Accounting vs Pharmacy vs MD career- Im 26yo .. new career
I'm in a very unique situation. I recently did 3 years of Dental School and i was not able to graduate. Now im considering a career change to accounting. Im 26yo and i want to be financially independent ASAP.
Putting interest aside and strictly talking about numbers...
If i were to get into pharmacy, i would probably go to Temple Pharamcy school in philly
Pharmacy:
Education (tuition +Cost of living etc) 70K x 3 yr = 250K
Average salary was 100K
For a 30 yr career that's 3Million... 2.75MILLION
if i were to go to accounting school, I woud probably take some courses at the local county college
Accounting:
Education: (Tuition + asking my parents for my own apt): 10k x 3yr =
Average salary: ____ range betgween 120K to 150K
Accounting background:
My dad, who is a CPA promsied me my starting salary would be about 100K +/- 10%. Most accountants start out at 60 or even 70K. My dad Sugar coats and says, "once you get out, i'll be transferring my business to you in about 5 years. i wanna reduce my work load, im getting old. in fact, there is another old accountant nearby that i want to grab his clients so you can have more work. and more money."
The reason why i say this, is bc my dad thinks i should take over his business. He runs his CPA business out of his house. I've seen how hard he works, and to be honest, he doesn't work that hard. He is a self employed CPA. He hires local college students to do a majority of his work and brags about it. No joke. He tells me most other CPA's are very jealous because he has such independence.
Whenever i walk into his office, he has music blasting, TV on.. or whatever. He always goes to the GYM in the afternoon whenever he wants. it really seems awesome. the only comparison i have is to my mom who is a school teacher, but that doesn't look good. Also, in pharmacy, those guys work 40 hous a week and some holidays with a fixed salary.
He keeps saying though, that this is a VERY UNIQUE situation.. he has built his practice up, thru luck and smart moves and earns big bucks, grossing between 120 to 175K. And as i mentioned, his overhead is super small. I asked him, what is your biggest expense, and he says "Toner." I mean, no RENT for an office building, and no BOOKKEEPER salaries bc he has college students doing it. He says that he can charge a low fee and his competitors cannto compete because he has such low overhead. I checked the websites for more salary info:
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos079.htm
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos001.htm
[[[[
Median annual earnings of wage and salary accountants and auditors were $54,630 in May 2006. The middle half of the occupation earned between $42,520 and $71,960. The top 10 percent earned more than $94,050, and the bottom 10 percent earned less than $34,470. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of accountants and auditors were as follows:
Most accountants and auditors usually work a standard 40-hour week, but many work longer hours, particularly if they are self-employed and have numerous clients. Tax specialists often work long hours during the tax season.
Median annual of wage-and-salary pharmacists in May 2006 were $94,520. The middle 50 percent earned between $83,180 and $108,140 a year. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $67,860, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $119,480 a year. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of pharmacists in May 2006 were:
]]]
and one thing is for sure, my dad must be in the top 5% of CPAs, banking in easily over 100K. I told this to him and he said, don't compare me to others. i work for myself. most CPAs who make over a 100K or near a 100K work 2x as hard as me and work for somebody else. that means they could be fired any day of the week. that's not me. Also, even during the month of March, In tax season, my dad still watches American Idol. That's effin crazy. I know that i when i was in dental school, the first 2 years, i would get about 2hours of free time on a sat nite to myself. and im NOT joking. im very seriouis (that's why i got a rank #1 award in my sophomore year).
Do you guys have any suggestions for what questions i should ask my father to get more information?
it is a kind of weird situation because when it comes to money he has been nothign short of an A+ dad paying a lot of my College and Dental School bills.
Such as:
1. Stability of the CPA job market
2. Do I have to buy the practice? or is it just a simple handover
3. Can you guarantee that i'll be making 150K? average?
4. How many hours do you work a week during tax season? November to April
5. How many hours do you work a week during non tax season? May to Sept
6. How can i get more business if i want to make 200K? How come you don't earn more than 200K?
7. how long did it take you to get to a salary of over 100K? Will this practice ever be earning under 100K?
Factoring in interest:
1. PHARM i love sciences. i majored in chemistry, got great grades at dental schooland due to a reason im not going into here, did not graduate after doing ~3years. I think pharmacy could be a good plan B, but all the pharamcists i know dont like their job. one guy said, "i get thru my day by thinking about the money im saving for a pool in the backyard."
Wow. on a 1-10, 5 average 1 hate it 10 love it (dentistry = 9) i think my intial interest for pharm is about a 7. But i think in 5 years.. or even less.. it could be a 4.5 or 5.
Does neone know where i can find out more info about "BURN OUT" for pharmacists?
I applied to be a Pharmacy student freshman in fall09, but i only got 1 interview so far at Temple Pharm.
2. ACCOUNTING
Now yes, accounting is boring, but most jobs in american get boring after 5,10 years. I heard from most pharmacists that i visit that being a pharmacist is a boring job. I've had the background in dentistry and i think i can be at the top of the class for pharmacy.
I also know that dentistry does get boring. i read about 4 "Dental practice management" books and about 1/4 to 1/3 of each book is devoted to burn out. the authors basically remedy this problem with a "suck it up" attitude
. Unreal.
A HUGE perk is that i think i can do VERY WELL at Accounting school. My dad says for me to take over the business, all i need is a CPA license. He doesn't care if i go to harvard Accounting for a $100K year education or to County College for a $100 year education.
I can get B's.. for the first time in my life, my grades will truly NOT correspond to my future employment. I believe that accounting is a 3 yr program?!?!?!?!?!.. in 3 yrs i can take my license and get that job for my dad.
3. Med school
This would be great. but i do NOT WANT the bills., i dont wanna wait around till age 32 (im 26yo now) for my first paycheck over 100K. And that paycheck will go to pay debt.
I dont want the long study hours of med school. how many hours does an MD work anyways?!
more than 40hrs/week when getting started. Also, the work is difficult and i do like challenges, but i despise working for little money.. (like studying 3x as hard as the average student and getting an average grade on a test).
Also, i have yet to take the MCAT so i dont even know if i can get in. i'd probably start fall 09 or maybe even jan 10.
Important side note:
Med school
Reasons why im for med school
1. similar to dentistry, you can make a lot of money, like $300K
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos074.htm
Against med school
1. education: Major draw back. Even though i will probably be at the top of the class, i dont want to go thru professional school. MEd/Dent/Vet/Law schools are absolutely awful. I dont want to spend 4 yrs of my life going thru hell, and an additional 3 yrrs of crappy residency/specialty.. and then finally starting. Im 26yo right now, and by ther time i get my first paycheck over $100K, ill be in my early 30's and it will mostly go to pay off debt.
2. HOURS
Those MD's work ridiculous hours. My dad does not work that crazy.. and when he works, its not even that hard of work. He admits that accounting is boring, but i think it might have to do with the fact he doesn't like Daytime talk shows (he always has some TV going on in the background).
3. MCATs- i've always had a difficult time doing MCATs. I suck at the reading section. I took the Dental Admission Test, Pharmacy Admission test.. and got into the 90th percentile (avg percentile is 75 to 80 or so) overall.. i did amazing on the sciences but killed on the reading. MCAT puts more weight on the reading unfortunately.
OK..
please gimme feed back..
1. ur suggestions of pharm, med or accountung
2. what questions to ask my dad to get a better view as to what i'm walking into..
I'm in a very unique situation. I recently did 3 years of Dental School and i was not able to graduate. Now im considering a career change to accounting. Im 26yo and i want to be financially independent ASAP.
Putting interest aside and strictly talking about numbers...
If i were to get into pharmacy, i would probably go to Temple Pharamcy school in philly
Pharmacy:
Education (tuition +Cost of living etc) 70K x 3 yr = 250K
Average salary was 100K
For a 30 yr career that's 3Million... 2.75MILLION
if i were to go to accounting school, I woud probably take some courses at the local county college
Accounting:
Education: (Tuition + asking my parents for my own apt): 10k x 3yr =
Average salary: ____ range betgween 120K to 150K
Accounting background:
My dad, who is a CPA promsied me my starting salary would be about 100K +/- 10%. Most accountants start out at 60 or even 70K. My dad Sugar coats and says, "once you get out, i'll be transferring my business to you in about 5 years. i wanna reduce my work load, im getting old. in fact, there is another old accountant nearby that i want to grab his clients so you can have more work. and more money."
The reason why i say this, is bc my dad thinks i should take over his business. He runs his CPA business out of his house. I've seen how hard he works, and to be honest, he doesn't work that hard. He is a self employed CPA. He hires local college students to do a majority of his work and brags about it. No joke. He tells me most other CPA's are very jealous because he has such independence.
Whenever i walk into his office, he has music blasting, TV on.. or whatever. He always goes to the GYM in the afternoon whenever he wants. it really seems awesome. the only comparison i have is to my mom who is a school teacher, but that doesn't look good. Also, in pharmacy, those guys work 40 hous a week and some holidays with a fixed salary.
He keeps saying though, that this is a VERY UNIQUE situation.. he has built his practice up, thru luck and smart moves and earns big bucks, grossing between 120 to 175K. And as i mentioned, his overhead is super small. I asked him, what is your biggest expense, and he says "Toner." I mean, no RENT for an office building, and no BOOKKEEPER salaries bc he has college students doing it. He says that he can charge a low fee and his competitors cannto compete because he has such low overhead. I checked the websites for more salary info:
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos079.htm
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos001.htm
[[[[
Median annual earnings of wage and salary accountants and auditors were $54,630 in May 2006. The middle half of the occupation earned between $42,520 and $71,960. The top 10 percent earned more than $94,050, and the bottom 10 percent earned less than $34,470. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of accountants and auditors were as follows:
Most accountants and auditors usually work a standard 40-hour week, but many work longer hours, particularly if they are self-employed and have numerous clients. Tax specialists often work long hours during the tax season.
Median annual of wage-and-salary pharmacists in May 2006 were $94,520. The middle 50 percent earned between $83,180 and $108,140 a year. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $67,860, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $119,480 a year. Median annual earnings in the industries employing the largest numbers of pharmacists in May 2006 were:
]]]
and one thing is for sure, my dad must be in the top 5% of CPAs, banking in easily over 100K. I told this to him and he said, don't compare me to others. i work for myself. most CPAs who make over a 100K or near a 100K work 2x as hard as me and work for somebody else. that means they could be fired any day of the week. that's not me. Also, even during the month of March, In tax season, my dad still watches American Idol. That's effin crazy. I know that i when i was in dental school, the first 2 years, i would get about 2hours of free time on a sat nite to myself. and im NOT joking. im very seriouis (that's why i got a rank #1 award in my sophomore year).
Do you guys have any suggestions for what questions i should ask my father to get more information?
it is a kind of weird situation because when it comes to money he has been nothign short of an A+ dad paying a lot of my College and Dental School bills.
Such as:
1. Stability of the CPA job market
2. Do I have to buy the practice? or is it just a simple handover
3. Can you guarantee that i'll be making 150K? average?
4. How many hours do you work a week during tax season? November to April
5. How many hours do you work a week during non tax season? May to Sept
6. How can i get more business if i want to make 200K? How come you don't earn more than 200K?
7. how long did it take you to get to a salary of over 100K? Will this practice ever be earning under 100K?
Factoring in interest:
1. PHARM i love sciences. i majored in chemistry, got great grades at dental schooland due to a reason im not going into here, did not graduate after doing ~3years. I think pharmacy could be a good plan B, but all the pharamcists i know dont like their job. one guy said, "i get thru my day by thinking about the money im saving for a pool in the backyard."
Wow. on a 1-10, 5 average 1 hate it 10 love it (dentistry = 9) i think my intial interest for pharm is about a 7. But i think in 5 years.. or even less.. it could be a 4.5 or 5.
Does neone know where i can find out more info about "BURN OUT" for pharmacists?
I applied to be a Pharmacy student freshman in fall09, but i only got 1 interview so far at Temple Pharm.
2. ACCOUNTING
Now yes, accounting is boring, but most jobs in american get boring after 5,10 years. I heard from most pharmacists that i visit that being a pharmacist is a boring job. I've had the background in dentistry and i think i can be at the top of the class for pharmacy.
I also know that dentistry does get boring. i read about 4 "Dental practice management" books and about 1/4 to 1/3 of each book is devoted to burn out. the authors basically remedy this problem with a "suck it up" attitude
. Unreal.
A HUGE perk is that i think i can do VERY WELL at Accounting school. My dad says for me to take over the business, all i need is a CPA license. He doesn't care if i go to harvard Accounting for a $100K year education or to County College for a $100 year education.
I can get B's.. for the first time in my life, my grades will truly NOT correspond to my future employment. I believe that accounting is a 3 yr program?!?!?!?!?!.. in 3 yrs i can take my license and get that job for my dad.
3. Med school
This would be great. but i do NOT WANT the bills., i dont wanna wait around till age 32 (im 26yo now) for my first paycheck over 100K. And that paycheck will go to pay debt.
I dont want the long study hours of med school. how many hours does an MD work anyways?!
more than 40hrs/week when getting started. Also, the work is difficult and i do like challenges, but i despise working for little money.. (like studying 3x as hard as the average student and getting an average grade on a test).
Also, i have yet to take the MCAT so i dont even know if i can get in. i'd probably start fall 09 or maybe even jan 10.
Important side note:
Med school
Reasons why im for med school
1. similar to dentistry, you can make a lot of money, like $300K
http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos074.htm
Against med school
1. education: Major draw back. Even though i will probably be at the top of the class, i dont want to go thru professional school. MEd/Dent/Vet/Law schools are absolutely awful. I dont want to spend 4 yrs of my life going thru hell, and an additional 3 yrrs of crappy residency/specialty.. and then finally starting. Im 26yo right now, and by ther time i get my first paycheck over $100K, ill be in my early 30's and it will mostly go to pay off debt.
2. HOURS
Those MD's work ridiculous hours. My dad does not work that crazy.. and when he works, its not even that hard of work. He admits that accounting is boring, but i think it might have to do with the fact he doesn't like Daytime talk shows (he always has some TV going on in the background).
3. MCATs- i've always had a difficult time doing MCATs. I suck at the reading section. I took the Dental Admission Test, Pharmacy Admission test.. and got into the 90th percentile (avg percentile is 75 to 80 or so) overall.. i did amazing on the sciences but killed on the reading. MCAT puts more weight on the reading unfortunately.
OK..
please gimme feed back..
1. ur suggestions of pharm, med or accountung
2. what questions to ask my dad to get a better view as to what i'm walking into..
