Best degree for long-term financial prosperity? Comp sci or engineering > healthcare

[PharmtoCS]

What is the best degree to pursue in university for long-term financial prosperity? • r/financialindependence

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[pharmasaurusRex17]

Honestly, it'd be in the healthcare field. My parents both are electrical engineers. They dissuaded me from going into engineering and the tech field (I'm originally from the San Jose-Bay Area) because when you get older and your brain cannot think or come up with new things, and if your salary is high, they purposely lay you off. Why keep you when clearly there's new graduates who can think of new things and get paid cheaply compared to an old person who cannot think of new things and yet get paid high?

My mom is lucky and unusually smart, so she's the director of electrical engineering for her company. She told my dad to quit his job to take care of me and my brother while we were still in high school and whatnot. Her friends, many of them were not so lucky and eventually got laid off because they were a bit on the older side and they couldn't think of new things for the company. Also, most of the company is now indian or chinese, who have a **** ton of money, and have the ability to send their kids to elite schools and whatnot... which is why those jobs are also getting saturated in Silicon Valley, Bay Area.

Why health care? Because the more experience you have, especially if you're competitive and you know how to connect and market yourself, ... the more they need you. The more knowledge you have, and the longer you've been in the market, you've already seen a ton. So they need you more and thus it provides job security.

 

[PharmtoCS]

when you get older and your brain cannot think or come up with new things, and if your salary is high, they purposely lay you off.

Same goes with pharmacy, especially retail. Once you get older and you stop being able to handle those long shifts on your feet, and you end up not being able to work as quickly, they will lay you off. They will replace you with a new grad who will work faster (even at unsafe speeds for patients, but who cares as long as corporate makes more money) and for less pay. Ageism exists in pharmacy as well.

Why health care? Because the more experience you have, especially if you're competitive and you know how to connect and market yourself, ... the more they need you. The more knowledge you have, and the longer you've been in the market, you've already seen a ton. So they need you more and thus it provides job security.

Same goes for engineering, and possibly other fields.

If both pharmacy and engineering are susceptible to ageism, you might as well choose the one that offers better job prospects, pays just as well as pharmacy if not better, offers you a better work-life balance (no 14 hours on your feet with no breaks + far more liability + dealing with the general public), and most importantly does not require you to take out $200k+ in loans and lose 4 years of earning potential.

 

[DrillSynchron]

Same goes with pharmacy, especially retail. Once you get older and you stop being able to handle those long shifts on your feet, and you end up not being able to work as quickly, they will lay you off. They will replace you with a new grad who will work faster (even at unsafe speeds for patients, but who cares as long as corporate makes more money) and for less pay. Ageism exists in pharmacy as well.



Same goes for engineering, and possibly other fields.

If both pharmacy and engineering are susceptible to ageism, you might as well choose the one that offers better job prospects, pays just as well as pharmacy if not better, offers you a better work-life balance (no 14 hours on your feet with no breaks + far more liability + dealing with the general public), and most importantly does not require you to take out $200k+ in loans and lose 4 years of earning potential.

A average salary for engineers is around 80,000 to 90,000. Only a handful will be making six figures. Most recent graduate pharmacists will be most likely start off with six figure salaries. Most recent graduate engineers will make closer to 60,000 and will have to work for many years before they begin making 80,000-90,000. The pay is not the exactly the same. The engineers that do make six figures pursue master or doctoral degrees.

 

[pharmasaurusRex17]

A average salary for engineers is around 80,000 to 90,000. Only a handful will be making six figures. Most recent graduate pharmacists will be most likely start off with six figure salaries. Most recent graduate engineers will make closer to 60,000 and will have to work for many years before they begin making 80,000-90,000. The pay is not the exactly the same. The engineers that do make six figures pursue master or doctoral degrees.

^ This is definitely true. Most engineers do not make 6 figures unless they have the MS or PhD level. That or if the company knows that you're unusually gifted/special so they keep you and pushing you up in rankings.

 

[RandomDuck]

^ This is definitely true. Most engineers do not make 6 figures unless they have the MS or PhD level. That or if the company knows that you're unusually gifted/special so they keep you and pushing you up in rankings.

What's also true is that they are making extremely good money around 90k a year while being younger, not having to do a 4 year doctorate and even better, all that money is actually theirs instead of going to loans for the rest of their life. Financially, the answer is obvious and as one can clearly read and see, everyone on reddit unanimously agrees on this. It's just fact. While the starting salary for pharmacists is gradually decreasing, because of the job market. They are EASILY replaceable and chains are offering new grads lower pay because they KNOW the kids will take it. Business.

 

[pharmasaurusRex17]

What's also true is that they are making extremely good money around 90k a year while being younger, not having to do a 4 year doctorate and even better, all that money is actually theirs instead of going to loans for the rest of their life. Financially, the answer is obvious and as one can clearly read and see, everyone on reddit unanimously agrees on this. It's just fact.

I guess that works haha, unless you have no loans . That or unless you go to an accelerated program straight from high school, as a lot of CA's students are doing (at least from what I remember) o-o.

 

[DrillSynchron]

What's also true is that they are making extremely good money around 90k a year while being younger, not having to do a 4 year doctorate and even better, all that money is actually theirs instead of going to loans for the rest of their life. Financially, the answer is obvious and as one can clearly read and see, everyone on reddit unanimously agrees on this. It's just fact. While the starting salary for pharmacists is gradually decreasing, because of the job market. They are EASILY replaceable and chains are offering new grads lower pay because they KNOW the kids will take it. Business.

Not exactly true. Most recent engineering grads make around $60,000. They won't be making that much money until they gain many more years of experience or pursue higher level degrees which also equates to more money. Yes engineering school won't put you in a huge amount debt, but it is highly unlikely they will be making 6 figures unless they go get a masters or doctoral degree($$$). A pharmacist is more likely to make more money than a engineer at the age of 26.

 

[RandomDuck]

Not exactly true. Most recent engineering grads make around $60,000. They won't be making that much money until they gain many more years of experience or pursue higher level degrees which also equates to more money. Yes engineering school won't put you in a huge amount debt, but it is highly unlikely they will be making 6 figures unless they go get a masters or doctoral degree($$$). A pharmacist is more likely to make more money than a engineer at the age of 26.

You're kidding right? If a pharmacist can even find a job in the first place, they will be taking home around 70k from their six salary. Then more than half of that 70k is going to loans yearly. You're blind.

 

[DrillSynchron]

I mean it depends on how you want to look at the market. If you're picky then yes then you're most likely going to work part time or have difficulty finding a job.There are jobs out there but that probably means working somewhere far from home. The amount of loans also depends on what school you're attending(Public vs Private) Also how about what happens after all the loans are paid off? In the long run, pharmacists will make more. If you're making 85k a year as an engineer for 40 years versus 115k a year as a pharmacist for 40 years, who makes more money? A pharmacist will make 4.6 million after 40 years and a engineer will make 3.4 million after 40 years. Subtract the 200k debt and pharmacists still end up with more money. Most pharmacy graduates earn six figures salaries versus 60k salary of a recent engineering grade? Who makes more money? Pharmacists lol

 

[PharmtoCS]

I mean it depends on how you want to look at the market. If you're picky then yes then you're most likely going to work part time or have difficulty finding a job.There are jobs out there but that probably means working somewhere far from home. The amount of loans also depends on what school you're attending(Public vs Private) Also how about what happens after all the loans are paid off? In the long run, pharmacists will make more. If you're making 85k a year as an engineer for 40 years versus 115k a year as a pharmacist for 40 years, who makes more money? A pharmacist will make 4.6 million after 40 years and a engineer will make 3.4 million after 40 years. Subtract the 200k debt and pharmacists still end up with more money. Most pharmacy graduates earn six figures salaries versus 60k salary of a recent engineering grade? Who makes more money? Pharmacists lol

You also have to take into account compounded interest on those $200k loans and that you'll pay a higher overall tax rate on the $115k salary. You also lose out on tax deductions such as on student loan interest because $115k/year is making "too much" compared to $80-90k/year, not that you'll have that much in loans as an engineer.

This is assuming that pharmacist salaries will stay at $115k or above and student loans won't continue to increase. Many retail pharmacists are already not getting full-time hours, and many hospitals have dropped pay to <$100k/year for full-time positions. The trend will continue to worsen as more pharmacy schools graduate their first class.

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[MedicineHKEZ]

You also have to take into account compounded interest on those $200k loans and that you'll pay a higher overall tax rate on the $115k salary. You also lose out on tax deductions such as on student loan interest because $115k/year is making "too much" compared to $80-90k/year, not that you'll have that much in loans as an engineer.

You are assuming that pharmacist salaries will stay at $115k or above and student loans won't continue to increase. Many retail pharmacists are already not getting full-time hours, and many hospitals have dropped pay to <$100k/year for full-time positions. The trend will continue to worsen as more pharmacy schools graduate their first class.

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It also depends what kind of school you're going to. Public vs Private makes a huge difference. And for the engineers who do go pursue a doctoral degree to make more money will be facing a similar debt. Only a handful of engineers will make over six figures, but most pharmacists will make six figures. From the numbers the job outlook for pharmacy is worse with I believe a 3% growth. Engineering on the other hand as a 5% growth. The job prospect for engineering is better but not by that much. Also it is important to consider they won't be making much for their first decade within graduation.

 

[DrillSynchron]

You also have to take into account compounded interest on those $200k loans and that you'll pay a higher overall tax rate on the $115k salary. You also lose out on tax deductions such as on student loan interest because $115k/year is making "too much" compared to $80-90k/year, not that you'll have that much in loans as an engineer.

This is assuming that pharmacist salaries will stay at $115k or above and student loans won't continue to increase. Many retail pharmacists are already not getting full-time hours, and many hospitals have dropped pay to <$100k/year for full-time positions. The trend will continue to worsen as more pharmacy schools graduate their first class.

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In the long run, I can easily see pharmacists making more money. The two major advantages I see of being an engineer is less debt(unless they pursue a higher level degree) and better job outlook(variable). We can't say for sure what the job market is going to look like in a decade even if there are projections. The job outlook is dependent really on how picky you are. If you care more about staying close with family then you probably going to struggle to find a job or land part time, but if you aren't picky you can probably find a full-time. It's really dependent on how picky you are.

 

[Apples2Oranges]

Depends on what engineering you pursue. Not all of them have the same prospects. Mechanical/industrial/chemical engineering have the same job outlook (or worse) than pharmacy, while computer engineering is really hot right now. But that eventually will start to plateau because lots of kids are doing compsci in school nowadays compared to about a decade ago. It's like in the top 10 most common majors.

Back when my uncle did mechanical engineering, he was paid $50k out of school. Now he does systems engineering at a big company. Great benefits, but still hasn't broken six figures in over 20 years. He as a masters degree in engineering and an MBA.

I'd say if you go to a low-mid priced school (less than $150k when graduated) and have great connections, I would still recommend doing pharmacy if that is something you want to do. Otherwise, it's gonna be tough