Pharmacist FIRE

[jmoini]

How to Retire in Your 30s With $1 Million in the Bank

Jason Long, a pharmacist in rural Tennessee who retired last year at the ripe old age of 38, said his father had a hard time understanding why Mr. Long couldn’t continue to work and collect his $150,000 salary.

But Mr. Long said he was deeply unhappy in his job, where over his career he witnessed drug costs skyrocketing, sick people battling with health insurers and the over-prescription of opioids and the resulting addiction crisis. His customers, angry, confused, financially stretched, often lashed out at the person behind the counter.

“There were days when I had 12- or 14-hour shifts where I didn’t use the restroom, where I didn’t eat, because so much work was piled up on me,” Mr. Long said.

Like Mr. Jensen, he had been saving a sizable portion of his income over the past decade, and he and his wife had a paid-for house and an investment portfolio worth a little more than $1 million. Why stick around?

“The reality is the numbers are there for me,” Mr. Long said. “To go to a job that’s making you miserable every day, it doesn’t make sense to pad the bank account at that point.”​

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[tylenolnumber3]

1 million dollar is nothing when that stock market correction happens. need atleast 2 mil.

 

[Unchained]

1 Million is not enough for two people to retire in their late 30's. Even if you live like a pauper which is worse than working in a retail pharmacy.

 

[pencilandpen]

1 mil is not a lot especially when you got a whole life time ahead though.....

 

[PA_dud3]

If you hate doing the job so much you want to retire at thirty, why are you doing the job anyway? Not trying to be rude or anything, but I actually enjoy working and don't plan to retire until I am forced to.

 

[BMBiology]

If you hate doing the job so much you want to retire at thirty, why are you doing the job anyway? Not trying to be rude or anything, but I actually enjoy working and don't plan to retire until I am forced to.

It is not about “hating” your job. It is about living the life you want to live.


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[PA_dud3]

It is not about “hating” your job. It is about living the life you want to live.


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I can respect that, guess I didn't really consider it as a means to an end.

 

[hye345]

I can respect that, guess I didn't really consider it as a means to an end.

There is a huge difference between loving your job, and tolerating it. Also huge difference between tolerating your job, and hating it.

 

[PharmtoCS]

If you hate doing the job so much you want to retire at thirty, why are you doing the job anyway? Not trying to be rude or anything, but I actually enjoy working and don't plan to retire until I am forced to.

For someone who just started at CVS as a tech 1 month ago, you’re preaching to the choir.

 

[PA_dud3]

For someone who just started at CVS as a tech 1 month ago, you’re preaching to the choir.

I've worked as a tech for over a year, but yeah I enjoy retail. Even at CVS it's not bad. I haven't got a whole lot of time under my belt, sure, but I've more than gotten my feet wet.

 

[6GodPharm]

I've worked as a tech for over a year, but yeah I enjoy retail. Even at CVS it's not bad. I haven't got a whole lot of time under my belt, sure, but I've more than gotten my feet wet.

CVS is becoming a real **** whole fast. Schedule optimization is starting to be the death of it. Stores are performing worse and worse.

 

[PA_dud3]

CVS is becoming a real **** whole fast. Schedule optimization is starting to be the death of it. Stores are performing worse and worse.

They all but promised me an eventual intern position, so I'm going to try and stick it out. My coworkers are really nice and the store staff are good, too.

 

[Momus]

1 mil is not a lot especially when you got a whole life time ahead though.....

Not in Tennessee. Dirt cheap over there.

 

[confettiflyer]

What an idiot


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[PharBeyondDriven]

1 mil is not a lot especially when you got a whole life time ahead though.....

It is definitely enough according to the "3%" rule, especially if he has a mortgage that is already paid off.

 

[confettiflyer]

$30,000/yr for two people....I guess if you don’t have kids, never get sick because you can’t afford insurance, never go out or just walk everywhere it could work.

Or you could, oh I don’t know....go find another job.


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[Prepharm1214]

$30,000/yr for two people....I guess if you don’t have kids, never get sick because you can’t afford insurance, never go out or just walk everywhere it could work.

Or you could, oh I don’t know....go find another job.


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I've read his reddit post which I believe has more details..his wife works making like 15 to 20k a year and for insurance he milks the ACA subsidies.

 

[BMBiology]

$30,000/yr for two people....I guess if you don’t have kids, never get sick because you can’t afford insurance, never go out or just walk everywhere it could work.

Or you could, oh I don’t know....go find another job.

Kids don't cost that much if you have time to take care of them (i.e., you don't need daycare). You can also get health insurance thru ACA for you and your kids. And when they go to college, they would get financial aids. Think about how long and hard you have to work just to save up $200 k for your kids' tuition!

Being financial independent doesn't just mean not having to work. It is also about having the freedom to decide what kind of life you want to live.

 

[Sine Cura]

inb4 tut-tutting about people with NW > 1m "living on the dole"

Affordable health insurance and not being locked into ****ty Medicaid providers is a big reason why people keep working when they don't have to, especially with increasing age.

Major non-profit health systems opt out of Medicaid all the time leaving overburdened FQHCs, parasitical corporations running bare-bones clinics or the rare solo practitioner to pick up the slack.

 

[CetiAlphaFive]

I've read his reddit post which I believe has more details..his wife works making like 15 to 20k a year and for insurance he milks the ACA subsidies.

... Why do people like that even go to college?

I knew of a pharmacist who literally just wanted to work 1 or 2 days a week

 

[radio frequency]

Major non-profit health systems opt out of Medicaid all the time leaving overburdened FQHCs, parasitical corporations running bare-bones clinics or the rare solo practitioner to pick up the slack.

This is entirely dependent on your state and state’s Medicaid coverage and isn’t universally true. It’s definitely not true for many major medical powerhouses in the US.

 

[Momus]

... Why do people like that even go to college?

I knew of a pharmacist who literally just wanted to work 1 or 2 days a week

I know a pharmacist who works 4h/week by choice. He is also FI.

A lot of pharmacists work only for 1-3d/week because they can, very common with females with kids. This isn't news.

 

[mentos]

A lot of that 1 mil must be in 401k. How much can possibly be left after taxes and early withdrawal penalties?

 

[BMBiology]

A lot of that 1 mil must be in 401k. How much can possibly be left after taxes and early withdrawal penalties?

If you don’t work, you can convert your 401 k to ROTH IRA. Since you are not working, taxes on the conversion is minimal.


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[BMBiology]

If you have paid off your student loans and have paid for your house, early retirement is EASY.

All you need to do is learn the rules of the game and play to win.


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[BMBiology]

Sometimes I think why did we become pharmacist? We are detail oriented. We notice every little things.

Why can we beat this game? Because of we are a little b*tch about everything.

We worry about everything freaking thing.

The rule is the game is simple. Stop being a worker and become an owner. Stop paying 50% of your earning in taxes! Learn how the tax codes work. Use them to your advantage and win.


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[Sine Cura]

This is entirely dependent on your state and state’s Medicaid coverage and isn’t universally true. It’s definitely not true for many major medical powerhouses in the US.

Access to tertiary care isn't the issue. It's the lack of timely access to basic primary care that's the main issue in my area

 

[peachcreamsicle]

Become an owner of a pharmacy? or stockholder? Please explain.

 

[mentos]

If you don’t work, you can convert your 401 k to ROTH IRA. Since you are not working, taxes on the conversion is minimal.

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What about early withdrawal penalty? 38 is a long way from 65.

 

[PharmDminus]

What about early withdrawal penalty? 38 is a long way from 65.

59.5 is when you can draw from 401k. Also remember you can withdraw contributions to roth at any time with no penalty so long as its been in there 5 years

 

[BMBiology]

What about early withdrawal penalty? 38 is a long way from 65.

Want to withdraw money from your 401 k and pay no income tax? Penalty free? Before 59.5?

First, convert your 401 k to a traditional IRA (tax free conversion).

Second, convert your traditional IRA to ROTH IRA. This is a taxable event but if you are in the 0% tax income bracket (need to convert slowly over multiple years), you pay no income tax on the conversion.

Third, after 5 years, you can take out your converted amount (not earning) from your ROTH IRA and pay no withdrawal or penalty tax, even before you turn 59.5 years old.

There you go. The secret is retiring early (no income) and slowly converting money in your traditional IRA to ROTH IRA over multiple years and making sure you are in the 0% income bracket.

You can only do this if you have a source of income during the traditional IRA to ROTH IRA conversion years (hard cold cash, sell stocks during those years, etc) because you have to be in the 0% tax bracket.

And that is how rich people play the game. It is deeply unfair to people like us who pay 50% of our earnings to taxes!




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[BMBiology]

Just look at how long term capital gain work (sell your stocks after holding them for at least one year):

2018 Capital Gains Tax Rates — and How to Avoid a Big Bill - NerdWallet

You would pay zero capital gain tax as long as you make less than $77,200/year in income (for couples). YES, zero!

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