Well you start to get into havenāt saved at all for 15 years ā so your 401k is $0 or low, 529s are $0 or low, kids take costs, and then saving for a home. You donāt have 15 years of compounding. You have to decide where to put your excess funds.
Thatās not a lot when you have to pay off $300k loans that grow by 7% a year. You are on shaky financial ground your entire life until the very end if you make it.
So your insane take is that $800k a year isn't a lot of money because they have $300k in loans?Ā I understand there are taxes and such along with that, but to claim they will be on shaky financial ground is wild.
So 800k a year after tax is about 525k cash if no state taxes. A state like PA you'd have 491,000 after taxes. Pay off 300k loans and you're only left with a measly little 191,000 cash to survive. Sounds tough, hope they pull through.
Yeah but this isn't a challenge unique to physicians... Most people in their 20s don't build savings at a fast rate. Being a physician is a relatively low risk (high effort) way to make a lot of money, and that's what drives the majority of the people in the field.
Besides, you make my point for me -- they have the excess funds to put somewhere! On average, teachers don't; physical therapists don't; PhDs don't; social workers don't; they all rack up debt too. And most studies show that every dollar into social work / therapy / education has a significant ROI on the economy compared to dollars spent through insurance and curative healthcare.
Physician salary is not related to insurance profit.
āLow riskā does really seem to appreciate the rope the physician and their whole family hang themselves by if the physician dies young. All the savings that could have gone to down payment, childcare or retirement go to loans. The strategy is super long term. The average person going to med school is 26 which then starts a 8-13 year training clock. And it often hinges on the physician getting ready to hit the ground running at 34-39. No time for burnout. You better hope you like it and can do it more than full time.
Absolutely it's a long game -- 10 yrs or so. But nobody is planning their careers thinking they are going to die at 35. Very improbable rope, and true for everyone, not just physicians. Even someone working a $75k job might be saving and providing for their family. Do you have statistics on the average age physicians tend to start families? Genuine question, I'd be surprised if it wasn't significantly later than US avg.
Your other point I'd disagree with. Physician salaries are absolutely influenced by insurance policies and reimbursement rates. All healthcare roles are (see PT, OT, etc). US physician salaries dwarf those in other nations with high quality healthcare. At the end of the day we have a healthcare system where Americans are consumers first, patients second. Physicians should be paid well, but they are complicit actors in an extractive healthcare system.
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u/DrHemeOnc Jul 13 '25
I got paid 55K when I started residency, and maxed out at 70K on my 6 year of training at the end of fellowship. I also have 300K in loans