How big a salary will you be happy with?

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notreallyadoc

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i know i know, you will say "oh, im in med school because im passionate about helping people" and all that crap but literally 100% of my friends in med school (trust me, i have quite a few despite working in a non medical field) and they all talk about the six figure salary.

so what number will you finally be happy with and say "alright. ive done it. i'm making 250,000. im totally content!" ?

😀
 
Bout tree fitty.

Seriously though, I left a pretty lucrative career to come to medical school so I would have to at least come close to breaking even by retirement. $200k+ should do it.
 
Ugen said:
Bout tree fitty.

Seriously though, I left a pretty lucrative career to come to medical school so I would have to at least come close to breaking even by retirement. $200k+ should do it.
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Don't be givin the medical doctor's no tree fitty.

Seriously also, ~150-200k by career's end.
 
With loans from med school/undergrad and future family expenses, I'd be content with $200K regardless of what specialty I eventually go into.
 
secants said:
With loans from med school/undergrad and future family expenses, I'd be content with $200K regardless of what specialty I eventually go into.
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I feel like those are kinda the big reasons we should expect these levels of salary. Most of us start at the minimum age of 29 and have put off a lot of important things such as owning a house, buying a real car, starting a family. On top of that most have huge loans to pay off. So in exchange for 29 years of learning, we (as Adam Smith stated all those years ago) should expect larger salaries than most in the non-graduate school world would ever consider "reasonable". Heck it's why people get outraged when they hear that internal medicine doctor's say 190k a year isn't enough.
 
Salary is irrelevant. What matters to me is how much I'm getting paid per hour. I would gladly accept less than 90K if I was working very very very few hours.
 
I made $200K in my previous career before saying "f*** it"... I think it's awesome that doctors are well compensated, but it's more about the job I'll be doing, and the character of my coworkers that matters to me. No such thing as a poor doctor.

notreallyadoc said:
i know i know, you will say "oh, im in med school because im passionate about helping people" and all that crap but literally 100% of my friends in med school (trust me, i have quite a few despite working in a non medical field) and they all talk about the six figure salary.

so what number will you finally be happy with and say "alright. ive done it. i'm making 250,000. im totally content!" ?

😀
Click to expand...
 
realistically.
I want:
40 hr/wk = 180k
60 hr/wk = 200k+
practice OR partner at practice = 250k+

and later in life, say when I'm 60

24-30hr/wk = 130k-170k
 
Oral surgeon salary potential is upwards of 1 million in private practice. Plus I get to come home and play XBOX after 6 p.m. every night. Nice.....
 
Sooooo....how does your future income determine your marriage choice....how iwll you weed ut the goddiggers
 
Ok..A few deeper thoughts..

1.Success can be elusive since once a knucklehead has some success he may want more..

2.I refuse to let money make me crazy!!

3..I don't plan on being greedy greedy till I die, have some morbid disease, or go to jail..( eg. Madoff, Enron CEO, or especially Michael Jackson doc, and many others)

4.But most importantly and this is often discounted..I agree with what Barbara Fadem said.. "You do not go into this field expecting to make a lot of money but if you happen to make some along the way its ok.."
The average knucklehead will respond "I have school loans"
I say "tough"..You are in it and you may have a big loan you have to pay back for most of your life!
Thats how this field is!

Ill just take an extremely high hourly rate!!
 
140,000 a year. With that income I can make some investment ex. real estate ( things should get better by the time I get 30 ), buy a franchise of some sort, start some type of business and my yearly gross income with my salary and investment could be 200,000 +.

To add, how much you make doesn't really matter it is how much you spend of it and how you spend your money. Ex. All the famous people in debt. Michael Jackson, T.O. etc.
 
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I think it's fair to want to be compensated well. Using medicine as a means to attain wealth or a certain lifestyle doesn't seem like a good strategy.
 
Whatever it takes to live comfortably, pay off debt, build a retirement and have a few toys. For me, that looks to be about 250k/year minimum.
 
Between my spouse and I, I'd like north of $500k/year.

I don't think I'd be willing to work for less than $200k/year unless it was like 40 hrs, no call, weekends off, etc.
 
I won't be happy until I've maxed out what I can get paid for what I'm willing to do.

Know what's better than a lot of money? More.
 
carml said:
Why not?
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Here is a quote I enjoyed:

"I have never regretted going into medicine. I'd do it again tomorrow, and I tell that to any youngster who is considering it. Medicine is a calling. It is more than a business. Once can make money doing other things. But I chose medicine–surgery–because it combined a quest for knowledge with a way to serve, to save lives, and to alleviate suffering."
–C. Everett Koop, MD, FACS, Pediatric Surgeon
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Money as a primary motivator won't lead to satisfaction, IMHO.
 
jdh71 said:
I won't be happy until I've maxed out what I can get paid for what I'm willing to do.

Know what's better than a lot of money? More.
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This. You will never never have enough money and it will certainly not make you happy.
 
I suspect I'll probably be making like 120k to 140k and I think I'll be content with that. My wife will be making around 40k, so we will definitely be making a comfortable living and save up so she would not work when kids were young. My parents made like 60k combined for my childhood, so given our loans and increases in cost of living/taxes I should be able to provide the same or better standard of living for my kids as my parents did for me. (And looking back I think I had an amazing childhood and would be proud to do the same for my kids)
 
Making over $100,000 puts you in the 94% percentile. Seems kind of sad that some on here wouldn't be happy unless they were in the top 1%.
 
Im not sure what salary, but these things are among the things that need to be considered:

1. Length of education
2. Debt accrued
3. Opportunity cost
 
TAWS said:
Making over $100,000 puts you in the 94% percentile. Seems kind of sad that some on here wouldn't be happy unless they were in the top 1%.
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Very convenient to ignore loans and the time investment required to get to a 6 figure salary.

I have friends who made 100,000 - 175,000 3 years out of college so no I wouldn't be happy making 100,000 10 years out of college.

It's all relative, you can compare yourself to the general population (most of who do not have advanced degrees) or you can compare yourself to others with advanced degrees.

When looking at a general population it's a huge accomplishment to get into med school. Should I then be content and be happy with being in the bottom 1% of my class? "Who cares if I'm at the bottom? I've done more than most in this country"
 
TAWS said:
Making over $100,000 puts you in the 94% percentile. Seems kind of sad that some on here wouldn't be happy unless they were in the top 1%.
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I am a decade away from real money, I already have $150K in loans, most of which are at 6.8 or 8.5%...what percent does that put me at?
 
2012mdc said:
When looking at a general population it's a huge accomplishment to get into med school. Should I then be content and be happy with being in the bottom 1% of my class? "Who cares if I'm at the bottom? I've done more than most in this country"
Click to expand...

Doctors in the US are the highest paid in the world (50% more than doctors in the UK, which has the 2nd highest paid doctors). People on here saying they won't be happy if they don't make north of $200,000 are just sounding ridiculous.

Princeton found that you only need to make $75,000 for money to make a significant difference in happiness. After that, more money just changes your day-to-day mood. Sure, you have loans to pay but there are so many loan forgiveness programs that you could always enroll in if loans are truly a burden for you.
 
TAWS said:
Doctors in the US are the highest paid in the world (50% more than doctors in the UK, which has the 2nd highest paid doctors). People on here saying they won't be happy if they don't make north of $200,000 are just sounding ridiculous.

Princeton found that you only need to make $75,000 for money to make a significant difference in happiness. After that, more money just changes your day-to-day mood. Sure, you have loans to pay but there are so many loan forgiveness programs that you could always enroll in if loans are truly a burden for you.
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What a load of crap.
 
TAWS said:
Making over $100,000 puts you in the 94% percentile. Seems kind of sad that some on here wouldn't be happy unless they were in the top 1%.
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Seems kind of sad you worry yourself with others opinions and dreams. It must be lonely up there on your pedestal.
 
jdh71 said:
That's what I keep hearing, but I think I'd like to give it a try anyway
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+1

It depends on what I field I go into..but pretty much the 90th percentile earnings for whatever it is... Of couse I know that will take many many years, but thats ok. If I were to say a number: 350k. Obviously willing to work some call.
 
TAWS said:
Doctors in the US are the highest paid in the world (50% more than doctors in the UK, which has the 2nd highest paid doctors). People on here saying they won't be happy if they don't make north of $200,000 are just sounding ridiculous.

Princeton found that you only need to make $75,000 for money to make a significant difference in happiness. After that, more money just changes your day-to-day mood. Sure, you have loans to pay but there are so many loan forgiveness programs that you could always enroll in if loans are truly a burden for you.
Click to expand...

I'm sure part of it depends on perspective also. If you know that your coworkers are making four times what you make that may factor into your happiness. Or if you know the nurses are making more than you are. What percentile do doctors fall into in training and expertise? Is it unreasonable to expect doctors to be in the top 5-10% of earners? Who should be?
 
TAWS said:
Doctors in the US are the highest paid in the world (50% more than doctors in the UK, which has the 2nd highest paid doctors). People on here saying they won't be happy if they don't make north of $200,000 are just sounding ridiculous.

Princeton found that you only need to make $75,000 for money to make a significant difference in happiness. After that, more money just changes your day-to-day mood. Sure, you have loans to pay but there are so many loan forgiveness programs that you could always enroll in if loans are truly a burden for you.
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Go back to mursing school.
 
CRNA and AA make 130,000 starting. I am going to apply to AA the same time as med school and which ever one I get into I get into.
 
Take home $200K (bonuses not included) with 60 hour work week with 1 weekend call a month.

I want to have enough money to send my future kids to private school and give them the opportunity to do whatever they want (within reason, of course) while making sure that my future wife will never have to worry about bills/expenses so she can focus on doing things she enjoys purely so she's happy with it. At the same time, I would want them all to know and appreciate that I worked and am working hard to provide so they don't take for granted how blessed we are and don't become the "snobby rich" stereotype.
 
TAWS said:
Doctors in the US are the highest paid in the world (50% more than doctors in the UK, which has the 2nd highest paid doctors). People on here saying they won't be happy if they don't make north of $200,000 are just sounding ridiculous.
Click to expand...

I could make >$75k without 9 years of post graduate training 20 years ago. Comparing physician compensation to that of the general public, the majority of which don't even go to college, is ridiculous.
No specialists would be happy at <=$200k because that would mean that their compensation is at least 50% less than it is now. Thats not ridiculous, it's sad. Accepting significant risk and liability with minimal compensation is sad.
Anyone who thinks $100k will pay the bills, allow a reasonable standard of living, allow you to take a modest vacation each year and put something away for retirement, while starting a decade behind their peers is delusional. (note I didn't even mention the $200k of debt or the ~$40k of resident pay for 3-7 years.)
I hope you guys marry well.
i%2Bam%2Bthe%2B1%2525.jpg
 
fzwarrior said:
This. You will never never have enough money and it will certainly not make you happy.
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Couldn't disagree more with the last part. Probably agree with not having money making you unhappy, though. I don't understand why everyone tries to say that the pursuit of wealth is a bad one. Andrew Carnegie funded over 3000 libraries. And was able to do it because he was ambitious and intelligent. To say that the pursuit of wealth is somehow a less noble goal than any other is arrogant at best, neglecting the ideals of capitalism

I might agree with the "never enough" part, though. Remember that quote in Wall Street II?

Jacob Moore: was something like, "What's your number? How much would it take for you to talk away for good?"

Bretton James: "More!"

I'm with you, JDH71! More! Of course, I did finance in undergrad and risk & revenue management (advanced quantitative finance) in grad school.
 
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