financial viability of becoming a doctor
some thoughts from fellow premeds, and medical student.
"Take home pay is highly variable depending on who you work for, and what you have to pay for yourself. Pure private practices are going to be paid different from Kaiser, which are going to be paid different from academics, etc.
Debt can be paid off rapidly if you're aggressive, or longer if you want to take longer, so you can do it in 5 years, 10 years, 20, 30, if you really wanted to.
I mean here are some of the factors that will play into repayment rate:
-What is your income going to be after residency? How about 5, 10 or 15 years after residency? Spouse's income?
-Living expenses-BFE or urban paradise? very different answers.
-Lifestyle expectations?
-How good a saver are you?
-Return of financial markets over the next two decades will affect how much of a burden this debt is.
-What is your tax rate going to be over the life of this loan?
-What is the interest rate on your debt? Is it variable?
-What will inflation do to this debt over the term of payback 10-20 years or more? High inflation is the debtor's friend if you have a low interest fixed rate loan.
-Will the rules for this debt change? e.g. income based repayment or something akin to mortgage debt forgiveness?
A safe assumption for take home pay I would use it about 150 k or so if you're getting "paid" 250 k
On getting loans--
always try to go through your school, because private loans will almost certainly try to give you a crappy rate. that said, shop around.
"Take home pay is highly variable depending on who you work for, and what you have to pay for yourself. Pure private practices are going to be paid different from Kaiser, which are going to be paid different from academics, etc.
Debt can be paid off rapidly if you're aggressive, or longer if you want to take longer, so you can do it in 5 years, 10 years, 20, 30, if you really wanted to.
I mean here are some of the factors that will play into repayment rate:
-What is your income going to be after residency? How about 5, 10 or 15 years after residency? Spouse's income?
-Living expenses-BFE or urban paradise? very different answers.
-Lifestyle expectations?
-How good a saver are you?
-Return of financial markets over the next two decades will affect how much of a burden this debt is.
-What is your tax rate going to be over the life of this loan?
-What is the interest rate on your debt? Is it variable?
-What will inflation do to this debt over the term of payback 10-20 years or more? High inflation is the debtor's friend if you have a low interest fixed rate loan.
-Will the rules for this debt change? e.g. income based repayment or something akin to mortgage debt forgiveness?
A safe assumption for take home pay I would use it about 150 k or so if you're getting "paid" 250 k
On getting loans--
always try to go through your school, because private loans will almost certainly try to give you a crappy rate. that said, shop around.