Advice thread on life after PharmD and single

[ETSUpharmStudent]

Hello everyone. I am looking to work in a retail job when I graduate. I am currently a P3 and am trying to plan my life ahead of me or at least get a good idea of what is to come next. I am single and am 23 years old. I'll have just turned 25 by the time I graduate and am in no hurry to get in a serious relationship of any matter.

My idea is to get a 7 on/ 7 off job when I graduate. I'll be around 160K in debt when I finish school and I love traveling. What advice would you guys give to me to think about when I finish up school to accommodate a life in which I can travel a lot. Really interested in hearing opinions of all kinds...

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[Dr Wario]

Hello everyone. I am looking to work in a retail job when I graduate. I am currently a P3 and am trying to plan my life ahead of me or at least get a good idea of what is to come next. I am single and am 23 years old. I'll have just turned 25 by the time I graduate and am in no hurry to get in a serious relationship of any matter.

My idea is to get a 7 on/ 7 off job when I graduate. I'll be around 160K in debt when I finish school and I love traveling. What advice would you guys give to me to think about when I finish up school to accommodate a life in which I can travel a lot. Really interested in hearing opinions of all kinds...

By far the largest piece of advise I can give you is to pay off that debt ASAP, especially if you are thinking about going into retail. Being a slave in retail bound by the chains of debt is probably the most difficult time in any pharmacist's career. Do your traveling after 3 years of working once you have that loan gone (your vacations will feel much more relaxing at the point).

 

[Dred Pirate]

yup - I did seven on seven off for 2 years, made a boat load of overtime working for staffing agencies and my own chain, then GTFO of retail, paid off my loans and now get 7 weeks PDO at hospital at take 4 "passport trips" a year.

 

[BMBiology]

^^ I agree with both posts. You don't want to be risk adverse when you are still young. That is why it is so important that you save up and pay off your student loans as soon as you can. There are still opportunities for you to do well financially but you have to take risk, from starting your own business to investing. You first have to be in the position to take risk.

 

[BenJammin]

Enjoy the single life. Living alone is fantastic, those who knock it are too scared to try it.

 

[ETSUpharmStudent]

yup - I did seven on seven off for 2 years, made a boat load of overtime working for staffing agencies and my own chain, then GTFO of retail, paid off my loans and now get 7 weeks PDO at hospital at take 4 "passport trips" a year.

Thanks for all of the replies, everyone. How much extra money were you making working overtime- and how many days were you working? Also- just curious to know how much debt you were in when you finished?

Sounds like the life! Would love to be in that position in some years ahead.....

For anyone else that works the 7 on/7 off schedule....What was it like when you picked up shifts- and how much extra income was that bringing in? Thanks.

 

[Dred Pirate]

Thanks for all of the replies, everyone. How much extra money were you making working overtime- and how many days were you working? Also- just curious to know how much debt you were in when you finished?

Sounds like the life! Would love to be in that position in some years ahead.....

For anyone else that works the 7 on/7 off schedule....What was it like when you picked up shifts- and how much extra income was that bringing in? Thanks.

Well - in my area at least, times have changed a lot. I was making base of $50 an hour and worked usually 2-3 days on my days off, anywhere from a 4 to a 12 hour shift at an average of $75 an hour for the OT shifts - I made 90k in overtime in two years. I graduated with 115k in debt (stupid private school) I made off a bunch of the debt - but mine is at 1.7% so I built up a lot of savings with stock and I haven't paid it all off, but I can write a check and pay it off if I wanted to (about 25k left)

 

[ETSUpharmStudent]

Well - in my area at least, times have changed a lot. I was making base of $50 an hour and worked usually 2-3 days on my days off, anywhere from a 4 to a 12 hour shift at an average of $75 an hour for the OT shifts - I made 90k in overtime in two years. I graduated with 115k in debt (stupid private school) I made off a bunch of the debt - but mine is at 1.7% so I built up a lot of savings with stock and I haven't paid it all off, but I can write a check and pay it off if I wanted to (about 25k left)

Thanks for the reply Dred Pirate; I like the financial mindset you've got. Do you or anyone else have any advice for me to put into the back of my mind financially?

 

[rxglasshalffull]

well, its gonna be like 1 1/2 yr until you graduate, first and foremost, i would worry about your possibility of getting a job. if youre from a super saturated area, would you be willing to move? also chains now offer less OT than ever before ( i just left a chain last week), they like to over hire and not giving floaters enough hours, rather than give OT to people.

things change so much year after year, one year makes a huge difference. i would honestly worry about getting a job first. in my area, WAGS and Rite Aid are not even hiring their own interns in this district. only CVS is hiring. WAGS and Rite Aid have lower turnover rate, and have plenty of their own transfers from other parts of the country. i dont blame them, my area is very desirable, everyone and their mother wants to live here.

and also, 160k is a lot of loans. after tax and paying off your loans PLUS the cost of living, maybe going out to eat sometimes, car payments, etc, realistically think about how much you would be taking home, say you make $120k, tax will bring you down to $75k, then think about how aggressively you want to pay off your loans and possibility saving up for a house. i know you will still be young, 25, you said when you will graduate, but 25 is about the time you wanna save up for the future. i was exactly 23 and a half at graduation and the bf was 24 and a half at his graduation, and we are definitely saving up to buy a house hopefully early next year. and also traveling is a lot of money. My bf and I are both pharmacists and we both have ZERO loan, and we definitely think twice before we travel, because a trip costs a lot of money. just went to alaska and it was $5000 for two people for a week. even a three-day weekend getaway can run you up to $1000, how many trips can you honestly take in a year??

 

[BMBiology]

^^ Well said. Like everything else in life, timing is everything.

 

[Momus]

My bf and I are both pharmacists and we both have ZERO loan, and we definitely think twice before we travel, because a trip costs a lot of money. just went to alaska and it was $5000 for two people for a week. even a three-day weekend getaway can run you up to $1000, how many trips can you honestly take in a year??

You guys must be Asians.

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

I agree with the above posters, pay off your debt, start an emergency fund and invest at least up to the company match in your pretax retirement option. I am not sure how easy 7on/7off jobs are to come by but I do know the prn staffing company I used to work for, has shutdown due to lack of business. The amount of prn work and OT available is not what it used to be as other posters have mentioned.

1) Keep your rent down by renting a small apt/studio or get a roommate. Small spaces limit what you can purchase and stop you from overspending on home furnishings.
2) Do not buy a new car!

Once you have your debt paid down, you will have this overwhelming sense of relief. Traveling is something you can hopefully enjoy your whole life, so remember to plan ahead and save for retirement. Would you rather be working until you are 65-70 or be making your may across the world at your leisure. Once your debt is gone you should be investing/saving 20% of your gross income, in my opinion.

 

[Dred Pirate]

. My bf and I are both pharmacists and we both have ZERO loan, and we definitely think twice before we travel, because a trip costs a lot of money. just went to alaska and it was $5000 for two people for a week. even a three-day weekend getaway can run you up to $1000, how many trips can you honestly take in a year??

well last year - we did 5 3-4 day weekend get-a-ways (driving distance). 2 one week trips together to the tropics. I did 2 one week dive trips. 1.5 weeks over xmas to see the fam. 3 weekend get-a-ways (flying trips)

so the answer is, quite a few

 

[TLAD123]

By far the largest piece of advise I can give you is to pay off that debt ASAP, especially if you are thinking about going into retail. Being a slave in retail bound by the chains of debt is probably the most difficult time in any pharmacist's career. Do your traveling after 3 years of working once you have that loan gone (your vacations will feel much more relaxing at the point).

What Dr Wario said - a pharmacist at our hospital used to work for a chain and said they had a website they could go on and see overtime opportunities (i.e. pharmacist going on vacation/called off, etc) AND would get paid time and a half to cover. Find opportunities like this and live like you're still in pharmacy school (unless of course you are a spend-a-holic in school, then just live on as little as possible). Don't buy a brand new car or go into credit debt. Get on your feet and then after a few years start saving for travel.

Then if you still enjoy the work, stick with your company or quickly find one you can tolerate and even enjoy for 30 years. Usually the longer you're with a company the more vacation you accrue.

 

[BeLikeBueller]

I am currently a P3 and am trying to plan my life ahead of me or at least get a good idea of what is to come next.

Step 1: Cash Paycheck

Step 2: Make it rain

Step 3: Pick money up off the floor and pay student loan bills