How to not care about money for specialty selection?

[Medicine-Man]

Idk, I think the most financially sound way to do this is to finance all education withilitaru service, get the wife to homeschool, get the only good pension that still exist, and make the kids enlist if they want to go to college. Just my plan and 2 cents.

the military life is most certainly not for everyone

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[EdgeTrimmer]

I'd argue it would be smarter to marry someone in business or CS, preferably before residency. That way your family income starts high and only gets higher, doubling, tripling, or more once you graduate residency.

You can start saving for retirement at a reasonable age (one of the biggest complaints) and start seriously paying down the loans during residency.

Plus, both business and CS have a wide variety of schedules, and can often work a LOT, so schedule matching is still quite possible.

CS work hours could be worse than doctors if you join startups or fast moving companies

 

[LittleBrother]

the military life is most certainly not for everyone

Hahaha, perhaps not but I started out as a Marine Grunt living in a fighting hole.... the "military" part of "military medicine" really doesn't bother me. Guess it's a matter of perspective.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Marry another doctor then if you want to split hairs about it?

Either way 200k+ a year is a lot of money.

If you are in CA or NY it’s not lot of money once you pay all the taxes and mortgage.

 

[Medicine-Man]

CS work hours could be worse than doctors if you join startups or fast moving companies

yup, exactly why matching schedules can be easier.

 

[Medicine-Man]

If you are in CA or NY it’s not lot of money once you pay all the taxes and mortgage.

then don't live in CA or NY. High cost, high saturation, often lower pay for medicine...

 

[LittleBrother]

If you are in CA or NY it’s not lot of money once you pay all the taxes and mortgage.

Yeah just don't live in those states. I mean, why would anyone want to live in NY? CA I get because it's gorgeous but even then so is any Western state. Idk I'm hardly cosmopolitan so those places offer me nothing but frustration.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

then don't live in CA or NY. High cost, high saturation, often lower pay for medicine...

That’s what we thought when we came to CA but ended up staying. my spouse joined big system as an employee. We are content with what we make and life style.

 

[Medicine-Man]

That’s what we thought when we came to CA but ended up staying. my spouse joined big system as an employee. We are content with what we make and life style.

I mean, to each their own. To me, California is just a worse version of Florida with a bit better weather, while being 500x more expensive.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Marry another doctor then if you want to split hairs about it?

Either way 200k+ a year is a lot of money.

That’s my suggestion to my kid but let’s see if he follows or not 😀

 

[Vivid_Quail]

I'd argue it would be smarter to marry someone in business or CS, preferably before residency.

Eh, I wouldn't say that. Maybe if they do CS, are an absolute stud and work for a FAANG company. But the average CS grad is going to make $50-100k starting out, maybe mid 100s after some experience and most CS managers never break $200k.

Yes, we all know people who went and worked for Apple, Google, etc and make $250k at 22 years old. In the CS world, these are the derm and ortho chads who match at Mass General. Bringing up those anecdotes is like saying you should just marry an ortho joint surgeon so they can make a median income of $700k and make you their stay-at-home wife/husband.

Realistically, a CS grad and an average doctor will have a much lower net worth at age 60 than two average doctors. Heck, by age 40-45, many two doctors couples will have caught up.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Yeah just don't live in those states. I mean, why would anyone want to live in NY? CA I get because it's gorgeous but even then so is any Western state. Idk I'm hardly cosmopolitan so those places offer me nothing but frustration.

Upstate NY is not bad.

 

[Medicine-Man]

Eh, I wouldn't say that. Maybe if they do CS, are an absolute stud and work for a FAANG company. But the average CS grad is going to make $50-100k starting out, maybe mid 100s after some experience and most CS managers never break $200k.

Yes, we all know people who went and worked for Apple, Google, etc and make $250k at 22 years old. In the CS world, these are the derm and ortho chads who match at Mass General. Bringing up those anecdotes is like saying you should just marry an ortho joint surgeon so they can make a median income of $700k and make you their stay-at-home wife/husband.

Realistically, a CS grad and an average doctor will have a much lower net worth at age 60 than two average doctors. Heck, by age 40-45, many two doctors couples will have caught up.

Well, my perspective is a bit skewed given the starting salary for CS grads from my college is $140k/year.

Also, in the long run two doctors will probably make more, but that early retirement savings and earlier debt payoff sure makes you feel good...

 

[LittleBrother]

Upstate NY is not bad.

Haha frankly I like guns so all these states are bad for me. Just put me out in the middle of nowhere. I lived in some western states where a 4bd house on a mountain lake was like 150k. I'll take it and homeschool the kids.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Well, my perspective is a bit skewed given the starting salary for CS grads from my college is $140k/year.

Also, in the long run two doctors will probably make more, but that early retirement savings and earlier debt payoff sure makes you feel good...

Yes, from T20 schools they are getting salary like and some made good money with options. My kid was approached for computational research and that company offers in that range.

 

[Vivid_Quail]

That’s my suggestion to my kid but let’s see if he follows or not 😀

Biggest issue with this is if you want kids. You put your physician wife into a position where she needs 1) have kids during residency 2) intentionally pick a shorter residency so she can have kids once she is done 3) pick the specialty she wants, not have to balance pregancy(s) during residency/fellowship and then you both run the risk of having infertility and birth defect problems once you start trying at 34-35. F in the chat if you want multiple kids and both want to do specialties that require 6-7 PGY years. And I am talking from personal experience

 

[Medicine-Man]

Yes, from T20 schools they are getting salary like and some made good money with options. My kid was approached for computational research and that company offers in that range.

Eh, not from T20 schools. 25 Best Colleges for Computer Science 2020 | GradReports. After the top 11 it drops below $100k.

Biggest issue with this is if you want kids. You put your physician wife into a position where she needs 1) have kids during residency 2) intentionally pick a shorter residency so she can have kids once she is done 3) pick the specialty she wants, not have to balance pregancy(s) during residency/fellowship and then you both run the risk of having infertility and birth defect problems once you start trying at 34-35. F in the chat if you want multiple kids and both want to do specialties that require 6-7 PGY years. And I am talking from personal experience

34-35 isn't that bad relatively. Late 30s is when it gets bad.

 

[EdgeTrimmer]

Biggest issue with this is if you want kids. You put your physician wife into a position where she needs 1) have kids during residency 2) intentionally pick a shorter residency so she can have kids once she is done 3) pick the specialty she wants, not have to balance pregancy(s) during residency/fellowship and then you both run the risk of having infertility and birth defect problems once you start trying at 34-35. F in the chat if you want multiple kids and both want to do specialties that require 6-7 PGY years. And I am talking from personal experience

I am a CS guy who married a physician and It wasn’t easy but I cut back my work to make it work. We ended up having one kid only

 

[D P356]

View attachment 331022
Welp, I am sorry...not my proudest response to misreading a post. Been wanting to give that Ted talk for awhile and was maybe a little too trigger happy...

It’s not an issue. Sounds like you’ve got an idea on ways to pay back loans, which is good.

white coat investor is a good resource. It was started by an ER doc on this forum.

Www.whitecoatinvestor.com

 

[Medicine-Man]

Eh.. I mean sure you’d make a difference for some but compared to other jobs where you change people’s lives on a daily... I hardly think the daily work as an ophthalmologist is as significant as an ER doc or trauma surgeon or social worker or politician... but you’d make good money and have a good work life balance.. I’m def not knocking it but I never thought wow that ophthalmologist is Saving lives!!/changing the world!!

Local man reveals he has never met a blind person

in all seriousness, Ophthalmology is def life changing. Moreso than most ER doc visits since that’s basically the new primary care in the eyes of the patient

 

[alm414]

Eh.. I mean sure you’d make a difference for some but compared to other jobs where you change people’s lives on a daily... I hardly think the daily work as an ophthalmologist is as significant as an ER doc or trauma surgeon or social worker or politician... but you’d make good money and have a good work life balance.. I’m def not knocking it but I never thought wow that ophthalmologist is Saving lives!!/changing the world!!

People who have good (or good enough) vision often don't realize what a massive difference it makes in quality of life. Driving, reading, writing, being able to identify faces - these are probably all things you take for granted, and these are all things that people who might see an ophthalmologist have to live without. Being able to restore vision for these people is quite literally life changing for them.

 

[Medicine-Man]

I'm up for not "fixing" this.

The match rate for US schools is really hight. People from international schools do match. There is plenty of information about Carib schools on the internet. If you want to take the risks then go to a Carib school. If you are willing to throw away 300k w/o doing any basic research then I'm really not that interested in having you as my physician. Seriosuly, why should I trust you of you can't even make a basically-informed decision about your own life or finances?

wrong thread

 

[LittleBrother]

wrong thread

Shoot. Sorry!

 

[Angus Avagadro]

Biggest issue with this is if you want kids. You put your physician wife into a position where she needs 1) have kids during residency 2) intentionally pick a shorter residency so she can have kids once she is done 3) pick the specialty she wants, not have to balance pregancy(s) during residency/fellowship and then you both run the risk of having infertility and birth defect problems once you start trying at 34-35. F in the chat if you want multiple kids and both want to do specialties that require 6-7 PGY years. And I am talking from personal experience

So am I. Wife had our first as a Pgy3, finished 5 yrs on time. I did 4 yrs. 2nd child was born 3yrs later when my wife a new attending at age 33. Dropped oldest off at at private daycare then hired personal Nanny when the 2nd arrived. Wasn't a big deal, one of us was always at kids activities, usually both. Could have had a third, but sort of glad we didn't. With private boarding school for one, private catholic undergrad, then med school for the other, we funded like 8 yrs of college for both to the tune of around 700k total. Wouldn't change a thing in retrospect.

 

[AnatomyGrey12]

Eh.. I mean sure you’d make a difference for some but compared to other jobs where you change people’s lives on a daily... I hardly think the daily work as an ophthalmologist is as significant as an ER doc or trauma surgeon or social worker or politician... but you’d make good money and have a good work life balance.. I’m def not knocking it but I never thought wow that ophthalmologist is Saving lives!!/changing the world!!

This is a very naive comment. Do not underestimate the power of being able to improve quality of life.

 

[KYLIE14]

This is a very naive comment. Do not underestimate the power of being able to improve quality of life.

im just thinking at scale, for the average person. I didn't mean to discount what ophthalmologists do