Is anyone else scared about the future of dentistry?

[753698]

Flipping burgers wont make you 40K/year, more like 20K if you are lucky. If you were to get into management however, that could yield some good results. I have heard of McDonald managers making six figures at busy places.

And you need to save for retirement because you never know when you are going to need the money. What happens if you get in an accident and lose fine motor control of your hand and cant work? Goodness knows social security will be bankrupt in like the next 5 years, so we wont see any of that money. Its basically just an extra tax at this point.

I was more joking about the flipping burgers part.

And I'm not saying not to save for retirement, but the whole "what if you get in an accident" thing would be a worst case scenario and at that point life itself will be very different. For all you know you could get hit by a truck tomorrow and all that money you saved will go to waste because you aren't there to enjoy it.

All I'm saying is if you are a healthy young dentist you might as well spend your money and enjoy life responsibly, because you don't want to be 80 years old with millions in your bank account and having regrets about not enjoying life when you were young and free. I mean realistically what are you going to spend your money on at 80? Values change if you have kids, you might save money for them, but if you were to stay single then spend and enjoy man! You can only be young once!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[753698]

Because the power of compound interest is not to be taken lightly.
And retirement =/= death!

True but that's why I said set aside some money for retirement, but the primary goal shouldn't just be to save save and save. High net worth =/= happiness in life. I would rather spend money on my hobbies and traveling rather than collecting it in a bank. One of them gives me happiness, one of them gives me a high net worth.

 

[GypsyHummus]

I mean realistically what are you going to spend your money on at 80? Values change if you have kids, you might save money for them, but if you were to stay single then spend and enjoy man! You can only be young once!

If I died when 80 as a millionaire from saving money I could think of a lot of thinks to do with said money. I’d prolly split it up between kids, church, and local health clinics that rely on donations.

 

[GypsyHummus]

Lol yeah, after retirement you got like 15-20 years left. That is a lot of years, and if you keep your lifestyle at 40k/year, ur gonna need a lot of dough.

Because the power of compound interest is not to be taken lightly.
And retirement =/= death!

 

[753698]

Lol yeah, after retirement you got like 15-20 years left. That is a lot of years, and if you keep your lifestyle at 40k/year, ur gonna need a lot of dough.

Well that's why I said in the first post of why we complain about 40k a year. Much more is needed to save money and also spend money and enjoy life. That's why we invest so much time and money into further education, to be able to do these things. It also depends on when you retire, and if you make smart investments you could live off those investments in retirement. Not to mention your dental practice will also be a big chunk of money when you decide to sell it at retirement.

If I died when 80 as a millionaire from saving money I could think of a lot of thinks to do with said money. I’d prolly split it up between kids, church, and local health clinics that rely on donations.

All these things are nice and dandy, but what about the fulfillment in your own life. It's nice to donate, but you should also leave some money for yourself to enjoy. Plus make your kids work for their money like you worked for yours.

Not everyone needs money to have fun and you could save every penny and still be happy throughout life. But if I felt like saving a bunch of money was limiting me from being happy then I would rather choose to be happy. At the end of the day money is just a number and doesn't really hold much value if you think about it. Time and what you do with the limited time you have in this world is a lot more valuable than money.

 

[2TH MVR]

The reason for saving is called financial freedom. Financial freedom allows a person to retire or semi-retire in their 50's. There is no sure thing that with age .... you will automatically save a million dollars. Too many people think that they have plenty of time. It takes a lot of work and the proper financial strategies to save a million dollars or more. I want options at 50 ....not 80.

 

[753698]

The reason for saving is called financial freedom. Financial freedom allows a person to retire or semi-retire in their 50's. There is no sure thing that with age .... you will automatically save a million dollars. Too many people think that they have plenty of time. It takes a lot of work and the proper financial strategies to save a million dollars or more. I want options at 50 ....not 80.

Fair enough.

Retiring at 50 would be the goal.

 

[thenextcarnegie]

Why does everyone want to retire at 50? Hell, I feel like I would get bored in retirement. Give me an interesting project or way to help others and I would gladly do that over retiring.

 

[oralcare123]

The reason for saving is called financial freedom. Financial freedom allows a person to retire or semi-retire in their 50's. There is no sure thing that with age .... you will automatically save a million dollars. Too many people think that they have plenty of time. It takes a lot of work and the proper financial strategies to save a million dollars or more. I want options at 50 ....not 80.

Just wanted to add that apart from saving for the retirement - early or not - we need to save for the unexpected. Unfortunately, a million dollars no longer goes as far as it did before

 

[2TH MVR]

Why does everyone want to retire at 50? Hell, I feel like I would get bored in retirement. Give me an interesting project or way to help others and I would gladly do that over retiring.

At the start of your career ... of course ... thinking about retirement sounds so OLD and unnecessary. I get it. But towards the end of your career .... it will be much more important. As another poster mentioned .... a million dollars is not nearly enough money if you have family, children in college, medical emergencies, kid's cars, vacations, mortgages, kid's car insurance, etc. etc. etc. etc. etc. Trust me .... the list goes on and on and on and on.

I've structured my financial life so that I would be able to work part time (3-4 days per week) in my 50's. Heck. Full time for me used to be 4 days every week. So far .... it's been GREAT.

Go to an inexpensive state dental school and limit your school debt. Associate and learn the business for 6-12 months. Buy a small, starter dental practice and work PT somewhere if needed while your practice grows. Buy real estate to house your practice so that your monthly lease payments goes toward ownership. Early on start an office profit sharing plan or some other retirement plan. Start saving for the kid's college (529 plans). Stay away from credit card debt. Get to the point where you pay cash for your vehicles. Build equity in your home and your office building. This all equals having CHOICES in your 50's.

 

[753698]

Buy real estate to house your practice so that your monthly lease payments goes toward ownership.

That's a good point. Why don't all dentists do this? It's a good way to build equity plus eventually once you finish the mortgage then your overhead will go down a good chunk.

 

[753698]

Why does everyone want to retire at 50? Hell, I feel like I would get bored in retirement. Give me an interesting project or way to help others and I would gladly do that over retiring.

I heard dentistry takes a toll on the body, so the sooner you don't need to practice to stay afloat the better I guess. I mean you could always keep side businesses past 50 it's not like you just do nothing all day. I agree for the most part, I feel like I would need to keep busy or else I would feel pretty bored.

 

[schmoob]

I heard dentistry takes a toll on the body, so the sooner you don't need to practice to stay afloat the better I guess. I mean you could always keep side businesses past 50 it's not like you just do nothing all day. I agree for the most part, I feel like I would need to keep busy or else I would feel pretty bored.

Having the means to retire as well as passive income sources are key to pursue what one wants. Retiring at 50 doesn’t necessarily mean watching Price is Right for a few decades while waiting to die.

 

[2TH MVR]

That's a good point. Why don't all dentists do this? It's a good way to build equity plus eventually once you finish the mortgage then your overhead will go down a good chunk.

There's pros and cons. I won't act like I know everything about Real Estate because I don't. I will tell you that owning your own building has worked out for me in the long run. A tangible asset that has been been building equity and is now a source of passive income. The key is WHEN to sell the Real Estate. I have a great tenant in place for the next 7 years. My goal is to sell the property to a Real Estate investor in a couple of years. The property is worth more with a solid tenant and at least 5 years remaining on the lease. I could "gamble" and try to re-lease the property to the existing tenant or another tenant, so I have options.