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Actually, most Americans DO have luxuries - they're just all financed luxuries.
Is it really that bad???
- Thread starter Brown429
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Critical Mass
The force is strong with this one.
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Define some people? I certainly don't know anyone working 3 jobs. And I've only known a few people to ever have 2 jobs at a time. Most people who save up for retirement like you're talking about do it on one or two jobs per household, invest in mutual funds/cd's/bonds on a regular basis (i.e. monthly), and forego expenditures when possible. And all this on a combined income no greater than the sub-average pediatrician makes.
The point is that if you're a doctor and can't make it to some kind of retirement, you've severely mismanaged your money.
Read the book The Millionaire Next Door. It does a great job of outlining how most of America's rich got that way by working hard, living frugally, and investing regularly in basic investment vehicles (stocks/funds, real estate, bonds/savings). No calls or puts necessary.
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I agree. My dad worked three jobs for a while and needless to say, it is not something you can keep up for a long time. It's physically and emotionally draining and soon you'll find that it's not worth the extra money if you can't function anymore.
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Agree with above. Nothing to contribute. Just wanted to say that you have a fantastic avatar.
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You do have a point Biscuit, but when I say 'filthy rich', I mean filthy. Like doctors(or other professionals) that have a something to tune of $10 million and plus in liquid assets. The millionaire next door gets rich the average safe way: Save, live under your means, and invest cautiously. Time-tested strategies that work for pretty much everybody. The catch ? You make average moves, you get average results. Nothing wrong with that, but nothing wrong with aiming higher either.
The point I'm making is, there's something those doctors with net worths of $10 million + and above are doing that the rest aren't. What is that something ? Business skill ? Opening up your practice(increasingly risky this nowadays) ? Working crazy-ass hours ? Consulting(anybody familiar with this ?) ? I don't think you can just boil it down to sharp investment acumen(or luck).
The point I'm making is, there's something those doctors with net worths of $10 million + and above are doing that the rest aren't. What is that something ? Business skill ? Opening up your practice(increasingly risky this nowadays) ? Working crazy-ass hours ? Consulting(anybody familiar with this ?) ? I don't think you can just boil it down to sharp investment acumen(or luck).
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Friend of the family is an orthopedic surgeon with a probable net worth of over $10 million, got it from questionable deals with medical device companies, and from a couple of patents.
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So who here does disimpactions regularly?
Not regularly but enough where I would eat a poop hotdog to have picked a different career. Probably the worst and most disgusting thing you will ever do and the fact that it is usually for a demented, almost non-functional nursing home zombie doesn't really fill me with good spirits either.
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Actually a lot of it is luck -- many of the rich professionals you meet these days either got into the field when the getting was good (and barriers to setting up a practice were lower), or did nicely during the internet investment bubble, or bought highly appreciating real estate -- all things you had to be in the right place at the right time, with disposable income, to do. The physician salary will give you the investment capital, but the rest is up to you and luck. There is no roadmap to follow here.
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I know a dude who does landscaping, drives a cab, day trades, internet gambles and sells overstock products over ebay. That's sort of 4-5 jobs. But he isn't getting filthy rich.
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I know a dude who does landscaping, drives a cab, day trades, internet gambles and sells overstock products over ebay. That's sort of 4-5 jobs. But he isn't getting filthy rich.
The latter three are not jobs, they're schemes/investments/hobbies. Especially not gambling.
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Agreed, but they bring in more of his income than the first two.
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h
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haha...well good for him then!
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Panda, forgive me if this is something you've written about before (and I'm sure it is, given your thousands of posts both here and on your blog), but I've just got to ask. Just about every thread on this topic features you discussing how awful a career in medicine is. Especially when the thread invariably veers off into a discussion about hours and salary. You just don't seem happy in the slightest.
Why did you choose medicine?
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He talks about it in his blog. In his blog he writes that simply entertained the thought and then got serious about it. He was not aware of many of the negative aspects of medicine when he went into it (as I'm sure many other premeds aren't either). I'm guessing he also thought it would be a better career than engineering (at least the average wage is higher).
He found out from MS3 & onward that there are some unpleasant things about going through medical education (as many students have) -- especially if you also have a family to support. My guess is that he will be happier once he is done with residency. Right now he sounds "bitter enough to graduate" from the whole medical education and training. I'm glad he provides insight for what to watch out for. In my mind it helps prevent some people from going into medicine with an illusion of what it is like, and maybe he is compensating for the unbalanced positive image of going into medicine that many premeds probably have (that medical school is just like undergraduate education, only harder and you get to do cool stuff like dissect and that residency is paid training similar to practicing as a physician). He provides some balance to the picture in my mind. I'm not aware of anyone who was serious about medicine and dropped out because of Panda's messages. Many people enjoy his rather blunt descriptions of his experience.
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