Has anyone read this??!! It is very well written, thorough, and enlightening. Yet, it also absolutely makes you crazy!
The Deceptive Income of Physicians, http://benbrownmd.wordpress.com/
I think we still would have gone down this road if we had read this beforehand (way back in 2001), but it's still painful to read now. Really.
I guess it is a good thing that being a physician is a rewarding career - in general, as well as in so many little ways that add up over a lifetime.
4 comments:
Wow. Just finished reading that...and it's all true! That's why you hire an attorney as soon as you leave residency to teach you to manage your income. :)
wow! adam sure is mad about this one! he wants to know what kind of car this guy drives (or any dr., for that matter) compared to what his kid's teachers drive..... since they basically make the same amount!
from me, those numbers on interest better get you to be living on $80,000/yr to pay down that debt AS SOON AS POSSIBLE!!!!!!!
adam says he doesn't think doctors are overpaid, he just doesn't know why this guy is making such a big deal out of it. "you make a lot of money. get over it." (adam quote ;)
But I think that's the point of the article! The physicians spend so much time training and go into so much debt in order to pay for that training, while meanwhile their counterparts are earning an income! My husband just makes a little bit more than minimum wage right now - seven years post grad!! With the horrendous hours he works, I'm sure he will come out expecting to buy a nice house - when in reality he should plan to pay down his debt and continue to rent and live frugally - for years! I think it is easy to understand why doctors are always viewed as unwise spenders. I think the required training takes a toll mentally as well as physically. They may think they deserve to buy whatever they want - despite the accruing interest on their school loans... We'll see how it pans out for us!
I love reading articles like this. Not because they make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside (they don't) but it is nice to see someone at least attempting to quantify an experience that can really only be known by those who undertake it (and those married to them). Do they make too much money? No way. What the author failed to take into account also is the disadvantage doctors are in when they get those debts paid off and can start trying to save for retirement. Starting 15 years after your peers makes a huge difference. You need time for wealth to accumulate, and that is something a doctor, who will have a relatively shorter amount of time working and contributing to a plan, does not have the advantage of. I find it repulsive how some people continue to point fingers at a group of people who have sacrificed so much. In further upsets me that there are no provisions in our tax code that allow our costs to be accounted for either at the time they are expended or at the time they are paid. I am not looking forward to the tax cuts expected to expire at the end of this year. It feels like a slap in the face.
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