I'm in the same position as you, OP, and I agree with you especially about any job being just a means to financially support our real life with our friends and family. There are a lucky few who manage to find success doing what they love but it's rare. For the rest of us, we have to work.
If someone handed you a piece of paper with an account number and pin to an offshore account with $10 million and it wouldn't drastically change your 10-year plan... then, congratulations, you're among the lucky few.
If not, let's face it, what you do every day is work. It doesn't matter whether you're a janitor, doctor, astronaut, or actor. You're doing something you wouldn't be doing if you woke up this morning without any financial restraints. So the idea seems to be spend as little time with work so you can live.
I'm also a dreamer and like 2quik I'm also the type that plans to "achieve more" and I began my entrepreneurial endeavors in my early teens. You know the statistics about failed businesses but you always think you'll be ok since you're so smart, prepared, and determined. Long story short, I had my years of success and once I got involved in trading, I thought I'd make my first million in my early 20's, but the risks were real and I naive. At this point in my life, a stable, worry-free job seems like a beautiful thing. Even after a good day in the stock market, I'd feel completely drained and stressed out.
40 hour weeks, six figure salary? I guess it's a sign of our Gen Y'ness that we feel like we're entitled to so much more. Why was Iron Man such a success? My theory is because we all want to be Tony Stark. Billionaire, the incredible house, cool gadgets, exotic cars, supermodels, born into a CEO position? Not to mention that gold-titanium alloy suit.
Looking back along the history of mankind, we're lucky to be able to have jobs like this. Hell, even today, we're very lucky to have options like being a Dentist or a Pharmacist. Let's be honest here, both these professions are golden.
Obviously this post is a bit biased given my current opinion on the topic matter at hand. Who knows though, perhaps I'll discover more about dentistry in this thread and end up on that path.
But at the moment, the whole small-business aspect, working with associates, and overhead are extremely unappealing. I am just sick and tired of thinking about your business 24/7. It's not just the hours you're at work, not when you're self-employed. I'm also actually interested in drugs and how they can help people, especially with pain.
Pharmacist seems to be a high-salary job where you're just an employee. You show up, put in your hours helping as many people as you can, and you're done when you leave. No worries, no stress. I absolutely love that. There's also no reason you can't quit and just come back into retail at a completely different location later on and pick up right where you started at the same salary level. It's a safe job I can always count on if my future business ventures don't pan out.
I think many have such a romanticized view of prestigious jobs like doctors, lawyers, and to a certain degree, dentists as well. But with these careers, it's only a small percentage that really prosper and the rest sort of just trudge on. That's the risk, and as you already know, I'm not looking for any risk right now. Business and creative ventures is where I expect my big payoffs and risks, being able to work as a pharmacist is my steady rock.
The fact that retail Pharmacists' salaries don't increase much with experience used to be a huge downside for me. But I've come to look at it from a new perspective. That $100k+ salary is plenty isn't it? And it's kind of like achieving your dreams right at the start instead of working your entire life looking for promotion after promotion and when does it end? 20, 30 years building up your practice for what? Not having to worry about a higher salary means you can spend within your means and just enjoy your life instead of worrying about work all the time. You've made it already, now relax? But then again, this might just be my subconscious trying to glorify the glass ceiling salary for pharmacists.
Anyways, getting back on topic. Is the tuition worth it for dentistry? I think it's absolutely worth it. It's a small price to pay for the prestige and lifelong work. I don't believe either path will be a walk in the park though. Both will require focus to obtain the degree.
If either option was significantly more attractive than the other, we'd see an equalizing change in salaries. So in the end it comes down to whichever will fit you best. And to figure that out... well, I think you're on the right track.