what field to go into??

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Arkangeloid said:
Let's not forget that you have to make up for paying a large fortune for med school, a lost decade that you could have used to invest in your future, a lost decade of time, and working much harder than regular Americans for the rest of your life. 150K sounds good until you consider all of that, then you realize just how little it is.

Honestly, if I made just 150K after all of that (as a clinician, assuming I don't do anything academic), I would consider my life an utter failure, and so would all my peers.
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agree with this

I think all of you talking about "complaining" about 120k out of residency are missing some big points

Yea, we all are smart enough to look at the statistics and see that $120k is more than what ~90% of the country makes. We all know that nobody's going to starve on $120k.

However, that's not the whole picture. do our fellow American 1st-world dwellers, with the same equal opportunities that we have, sacrifice almost a decade or more of their lives, often during 20's aka "prime of the life", during which the gross income is negative?

I dont see anything shaky about being hesitant about entering a field of which youre under the impression that the average income is $120k. I didnt sacrifice my 20s and go into @240k of debt (which probably goes up to 300k by the time you can really start paying it off) just so that i can take home 65k after taxes AND THEN have to deal with this loan in my 30s (and because of this loan, you wont have much for other things). ive read a lot of posts about doctors complaining about military medicine, the pay, the lack of autonomy.....and now im reading that there are doctors who would choose to live like with a lifestyle lower than that of the average american throughout the 30s and 40s and always on the leash of the government debt

if you make 120k, youre going home with ~65k depending on where you live....and interest alone on the 300k lone is ~20k/year? so youre living on 45k/year after all that youve "invested" into your future?
 
chasm-e-baddoor said:
agree with this

I think all of you talking about "complaining" about 120k out of residency are missing some big points

Yea, we all are smart enough to look at the statistics and see that $120k is more than what ~90% of the country makes. We all know that nobody's going to starve on $120k.

However, that's not the whole picture. do our fellow American 1st-world dwellers, with the same equal opportunities that we have, sacrifice almost a decade or more of their lives, often during 20's aka "prime of the life", during which the gross income is negative?

I dont see anything shaky about being hesitant about entering a field of which youre under the impression that the average income is $120k. I didnt sacrifice my 20s and go into @240k of debt (which probably goes up to 300k by the time you can really start paying it off) just so that i can take home 65k after taxes AND THEN have to deal with this loan in my 30s (and because of this loan, you wont have much for other things). ive read a lot of posts about doctors complaining about military medicine, the pay, the lack of autonomy.....and now im reading that there are doctors who would choose to live like with a lifestyle lower than that of the average american throughout the 30s and 40s and always on the leash of the government debt

if you make 120k, youre going home with ~65k depending on where you live....and interest alone on the 300k lone is ~20k/year? so youre living on 45k/year after all that youve "invested" into your future?
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I can see your point if you've joined medicine from a business perspective.

For people like me who pursued medicine as a field we're genuinely really excited about...that we'll enjoy on a daily basis like no other profession, the monetary rewards beyond basics are just gravy. I also appreciate that for those who have had to borrow and take loans that this equation is also more costly.
 
Anastomoses said:
I can see your point if you've joined medicine from a business perspective.

For people like me who pursued medicine as a field we're genuinely really excited about...that we'll enjoy on a daily basis like no other profession, the monetary rewards beyond basics are just gravy. I also appreciate that for those who have had to borrow and take loans that this equation is also more costly.
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you including "monetary rewards beyond basics are just gravy", means that you also joined medicine with a business perspective in mind. as far as I'm concerned, only if you practice medicine "for free" as a hobby would it mean that business has nothing to do with it.

The fact of the matter is that most people trying to become physicians are not looking to become the next millionaire with a 2 supercars and a mansion. If they were were looking at things from a purely business perspective, then they either would have chosen a better field for that, or were sorely ignorant of what the realities of medicine are. to be honest, i dont think that would go through 4 years of school + 3+ years of residency if they werent excited about medicine, when they could be out there in their 20s going to bars, riding motorcycles, and having a life while making money

however, just because you are excited about something, doesnt mean that you are willing to pay whatever price there is for it. It's all about what you value. If i loved to practice pediatric medicine, but pediatricians only got paid 120k/year, i would not pursue that field since i do not think the tradeoff is good enough. I do not want to be at the legal mercy of a debtor for several years or even decades. just like i wouldnt take out $300k loan to buy a supercar - i dont want to be tied down despite the fact that it can give me much enjoyment. I understand that everybody had different values, and that you might value practicing medicine a lot more than I do. But that's all that it is. I dont see anything dubious about valuing other things, including things like freedom from the Man, especially when most doctors that i know get burned out/tired of their practice down the road
 
chasm-e-baddoor said:
I dont see anything shaky about being hesitant about entering a field of which youre under the impression that the average income is $120k. I didnt sacrifice my 20s and go into @240k of debt (which probably goes up to 300k by the time you can really start paying it off) just so that i can take home 65k after taxes AND THEN have to deal with this loan in my 30s (and because of this loan, you wont have much for other things).
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Let's crunch some numbers

First, 120k seems low for a starting salary, so let's go with 150k. FYI, per MGMA in 2010, the mean peds salary was 211k, and the median was 192k (155k/255k/325k 25th percentile/75th/90th). In the 2012 Merritt-Hawkins physician recruitment survey, the average offered salary was 189k (130/220 min/max). Obviously, as a new attending, one will not be making a salary near the average, but they're interesting to know.

OK, so if you make 150k, and you max out re-tax contributions into a standard 401k/403b account: 17.5k

Your taxable income will be (150-17.5)= 132.5k

Let's say you do IBR, assuming you are single and have no kids, you standard poverty deduction is about 11k, so ((132.5-11)*.15)= 18.2k
If you owe 300k at 6.8%, your yearly interest will about 20.4k, so already, things don't look too good
Assuming a 3% annual income growth, it would take you 22.9 years after residency to pay off your loans using IBR. However, this is just after residency, if you include the three years you paid during residency, you would actually be paying for 25.9 years. However, IBR forgives existing debt after 25 years, so your last year's worth of debt will be forgiven, but you will owe a tax burden on the debt. Overall, you will pay a total of 620k towards your loans over 25 years, however, assuming roughly 3% annual inflation, the net preesnt value of that 620k is equivalent to about 290k in 2014 dollars

Let's say you plan to pay off your loans in 10 years, your monthly payment will be $3,452 a month, or $41,424 a year (also, this is only looking at your principle and interest during the 10 years of repayment; this does not include any interest you accrued in residency but have yet to pay off)

So, let's look at two states, one with no state income tax (Washington) and with a very high tax (Maine)

After federal and state taxes, you're left with $94,800 is Washington and $85,500 in Maine

Washington
IBR: 94.8-18.2=76.6k to live on, or $6,388 a month
10 year: 94.8-41.4=53.4k to live on, or $4,450 a month

Maine
IBR: 85.5-18.2=67.6 k to live on, or $5,633 a month
10 year:85.5-41.4=44.1k to live on, or $3,675 a month

The OP's situation is different because her spouse will also be a physician, so they can share expenses like housing and food, but if you have 300k in debt, and you go into general peds, and you're going to be the breadwinner, and you're going to have kids, things will probably be tight
 
WaylonS said:
Let's crunch some numbers

First, 120k seems low for a starting salary, so let's go with 150k. FYI, per MGMA in 2010, the mean peds salary was 211k, and the median was 192k (155k/255k/325k 25th percentile/75th/90th). In the 2012 Merritt-Hawkins physician recruitment survey, the average offered salary was 189k (130/220 min/max). Obviously, as a new attending, one will not be making a salary near the average, but they're interesting to know.

OK, so if you make 150k, and you max out re-tax contributions into a standard 401k/403b account: 17.5k

Your taxable income will be (150-17.5)= 132.5k

Let's say you do IBR, assuming you are single and have no kids, you standard poverty deduction is about 11k, so ((132.5-11)*.15)= 18.2k
If you owe 300k at 6.8%, your yearly interest will about 20.4k, so already, things don't look too good
Assuming a 3% annual income growth, it would take you 22.9 years after residency to pay off your loans using IBR. However, this is just after residency, if you include the three years you paid during residency, you would actually be paying for 25.9 years. However, IBR forgives existing debt after 25 years, so your last year's worth of debt will be forgiven, but you will owe a tax burden on the debt. Overall, you will pay a total of 620k towards your loans over 25 years, however, assuming roughly 3% annual inflation, the net preesnt value of that 620k is equivalent to about 290k in 2014 dollars

Let's say you plan to pay off your loans in 10 years, your monthly payment will be $3,452 a month, or $41,424 a year (also, this is only looking at your principle and interest during the 10 years of repayment; this does not include any interest you accrued in residency but have yet to pay off)

So, let's look at two states, one with no state income tax (Washington) and with a very high tax (Maine)

After federal and state taxes, you're left with $94,800 is Washington and $85,500 in Maine

Washington
IBR: 94.8-18.2=76.6k to live on, or $6,388 a month
10 year: 94.8-41.4=53.4k to live on, or $4,450 a month

Maine
IBR: 85.5-18.2=67.6 k to live on, or $5,633 a month
10 year:85.5-41.4=44.1k to live on, or $3,675 a month

The OP's situation is different because her spouse will also be a physician, so they can share expenses like housing and food, but if you have 300k in debt, and you go into general peds, and you're going to be the breadwinner, and you're going to have kids, things will probably be tight
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wow great post

Yea - i realize that $120k is very unlikely to be the reality in most cases. that's why i included "under the impression".

i forgot about 401ks and the lack of city tax in most cases (i've lived in NYC all my life, so i'm used to city tax all the time....and anybody earning 120k-150k will pay near 50% in taxes.....gotta get out of NYC lol)

yup, things will be tight, especially considering you only get to really start things, financially speaking, after residency if youre not married to another physician
 
Anastomoses said:
I can see your point if you've joined medicine from a business perspective.

For people like me who pursued medicine as a field we're genuinely really excited about...that we'll enjoy on a daily basis like no other profession, the monetary rewards beyond basics are just gravy. I also appreciate that for those who have had to borrow and take loans that this equation is also more costly.
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Exactly. People who say, if I was only earning 200k I wouldn't want to do medicine.

Well, they are probably in the wrong field. Everyone can pay back debt with 200k salary. Most who are talking about not earning enough money are earning 300k+.
 
Unless IBR has changed since last year (it very well may have), my financial advisor told me IBR will forgive your debt after 10 years of working for a civil service or nonprofit. Your residency will likely count towards that (as will most fellowships) as they are often done at hospitals that qualify. You can even take a break in the 10 years, work in private to see if you like it, and come back, and as long as your payments remain on time, it will pick up on the 10 yrs of payments right where you left off out of residency/fellowship. Of course, if you end up working at a qualifying hospital, then you're forgiven sometimes 4 years post-fellowship (assuming something like 3 yrs IM 3 yrs fellowship), if you went for something like GYN onc or cardiothoracic surgery via general surg, you'd have even less to pay back at full salary.
 
eablackwell said:
Unless IBR has changed since last year (it very well may have), my financial advisor told me IBR will forgive your debt after 10 years of working for a civil service or nonprofit. Your residency will likely count towards that (as will most fellowships) as they are often done at hospitals that qualify. You can even take a break in the 10 years, work in private to see if you like it, and come back, and as long as your payments remain on time, it will pick up on the 10 yrs of payments right where you left off out of residency/fellowship. Of course, if you end up working at a qualifying hospital, then you're forgiven sometimes 4 years post-fellowship (assuming something like 3 yrs IM 3 yrs fellowship), if you went for something like GYN onc or cardiothoracic surgery via general surg, you'd have even less to pay back at full salary.
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This is true, but the first group of people eligible for loan foregiveness will not be granted it until 2017/8. At this time, yes physicians could qualify--and it would be great if they do--but the numbers above represent a worst case scenario where physicians are later exclude from the 10 year public service foregiveness option

FYI, people who have no gov loans prior to 2008 are eligible for "pay-as-you-earn" which is similar IBR, except your repayments are capped at 10% of taxable income instead of 15, and the maximum terms of repayment is 20 years instead of 25
 
chasm-e-baddoor said:
you including "monetary rewards beyond basics are just gravy", means that you also joined medicine with a business perspective in mind. as far as I'm concerned, only if you practice medicine "for free" as a hobby would it mean that business has nothing to do with it.

If they were were looking at things from a purely business perspective, then they either would have chosen a better field for that, or were sorely ignorant of what the realities of medicine are. to be honest, i dont think that would go through 4 years of school + 3+ years of residency if they werent excited about medicine, when they could be out there in their 20s going to bars, riding motorcycles, and having a life while making money
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wrong. and relax, it's not a competition.

Please unveil these career paths because half of SDN might reconsider medicine if you can tell them where to go make more money with more ease.
 
eablackwell said:
Unless IBR has changed since last year (it very well may have), my financial advisor told me IBR will forgive your debt after 10 years of working for a civil service or nonprofit. Your residency will likely count towards that (as will most fellowships) as they are often done at hospitals that qualify. You can even take a break in the 10 years, work in private to see if you like it, and come back, and as long as your payments remain on time, it will pick up on the 10 yrs of payments right where you left off out of residency/fellowship. Of course, if you end up working at a qualifying hospital, then you're forgiven sometimes 4 years post-fellowship (assuming something like 3 yrs IM 3 yrs fellowship), if you went for something like GYN onc or cardiothoracic surgery via general surg, you'd have even less to pay back at full salary.
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Interesting. I hope that works out for everyone.

WaylonS said:
Let's crunch some numbers

First, 120k seems low for a starting salary, so let's go with 150k. FYI, per MGMA in 2010, the mean peds salary was 211k, and the median was 192k (155k/255k/325k 25th percentile/75th/90th). In the 2012 Merritt-Hawkins physician recruitment survey, the average offered salary was 189k (130/220 min/max). Obviously, as a new attending, one will not be making a salary near the average, but they're interesting to know.

OK, so if you make 150k, and you max out re-tax contributions into a standard 401k/403b account: 17.5k

Your taxable income will be (150-17.5)= 132.5k

Let's say you do IBR, assuming you are single and have no kids, you standard poverty deduction is about 11k, so ((132.5-11)*.15)= 18.2k
If you owe 300k at 6.8%, your yearly interest will about 20.4k, so already, things don't look too good
Assuming a 3% annual income growth, it would take you 22.9 years after residency to pay off your loans using IBR. However, this is just after residency, if you include the three years you paid during residency, you would actually be paying for 25.9 years. However, IBR forgives existing debt after 25 years, so your last year's worth of debt will be forgiven, but you will owe a tax burden on the debt. Overall, you will pay a total of 620k towards your loans over 25 years, however, assuming roughly 3% annual inflation, the net preesnt value of that 620k is equivalent to about 290k in 2014 dollars

Let's say you plan to pay off your loans in 10 years, your monthly payment will be $3,452 a month, or $41,424 a year (also, this is only looking at your principle and interest during the 10 years of repayment; this does not include any interest you accrued in residency but have yet to pay off)

So, let's look at two states, one with no state income tax (Washington) and with a very high tax (Maine)

After federal and state taxes, you're left with $94,800 is Washington and $85,500 in Maine

Washington
IBR: 94.8-18.2=76.6k to live on, or $6,388 a month
10 year: 94.8-41.4=53.4k to live on, or $4,450 a month

Maine
IBR: 85.5-18.2=67.6 k to live on, or $5,633 a month
10 year:85.5-41.4=44.1k to live on, or $3,675 a month

The OP's situation is different because her spouse will also be a physician, so they can share expenses like housing and food, but if you have 300k in debt, and you go into general peds, and you're going to be the breadwinner, and you're going to have kids, things will probably be tight
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Wow, that's amazing. thanks for crunching some numbers. Obviously no one is going to starve!

Yes, my hubby is going to be a physician too, but he also has loans. We are thankful we don't have loans from undergrad, but can you imagine if we did, or we had gone to a "private" undergrad, grad, or med school? or if we needed to take out extra loans today to pay for childcare or buy a car if our's broke down? I wonder if that would sway some of you to see peds salary as a bit more concerning? I am still thinking peds, but will have to be smart about the offers, locations, details, etc.. I am grateful that we will be ok, but at some point, I'd like it to pay off.

To above, I was thinking 120k because it was in one of the 2012 medscape reports. In the 2013, its 147k for outpatient (it went up for primary care for once!), ranging from that to 212k with a partner. 2013 says 1/3 of pediatricians make over $200k.

I'm not too crazy for being concerned! http://www.forbes.com/sites/jacquelynsmith/2012/07/20/the-best-and-worst-paying-jobs-for-doctors-2/

ok, back to uworld...just like normal 20-somethings do on nice Sunday afternoons 😉
 
are we really arguing about how fair the system is?
 
It's okay to be a doctor, treat the sick, save lives, and want to make as much money as possible..... all at the same time.
 
I agree that it's fair for people to want money. It's natural, but I don't think it should be one's sole motivating factor. Saying that you "don't care how much you make" as a physician would be similar to filling out a dating profile and saying that you hate sex and never plan on having sex in your relationship. But sometimes I feel like people are too concerned with the money and are essentially doing the same as filling out a dating profile where all they talk about is how much they love sex and want more of it.
 
I don't think anybody has said that money is their sole motivating factor.
 
True. I am hoping that the ammo for that concern is more based on the fact that our career path demands more than any other. but the payscale doesn't reflect the sacrifices the way that it should. The whole world thinks doctors should make less, nobody sees how much life/money docs had to give up to get where they are. That's true no matter how you look at it.

Primary care docs should be paid more, my phone bill should be cheaper, and America shouldn't be the fattest country on the planet. Life isn't fair and it never will be.
 
Anastomoses said:
I can see your point if you've joined medicine from a business perspective.

For people like me who pursued medicine as a field we're genuinely really excited about...that we'll enjoy on a daily basis like no other profession, the monetary rewards beyond basics are just gravy. I also appreciate that for those who have had to borrow and take loans that this equation is also more costly.
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spoken like someone who expects her SO to be the breadwinner of the family
 
PrideNeverDie said:
spoken like someone who expects her SO to be the breadwinner of the family
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Stop turning everything personal and while you're at it, you might lay off the sexism you perpetually exhibit in your posts.
 
Anastomoses said:
Stop turning everything personal and while you're at it, you might lay off the sexism you perpetually exhibit in your posts.
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You might lay off the naivety you perpetually exhibit in your posts.
 
Anastomoses said:
Stop turning everything personal and while you're at it, you might lay off the sexism you perpetually exhibit in your posts.
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your significant other can be male or female

money matters when you are expected to shoulder the financial responsibilities of the family

are you expecting to be the breadwinner of your future family?

if you have a two income family, who is expected to take on more work if times are tough? who will get blamed if the bills don't get paid? if it isn't you, then of course money isn't such a big priority to you

i have a few medical school classmates that always do the whole "money is bad" when they've been living on daddy's money their whole lives and want to marry someone to take care of the bills so they can work part time
 
PrideNeverDie said:
your significant other can be male or female

money matters when you are expected to shoulder the financial responsibilities of the family

are you expecting to be the breadwinner of your future family?

if you have a two income family, who is expected to take on more work if times are tough? who will get blamed if the bills don't get paid? if it isn't you, then of course money isn't such a big priority to you

i have a few medical school classmates that always do the whole "money is bad" when they've been living on daddy's money their whole lives and want to marry someone to take care of the bills so they can work part time
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1. I'm not expecting someone to take care of my needs.
2. No one said money is bad. I merely said that medicine would be my option even if it yielded far less benefits. I don't even condemn those who chose the field for money...I feel lucky, in fact. Most fields are chosen for money, if anything...it's interesting the people who choose medicine despite not being big fans of it.
 
I love the saying, "do what you love." I'm pretty sure that making a lot of money is what most everyone really loves lol
 
^Agreed. You can try to be a martyr all you want, but I have never met anyone who doesn't love money.
 
Akali said:
I love the saying, "do what you love." I'm pretty sure that making a lot of money is what most everyone really loves lol
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Either you don't know enough people who have made a killing doing something that made them want to bang their heads against the wall or you're an anomaly. There really is a spectrum...some of us will give up a lot of money/time to do something we genuinely enjoy.
 
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sidefx said:
I think you completely missed the point of my post. I never said that doctors deserve to be paid less money or that nobody should be complaining about a 150k salary; your entire post has absolutely nothing to do with the point I was making. What I said was that she is not going to have financial worries paying off her debt with a 150k salary and a household income of 400k... I never said you, she or anyone else doesn't deserve more than that. I simply said it is a bit ridiculous to think you can't pay off debt on that income, when most Americans do it with far, far less income. I can completely understand why she wouldnt want to go peds or another relatively low-paying specialty when you could pick one that pays twice as much with the same length of training... but my point is stimply that you are never going to be wondering how you're going to get by and pay the bills on a 400k household income.

And yes, it is a fact that an abnormally large portion of medical students come from affluent families and are used to living very upper class lifestyles. These people have often had everything handed to them their entire life and tend to lose perspective on how much money a half million dollar household income really is. Now before you take my comments out of context once again, I am certainly not saying this level of income is undeserved. I also never said that you, or the OP, or anybody specifically falls into this category, but a lot of medical students certainly do.
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I think the disconnect also has to do with where people grew up. In New York., physician salaries are significantly lower than the Midwest and South while cost of living is dramatically higher. A million dollars cannot even buy you a decent one bedroom apartment in Manhattan. Tuition at a well regarded school (Horace Mann, Dalton etc) for your child exceeds 30K a year. In addition, taxes are among the highest in the country eating 50% of your income. Furthermore, depending on your cultural background, it is our duty to take care of our parents after their enormous sacrifices for us to become physicians. One cannot simply pounce on people who bring up financial concerns in medicine.
 
Anastomoses said:
Wrong. Either you don't know enough people who have made a killing doing something that made them want to bang their heads against the wall or you're an anomaly. There really is a spectrum...some of us will give up a lot of money/time to do something we genuinely enjoy.
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I didn't mean to imply that what you're saying isn't also true at the same time. I'm just pretty sure that not having enough money is extremely taxing emotionally and that nobody wants to have less money than they need for the things they need. I experienced this personally growing up in poverty and having to deal with things like being homeless at different points in my childhood. And I do think there actually exists a positive correlation between income and happiness, but I base this on a 10 second Google search lol. But at the same time I'm sure there exists ridiculously rich people who aren't happy and there are poorer people who are extremely content.
 
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I think the biggest takeaway here is that primary care doctors should be paid more, not that people shouldn't go into primary care.
 
The biggest thing I would be afraid of, and this could be completely irrational for all I know, is that I wouldn't want to go into it and then have in the future nurses completely transition into the same role and saturate the positions, which it seems they have been aiming to do for quite a while.
 
Akali said:
The biggest thing I would be afraid of, and this could be completely irrational for all I know, is that I wouldn't want to go into it and then have in the future nurses completely transition into the same role and saturate the positions, which it seems they have been aiming to do for quite a while.
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Calm your tits. Nurses aren't going to substitute for medical doctors any time soon.
 
chondroblast said:
I think the biggest takeaway here is that primary care doctors should be paid more, not that people shouldn't go into primary care.
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That's some horse sense!

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
 
atomi said:
OP, if you like peds, then do peds. I am "annoyed" that trial lawyers and patent trolls earn millions a year with b.s. lawsuits. That doesn't mean I am insecure about what I want to do and certainly doesn't mean that I want to be one of them. Lots of doctors are "annoyed" and insanely jealous of the medium-sized business owners in their towns. They go to the same country clubs, but these guys make 10+ mil/year. Why do peds when you can spend another few years and go to harvard MBA school and hire on somewhere and be making 7 figures after a few years then bail and be one of these business owners? When I was an engineer many years ago, I was "annoyed" that our salaries were only $80k/year when doctors made so much more. So I became one of them. I'll never make that mistake again. Do what you want to do. If you're good at something, you'll do well no matter what it is. Unfortunately in medicine, you can do well by being mediocre at something. And this is what attracts a lot of people to the field. Guaranteed income.
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For posterity.
 
WhippleWhileWeWork said:
For posterity.
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Seriously dude? Get a life. I suppose you are not going to med school for the money and want to work with children in Africa for minimum wage. People are attracted to this field for money. Deal with it.
 
atomi said:
Seriously dude? Get a life. I suppose you are not going to med school for the money and want to work with children in Africa for minimum wage. People are attracted to this field for money. Deal with it.
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Yeah seriously. The character flaws and tactics you've put on display by trying to discredit me and attacking my character lately assure me that you have no moral high grand to stand on, here. And that you'd probably try to delete this post as it shows you for the phony that you are.

You made a mistake, you're miserable?, you deal with it.
 
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sidefx said:
As others have pointed out, 100-120k would probably be 10th percentile of earners with full time hours... Making at least 150k-200k in peds is pretty standard, with plenty who have completed a fellowship making more than this.

I also kind of laugh at the skewed sense of perspective a lot of doctors seem to have about "making a good living". Here you are worried about being able to afford a car and a house with student loans on a household income of 400k per year... The average American household manages to pay all those things on less than half that much household income, I don't think worrying about having enough money to live comfortably will be a concern no matter which specialty you or your husband pick.

Sure it is always nice to have more money, but lets call a spade a spade here. You can still live VERY comfortably on a $150k salary, especially when your spouse is also making the same or more... Although I come from a lower-middle class family, so I probably have a different perspective than a lot of people on here who's parents are both physicians and having a couple $100,000 cars and a million dollar mansion is considered "barely getting by".
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Try moving to New York.
 
i know a pediatrician that makes....
Over9000.jpg
 
atomi said:
$500/month student loan debt (well some actually do).

.
Click to expand...

You posted this quite a while ago, but the above statement is unfortunately untrue. I wish I would be able to pay off my debt at $500 a month, but the reality is that will be less than half of the rate I would need to pay off the interest, much less the loan.
 
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