Do you have an expectation of wealth when you become a doctor?

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Do you have an expectation of wealth when you become a doctor?

  • No

    Votes: 28 17.5%

  • Yes

    Votes: 95 59.4%

  • Maybe

    Votes: 37 23.1%
  • Total voters
    160
anonymousername

anonymousername

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There are many reasons why we all believe medicine is for us, some premeds go into the field out of interest and others for the money/financial security.
I don't see a problem with either motivation but I was curious if you expect to be wealthy after you become an established physician who has worked in the field for 5-10 years?

if yes, what is "wealth" by your definition?
 
5-10 years no, after I pay off the bitch of a debt yes
 
anonymousername said:
There are many reasons why we all believe medicine is for us, some premeds go into the field out of interest and others for the money/financial security.
I don't see a problem with either motivation but I was curious if you expect to be wealthy after you become an established physician who has worked in the field for 5-10 years?

if yes, what is "wealth" by your definition?
Click to expand...

I expect to be rich, but not wealthy.

Kobe is rich. The guy who signs Kobe's paycheck is wealthy.

If I ever do obtain wealth, it will not be through my practice.
 
Yeah maybe, based on the specialties I am looking into at the moment.
 
Global Warming said:
I expect to be rich, but not wealthy.

Kobe is rich. The guy who signs Kobe's paycheck is wealthy.

If I ever do obtain wealth, it will not be through my practice.
Click to expand...

I'd say being in the top 0.001% in wealth (like Kobe) makes you pretty wealthy.
 
Global Warming said:
I expect to be rich, but not wealthy.

Kobe is rich. The guy who signs Kobe's paycheck is wealthy.
Click to expand...

Someone's been watching chris rock stand up from 2003, that guy is hilarious.


why is kobe not wealthy? He has a high paying career, probably a lot of investments, and a stable income (advertisements)
 
anonymousername said:
Someone's been watching chris rock stand up from 2003, that guy is hilarious.


why is kobe not wealthy? He has a high paying career, probably a lot of investments, and a stable income (advertisements)
Click to expand...

Well since we're on the subject of Chris Rock...

[YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4m37JkkGjAY&NR=1[/YOUTUBE]
 
I expect a stable salary in the area of 200,000 (depending on specialty, it could be much higher.). So yeah, I expect to be wealthy.
 
After paying off my debts I'll be able to pay for the things I need and probably a lot of things I want. That is good enough for me.

I don't need a toilet made of gold or 8 sports cars.
 
I will have a house, a car that runs, and put my kids through college. Beyond that, it's all gravy.
 
A nice flat downtown, decent car, own practice.
 
Global Warming said:
Just so you don't make this mistake in the future, Kobe =/= top .001%
Click to expand...

http://www.forbes.com/lists/2009/53/celebrity-09_Kobe-Bryant_OKPF.html

$45 million a year, 10th highest paid celebrity.

According to this:
http://blogs.wsj.com/wealth/2007/02/01/the-rich-o-meter/

He makes 9 times more than the top 0.01%.

According to this:
http://www.bet.com/News/Photos/NewsFlipbookForbesListWealthiestBlackAmericans.htm?i=11

His net worth is $140 million.

$1 billion~ is the top 0.0001% in the United States (because you'd be in the Forbes 400).

Thus, Kobe is between the top 0.01% and 0.0001%, so I estimated 0.001%.

Probably not completely accurate, but probably not too far off either.
 
Considering the 8+ years of schooling, large debt and residency/fellowship after along with the huge responsibility yes physicians should be well compensated
 
to me 100k would be great...though i expect ill be making a bit more than that....

$50+/hour after taxes and debt would be fricken wonderful👍

thats 400+ dollar menu items a day! (says the future doctor wannabe)

😀
 
minicow said:
to me 100k would be great...though i expect ill be making a bit more than that....

$50+/hour after taxes and debt would be fricken wonderful👍

thats 400+ dollar menu items a day! (says the future doctor wannabe)

😀
Click to expand...

I love the dollar menu! Chicken nuggets are the way to go.
 
I won't be making crazy wall street money but I will be well compensated.

$56K while in med school
$71K during residency
About $115K starting out as an attending
After 30 years topping out at $200K
Retiring with a Pension of $113K, adjusted each year for inflation

The key to becoming truly wealthy is proper budgeting and saving. My current upper middle class lifestyle is plenty for me and I calculated it would cost $50K/year for a single person, (which I currently am). Anything over this I plan to save and invest in a well diversified portfolio of 40 or so small cap growth stocks, (Motley Fool Hidden Gems).

30 years of such savings, (averaging about 35K/year in savings) amounts to about $1 million invested which should grow to about $10 million by the time I have to retire at 62, (Army has mandatory retirement).

So yeah, I'm gonna be rich and by the standards of most people, crazy rich, but I am gonna do it the old fashioned way, by living a comfortable but frugal lifestyle and saving and investing consistently.

No Beemers or McMansions for me, just nice 1 bedroom apartments and a Honda Fit.
 
I just want to re-pay my debt! I looked Case Western's tuition today saw that it shot to $45,000 this year. Goodness!

I don't need anything more than a modest car and a comfortable house. I do want a jacuzzi though. That's when I know I've made it.
 
rockaction said:
I just want to re-pay my debt! I looked Case Western's tuition today saw that it shot to $45,000 this year. Goodness!

I don't need anything more than a modest car and a comfortable house. I do want a jacuzzi though. That's when I know I've made it.
Click to expand...

Bully for you mate!😀 Its awesome that you have such wonderful dreams and lofty ambitions!😀

For myself I will know I made it when I have an apartment with a built in washer/dryer and dishwasher and can trade up my from my Honda Fit to a Toyota Prius. That's when I know I made it cause I'm living like a P. I. M. P!😀
 
I want to know those who said "no," because they are lying, unless your definition of wealth is like Bill Gates. If you go through medical school and residency and don't see a real paycheck till the age of 32-35, while having 200k-300k++ of debt, and say that you don't expect to make good money then your stupid/naive/whatever.

No one likes to talk about the money in medicine because people think it makes you a bad person or not passionate about what you do. Bull****. I have every right, just like every one else who works, to be compensated for my time and to live a DECENT life. I don't expect to have 6 cars, 5 boats, and 3 houses, but I do expect to not have to worry about my finances about 5-10 years after residency.

I expect to be able to provide for my family, live comfortabley and not live paycheck to paycheck. I'd like to be able to pay for my kids schools, take family vacations and not worry that I took a family vacation that I'm going to have to work 80 hours a week to make up for it.

Short answer: Yes, I expect to make a decent amount of money and live a comfortable life as an attending with my family.
 
xmsr3 said:
Bully for you mate!😀 Its awesome that you have such wonderful dreams and lofty ambitions!😀

For myself I will know I made it when I have an apartment with a built in washer/dryer and dishwasher and can trade up my from my Honda Fit to a Toyota Prius. That's when I know I made it cause I'm living like a P. I. M. P!😀
Click to expand...

PimpedOutPrius.jpg


you mean this prius?
 
I expect to be making enough money so I can play as hard as I work 👍
...And own a nice cloth interior Toyota Camry for all the ladies to hop into😱 (then I'll know that I've really made it in life)
 
c5212 said:
I expect to be making enough money so I can play as hard as I work 👍
...And own a nice cloth interior Toyota Camry for all the ladies to hop into😱 (then I'll know that I've really made it in life)
Click to expand...

untitled.bmp


you mean this camry?
 
Wealth to me is being able to live comfortably and support a family while having a bit extra to buy some nice things you don't really need.
 
Yes, I expect to be able to own a house, a car or two, and send whatever kids I have off to college without worrying about it. I expect to do better than my parents (one's in the army, one's a nurse). I expect to live very comfortably. That's my definition of wealthy.
 
Well, I expect to go into academic medicine so not as much as my private practice brethren but I think people would be foolish to think they'll be relegated to apartments or single cars and all that stuff. 2 cars isn't living the high life guys. It's a practical solution for 2 working professionals in one household.

Edit: My mistake, I made that last comment with the assumption that some people are capable of being married :scared:
 
Where I am from 200k is considered rich, but we only have 25,000 people. A 200-500k house here is like a house that cost 2m on the "House Hunters" show. I am satisfied with 50k even though I know it will be great to make more. I have lived my entire life in a family making less than 35k a year and now that I have a family and on my own its dropped 18k a year. Money is a deciding factor for sure, but I decided at a young age that money is not going to run my life and mind.
 
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Dont get me wrong i'm going to love every penny of that 150K+ a year. I've just never knew money. So if I made only 30k a year right now I would feel rich.
 
Global Warming said:
I expect not only wealth but power.

Physician = god mode
Click to expand...

+😀

I'll see your money and power and raise you an intelligent, attractive medical profession wife!

As Homer Simpson would say:

In America first you get the money, then you get the power, then you get the women😀
 
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Eyti said:
I was going to respond to your post, but then one thing lead to another and you got me thinking about a reply to every other response in the thread. My response: maybe we are excessively motivated by wealth and that we are blinded by it.

Until now, I didn't really stop to think: Well what am I going to need that much money for. I think that the most common underlying factor for all of us is that we do not realize how materialistic we are actually going to turn out to be. With that kind of money you are not going to be raising a family on $30 000 per spouse. Its just not how we do it. What we do is we buy huge houses, we buy luxury cars, we take our families overseas for vacations. So, I do feel as though a lot of us have to step back and look at what we are in fact doing. We are just letting $/materialism consume us the way God/heaven consumed peasants 1000 years ago.
Click to expand...

FYI: God isn't real.
 
"Wealth" is a subjective term. To some it means "multimillionaire" while to others it means "living comfortably," say, between 150-250K per year.
 
salary is another motivation to make someone pursue the medical field even more. of course you would have lots of debt to pay off from school but after that you'd be pretty well off. i always wanted to do something that i enjoyed doing and at the same time maintain a good lifestyle. this is how i came to the conclusion that the MD is the path i choose. though many say i'm at a young age i should go to college and see whats out there. i know whats out there and what i want to do is achieve an MD.
 
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Also arrogant athiest kids: I in no way claim to prove there is a God. Nope no proof whatsoever. Hmmm...Maybe because religion is not science and it doesn't claim to be? lol..

However atheists approach the topic as if there is scientific proof that there is no God. You can't prove there is God...you can't prove that there isn't God either.


Kinda funny though...there's no consequences of believing and being wrong. However if you don't believe and are wrong...hehe!


Seriously though I don't care that much what people believe either way...I just find outspoken atheists to be extremely arrogant and annoying thats all (and yes- I find outspoken religious radicals to be the same)
 
ishchayill said:
"Wealth" is a subjective term. To some it means "multimillionaire" while to others it means "living comfortably," say, between 150-250K per year.
Click to expand...

Even that is subjective. Where I'm from (smaller town of ~80k), 250k/year would be more or less wealthy. ~70-90k for a moderately sized family would be living comfortably. I don't think people realize how much 250k/year is... it's a LOT in some places!

I definitely expect to be well off (I wouldn't say wealthy) assuming I get into medical school and then a good residency. If I can afford a nice house, good schooling for my children, not worrying about buying nice things and a few nice cars (I'm a car nut.. I definitely intend on buying a few high end cars when I'm older), then I'm doing great. I don't need a mansion, million dollar cars, 20k vacations and whatnot to be happy.
 
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