
so my point is that those people really like what they do, and thus continue to do it for the rest of their career....
WAIT!! HOLD THE PRESSES! people get JOBS to make MONEY? WHATTTT?????????????????????? Holy crap! This is complete news to me!
Why is it so hard to believe that some people just aren't as concerned about the money as others? Of course I want to make enough to be comfortable, save up for a nice retirement, and send my kids to college, but I'm just not the type of person who you'll ever see driving around in a Benz. Besides, my fiance is going to be making pretty good money, so I don't feel this need to be raking in the bucks. I chose medicine because I think it will be fulfilling and I won't spend the rest of my working years forcing myself to get out of bed every morning to go to a job I hate. If anything, I would say I care much more about the respect doctors get than the money they make.
I hate that bastard, Law2Doc, as well but I second your opinion. He's totally right.
I thought law2doc was a female.
I thought law2doc was a female.
So they should retire......and do what? Maybe they like their jobs? Maybe they find the idea of sitting at home and watching Montel and playing bingo or golf to be BO-RING, when they could be in the OR. I've got an anatomy professor who's been on the faculty for 59 years. I'm sure he's not doing it for the money at this point, because he's not on the payroll!I was talking about surgeons who's been in practice for almost 40 years.
I bet most of them are in their 70s. I think some of them should take a break
and travel around the world or something and enjoy the rest of their lives
without working. (and to live without working and keep spending money,
they would have to purchase a couple of buildings and make money off of loans.)
Some of you answered my question. I bet some doctors are still in "debt"
after being in practice for 40 years and they still have to make quite a bit of money
to support their family or families.
And I didn't mean that people go into medicine for money or anything like that.
Some of you misinterpreted my original post.
SDN =Why the haterade for Law2doc? Other than from Sacrament (and from my humble and unassuming blog, of course) you will not get better advice on what it all means and how it works.
Ah, dogs returning to their vomit.^^ self-righteous posts such as this makes me wanna vomit last night's vomit...
They're jumping on the bandwagon. L2D is probably one of the best members here, and somebody started chugging haterade apparently.
Law2Doc is a mysterious poster, that's for sure. L2D seems to be a real smart person with strong opinions, which some people are mistaking for fact. He's a mysterious sage that I agree with most of the time. He is a non-traditional applicant that has a better perspective on this application process than most of us and I like to hear his thoughts.
But I am curious, Is he applying for this year? Did he just start this year? I'm also curious about which fields he's interested in.
Not sure but I think Law2Doc applied to med school either last year or this year (?) and she's been accepted to the University of Oklahoma (MD). Of course, one would expect a/an lawyer/attorney to have such a brilliant thinking process and writing style. Don't they teach that in law school anyway?
Not sure but I think Law2Doc applied to med school either last year or this year (?) and she's been accepted to the University of Oklahoma (MD). Of course, one would expect a/an lawyer/attorney to have such a brilliant thinking process and writing style. Don't they teach that in law school anyway?
I think you have law2doc mixed up with exlawgirl. I think law2doc is male and I enjoy reading his posts because he probably gives the best advice on these forums.
I'd agree w/that.
Not to mention the wisdom of age & experience. Younger people don't always like hearing the truth. Or at least, good, sound common sense advise.
SDN =
They're jumping on the bandwagon. L2D is probably one of the best members here, and somebody started chugging haterade apparently.
I'm not young and I still find Law2Doc annoying.
Yeah, well-reasoned posts piss me off too.I'm not young and I still find Law2Doc annoying.
Yeah, well-reasoned posts piss me off too.
Why is it so hard to believe that some people just aren't as concerned about the money as others? Of course I want to make enough to be comfortable, save up for a nice retirement, and send my kids to college, but I'm just not the type of person who you'll ever see driving around in a Benz. Besides, my fiance is going to be making pretty good money, so I don't feel this need to be raking in the bucks. I chose medicine because I think it will be fulfilling and I won't spend the rest of my working years forcing myself to get out of bed every morning to go to a job I hate. If anything, I would say I care much more about the respect doctors get than the money they make.
I was looking at profiles of neurosurgeons at some random hospital on the
internet and I noticed that some doctors have been in practice since early 1970's.
ok so if they have been making around $300,000 a year since 1970's,
they should have made way over $10 million by now.
why are they still in practice with that much money?
shouldn't they have retired already or started their own "non-medical
business" and made much more money?
just wondering what y'all think
as a surgeon making a lot of money, would you retire as early as possible or
stay in practice until you can't possible work anymore?
A few comments:
-you can effectively deduct about 50% of their income for taxes.
-they weren't always making that much. it takes about 5 years in practice to get to full income level
-some doctors practice into retirement age because they can't do anything else.
-neurosurgeons have a shorter professional life due to eventual loss of required fine motor skills.
-it takes a hefty amount of money to have a secure retirement. Many docs are poorly educated about planning for retirement and have to work longer than they probably needed to if they had better financial savvy.
-kids, houses, and divorces suck up money.
-there is a strong keep up with the joneses mentality in the upper middle class, and docs are among the worst, from what I've seen.