First Job, lost in all the options

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I understand the distinction. I have W-2 income, 1099 income, and >10 K-1s. I spend a good bit of time tax optimizing. I was pointing out that claiming a home office and the accompanying travel may not be the right move for every situation.

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I have a first job dilemma as well. Context of being in a saturated Midwest city and mostly stuck due to family, etc.

1) sister site of residency, CMG run, RVU based ~220/hr W2 with no 401k. 2.5 pph, ~30% admit. No scribes, Cerner. 8 hour shifts. Reputation is not the best based on attendings from our site, with higher turnover, however eat what you kill environment. Essentially zero commute at about 3 miles from residency house.

2) private sdg, sweat equity buy in with initial drop in pay for first two years and then slowly adds 30/hr/year until full partner at about W2 $240-300/hr + 10% gross in 401k. +scribes. Probably around 2-2.5 pph depending on site. People seem happy here. Only thing is due to location will be 72 miles on straight freeway for about 60-70 min drive each way at my current location. No rush hour either way at shift change.

To follow up my earlier dilemma, would it be a wise strategy to take job #1 for 2-3 years, try to crush as many hours as sanely possible, save money and pay down loans, continue living in my residency townhouse with <4 mile commute. The extra added benefit is that lots of family is <30 min driving away (MIL is like 5 min away) and wife and I are considering kids in the near future, with family willing to help babysit at least 1-2 times/week.

Then plan to jump to job #2 after 2-3 years of grinding at worse CMG site, while moving approximately 10-15 miles closer (family less close 30-50 min away) which would leave about a ~62 mile commute (45-60 min commute) but starting back at initial partnership track. My goal has always been to try to work for an SDG and am fully content with taking a large initial paycut for better control over practice and higher salary later on.

OR

Just biting the bullet and taking the longer commute earlier on and jumpstarting path towards partner by 2-3 years at job #2 straight from the get go. This is with a plan of moving to 45-60 min commute after 2 years of commuting at longer distance.

Has anyone had experience with 95% freeway commute of 72 miles/70-75 min for ~2 years?

*Edited for some clarification
 
Job 2 still has a terrible commute.
Job 1 still doesn't sound great.

I think there is great risk in taking the worse job for money with a plan of leaving.
There is also great risk in taking lower pay with a long commute.
 
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To follow up my earlier dilemma, would it be a wise strategy to take job #1 for 2-3 years, try to crush as many hours as sanely possible, save money and pay down loans, continue living in my residency townhouse with <4 mile commute. The extra added benefit is that lots of family is <30 min driving away (MIL is like 5 min away) and wife and I are considering kids in the near future, with family willing to help babysit at least 1-2 times/week.

Then plan to jump to job #2 after 2-3 years of grinding at worse CMG site, while moving approximately 10-15 miles closer (family less close 30-50 min away) which would leave about a ~62 mile commute (45-60 min commute) but starting back at initial partnership track. My goal has always been to try to work for an SDG and am fully content with taking a large initial paycut for better control over practice and higher salary later on.

OR

Just biting the bullet and taking the longer commute earlier on and jumpstarting path towards partner by 2-3 years at job #2 straight from the get go. This is with a plan of moving to 45-60 min commute after 2 years of commuting at longer distance.

Has anyone had experience with 95% freeway commute of 72 miles/70-75 min for ~2 years?

*Edited for some clarification

That is not an easy choice.

I commute to three hospitals. 45 mins away, 60 mins away, and 8 mins away. Been doing this for about 5 years since I finished residency. I'm starting to get sick of commuting 45-60 mins away. It's 90% highway driving, and I'm AGAINST traffic which is huge. But still...

Honestly...I would pick the job that you think is healthier for you to be at. How well the hospitalists and ICU docs work with the ED, the kind of support you have in the ED for your psych patients, old people who are weak but you have hard time admitting, and a variety of other things that actually impact your daily happiness.

I through commuting into your daily happiness. I used to think it would be a nice way to calm down after a shift, but I've already gotten into an accident driving home because I was so tired.

Money is a big deal....but I think it would only influence my decision if I was making $25-$30K more at one site.
 
I would never take a full time ER job that is 60 miles away. Don't do it, you will regret it.

Think about not having great sleep, driving 70miles, go do an overnight shift, leave at 6-8am and having to drive 70miles at 70mph freeway. Its an accident waiting to happen.

If you do 15 shifts a month that is an extra 30 hrs a month in driving. That is like another 3 shifts you could do. 30hrs x $225/hr = 81K/yr.
 
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I think there is great risk in taking the worse job for money with a plan of leaving.

Why is that the case? Is it unprofessional to leave after 2-3 years? Are we not more marketable after 2-3 years of experience? By no means is this a career job for me...more like a means to an end for several years, until something better opens up.
 
Job 2 sounds awesome, Im getting the shaft in comparison. TY TeamHealth for messing up the region.

Aren’t you in Houston? I looked there recently and the market is totally messed up.
 
Why is that the case? Is it unprofessional to leave after 2-3 years? Are we not more marketable after 2-3 years of experience? By no means is this a career job for me...more like a means to an end for several years, until something better opens up.
It's not unprofessional to leave after 2-3 years.
It also probably doesn't make you more marketable most places, as long as you're a BC/BE warm body without a terrible reputation that precedes you.
 
If family is very important, move right in between so it would be a bearable 35 min ride. If it were me, I would move closer to my job and be farther away from family.

You go to work 12-15 times a month. You prob go see family 1-2 a week esp when you are busy and have kids.

Always take the safer route and do short drives after a hard shift and long drives to see family when your are well rested.
 
Has anyone had experience with 95% freeway commute of 72 miles/70-75 min for ~2 years?

Yup. In reality you'll need to add on 5 - 6 uncompensated hours per day for commuting, wrapping things up after the shift, and notes.
The pay and work conditions better be outstanding to make it worth it. And if your spouse is not 100% on board with that reality it won't end well.
 
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I drive 90 min, occasionally will book hotel. Tesla 3 with autopilot has been a game changer for long drives.
 
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Another vote for living close to work. Officially my commute is 48 miles assuming Waze doesn’t try to send me on some better route. It takes at least an hour one way, even at 5:30 AM. You have to build in a traffic buffer. The evening and night shifts are the worst. For the 5 PM shift, I leave at 2:30 to make it there by 4:30 and am still late sometimes. And going the other way back now with the morning commuters is a nightmare. Would not recommend.
 
Hopefully but more likely a series of anecdotes.

Ya im sure they acquired more recently than they are losing, just glad the hospital dumped em. Now I can still try for PSLF while socking away cash in case it gets ****ed over. I will still use teamhealth for some prn independent contractor work for the extra solo 401k though.
 
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