Working for a hospital, how much can I save per year as a dentist?

[anthonydraco]

Topic. I'm doing some homework before I invest in the education in America. This is a very big investment for me and I have to empty my bank accounts and get a loan besides if I study to practice there. So if you've already been working as a dentist there, please help me out. I need some answers. I need to know if it's worth the big leap of faith.

What's the cost of living in a middling city, average lifestyle? Maybe a flat/apartment, a car. How much can I save per year if I practice as a dentist? If I don't open my own practice but would rather work in a hospital, how much can I save up per year?

EDIT: I need the cost of living and the money a graduated dentist can earn per year. Not as a student there.

Sorry for duplicate topic. Most of the previous ones don't answer how much I would earn without my own practice.

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[Colastick]

I go to a state dental school in a medium-sized city. My dental school's tuition is cheap, and we do have an IDP program. However, from what I gather from talking with the IDP's, they seem to be spending around 100k a year (tuition + living cost) as their tuition tends to be very high. IDP at my school is 2.5 years.

You can find a ok-apt around 1k probably. I don't know of any dentists who work at a hospital so can't comment on that.

 

[anthonydraco]

I'm actually looking for the cost of living as a full time dentist. I just wonder how much they will earn after graduation and licensure exam.

 

[DenTalFluoride]

I currently work for a dentist as an assistant who is pretty transparent with me about his clinic’s finances. He graduated back in 1991 (extremely cheap student loans). He used to own a clinic at California about five years ago before selling it to move to Texas. His current clinic’s production is about $25k per month and open three times a week at a very saturated area. With an overhead of about 70%, he personally takes home $90k annually. He works part-time at a corporate clinic the other two days for an additional $50k per year.

From my limited perspective, I believe his clinic is barely reaching its full potential. He doesn’t do any online marketing and instead gets a lot of referrals. For instance, his website is very outdated, only three google reviews, and no Facebook presence. Also, he tends to lower his already cheap prices with multiple patients. With some business and digital renovations, he could potentially produce $500k-$700k annually at five times per week and supplement that with a part-time corporate position for a personal salary of $240k before tax.

 

[anthonydraco]

The thing is, I'm from Thailand, and if I choose to retire here in my original country, I will have a lot of money when exchanged into local currency. I can retire as a very wealthy person, so I'm only aiming for middling income. It seems that saving 100k per year seems plausible. Is that about right?

 

[Vicviper]

Saving 100K a year is not very plausible until you pay off your loans, and only if you're living very inexpensively. I work at a health center, the pay is good, and it saves a lot of the other costs like license fees, malpractice insurance, DEA fees, that you don't think about. Starting for health centers ranges between $100-140k depending where you are. The less popular the place, the more you'll be able to make. Lets say you go to a more inexpensive dental school, you may still come out with loans 200-300K for a two year advanced standing program, or $200-400k for a 4 year program, the standard monthly repayment on that would be nearly $3,000 a month. If you're not a citizen, I don't think you qualify for Federal Loans, which let you apply for income based repayment to lower your monthly payment, as well as apply for loan forgiveness for public service. Lets say it might take you 10 years to pay off your loans. During this time, you won't be able to save a ton. After you pay everything off, it just depends on how cheaply you want to live. If you live in an inexpensive area, not a massive metro area, not going out to eat very often, don't have a fancy car, you might be able to save 50-60k a year. The thing to remember is that taxes are nearly 40% of your income. so lets say you make $150k, that's really closer to $90k that you're actually able to take home.

 

[321931]

Topic. I'm doing some homework before I invest in the education in America. This is a very big investment for me and I have to empty my bank accounts and get a loan besides if I study to practice there. So if you've already been working as a dentist there, please help me out. I need some answers. I need to know if it's worth the big leap of faith.

What's the cost of living in a middling city, average lifestyle? Maybe a flat/apartment, a car. How much can I save per year if I practice as a dentist? If I don't open my own practice but would rather work in a hospital, how much can I save up per year?

EDIT: I need the cost of living and the money a graduated dentist can earn per year. Not as a student there.

Sorry for duplicate topic. Most of the previous ones don't answer how much I would earn without my own practice.

First as an international dentist...I believe you will have to fund your own loans...meaning you won't be able to qualify for government loans...if that's the case and you have 400-500k usd lying around in your home country...you already are a millionaire. So why even bother coming to be a dentist in the states?

If not, you might need a cosigner but that's a hefty burden.

And no, saving 100k is very difficult because of taxes taxes taxes.

 

[anthonydraco]

First as an international dentist...I believe you will have to fund your own loans...meaning you won't be able to qualify for government loans...if that's the case and you have 400-500k usd lying around in your home country...you already are a millionaire. So why even bother coming to be a dentist in the states?

If not, you might need a cosigner but that's a hefty burden.

And no, saving 100k is very difficult because of taxes taxes taxes.

Only about 130k, and my father will loan me about 65k if I must.

 

[321931]

Only about 130k, and my father will loan me about 65k if I must.

Most of the schools that will take international dentists are private. You will need double that amount to attend school. You most likely will have to have a US co-signer.

 

[anthonydraco]

Most of the schools that will take international dentists are private. You will need double that amount to attend school. You most likely will have to have a US co-signer.

I've checked the actual costs. They are about 235k, living expense included.

 

[Captain Underplants]

I've checked the actual costs. They are about 235k, living expense included.

135K is still a lot. Plus the interest rates start before you graduate. I already have 10K of interest on 150k loan and I’m still in my second year.

 

[anthonydraco]

Let's just say I don't have to get a loan. My father is offering me a deal. He's wealthy but he just won't give me just like that. He wants me study. I do not have to spend anything on commercial loan. Hell, I might not even need to pay him back, but I sure as hell want to.