Is 30 too old to get started

[scrappysurfer]

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Go for it.

I have a non-trad physician very close to me at home -my mother! She went back to medical school as an RN and graduated with 3 little kids in tow. The extra years of life experience gave her the focus she needed to get through medical school sucessfully. Even though she had us, she was able to match for a competitive residency (optho).

Having lived through this, I can tell you that one key component to consider is the strain on your (future?) family. My parents fought quite a bit about my mother's career, the finanical burden (and this was before loans were needed), and the many relocations required for training. This is less of an issue for a younger person.

My favorite aunt is also a non-trad physican scientist who went back years after recieving her PhD. She is one of the happiest, most inspiring people I know and she has a lovely talented family to boot.

 

[Cheerfulgrrl]

Wanted to add that from what I was told by various financial aid directors:

For your contribution to your medical school costs (usually includes housing, etc.), if you have pre-existing retirement accounts, they can't just say "fork it all over, buddy" when calculating your contrib. I believe they can only ask for 10% of existing assets. I'm sorry this isn't clearer - anyone else have better info?

Also, you might want to start up a 529 education account, you'll get a tax deferral on the deposits and that will give you a start for later. That's what we (spouse and I) did a few years ago.

And don't forget the education tax deduction.

Ok, all this stuff was SO clear to me when I started typing, now, hmmm, now, not so much clear on the details - but the OP is an MBA right? So this is all easy stuff?

So the last suggestion I'll (idiotically) make is that you can, if your spouse for example is working, continue to fund an IRA while you are in pre-med or med school. It is nothing like the funds you build up while working, but as I'm sure you know, in investing, small deposits over a long period of time add up to lots more than a few large deposits many years later.