How much does zero debt make a difference down the line?

[and 99 others]

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We hear a lot about how more and more doctors are saying going into medicine is not what it used to be and no longer worth it but it seems like a lot of these complaints have money as a core player, specifically paying back huge amounts of loans for a large chunk of time post residency.

Say one graduates with absolutely zero loan debt. What are the tangible and intangible benefits in terms of quality of life, specialty, financial status, etc. compared to someone who graduates with $50k, $100k, and full loans (200-300k+). Other than the obvious immediate spike in financial freedom upon becoming an attending. How does that financial freedom manifest itself.

 

[Splenda88]

My loan repayment will be ~3k/month for 10 yrs... I would like to think an extra 36k/yr would change my quality of life. Who knows!

Or If invest that money into an index fund (~7% average return) for 10 yrs, that will be an extra 500k into my retirement account...

 

[ACSurgeon]

You’ll have an extra $2-6k PER MONTH (after tax money). This is the equivalent of grossing an extra $3-10k/month. Depends how big a loan, how fast you wanna pay it off etc.

that kind of money can be your mortgage payment. Your fancy car payment. Your new emergency savings. It’s a lot of money.

of course, biggest unknown of all, is how much money you make when you finish training. You might make a lot more or a lot less than you think

 

[Kardio]

-Being able to retire years earlier
-Easier to affords kids/giving kids the perks of coming from a wealthy-educated family (this is the biggest negative for me because I'm from a low-income, uneducated background. I want my kids to have all the opportunities I didn't have)
-Being able to travel (again, those who need to take out full loans probably don't come from backgrounds where they were able to travel before)
-Not having to live like a resident when you are in your late 30s and have gone through over 30 years of school/training.
-Being able to take academic jobs in any city you choose even though academics and some major cities pay much less.
-Being able to work less hours without worrying (including reducing work if you have a newborn)...many physicians are working longer hours than ever because of decreasing pay.
-Being able to leave medicine if you find more interesting opportunities.
-Not having to deal with all the stress of medicine while knowing that a huge chunk of your hard earned salary is going towards paying bloated administration, even though you've put decades of work into getting to that point

/thread