What is the salary of fresh Optometry graduates?

[samwY]

For the students who get their ODs and graduate optometry school, what kind of salary did you get once you got out of school?

I'm curious about this. We all know the avg optometrist salary is about 90k, but these numbers include ODs who have been in the profession for 20+ years. So knowing how much one can make with an OD degree once graduated is what I'm curious about...can anyone fill in?

Thanks

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[anchan]

I think everyone will tell you something different because there are so many factors involved which will affect your starting salary. Big ones might be location ie. is it on a busy street? a big city? a rural community? what state? what region?

is the practice big? small? have a large patient base?

What's the setting of the clinic? etc etc etc

Lots of factors, I suppose 90k is a healthy estimate?

 

[jchod]

I think that is a little inflated. ALL things considered, I think 70-80k is a better estimate. Hey, you might just make 90 your first year out, but as an "average", I think 70-80 is a bit more realistic.

 

[rpames]

jchob is more accurate. 90k is pretty high. There are some chains that will pay 90k your first year, but don't expect to get a raise anytime soon. The private & group offices will probably start you around 75k. But you will have much better chances of passing the 90k mark if take the second option.

Don't give up on starting your own practice and work for someone/someplace part time as you build your patient base. By doing that, you can almost guarantee a 120k plus income after a few years. Of course that is all dependent on if you pick the right location and are a good OD.

 

[redrabbit]

jchob is more accurate. 90k is pretty high. There are some chains that will pay 90k your first year, but don't expect to get a raise anytime soon. The private & group offices will probably start you around 75k. But you will have much better chances of passing the 90k mark if take the second option.

Don't give up on starting your own practice and work for someone/someplace part time as you build your patient base. By doing that, you can almost guarantee a 120k plus income after a few years. Of course that is all dependent on if you pick the right location and are a good OD.

what is a good location? I know that the SF bay area, LA area (or anywhere in CA) is filled with optometrists.

 

[stevec]

In South Carolina, I think the starting salary is more like 70K, maybe even 60K in some places, but that is just an educated guess. I could be completely wrong.

 

[rpames]

stevec you are probably correct with starting salaries starting as low as 60k. I guess I was saying a starting salary of ~75k is what you could realistically look for, but 60-70k is a very real possibility.

What is a good location...that could be just about anywhere. That does not mean look for a place that has no ODs around, because maybe there are no ODs there for a reason. There is a strip here in Chicago that has something like 6 practices w/in a couple blocks, and chains nearby. The smallest office there grosses 350k/yr. That is the national average, the largest office there takes in over 1 million/yr.

A good location really depends on what you are looking for. Do you want a small office where you can make a good income and go hunting or fishing every weekend? Then maybe an office in Northern Wisconsin in a city of 2500 would be good for you. If you are looking at making 200k+, then perhaps Arizona will work (I think AZ had a high OD salary).

Basically there is no one city, state, or region that equals high income. My father has a very nice practice in Oshkosh, WI. There are 58 ODs w/in 20 miles. I will not get into specifics about the income, but I will say it is much more successful then the reported nation OD averages. I say this because when classmates of mine ask me about my father's office and I tell them about the area, they are amazed that he could actually make a good profit with that many ODs in the area. We are currently looking for a good location for a satellite, part time, office location. To do this, I have looked up population density maps of the area, along with locations of other OD offices.

Sorry this has become so long, but I just want to make it clear that you have to determine a good locations on an individual basis.

 

[redrabbit]

thank you, that was really helpful

 

[cdea]

i think 60k starting out working for an OD is awesome. This is where i would probably be at the height of my IT Career while not going into management....

 

[r_salis]

Does anyone know what the going hourly rate is for a fill-in optometrist?

(For a $65K salary, the per-hour rate works out to be $31.25.)

 

[jchod]

Does anyone know what the going hourly rate is for a fill-in optometrist?

(For a $65K salary, the per-hour rate works out to be $31.25.)

It seems 40/hr or 300ish/day is the avg. in Utah

 

[organichemistry]

i know plenty of optometrists who are really struggling and after all is said and done are only making 30,000-50,000 takehome with their own practices 5-10 years in... and they are wishing they had chosen a different path.

i don't mean to be discouraging, but all pre-opt students and opt students should realize there are problems in their field right now with the wal-marts and chains and the like.

but i suppose, if you are really good, you can make 60k-70k out of school.

 

[ppa93]

i know plenty of optometrists who are really struggling and after all is said and done are only making 30,000-50,000 takehome with their own practices 5-10 years in... and they are wishing they had chosen a different path.

i don't mean to be discouraging, but all pre-opt students and opt students should realize there are problems in their field right now with the wal-marts and chains and the like.

but i suppose, if you are really good, you can make 60k-70k out of school.

I dont know why Dentists or MD students trying to post on Optometry thread? Jealousy?

 

[jchod]

I dont know why Dentists or MD students trying to post on Optometry thread? Jealousy?

They're trying to compensate.

 

[od2b77]

i think 60k starting out working for an OD is awesome. This is where i would probably be at the height of my IT Career while not going into management....

cdea, I am making close to 60K in IT now, but I'm not paying for loans. I've estimated that my loan payment would be around $1500/month, I'll need to make extra $1500/month to break even. That said, money is not the sole reason that I chose optometry. But there is a lot of potential to make a comfortable being an optometrist and thats good enough for me. But I will be doing what I love and what I know I'll be great at and for me thats worth it even if I won't break even at first. Also consider that in IT you can lose your job any day and for any/no reason. Optometry is much more stable when compared to IT. Its really hard to make any financial plans and decisions for the future while working in IT, cause you just never know when you'll lose that job. I lost my job a year and a half ago due to the fact that CIO's nephew graduated college, needed a job and wanted to do what I did. I'm was a certified electronic document imaging architect and he just thought that it sounds cool. In optometry you can be a great doctor and you'll have plenty of work, in IT it doesn't matter, its just politics. And I won't even go into all the corruption thats going on at a company I work for now.

 

[aphistis]

They're trying to compensate.

Maybe if you'd quit comparing your profession to dentistry to justify doing ocular surgery, you find fewer meds & dents hanging around correcting misinformation.

 

[rpames]

I absolutely hate these threads that turn into a bunch a little babies fighting, but I will make one comment.

Yes, there are many chains in the world of eyecare, but they are starting to take over dentistry also. I have seen dental chains in malls, and now doesn't Sears have one? Walmart will be close behind. The chains took over pharmacy, are working on Optometry, and have started on Dentistry. Don't be fooled that your profession is superior b/c you have less corporate involvement. They are coming after you next, and you will be fighting as hard as I to discourage the lies they spread about working for them as the only choice once you leave school. Value your independence while you have it.

 

[aphistis]

I absolutely hate these threads that turn into a bunch a little babies fighting, but I will make one comment.

Yes, there are many chains in the world of eyecare, but they are starting to take over dentistry also. I have seen dental chains in malls, and now doesn't Sears have one? Walmart will be close behind. The chains took over pharmacy, are working on Optometry, and have started on Dentistry. Don't be fooled that your profession is superior b/c you have less corporate involvement. They are coming after you next, and you will be fighting as hard as I to discourage the lies they spread about working for them as the only choice once you leave school. Value your independence while you have it.

I think "taking over" rather overstates the matter. Corporate dental offices exist, yes, but I don't expect retail chains to cut into dentistry any more than they have, for example, primary care medicine. From the retailers' perspective, pharmacy & optometry are ideally suited for their business model. A dominant fraction of the revenue they produce is generated by the sale of drugs & optical appliances, which makes them easily integrated. Dentistry & medicine, on the other hand, rely much more heavily on the services they perform, and much less on salable goods leaving the office, which I think makes them much less attractive to retail corporations. Does that mean I think dentistry is immune? No way. But I don't think what you're portraying is likely to happen anytime soon.

(And, incidentally, I find these threads as distasteful as you, but I was only half joking. As long as a handful of users keep posting faulty information about my profession, I'll be here pointing them out.)

 

[Ben Chudner]

I think "taking over" rather overstates the matter. Corporate dental offices exist, yes, but I don't expect retail chains to cut into dentistry any more than they have, for example, primary care medicine. From the retailers' perspective, pharmacy & optometry are ideally suited for their business model. A dominant fraction of the revenue they produce is generated by the sale of drugs & optical appliances, which makes them easily integrated. Dentistry & medicine, on the other hand, rely much more heavily on the services they perform, and much less on salable goods leaving the office, which I think makes them much less attractive to retail corporations. Does that mean I think dentistry is immune? No way. But I don't think what you're portraying is likely to happen anytime soon.

I tend to agree with aphistis about why optometry and pharmacy were so attractive to corporate. I would warn everyone, however, that Wal-Mart is trying to enter the health insurance business to compete with Davis and Cole. Their intent according to industry insiders is to create an affordable health insurance option for their customers. This will go beyond optometry and pharmacy, and the concern is that we will one day see patients receiving much more than eye exams in their stores. I know the first thought is that no patient would go to Wal-Mart when they are sick, but I used to think the same thing about patients with bacterial corneal ulcers. I no longer believe any profession is immune, but if I were a dentist I would at least feel a little safer. Dentists have been able to avoid a lot of the third party issues the rest of us dread, and I hope they can continue to do so as a model for all of us.

 

[Ben Chudner]

Getting back to the thread, when I finished residency in 1998 (so one year out of school) I started at 80K working for an OMD. Within 2 years I was at 90K. I now own my own practice and I make more than double that. There is money to be made in optometry, but I believe it's more important to enjoy what you do. When you are content in your job, that comes through to patients and you will be much more successful.

 

[wrx04]

Getting back to the thread, when I finished residency in 1998 (so one year out of school) I started at 80K working for an OMD. Within 2 years I was at 90K. I now own my own practice and I make more than double that. There is money to be made in optometry, but I believe it's more important to enjoy what you do. When you are content in your job, that comes through to patients and you will be much more successful.

That's awesome. How long did you wait after graduation until you started your own practice...and did you start cold turkey, or buy into an exsisting practice?

 

[Ben Chudner]

That's awesome. How long did you wait after graduation until you started your own practice...and did you start cold turkey, or buy into an exsisting practice?

I bought an existing practice after working for the OMD for 3 years. The practice is one of the oldest in the county. The original doctor started it in the eary 1920's. I don't think you can open up cold and have the success I've had in the same time frame. I know that you can get there by opening up cold, just not in such a short time.

 

[ppa93]

I think "taking over" rather overstates the matter. Corporate dental offices exist, yes, but I don't expect retail chains to cut into dentistry any more than they have, for example, primary care medicine. From the retailers' perspective, pharmacy & optometry are ideally suited for their business model. A dominant fraction of the revenue they produce is generated by the sale of drugs & optical appliances, which makes them easily integrated. Dentistry & medicine, on the other hand, rely much more heavily on the services they perform, and much less on salable goods leaving the office, which I think makes them much less attractive to retail corporations. Does that mean I think dentistry is immune? No way. But I don't think what you're portraying is likely to happen anytime soon.

(And, incidentally, I find these threads as distasteful as you, but I was only half joking. As long as a handful of users keep posting faulty information about my profession, I'll be here pointing them out.)

I dont care what u say or what u have to say. The only reason why I chose Optometry is because it is less stressful, and I enjoy doing it. On the other hand, You have to deal with a lot of bad customers, plus u are hurting them remember? No one wants to come to u, they come to u because they have to. Now HIV virus is spreading through dentistry, so u better watch out. There are other things bad about Dentistry which I dont wanna mention it here since this thread is for optometry

 

[samwY]

Gee, how awful to think on all the sleep I've lost, worrying whether you find my posts interesting, and how it's all gone to waste.


Less stressful to you, perhaps. Stress is highly personalized.


We call them "patients." You might consider adopting the practice.


Now this part, at least, is true. Getting a filling is definitely the worst thing medicine has to offer. Amputations, chemotherapy, radical surgical resections...child's play, all.


Oh, please, do tell me more. How are we supposed to learn about dentistry if you don't ever tell us?

"Never argue with an idiot; people might have trouble telling you apart."
Way to live up to your own signature. You have issues.

 

[aphistis]

"Never argue with an idiot; people might have trouble telling you apart."
Way to live up to your own signature. You have issues.

Thanks for the psych consult.

 

[rpie]

I bought an existing practice after working for the OMD for 3 years. The practice is one of the oldest in the county. The original doctor started it in the eary 1920's. I don't think you can open up cold and have the success I've had in the same time frame. I know that you can get there by opening up cold, just not in such a short time.

Yes, opening cold is a bit difficult but can be done. My older brother Open his practice cold just to prove a point to our father that it was possible. I think it took him about 2 years to go cash flow positive. Mean while he would fill in for docs on vacation and worked 2 days a week for an OMD. After doing a Solo practice for 6 years he merged his practice into ours.

If you want to start cold I recommend trying to get on as many insurance panels as possible as long as the reimbursement is reasonable. I know that a lot of doctors have become disenchanted with VSP but they will consign you a decent set frames. This frees up a lot of start up capital.

 

[samwY]

Thanks for the psych consult.

No prob. And its not too late to change the issues you have to live with.

 

[r_salis]

Play nice, everybody. Please refrain from personal attacks on other SDN members.

 

[stevec]

When people talk about salaries in this thread, they need to mention the region, state, or city they are talking about. The cost of living can vary quite a bit, and it seems to me that servicing low income areas (eg areas where you have to take lots of not so great insurance to get people to walk in the door) would translate into a significantly lower income.

 

[cdea]

cdea, I am making close to 60K in IT now, but I'm not paying for loans. I've estimated that my loan payment would be around $1500/month, I'll need to make extra $1500/month to break even. That said, money is not the sole reason that I chose optometry. But there is a lot of potential to make a comfortable being an optometrist and thats good enough for me. But I will be doing what I love and what I know I'll be great at and for me thats worth it even if I won't break even at first. Also consider that in IT you can lose your job any day and for any/no reason. Optometry is much more stable when compared to IT. Its really hard to make any financial plans and decisions for the future while working in IT, cause you just never know when you'll lose that job. I lost my job a year and a half ago due to the fact that CIO's nephew graduated college, needed a job and wanted to do what I did. I'm was a certified electronic document imaging architect and he just thought that it sounds cool. In optometry you can be a great doctor and you'll have plenty of work, in IT it doesn't matter, its just politics. And I won't even go into all the corruption thats going on at a company I work for now.

My Thoughts exactly!!!!!!!!

 

[cpw]

cdea, I am making close to 60K in IT now, but I'm not paying for loans. I've estimated that my loan payment would be around $1500/month, I'll need to make extra $1500/month to break even. That said, money is not the sole reason that I chose optometry. But there is a lot of potential to make a comfortable being an optometrist and thats good enough for me. But I will be doing what I love and what I know I'll be great at and for me thats worth it even if I won't break even at first. Also consider that in IT you can lose your job any day and for any/no reason. Optometry is much more stable when compared to IT. Its really hard to make any financial plans and decisions for the future while working in IT, cause you just never know when you'll lose that job. I lost my job a year and a half ago due to the fact that CIO's nephew graduated college, needed a job and wanted to do what I did. I'm was a certified electronic document imaging architect and he just thought that it sounds cool. In optometry you can be a great doctor and you'll have plenty of work, in IT it doesn't matter, its just politics. And I won't even go into all the corruption thats going on at a company I work for now.

you can consolidate your loans after you graduate. My loan consolidation makes my payment about 400 dollars/month. yes, it's spread out over 30 years, but I plan on paying more than the minimum. Also the interest rates are so ridiculously low right now ( I consolidated a 1.6%!!) that it would be wise to spread it out over thirty years and dump more into my retirement account so I can get the return rate (guaranteed to be more than 2%)

So, yes, you'll be in a lot of debt, but there are ways to make it work. You can also do a graduated loan where your payments are lower for the first two or three years and then go up to their "full" amount for the remainder of the loan.

Hope this helps!

 

[scraders]

congrats, cpw! keep us updated on your post-grad plans...

 

[rpie]

you can consolidate your loans after you graduate. My loan consolidation makes my payment about 400 dollars/month. yes, it's spread out over 30 years, but I plan on paying more than the minimum. Also the interest rates are so ridiculously low right now ( I consolidated a 1.6%!!) that it would be wise to spread it out over thirty years and dump more into my retirement account so I can get the return rate (guaranteed to be more than 2%)

So, yes, you'll be in a lot of debt, but there are ways to make it work. You can also do a graduated loan where your payments are lower for the first two or three years and then go up to their "full" amount for the remainder of the loan.

Hope this helps!

Congratulations Dr. CPW O.D. ! Welcome to the world of practicing OD’s! Remember that all new grads and students are the lifeline of the profession. I encourage you all to get active and support your Optometric association. This helps keep Optometry a respectable and viable profession.


Best wished to you and all 05’ Grads!

 

[jchod]

I bought an existing practice after working for the OMD for 3 years. The practice is one of the oldest in the county. The original doctor started it in the eary 1920's. I don't think you can open up cold and have the success I've had in the same time frame. I know that you can get there by opening up cold, just not in such a short time.

You mentioned that you are making over 180K a year since you bought out this retiring OD, is that net or gross? Is that what you're taking home? Do you have an optical too or is most of your income from professionsal fees?

 

[Ben Chudner]

You mentioned that you are making over 180K a year since you bought out this retiring OD, is that net or gross? Is that what you're taking home? Do you have an optical too or is most of your income from professionsal fees?

That number represents take home and does not include benefits such as my car or travel to CE (I like to go to the Island Eyes meeting in Hawaii). I do have to pay out on my business loan with that money, but that creates equity in my practice for when I am ready to sell (much like a home).

I have an optical, but it is not my main profit center. Professional fees represent almost 60% of my practice. I would much rather charge for procedures like RTA, photos, TVF, etc that do not have a 50% cost of goods associated with them. Plus, I believe as the baby boomers age, they will be less likely to purchase new eyewear every year and more likely to have HTN, diabetes, glaucoma, cataracts, etc.

 

[dragon1761]

couldnt we all just get along. I mean isnt being in the health profession all about having a self fullfillment of helping people and making a difference in their life rather than monetary motivations!!!!!!!

 

[JennyW]

couldnt we all just get along. I mean isnt being in the health profession all about having a self fullfillment of helping people and making a difference in their life rather than monetary motivations!!!!!!!

That's a very tender notion, but when you are tens of thousands of dollars in debt, want to start or buy a practice, and maybe wouldn't mine having a car and a house, monetary issues are going to come into play.

Jenny

 

[samwY]

How common is it to work one year as an OD and use that salary to pay off all your loans in that one year?

Other than food money, isn't that very possible?
I wonder because everyone seems in debt from their school loans. I wouldn't mind working for 1 year and not spending any of that money and living with my parents.

Who has done this?

 

[aphistis]

How common is it to work one year as an OD and use that salary to pay off all your loans in that one year?

Other than food money, isn't that very possible?
I wonder because everyone seems in debt from their school loans. I wouldn't mind working for 1 year and not spending any of that money and living with my parents.

Who has done this?

You can do that, but it's virtually guaranteed to lose you money compared to paying your loans down over an extended time interval, and investing the difference. I posted to a similar thread on the pre-dent board a few weeks ago:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=2593291&postcount=34

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=2593914&postcount=53

Hope this helps some.

 

[dragon1761]

i agree. You do make a valid point, but the burden that you carry from obtaining debt can be used as a sense of motivation to work even harder in optometry school and try to get a full ride at the place your at. To become the best at your field. There is always the army to lessen the burden.

 

[JennyW]

You can do that, but it's virtually guaranteed to lose you money compared to paying your loans down over an extended time interval, and investing the difference. I posted to a similar thread on the pre-dent board a few weeks ago:

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=2593291&postcount=34

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showpost.php?p=2593914&postcount=53

Hope this helps some.

Bill,

That's a good exercise in theory, and in theory you're right. If you have long term debt at a low interest rate it doesn't make much sense to try to pay it off quickly if you can invest money elsewhere and make a higher return.

The problem is that carrying a large student debt burden may make it more difficult for people to get financing for a home, a car, and especially for a practice.

Jenny

 

[rpames]

A friend actually told me today that you have to have debt now days, it is good to have it. I laughed and said, you have to be kidding. As Jenny pointed out, it can impact further financing later on. Not to mention that fact that you have that huge debt hanging over you head for 30 years.

Although you could make money by investing with the money you could have put toward paying off the loans, will you actually make enough to really make it worth it in the long run?

I suggest listening to Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Make Over." It is about living debt free, except perhaps a home mortgage. It really opens your eyes to the possibilities of living with out any debt.

 

[aphistis]

Bill,

That's a good exercise in theory, and in theory you're right. If you have long term debt at a low interest rate it doesn't make much sense to try to pay it off quickly if you can invest money elsewhere and make a higher return.

The problem is that carrying a large student debt burden may make it more difficult for people to get financing for a home, a car, and especially for a practice.

Jenny

Hi Jenny,

You've obviously been in the game for quite some time, so I'm not going to contradict you, but that hasn't been my experience at all. Less than a month ago, my wife & I leased a new Jeep Liberty on exceptional terms. Over the next few weeks we'll be meeting with lenders to secure financing to build a house this fall, and we expecting favorable terms on the mortgage as well.

I can't comment directly on financing a new practice, but I know plenty of lenders exist who appreciate the combination of large debt and high earning potential that comes with a medical or dental degree. I imagine the same argument could be made for a newly-minted optometrist, nein? Again, I won't presume to speak for everyone, but while my 28 accounts and >$100,000 (and counting) of student loan debt are probably dragging my credit score down, they haven't produced any problems of creditworthiness.

Once again, I'm not suggesting I know more than you about money management, but I haven't run into any of the problems you mention. Hopefully the trend continues.

 

[aphistis]

A friend actually told me today that you have to have debt now days, it is good to have it. I laughed and said, you have to be kidding. As Jenny pointed out, it can impact further financing later on. Not to mention that fact that you have that huge debt hanging over you head for 30 years.

Although you could make money by investing with the money you could have put toward paying off the loans, will you actually make enough to really make it worth it in the long run?

I suggest listening to Dave Ramsey's "Total Money Make Over." It is about living debt free, except perhaps a home mortgage. It really opens your eyes to the possibilities of living with out any debt.

As Jenny & I have illustrated, there's no objectively correct answer to the question; it'll vary with the person & the situation. My personal philosophy, and I think the numbers do a good job of bearing it out, is that if you know what kind to hold and how to manage it, debt isn't a bad word, and can be a valuable component of a financial plan. But, if it's important to you to know the obligation isn't looming overhead, by all means pay it off as quickly as you can.

 

[JennyW]

Hi Jenny,

You've obviously been in the game for quite some time, so I'm not going to contradict you, but that hasn't been my experience at all. Less than a month ago, my wife & I leased a new Jeep Liberty on exceptional terms. Over the next few weeks we'll be meeting with lenders to secure financing to build a house this fall, and we expecting favorable terms on the mortgage as well.

I can't comment directly on financing a new practice, but I know plenty of lenders exist who appreciate the combination of large debt and high earning potential that comes with a medical or dental degree. I imagine the same argument could be made for a newly-minted optometrist, nein? Again, I won't presume to speak for everyone, but while my 28 accounts and >$100,000 (and counting) of student loan debt are probably dragging my credit score down, they haven't produced any problems of creditworthiness.

Once again, I'm not suggesting I know more than you about money management, but I haven't run into any of the problems you mention. Hopefully the trend continues.

Bill

I also was able to get a good rate on my house and cars but those are things that are easy to reposses. The bank was a lot more difficult in financing me anything to start a practice because of my student loan debt. Now, I graduated in the early 90s when student loan rates were much higher but I ended up taking on a commercial lease for a few years and paid down my student loan to a level where the lender was comfortable loaning me money to get off the ground.

Jenny

 

[aphistis]

Bill

I also was able to get a good rate on my house and cars but those are things that are easy to reposses. The bank was a lot more difficult in financing me anything to start a practice because of my student loan debt. Now, I graduated in the early 90s when student loan rates were much higher but I ended up taking on a commercial lease for a few years and paid down my student loan to a level where the lender was comfortable loaning me money to get off the ground.

Jenny

Fair enough. Thanks for the caveat.

 

[Ben Chudner]

Bill,

That's a good exercise in theory, and in theory you're right. If you have long term debt at a low interest rate it doesn't make much sense to try to pay it off quickly if you can invest money elsewhere and make a higher return.

The problem is that carrying a large student debt burden may make it more difficult for people to get financing for a home, a car, and especially for a practice.

Jenny

Jenny makes a good point, however, I can tell you that student loan debt does not drag your credit score down significantly. If you are in good standing over the years, it may actually help your score. I graduated in 1997 with about $80k in debt. In 2001 I had no problem securing financing to purchase my practice. I am not sure of what I owed at that time, but as of this month I am still at about $37K. My credit score in 2001 was in the mid 700's so financing anything was possible. My advice is to pay off your loans over the course of 10 years at the low interest rate. You will be able to do more with the extra money now such as invest or support yourself during the lean years of just starting out in private practice. Every financial planner I have spoken with has said that student loan debt is good debt. In the end, your credit score will be extremely high when you have 10 years worth of good payment history.

 

[JennyW]

Jenny makes a good point, however, I can tell you that student loan debt does not drag your credit score down significantly. If you are in good standing over the years, it may actually help your score. I graduated in 1997 with about $80k in debt. In 2001 I had no problem securing financing to purchase my practice. I am not sure of what I owed at that time, but as of this month I am still at about $37K. My credit score in 2001 was in the mid 700's so financing anything was possible. My advice is to pay off your loans over the course of 10 years at the low interest rate. You will be able to do more with the extra money now such as invest or support yourself during the lean years of just starting out in private practice. Every financial planner I have spoken with has said that student loan debt is good debt. In the end, your credit score will be extremely high when you have 10 years worth of good payment history.

You're right. Student loan debt is not going to affect your credit score that much. But there is a big difference between graduating with an 80k loan and graduating with a 200k loan which is what some of the people on here are talking about doing. If you want to be an employee for your career, (and there's nothign wrong with that) then that is ok, and following Bills advice about paying your loan over a long period of time and investing the difference is very sound. But for those that want to purchase a practice, or start one cold, a 200k level of debt load could be a serious problem.

Jenny

 

[Tom_Stickel]

Hi Jenny,

You've obviously been in the game for quite some time, so I'm not going to contradict you, but that hasn't been my experience at all. Less than a month ago, my wife & I leased a new Jeep Liberty on exceptional terms. Over the next few weeks we'll be meeting with lenders to secure financing to build a house this fall, and we expecting favorable terms on the mortgage as well.

I can't comment directly on financing a new practice, but I know plenty of lenders exist who appreciate the combination of large debt and high earning potential that comes with a medical or dental degree. I imagine the same argument could be made for a newly-minted optometrist, nein? Again, I won't presume to speak for everyone, but while my 28 accounts and >$100,000 (and counting) of student loan debt are probably dragging my credit score down, they haven't produced any problems of creditworthiness.

Once again, I'm not suggesting I know more than you about money management, but I haven't run into any of the problems you mention. Hopefully the trend continues.

Bill,

Again we run into the problem of a dentist posting on an optometry board. There are subtleties that you're going to miss, and you missed a big one. As Jenny, an optometrist points out, debt makes it harder for you to finance a practice.

I know dentists, and talk to them about their practices. I know one who has just opened cold, leased his second location, and has plans for a third already started. He has large house debt, his wife has large medical debt, and yet the lenders give him the money. Why? Because as my friend the dentist tells me, even a dentist who is a mediocre businessman will make a comfortable living.

If you're a mediocre businessperson in optometry these days, you will be eaten alive and back to working at Wal-Mart very very fast. I know ODs who this has happened to. I also know ODs who have had their business plans laughed at by banks. Twenty years ago, before commercial optometry became as strong as it is, I'm guessing optometry was like dentistry in that money was easy to come by.

Granted, I also know ODs who have started cold, but they either have low debt, family help, or a monopoly type location in a small town, or preferably all three. And they are good business people who work very hard at it. Some ODs might even be able to overcome all the negative factors by being outstanding businesspeople, but if they were that interested in business, they probably wouldn't have gotten an OD degree.

Careful what you post. If you're this interested in optometry, it might pay to join boards where actual practicing optometrists routinely post before you give out potentially misleading info to students.

Tom Stickel
Indiana U.

 

[aphistis]

Bill,

Again we run into the problem of a dentist posting on an optometry board. There are subtleties that you're going to miss, and you missed a big one. As Jenny, an optometrist points out, debt makes it harder for you to finance a practice.

I know dentists, and talk to them about their practices. I know one who has just opened cold, leased his second location, and has plans for a third already started. He has large house debt, his wife has large medical debt, and yet the lenders give him the money. Why? Because as my friend the dentist tells me, even a dentist who is a mediocre businessman will make a comfortable living.

If you're a mediocre businessperson in optometry these days, you will be eaten alive and back to working at Wal-Mart very very fast. I know ODs who this has happened to. I also know ODs who have had their business plans laughed at by banks. Twenty years ago, before commercial optometry became as strong as it is, I'm guessing optometry was like dentistry in that money was easy to come by.

Granted, I also know ODs who have started cold, but they either have low debt, family help, or a monopoly type location in a small town, or preferably all three. And they are good business people who work very hard at it. Some ODs might even be able to overcome all the negative factors by being outstanding businesspeople, but if they were that interested in business, they probably wouldn't have gotten an OD degree.

Careful what you post. If you're this interested in optometry, it might pay to join boards where actual practicing optometrists routinely post before you give out potentially misleading info to students.

Tom Stickel
Indiana U.

Dr. Stickel,

Enough with the "dentist posting on the opto board" thing, please. SDN is an open forum, and Jenny & I had already resolved the matter to both our satisfaction well before you chimed in. If you truly find my posts so offensive, report me to the site administrators; and for the sake of preserving the original thread, if you're going to keep pushing this issue, I ask that you send a PM.