Pharmacist lifestyle?

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JakeSill

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2 questions about Pharmacist lifestyle

I've seen ER docs (avg pay $206k) with big houses and nice cars. Can Pharmacist have that lifestyle?

Do Pharmacist get women thrown at them? I never hear someone say I want to marry a Pharmacist.
 
I think the answer to your questions are: heck no and I can only wish.

Unless you own your own pharmacy and are just killing it, the hourly salary of an rph is the low 60's in CA. Kaiser pays 76ish from what I hear. You do the math.
 
No one has ever thrown a woman at me; I imagine that would hurt me, the woman and the thrower of the woman.

Seriously though, I'm not rich, but I don't have to worry about not having enough money. That's enough for me. If all you want is money, go work on Wall Street.
 
Money and women you want? Then a pharmacist career will be disappointing. Aim higher and go for a MD with a specialization.
 
AAMC CiM (Career in Medicine) put ER doc average salary at ~321k/year... I think most pharmacists who work FT make 120k+/year... and that's probably put them in the top 10% in term of income...
 
Go CS degree, base salary $140k with bonus plus stock option up to $300k/year in bay area easy... Tech is where the money is. If you ever get IPO... cha-ching! Insta multi-millionaires.... Fnck MD lifestyle.

Women who chase doctors are the wrong type of woman you want to be in your life, trust me on this... maybe for fnck buddies it's good, but for relationship? Hell no.
 
I pulled plenty of girls in college being dirt poor

Pretty sure you can do the same with a pharmacist salary lol

you don't want gold diggers anyways

ER doctors are always overworked and overstressed.

You should choose something like radiology, dermatologist or plastic surgery for good lifestyle and money
 
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What is wrong with being attracted to someone because he is educated and successful? How much a guy makes say a lot about him and his character. I don't have a problem with that just as long as we are compatible.

From a financial point of view, it also depends on how he makes his money....salary vs investment. With a salary you are going to pay a lot of taxes. Invest your money wisely and early and you may even be better off than someone who makes 250 k a year working the graveyard shift at a hospital.
 
Momus said:
Go CS degree, base salary $140k with bonus plus stock option up to $300k/year in bay area easy... Tech is where the money is. If you ever get IPO... cha-ching! Insta multi-millionaires.... Fnck MD lifestyle.
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Get laid off from Twitter? No problem, there are recruiters already fighting each other to throw six figure salary and stock options as at you soon as you walk out Twitter's door. Looking to score a pharmacy residency? Be prepared to fight your fellow P4's for residency directors' attention at Midyear.
 
stoichiometrist said:
Get laid off from Twitter? No problem, there are recruiters already fighting each other to throw six figure salary and stock options as at you soon as you walk out Twitter's door. Looking to score a pharmacy residency? Be prepared to fight your fellow P4's for residency directors' attention at Midyear.
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How long will this last? They will need to make a profit one day, just like all companies. Investors are not going to keep on pouring money into these unprofitable businesses.

I still don't get why an engineer would buy a multimillion condo in SF. It will come to an end and it may be sooner than they think.
 
npage148 said:
If I was a Md i'd do pathology. No patients and I'd get to work in a windowless basement
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The downside is you have to work with pathologists.

Half of them are just as weird and socially maladjusted as the stereotypes.

Trust me, I married one.

(One of the normal ones that is)
 
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BMBiology said:
What is wrong with being attracted to someone because he is educated and successful? How much a guy makes say a lot about him and his character. I don't have a problem with that just as long as we are compatible.

From a financial point of view, it also depends on how he makes his money....salary vs investment. With a salary you are going to pay a lot of taxes. Invest your money wisely and early and you may even be better off than someone who makes 250 k a year working the graveyard shift at a hospital.
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Nobody here believes you're a female, bro.
 
All kinds of inaccurate info in this thread.

Emergency docs don't work "just" 28-32 hrs a week. Most work at least 140-160 hrs a month minimum. If you work with 8 hr shifts, that's 18-20 shifts per month. When you flip flop day/nights and consider the stress in a busy ED, lifestyle quickly goes down the drain. However if you find places with 12 hr shifts, have less required hrs, and have a great scheduler, it can be very good in terms of lifestyle. Also, the average per medscape is 300-350k, per MGMA 300k+, but it's very location dependent. In texas, you'd be looking at 350k+ for 36 hrs a week.

Plastic surgery (or any surgical field in general except urology and optho) is not a lifestyle specialty. In TV shows, yes. Real life, nah.

As for pharmacy lifestyle, it's great compared to the general public and most specialties in medicine. However, medicine is just too broad with too many differences even in the same specialty.

If you want a fast track to making money with great lifestyle, do dentistry.
 
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BTW, if you have great looks, a good sense of humor, and is slightly a jerk at times women will throw themselves at you.

If you're a pharmacist or physician that is ugly and boring, most women won't throw themselves at you.

Trying to figure out a career based on what women go for is pretty dumb, bruh.
 
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I like the aspect of working long shifts in pharmacy and having more days where I don't have to go in. I also like that most jobs won't work you past 40 hrs a week like others will in some fields. Can't complain too much about the lifestyle, it's pretty flexible with jobs doing 8 hr days, 13 hr shifts, 7 on 7 off and whatnot. The only thing I dislike is having to work weekends/holidays, but that's just healthcare in general.
 
Got Em said:
All kinds of inaccurate info in this thread.

Plastic surgery (or any surgical field in general except urology and optho) is not a lifestyle specialty. In TV shows, yes. Real life, nah.

If you want a fast track to making money with great lifestyle, do dentistry.
Click to expand...

Really? My uncle works as a plastic surgeon and he works 10pm-5pm, monday through friday. His actual work time is about 5 hours a day. Sounds pretty chill and he enjoys his job

He said his lifestyle is pretty common among plastic surgeons. Unless you are really trying to make a lot of money and work Saturday and Sunday
 
MyRealNameIs said:
Really? My uncle works as a plastic surgeon and he works 10pm-5pm, monday through friday. His actual work time is about 5 hours a day. Sounds pretty chill and he enjoys his job

He said his lifestyle is pretty common among plastic surgeons. Unless you are really trying to make a lot of money and work Saturday and Sunday
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Those sound like absolutely terrible hours.
 
Nope, we don't make enough. If you want women thrown at you, you gotta do something that'll let you go out to clubs and get a table and drop $5k a night on booze, and you gotta roll up in a Lambo or Ferrari. You're not gonna do that as a pharmacist.
 
Sparda29 said:
Nope, we don't make enough. If you want women thrown at you, you gotta do something that'll let you go out to clubs and get a table and drop $5k a night on booze, and you gotta roll up in a Lambo or Ferrari. You're not gonna do that as a pharmacist.
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You're not gonna have that lifestyle by doing anything in the healthcare field. At least, not until your late 30s at the earliest unless you come from old money.
 
Son_Goku said:
You're not gonna have that lifestyle by doing anything in the healthcare field. At least, not until your late 30s at the earliest unless you come from old money.
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I mean, maybe if you're an independent pharmacy owner and making $10-20 million/year.
 
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MyRealNameIs said:
Really? My uncle works as a plastic surgeon and he works 10pm-5pm, monday through friday. His actual work time is about 5 hours a day. Sounds pretty chill and he enjoys his job

He said his lifestyle is pretty common among plastic surgeons. Unless you are really trying to make a lot of money and work Saturday and Sunday
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Pretty sure you mean 10am-5pm? I know you stated that your uncle is one and that he thinks it's "common", but it's really not. Many plastic surgeons work 80 hrs per week. It depends on which type of plastic surgery you do. None of the plastic surgeons in my city/town has this set up. If you only do elective cases, then you can definitely set your own schedule once you're established. However, if you do burns, trauma reconstruction, etc, you may be on call or have crappy hours. For anyone that only works 7 hours M-F being a surgeon is 1) established (probably a partner), 2) doesn't make a lot of money per specialty avg, or 3) in derm
 
MyRealNameIs said:
Really? My uncle works as a plastic surgeon and he works 10pm-5pm, monday through friday. His actual work time is about 5 hours a day. Sounds pretty chill and he enjoys his job

He said his lifestyle is pretty common among plastic surgeons. Unless you are really trying to make a lot of money and work Saturday and Sunday
Click to expand...

According to the AAMC, average hours that a plastic surgeon works per week is 52 give or take. Also please consider the additional years of training during residency when considering lifestyle to become a plastic surgeon.
 
My buddy who is a plastic surgeon in texas makes ~450k, spent 7 years between residency and fellowship.

His lifestyle is very comfortable, he is sole provider for their 4 kids. Nothing flashy though.
 
Pharmacist life isn't that great. 1/3 of my earnings go to uncle sam so he can redistribute it to the folks on welfare

I eat off the dollar menus still
I live in an apartment (was renting out a room for 475 a month during the first 6 months of my rph career)
I buy the cheapest groceries and ramen noodles is a staple of my diet
I drive a 17 k car
I have a crappier phone than my techs
Before I met my gf, I was spending 1 k a month in living expenses + bills (I have 0 student loans thanks to my nice asian parents)
 
SpartanLaser said:
Pharmacist life isn't that great. 1/3 of my earnings go to uncle sam so he can redistribute it to the folks on welfare

I eat off the dollar menus still
I live in an apartment (was renting out a room for 475 a month during the first 6 months of my rph career)
I buy the cheapest groceries and ramen noodles is a staple of my diet
I drive a 17 k car
I have a crappier phone than my techs
Before I met my gf, I was spending 1 k a month in living expenses + bills (I have 0 student loans thanks to my nice asian parents)
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This all sounds like personal choices.

I do/eat/drink whatever I want.
 
JakeSill said:
2 questions about Pharmacist lifestyle

I've seen ER docs (avg pay $206k) with big houses and nice cars. Can Pharmacist have that lifestyle?

Do Pharmacist get women thrown at them? I never hear someone say I want to marry a Pharmacist.
Click to expand...

Hate to break it to you, kid. But if women aren’t throwing themselves at you now, they’re not going to throw themselves at you if you’re X profession within the healthcare field (or any field for that matter). Think about it. Whether many of them admit it or not, most women want an attractive, fun, confident, but personable guy who knows how to take care of himself (physically & financially) and has a good head on his shoulders. Your profession is almost irrelevant.

The fact that you’re asking these questions means you don’t have many of those qualities, so work on the ones that you can change and improve yourself. You’ll surely improve your chances with the ladies. That being said, if you’re not drop dead gorgeous with chiseled jaw and a body of a Greek god, then there’s a good chance women may never throw themselves at you. But hey, if having shallow gold-digging women throwing themselves at you is your ultimate life goal, then shoot… that’s easy! Get an escort.
 
njac said:
This all sounds like personal choices.

I do/eat/drink whatever I want.
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Yeah. He sounds like he works for minimum wage.

Even though I'm on the low end of the pharmacist pay scale, have 6 figure student loans, and a ridiculously overpriced apartment, I still manage to live comfortably and basically without restrictions while paying down debt and saving for retirement.

I grew up in a family with four kids and an income of about 40k on a good year and we got by, even if it was tough. Making over 100k isn't bad at all, even after taxes.
 
I think the most important thing is to learn to live within or below your means. Otherwise, if you just go out and borrow money to fund an ever increasing lifestyle to keep up with the Jones, it doesn't matter how much you make. Even a doctor making $500k will not be able to keep up when you keep raising the bar. Got a 5,000 sq ft house? Then you'll want a 10,000 sq ft house. After the BMW comes a Ferrari. It never ends until you learn to control your spending.
 
pezdispenser said:
I think the most important thing is to learn to live within or below your means. Otherwise, if you just go out and borrow money to fund an ever increasing lifestyle to keep up with the Jones, it doesn't matter how much you make. Even a doctor making $500k will not be able to keep up when you keep raising the bar. Got a 5,000 sq ft house? Then you'll want a 10,000 sq ft house. After the BMW comes a Ferrari. It never ends until you learn to control your spending.
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Completely agree. This is how you maintain your wealth. Most people keep on spending when times are good so they are not ready when times are bad. They are overleveraged. They need to sell their asset at bargain prices.

Just look at the 2008 housing market crash. All of these people used their house like an ATM. They took out the equity and spent it junks like a new boat. When the housing market crashed and the economy collapsed, they lost their jobs. As a result, they can't keep up with their mortgage and they also lost their house.

And that new boat is now worth pennies on the dollar.
 
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steveysmith54 said:
I think the answer to your questions are: heck no and I can only wish.

Unless you own your own pharmacy and are just killing it, the hourly salary of an rph is the low 60's in CA. Kaiser pays 76ish from what I hear. You do the math.
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I'm not saying Pharmacists can make 206K. I'm saying can they live the lifestyle of MDs who have big houses and nice cars being single and in the south.

Edit: Just read the whole thread. Good read.
 
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pillpharmer14 said:
I live a very luxurious lifestyle between loan payments.
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Please elaborate?

Dalteparin said:
Move to a small town and you can live like a king on a pharmacist's salary. :cigar:
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This is what I'm planning to do. Moving to the south too. But need a town with a city within 1 hr driving distance at least.

PharMed2016 said:
Haha, easier said than done. But come on, lifestyle is pretty awesome.
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Lifestyle of pharmacist or MD?

Got Em said:
Also, the average per medscape is 300-350k, per MGMA 300k+, but it's very location dependent. In texas, you'd be looking at 350k+ for 36 hrs a week.

Plastic surgery (or any surgical field in general except urology and optho) is not a lifestyle specialty. In TV shows, yes. Real life, nah.

If you want a fast track to making money with great lifestyle, do dentistry.
Click to expand...

Is medscape subscription only? Do they have date for other health care profession?

What do you mean by lifestyle specialty?

I've been using payscale. And I was off by a lot when looking at avg salary of ER physicians. What is the average salary of Dentists? Also, how do they have a better life style than pharmacists? Are the hours the same?

Sparda29 said:
Nope, we don't make enough. If you want women thrown at you, you gotta do something that'll let you go out to clubs and get a table and drop $5k a night on booze, and you gotta roll up in a Lambo or Ferrari. You're not gonna do that as a pharmacist.
Click to expand...

What field can get me this? I guess investor/entrepreneur?

pharmerjohn said:
Hate to break it to you, kid. But if women aren’t throwing themselves at you now, they’re not going to throw themselves at you if you’re X profession within the healthcare field (or any field for that matter). Think about it. Whether many of them admit it or not, most women want an attractive, fun, confident, but personable guy who knows how to take care of himself (physically & financially) and has a good head on his shoulders. Your profession is almost irrelevant.

The fact that you’re asking these questions means you don’t have many of those qualities, so work on the ones that you can change and improve yourself. You’ll surely improve your chances with the ladies. That being said, if you’re not drop dead gorgeous with chiseled jaw and a body of a Greek god, then there’s a good chance women may never throw themselves at you. But hey, if having shallow gold-digging women throwing themselves at you is your ultimate life goal, then shoot… that’s easy! Get an escort.
Click to expand...
This helps a lot man. Thanks 👍👍. Gonna work on myself.
 
It's quite hilarious to remember what I "thought" my lifestyle would be in college to what it is now. A BMW. Penthouse apartment in the city. Buying real champagne.

I live a comfortable life. My life is good. I could have anything I want. But I can't have everything.

I drive a Honda Civic. Live in a 1300 sqft 3/2 bungalow in a low cost of living area (but in a higher cost of living part of that metro). Still paying on my student loans but making extra payments. Have a nice amount in my 403b. I buy my clothes at Kohls. Or Target. What I do spend my money on is traveling. And I utilize credit card churning to allow me to travel a little bit better with my disposable income. And I've bought real champagne once. On my one year anniversary.

It's not the lifestyle of the rich and famous. And I map out with excel when bills are due. And how I'm saving for retirement or the next big vacation. But the bills are always paid. And I don't have to worry when to fill up for gas or when I need to go to the grocery store.
 
JakeSill said:
Lifestyle of pharmacist or MD?
Click to expand...

Lifestyle of a pharmacist beats that of a physician from my view. Many of my friends whom I graduated with (3 years ago) have already 1) paid off or are close to paying off their loans 2) work roughly 40 hour weeks (unless they want OT) ~which can be working 3-5 days a week in some cases 3) live very comfortably (not extravagantly) and 4) able to take trips wherever (given vacation time of course). 5) happily dating or settling down and starting a family. This is all starting from the age of 22-26 when they graduated from pharmacy school.
 
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Digsbe said:
Wasn't it that SHC or something chick that got banned?
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Yup. We all needed to marry attractive young orthos from prestigious schools.

Hah, good old SHC. Those were the days.


As for lifestyle... I may never have the baller lifestyle I thought I would have (still no C63 AMG...yet) but on the other hand, I know we have a solid plan for financial independence and are working towards it. And at this point, I never ever worry about money. It's a wonderful feeling.
 
Have a pharmacist aunt, and boyyyy is she rich. When I was younger I would spend Halloween at her million+ dollar home, which was a block away from Barry Bond's house (famous baseball player who holds the all-time record for home runs). I used to visit his house every year for Halloween and would get autographs from a couple of different sports figures (Bryant Young of the 49ers). She worked as a clinical pharmacist and didn't own a business, though she graduated perhaps 25-30 years ago at a time when tuition was an afterthought and pharmacist salaries began to skyrocket.
 
NaOH said:
Yup. We all needed to marry attractive young orthos from prestigious schools.

Hah, good old SHC. Those were the days.


As for lifestyle... I may never have the baller lifestyle I thought I would have (still no C63 AMG...yet) but on the other hand, I know we have a solid plan for financial independence and are working towards it. And at this point, I never ever worry about money. It's a wonderful feeling.
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Haha, now you're speaking my language, you can totally find a W220 S class with either the AMG 55 or 63 package for reasonable (tho you gotta drive a sedan, but I personally like my W220 S class, still looks somewhat cool). I'm looking to get an S600 (of course you want mid 00's and above so you can make sure you get the twin turbo version and not the NA turd that was pre 03 with massive oil leak issues). I would also recommend an e90 335i with the N62 engine I believe, which has a better build quality than the M series engines, a buddy of mine just dyno'd his and is getting 862 RWHP and 900 plus torque on a stock bottom end. They aren't that pricey used either. (for a bimmer I'm stuck with a boring X5 since I have rugrats to haul around, has sport pkg but lets be honest it isn't sporty....X5 M tho now we'd be talking)
 
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