Expected Income For Class of 22

[John Muir]

For the dental class of 2022 who have accepted a job, or received job offer what is your salary, or expected income for the first year post graduation?

I figure it is always great for D1s and pre dents to be able to get an idea of what they can expect post graduation so they can financially plan for the future.

Thanks for your responses!

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[John Muir]

If your job is production or collections based, what is your realistic expectations for yearly earnings?

 

[sobertiger]

Varies a lot depending on location. I have heard daily minimums of 500-900 a day for new grads. That or 25-30% of production.

 

[GoDental101]

Varies a lot depending on location. I have heard daily minimums of 500-900 a day for new grads. That or 25-30% of production.

Rural or low saturated areas is more like 35%-40% of production

 

[AONLINE]

My office is looking to hire a new grad to start around mid-Sep 2022. Their offer will probably be similar to mine, which is $150k guarantee for the first year (4 days/week), or 33% collection whichever is higher. $20k sign on bonus. This is in a saturated metro area.

 

[Cold Front]

My office is looking to hire a new grad to start around mid-Sep 2022. Their offer will probably be similar to mine, which is $150k guarantee for the first year (4 days/week), or 33% collection whichever is higher. $20k sign on bonus. This is in a saturated metro area.

Just to be clear, it was $150k/year when I graduated 12 years ago. With inflation, the purchase power of $150k today is equivalent to $115k in 2010. So yes, today’s new dentists are making less, and they will make even less next year in the current inflation climate, and so on. When you factor in higher student debt for today’s new grads, that’s less net income. There are hygienists out there making six figures... just giving a perspective.

Also, that $20k sign on bonus... it’s based on the term the new dentist stays at the job, usually 1 year. So if they leave the job after 3 months, it becomes $5k. If 6 months, it’s $10k. It’s a trick used by employers to reel in a candidate dentist to a job.

 

[Cold Front]

Rural or low saturated areas is more like 35%-40% of production

It’s never a good idea for a new dentist to take a % based compensation. It’s year 1, which means the steepest learning curve of their career. They will be very slow as they transition out of dental school to the real world. Best for them to take the daily guarantee income, which means much less pressure to perform and focus on the clinical skills, muscle memory, chair side patient experience, assimilate to the new office and build problem solving skills. New dentist patient schedule is usually very light first few months on the job, so if they are on % based compensation, it’s going to hurt their take home dollars. Again, a big rookie mistake for most new grads. New dentists with AEGD and GPR are better positioned for collection/production based income.

 

[Cold Front]

Varies a lot depending on location. I have heard daily minimums of 500-900 a day for new grads. That or 25-30% of production.

The rule of the thumb is, the more desperate an office needs a dentist, the higher the pay. Specially when it comes to location; the more rural area, the higher the pay. It’s rare for a new dentist to make $700+ a day in metro areas unless it’s in extremely expensive parts of the country. There are special cases where the new dentist’s employer might be a family, particular mentor, etc. and it becomes an outlier to be in that situation. Cost of living is part of setting the daily minimus. As an urban area employer in the Midwest myself, I would pay $600/day. So for more expensive cities, a $700-750/day in San Fransisco, Chicago or NYC would be justified.

 

[MLC45]

It’s never a good idea for a new dentist to take a % based compensation. It’s year 1, which means the steepest learning curve of their career. They will be very slow as they transition out of dental school to the real world. Best for them to take the daily guarantee income, which means much less pressure to perform and focus on the clinical skills, muscle memory, chair side patient experience, assimilate to the new office and build problem solving skills. New dentist patient schedule is usually very light first few months on the job, so if they are on % based compensation, it’s going to hurt their take home dollars. Again, a big rookie mistake for most new grads. New dentists with AEGD and GPR are better positioned for collection/production based income.

I completely agree with you but every offer that wasn't government supported (I've received) has been collection based only from 25-28%. The government supported offers have been from $100K to 131K. Many offices in my area (Oklahoma) unfortunately, don't seem to be offering daily guarantee. It's a good thing I don't have to pay back my student loans for the first 6 months or else I'd be completely broke.

 

[Roto Picante]

It isn't uncommon to see minimum daily guarantees for the firs 3-6 months of a contract with a transition to % collections after that. Often times you will spend months 6-xxxx on % collections paying back your daily overpay from months 0-6 of the contract.

It isn't uncommon to see 1000 daily minimum or 30-35% if you don't restrict yourself to the most desirable locals.

 

[AONLINE]

Also, that $20k sign on bonus... it’s based on the term the new dentist stays at the job, usually 1 year. So if they leave the job after 3 months, it becomes $5k. If 6 months, it’s $10k. It’s a trick used by employers to reel in a candidate dentist to a job.

Actually in my case, the $20k is for staying the entire term of the contract, which is 3 years. If I leave within the first 12 months, I pay back the full $20k. If I leave during my 2nd year, I pay back $13k and so on. Again, this is a saturated metro and most other jobs don’t even offer any sign-on bonus, so I just take whatever they offer and can’t really complain much. I just look at it as an extra $6.5k towards my annual income for every year that I stay there.

 

[AONLINE]

It isn't uncommon to see minimum daily guarantees for the firs 3-6 months of a contract with a transition to % collections after that. Often times you will spend months 6-xxxx on % collections paying back your daily overpay from months 0-6 of the contract.

Yeah a guarantee for the first 6 months is common, the longest I’ve seen is 12 months. I’ve never seen any offer with a forever guarantee, or any guarantee after 12 months. You eat what you kill from month 12 moving forward.

 

[GoDental101]

Actually in my case, the $20k is for staying the entire term of the contract, which is 3 years. If I leave within the first 12 months, I pay back the full $20k. If I leave during my 2nd year, I pay back $13k and so on. Again, this is a saturated metro and most other jobs don’t even offer any sign-on bonus, so I just take whatever they offer and can’t really complain much. I just look at it as an extra $6.5k towards my annual income for every year that I stay there.

A three year minimum seems excessive imo.

 

[Cold Front]

Many offices in my area (Oklahoma) unfortunately, don't seem to be offering daily guarantee.

That’s designed to make a new grad dentist broke. Crazy! No new dentist should ever take a job with no daily minimums. Always negotiate a daily minimum as an insurance policy. Always!

 

[Cold Front]

It isn't uncommon to see 1000 daily minimum or 30-35% if you don't restrict yourself to the most desirable locals.

Who’s paying a new grad dentist with 0 experience $1k daily minimum? That’s $22k a month working 5 days a week.

Let’s take a closer look. That formula would be $22k income /30% on collection = $73,300 collection/month for the office. Can a new dentist with no gpr or aegd experience produce $73k a month? Erm... they would have to be a unicorn, maybe 1 in 500 new dentists. Not going to happen. Always do the the maths if you hear these wild daily minimum numbers.

 

[Cold Front]

Actually in my case, the $20k is for staying the entire term of the contract, which is 3 years. If I leave within the first 12 months, I pay back the full $20k. If I leave during my 2nd year, I pay back $13k and so on. Again, this is a saturated metro and most other jobs don’t even offer any sign-on bonus, so I just take whatever they offer and can’t really complain much. I just look at it as an extra $6.5k towards my annual income for every year that I stay there.

You should’ve negotiated $10k/yr bonus. $30k total for 3 years. They would have said yes.

 

[AONLINE]

You should’ve negotiated $10k/yr bonus. $30k total for 3 years. They would have said yes.

I know, I should have. Too late now 🙁

 

[DocMon16]

Who’s paying a new grad dentist with 0 experience $1k daily minimum? That’s $22k a month working 5 days a week.

Let’s take a closer look. That formula would be $22k income /30% on collection = $73,300 collection/month for the office. Can a new dentist with no gpr or aegd experience produce $73k a month? Erm... they would have to be a unicorn, maybe 1 in 500 new dentists. Not going to happen. Always do the the maths if you hear these wild daily minimum numbers.

Couldn't agree more. Not gonna happen lol

 

[GoDental101]

Who’s paying a new grad dentist with 0 experience $1k daily minimum? That’s $22k a month working 5 days a week.

Let’s take a closer look. That formula would be $22k income /30% on collection = $73,300 collection/month for the office. Can a new dentist with no gpr or aegd experience produce $73k a month? Erm... they would have to be a unicorn, maybe 1 in 500 new dentists. Not going to happen. Always do the the maths if you hear these wild daily minimum numbers.

What would you think a reasonable amount of monthly production is for a new grad?

 

[Roto Picante]

I would agree that 1000 starting out is not as common, thanks for the correction. To be fair, you shouldn't be relying on a daily minimum much past the first year anyways.

 

[allDAT]

New grad dentists are desperate but need to act more like new grad hygienists and stick to their guns when negotiating daily minimums.

 

[allDAT]

What would you think a reasonable amount of monthly production is for a new grad?

Production doesn’t mean anything. Look at adjusted production and collections.

A new grad with GPR experience should be able to see 8-12 patients a day with an average adjusted production of second patient of $375 per patient.

New graduates are really hit or miss. Some kids get it, and some really don’t and when you hire someone who isn’t ready for perform treatment at a reasonable pace it’s a disaster. That’s why most (and I mean the vast majority) of good offices will not hire a new graduate.

 

[Cold Front]

What would you think a reasonable amount of monthly production is for a new grad?

Obviously the answer is it depends on multiple factors. Some employers don’t have production goals, some do. Certainly corporations do. So let’s do the maths for collections - the number that matters. I like to watch a collection number than a production number when it comes to an associate.

If $600 a day, 5 days a week, using a 30% collection as a marker for the formula... new grad collection number should be about $45k a month for the office. Associate is taking about $13k a month. This is the “easy mode” in difficulty for a new grad.

If $700 a day... new grad collection number should be about $50k a month for the office. Associate is taking about $15k/month. This is “medium mode” for a new grad.

If $800 a day... new grad collection number should be about $60k a month for the office. Associate is taking about $17k/month. This is “hard mode” for a new grad.

Remember, employer has no idea which of these levels a new grad will fall into when they do their interview. So they typically offer $600-700/day with a sign on bonus or other perks, because employer dentist doesn’t want to overestimate the speed and ability of a new grad - because they have been a new grad themselves before.

Is it possible to hit $60k/month collection with 0 experience? Sure. Would you take a job that comes with a condition to produce $60k collection goal EVERY month as a new grad? Haha! I guess majority of new grads will settle for the $600-700/daily minimums.

 

[Cold Front]

New graduates are really hit or miss.

Mostly a miss. Schools are not training students to be proficient on a wide range of dentistry like they use to before. Hence, many new grads have 0 Endo experience, very little surgery, crown and bridge experience. Hence they are very slow, struggle with confidence in their work and will need a lot of mentorship on their first job. First year out of schools is becoming more and more as a year of new grad just finding their feet and not caring about how much money they make. Thanks to IBR, there is no pressure for them to worry about their big student debt being repaid, or we would’ve seen a disastrous first year clinical dentistry by many new grads. Imagine having $3-5k a month in student loans as a new grad and you are very slow moving dentist... many new grads would be looking at every patient in the eye with an inside voice “I want this this production!”.

 

[Aspire2019]

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I have a question regarding compensation.
Assuming bread and butter dentistry, in a suburb of a mid-western county with population of about a million (county in which the practice is located has the population of about 500k) - what would be a reasonable expectation of average collection (assuming good collection practices) per doc per month for a practice that is FFS and PPO based.
As a new grad, I am being offered a position that has a minimum guarantee/25% collection whichever is higher.
Trying to makes sense of this structure and is 25% a norm?

 

[GoDental101]

Thank you for sharing your experiences. I have a question regarding compensation.
Assuming bread and butter dentistry, in a suburb of a mid-western county with population of about a million (county in which the practice is located has the population of about 500k) - what would be a reasonable expectation of average collection (assuming good collection practices) per doc per month for a practice that is FFS and PPO based.
As a new grad, I am being offered a position that has a minimum guarantee/25% collection whichever is higher.
Trying to makes sense of this structure and is 25% a norm?

Honestly 25% is low. I’ve seen offers for about 35%-40% in higher need areas. Lower than that and you are either going to a saturated area or are getting low balled. However, I’ve seen that most new grads would rather take the lower pay and live where they want to live. Then they complain that they don’t get paid enough.

 

[Cold Front]

I’ve seen that most new grads would rather take the lower pay and live where they want to live. Then they complain that they don’t get paid enough.

The opposite is also true. Higher pay for rural areas leads to being isolated socially, leads to complaints. There is no win-win situation when it comes to living where you want and the income you want to make for most new grads. Unless you are already from a rural area and working there feels like at home to you - then you would be an exception.

There is a reason why majority of new grads will not work in rural communities. America is moving towards big cities every year. Almost all new communities today are within 10-15 mins drive from a metro area. Most new jobs are in or by a big city. If you are married with kids, there is almost 0 chance your wife and kids will follow you to a rural town. So cities are bad for dentists income, and inflation is making that bad income worse for many dentists. Which is crazy!

 

[GoDental101]

The opposite is also true. Higher pay for rural areas leads to being isolated socially, leads to complaints. There is no win-win situation when it comes to living where you want and the income you want to make for most new grads. Unless you are already from a rural area and working there feels like at home to you - then you would be an exception.

There is a reason why majority of new grads will not work in rural communities. America is moving towards big cities every year. Almost all new communities today are within 10-15 mins drive from a metro area. Most new jobs are in or by a big city. If you are married with kids, there is almost 0 chance your wife and kids will follow you to a rural town. So cities are bad for dentists income, and inflation is making that bad income worse for many dentists. Which is crazy!

True I guess you just gotta choose what you want. Suburban living with easy access to creature comforts, but lower pay and higher cost of living. Or rural living with little access to corporate America, but more patients in need, lower cost of living, and higher pay. To me it’s a no brainer and I’ll be going rural for atleast a few years. I’ll update on how it goes though maybe I’ll find it to be miserable, I don’t know. I do think that more new grads need to consider going rural especially while the demand is there. In my mind it makes sense especially if you have high debt (which most dental students do) then go to a cheap cost of living rural community that has high need in the beginning of your career and get that debt under control and then you can live wherever you want after that.

 

[Cold Front]

True I guess you just gotta choose what you want. Suburban living with easy access to creature comforts, but lower pay and higher cost of living. Or rural living with little access to corporate America, but more patients in need, lower cost of living, and higher pay. To me it’s a no brainer and I’ll be going rural for atleast a few years. I’ll update on how it goes though maybe I’ll find it to be miserable, I don’t know. I do think that more new grads need to consider going rural especially while the demand is there. In my mind it makes sense especially if you have high debt (which most dental students do) then go to a cheap cost of living rural community that has high need in the beginning of your career and get that debt under control and then you can live wherever you want after that.

Absolutely. I think if one has a financial goal, going rural is a great deal. Like anything else, patience and planning will overcome most challenges that comes with a goal.

 

[Aspire2019]

Question for experienced folks. Why are DSOs reluctant to share numbers? Although compensation includes a % of collection/production/profit they are reluctant to share avg numbers per doc in the office to understand the potential of that office.
One office had a overall collection % of only in high 60s. As far as I know it should be in high 90s. Am I wrong?
Anyone had a different experience and got numbers from the DSO? Am I the only one dealing with bad recruiters?

 

[yappy]

Question for experienced folks. Why are DSOs reluctant to share numbers? Although compensation includes a % of collection/production/profit they are reluctant to share avg numbers per doc in the office to understand the potential of that office.
One office had a overall collection % of only in high 60s. As far as I know it should be in high 90s. Am I wrong?
Anyone had a different experience and got numbers from the DSO? Am I the only one dealing with bad recruiters?

You're not wrong. They are incompetent.

 

[GoDental101]

Question for experienced folks. Why are DSOs reluctant to share numbers? Although compensation includes a % of collection/production/profit they are reluctant to share avg numbers per doc in the office to understand the potential of that office.
One office had a overall collection % of only in high 60s. As far as I know it should be in high 90s. Am I wrong?
Anyone had a different experience and got numbers from the DSO? Am I the only one dealing with bad recruiters?

Don't go corporate...

You're not wrong. They are incompetent.

 

[Aspire2019]

Don't go corporate...

Don’t know if there is a choice. I think it comes down to network.
Private practices are slow to hire and understandably so. For a new grad it is hard to not accept corp offer with nothing else in hand from private practice as one has to hedge the risks - with so much loan. And usually corps are the ones moving faster than the PP.

I guess it is part of new grad dilemma 🙂

 

[GoDental101]

Don’t know if there is a choice. I think it comes down to network.
Private practices are slow to hire and understandably so. For a new grad it is hard to not accept corp offer with nothing else in hand from private practice as one has to hedge the risks - with so much loan. And usually corps are the ones moving faster than the PP.

I guess it is part of new grad dilemma 🙂

Broaden you horizons on where you are willing to live. They are some really good non-corporate opportunities out there. There's always a choice, but it might come with some sort of sacrifice.

 

[Aspire2019]

Another question for experienced docs here.
The DSO I am looking at only offers claims made malpractice policy. I want occurance based but they do not offer it and I have to join their policy, if I accept the position.

Question is - When the time comes to leave his DSO, how bad would it bite to buy tail coverage. Can they demand anything because at that point I essentially have no negotiation position.

Any thoughts?

 

[2TH MVR]

Another question for experienced docs here.
The DSO I am looking at only offers claims made malpractice policy. I want occurance based but they do not offer it and I have to join their policy, if I accept the position.

Question is - When the time comes to leave his DSO, how bad would it bite to buy tail coverage. Can they demand anything because at that point I essentially have no negotiation position.

Any thoughts?

Good question. If there was a lawsuit on your past work ... the plaintiff will go after the deep pocketed DSO rather than you assuming you are an employee of that DSO. The DSO would have to defend the suit for both themselves and YOU.

What is the Statute of Limitations for your state?

If you want to sleep well at night. You may need the tail coverage regardless.

 

[Aspire2019]

Good question. If there was a lawsuit on your past work ... the plaintiff will go after the deep pocketed DSO rather than you assuming you are an employee of that DSO. The DSO would have to defend the suit for both themselves and YOU.

What is the Statute of Limitations for your state?

If you want to sleep well at night. You may need the tail coverage regardless.

Thanks for your response. I believe the statue of limitation is 3 years.
I definitely want tail coverage when I leave. I was just wondering if at that point they can charge me an exorbitant amount as I have to buy the coverage.
And I can’t understand why they will not let me have my own occurance based policy.

 

[Hnl7]

Good question. If there was a lawsuit on your past work ... the plaintiff will go after the deep pocketed DSO rather than you assuming you are an employee of that DSO. The DSO would have to defend the suit for both themselves and YOU.

What is the Statute of Limitations for your state?

If you want to sleep well at night. You may need the tail coverage regardless.

I agree with you! A tail would definitely help get a better nights sleep.

Sometimes there’s an indemnity clause in the contract requiring the employee to indemnify the employer for actions arising from the employee. Under the indemnity clause, the employee would have to pay for the employers cost of defense and for payout if they lose. Might want to double check the contract and get an attorney to review it if you are thinking of going without a tail. Could also look into an occurrence based policy.

Also, the plaintiff would name all possible defendants, employer and employee, that way they don’t have to bring multiple suits and can deal with all defendants at once. The more people to collect from the better. Lawyers will go after anything even if it doesn’t have a pulse.

The statute of limitations vary state by state, but you could also get hit by the discovery rule that basically allows the statute of limitations to start running from the time the patient discovers the possible malpractice. If a patient doesn’t discover the possible malpractice for 10 years, the statute of limitations would start running from that 10 year later date of discovery.

Good luck all!

 

[ItsGavinC]

You all probably realize this, but maybe not, but a salary $180,000 is really peanuts when it comes down to it. I know it sounds like a ton of money, especially when you've been living on nothing or student loans, but it goes quickly.

That's about $7,000 every paycheck. After taxes you are looking at roughly $5,000, or $10,000 a month. You will have disability insurance to pay, and malpractice insurance, and health insurance, and other items that your employer may or may not cover. This is assuming you are making $180k. What if it is only $150k? That means your monthly take home will be $12,500, or perhaps $8,000 after taxes. It just doesn't go very far.

I would advise you to make a budget and stick to it. For several years live as if you are still a student. Take extra money and put it into savings and open a retirement account.

 

[Cold Front]

You all probably realize this, but maybe not, but a salary $180,000 is really peanuts when it comes down to it. I know it sounds like a ton of money, especially when you've been living on nothing or student loans, but it goes quickly.

That's about $7,000 every paycheck. After taxes you are looking at roughly $5,000, or $10,000 a month. You will have disability insurance to pay, and malpractice insurance, and health insurance, and other items that your employer may or may not cover. This is assuming you are making $180k. What if it is only $150k? That means your monthly take home will be $12,500, or perhaps $8,000 after taxes. It just doesn't go very far.

I would advise you to make a budget and stick to it. For several years live as if you are still a student. Take extra money and put it into savings and open a retirement account.

Even if an associate makes 10k a month after taxes; they still have high student loan payments, utilities, car related expanses (fuel is very expensive lately), rent (also expensive these days), food (that too!), travel (yep!), retirement funds, emergency funds, and so on. You will need more than $10k/mo after taxes to run those expenses smoothly! Specially if you are married with kids.

Btw - I remember you posting when I was in dental school over a decade ago. Good to see you again!

 

[John Muir]

You all probably realize this, but maybe not, but a salary $180,000 is really peanuts when it comes down to it. I know it sounds like a ton of money, especially when you've been living on nothing or student loans, but it goes quickly.

That's about $7,000 every paycheck. After taxes you are looking at roughly $5,000, or $10,000 a month. You will have disability insurance to pay, and malpractice insurance, and health insurance, and other items that your employer may or may not cover. This is assuming you are making $180k. What if it is only $150k? That means your monthly take home will be $12,500, or perhaps $8,000 after taxes. It just doesn't go very far.

I would advise you to make a budget and stick to it. For several years live as if you are still a student. Take extra money and put it into savings and open a retirement account.

It is pretty elitist to say that an individual salary that is in the top 10%-5% of all individual salaries is “peanuts”. Very out-of-touch comment.

 

[LFA20]

It is pretty elitist to say that an individual salary that is in the top 10%-5% of all individual salaries is “peanuts”. Very out-of-touch comment.

If you have 5-600k of loans to payback and considering how much schooling we went through I think it’s pretty in-touch 😀

 

[FutureDent020]

It is pretty elitist to say that an individual salary that is in the top 10%-5% of all individual salaries is “peanuts”. Very out-of-touch comment.

Come on. Stop it. We are talking amongst other dentists. Sure, we all do very well compared to the average person and won’t have trouble feeding our families, but we can still discuss the reality of our paychecks. And that reality is after taxes, deductions, loans, insurances, bills/ mortgage, and basic COL, your monthly surplus probably isn’t going to be as high as you think making $180K.

 

[GoDental101]

It is pretty elitist to say that an individual salary that is in the top 10%-5% of all individual salaries is “peanuts”. Very out-of-touch comment.

I think your comment is actually the one that is off base. Think about the monthly student loan payment plus the fact that people put off a job for 8 years to become a dentist so they are already behind. Combined with the different situations people are in, say you have a wife and three kids (looks like that's what he has got) and want to live in a nice suburb then yeah 180k a year will probably will barely keep you out of the red.

That's why I recommend rural so often cause the COL usually drops significantly and the income also increases so you are good to go at that point.

 

[schmoob]

It is pretty elitist to say that an individual salary that is in the top 10%-5% of all individual salaries is “peanuts”. Very out-of-touch comment.

Not sure if you have kids or not but earning $180K and keeping $180K are very different.

 

[charlestweed]

You all probably realize this, but maybe not, but a salary $180,000 is really peanuts when it comes down to it. I know it sounds like a ton of money, especially when you've been living on nothing or student loans, but it goes quickly.

That's about $7,000 every paycheck. After taxes you are looking at roughly $5,000, or $10,000 a month. You will have disability insurance to pay, and malpractice insurance, and health insurance, and other items that your employer may or may not cover. This is assuming you are making $180k. What if it is only $150k? That means your monthly take home will be $12,500, or perhaps $8,000 after taxes. It just doesn't go very far.

I would advise you to make a budget and stick to it. For several years live as if you are still a student. Take extra money and put it into savings and open a retirement account.

This is a great advice for new grad dentists.

You should treat this $180k/year income as if it was only a $30-40k/year income and continue to live like a poor student for the next few years if you want to buy a house and set up your own practice soon. If you are able to save $3-4k every month (after paying all the living expenses and student loan bills), it will still take you 1.5-2 years to save $100k, which is not even enough for the required 20% down payment on a house. It costs close to $1 million to own a simple, 1200 sf, 3 bed 2 bath home here in Orange County, CA.

Most of my dentist and doctor friends are doing very well. But I do know a few of them who still have a lot of debts and they are at my age (50). That’s because when they were younger, they thought they made a lot of money and went out buying a lot of things…didn’t save…didn’t invest. You can’t retire with just a house that you paid off and have nothing else. Even with my house fully paid off, I still have to pay close to $3k a month (in property tax, insurance, utility bills, and maintenance)…and I have to continue to pay for all these until I am too old to live in it and have to move into a nursing home. This $3k/month payment may not be a lot to you right now because you are still working. But $3k will be a huge amount to you when you retire and have zero income.

RICH PEOPLE STAY RICH BY LIVING LIKE THEY’RE BROKE. BROKE PEOPLE STAY BROKE BY LIVING LIKE THEY’RE RICH.

 

[MG14]

It is pretty elitist to say that an individual salary that is in the top 10%-5% of all individual salaries is “peanuts”. Very out-of-touch comment.

Not out of touch when you have to sell your soul (and some organs on the black market) to get there. $180k isn’t near enough.

 

[Cold Front]

your monthly surplus probably isn’t going to be as high as you think making $180K.

I bet many new dental grads who make 180k a year have little or no surplus.

I’ve said this before… When I graduated in 2010, 180k/yr then would equivalent to 240k/yr today due to inflation. So a new grad making 180k/yr today is 25% in income below on what they should be making relative to when I graduated. No one would feel good about that… and it could be worse in 5-10 yrs from now, potentially 30-50% below.

I understand a salary in the dental market is based on employers business finances, which is also a victim to inflation. The root of it all is the insurance industry not raising their reimbursements. As long as reimbursements are stagnant, and inflation is rising, the new grads will undoubtedly be making less. That’s why I think a new grad income in the future will come with less and less purchase power, and less savings.

 

[DMD12345]

And ideas on how the dental community could go about fighting for better reimbursement? With purchase power getting lower and lower, eventually things will be forced to change

 

[GoDental101]

And ideas on how the dental community could go about fighting for better reimbursement? With purchase power getting lower and lower, eventually things will be forced to change

Supply and demand. Don't go into saturated markets expecting increased pay.