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cute fuzzy bunny · 03-20-2006, 10:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MedicalDoc

1. Those who seek to retire as early as possible, even if it means having a significantly diminished standard of living now and in retirement. For them, any money spent delays retirement (and is therefore bad). You can recognize these folks as the ones who pride themselves on how little they spend
2. Those who seek to retire early but are willing to work a bit longer if it means maintaining a "comfortable' standard of living. They enjoy splurging for the occasional extravance, but don't want to work until they die.

3. People who realize that they dont have to live up to other people ideas of what a "high standard of living are". I used to make more than you and your spouse put together, but it finally sunk in that getting rid of the stress, aggravation and time consumption of my working life in order to actually live MY life and raise my own child made a lot of sense. I traded off running on the hampster wheel to pay for living the high life for a very pleasant life style where I do myself what I used to pay others to do.

Hmm...work ten hours a day to drink $4 lattes, $5 cocktails, $40 meals and pay people to mow my lawn, clean my house and raise my kid, or spend a few hours a day brewing my own coffee, popping my own wine corks, cooking my own food, mowing my own lawn, cleaning my own house (ok...not very well sometimes), and I've seen every single living "first" my son has accomplished.

And Robin Leach never, ever wants to interview me, which is a huge plus as far as i'm concerned

However, if the wife isnt going to go for it, you've either decided to move forward with half your assets or keep doing what you're doing.

Good luck.

03-20-2006, 11:49 AM

Fair or not, that $7 million figure is going to come into my head when I write my health insurance checks. Just like I think of the oil company record profits figure when I pay $2.75/gal for gas.

poyet · 03-20-2006, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MedicalDoc

For more helpful (and accurate) comparisons, here is my data:

My wife and I are physicians in our mid-40s
Our total gross income: $~580K/yr
403B and academic annuity savings: ~$1,000,000 (90% stocks)
After tax retirement account: $500K (75% stocks)
Take home: ~380K/yr
Savings (403B and after tax accounts): ~125K/yr
Academic annuity (paid by our employers) 60K/yr

So we save about 1/3 of our take-home salary. How does that compare to you? Any advice?

We are hoping to retire in about a dozen years and figure that we should have around 7 million by then

Saving 120k per year, invested @ say 14% (quite difficult over 12 years) and tax deferred will yield 2.8 millions. If your 120k/year grow @ 7% it will just be 1.9 million. Growing to 7 millions will be a challenge for many reasons and will also depend on how you handle taxes and leverage if any. It also depends on the expected returns on your current assets. But that's an interesting objective. The question is do you postpone enjoying your life to when you're 57 to be sure of having 7M$

region2 · 03-20-2006, 01:09 PM

MedicalDoc, Where are you starting from? What is your current nest egg? Amassing 7 million even on your income may be a gargantuan task.

Enuff2Eat · 03-20-2006, 01:46 PM

hi doc,

is it true that husband and wife physians couple have ZERO SEX??

hi stress, hi lifestyle, long hours and no time....are the things i heard.

enuff

sorry for unpolite question but just want to confirm the fact.

cute fuzzy bunny · 03-20-2006, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Enuff2Eat

is it true that husband and wife physians couple have ZERO SEX??

Maybe not with each other

haha · 03-20-2006, 02:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MedicalDoc

I think that alot of the comments have been thoughtful and useful.* Obviously a small number have not.* First, one person's reference to our salary and the cost of medical care.* Physician's salaries represent only a small fraction of the cost of medical care.* Hospital costs, drugs costs, nurses, and insurers get their share.* .* *

You know Doc, I never thought of this. It's those damn overpaid nurses, coming to work in their BMW 7xxs that have made US medicine so terribly expensive.

And of course, every time reform is attempted, like a single payer system, the American Nurses Association throws in with the insurers and other leaches and blocks it.

Thanks for setting me straight, Doc.

Ha

MasterBlaster · 03-20-2006, 02:17 PM

HaHA:

When you need your bypass operation we'll send you to the doc only pullin in 19k/year.

cute fuzzy bunny · 03-20-2006, 02:29 PM

[img width=750 height=719]http://www.luds.net/galeries/Dr%20Riviera.gif[/img]

I dont have much of a problem with someone who goes to a bazillion years of school, works another bazillion hours for peanuts, then making a good living.

haha · 03-20-2006, 02:35 PM

Thanks fellas, I knew you would understand.*

Ha

Brat · 03-20-2006, 02:43 PM

Come on gang, don't ‘dis a poster with an honest dilemma. *

First most physicians have had to spend a lot of time doing well in school... not many opportunities to goof off with the kids in the neighborhood. *The return on the investment of a medical license (count up school costs and opportunity costs during internship and residency) isn't that high. *Add in the stress and the hours worked.. I don't think it is a picnic.

Given all that investment of time and energy, now the Doc is making some real money and the profession may not be as personally rewarding as expected. * Now he needs to set new goals and has no benchmark against which to measure them. *

Give the guy a break!

Rich_by_the_Bay · 03-20-2006, 03:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by HaHa

You know Doc, I never thought of this. It's those damn overpaid nurses, coming to work in their BMW 7xxs that have made US medicine so terribly expensive.

And of course, every time reform is attempted, like a single payer system, the American Nurses Association throws in with the insurers and other leaches and blocks it.

Thanks for setting me straight, Doc.

Hey, Ha - where's all that hostility coming from? Time for a check up

? Grade school nemesis become a doctor or something?

Actually, I am wondering where I went wrong - I didn't catch a bit of flack when I introduced myself here, or at least it was all in good humor.

Rich_by_the_Bay · 03-20-2006, 03:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brat

First most physicians have had to spend a lot of time doing well in school... not many opportunities to goof off with the kids in the neighborhood. The return on the investment of a medical license (count up school costs and opportunity costs during internship and residency) isn't that high. Add in the stress and the hours worked.. I don't think it is a picnic. Give the guy a break!

Right on. Actually, with the benefit of decades of hindsight, the biggest sacrifice: spending my 30s paying off loans instead of investing early. If I had invested those many tens of thousands of dollar before I was forty, I would be way, way, way FIRED.

Biggest reward: a career I have and always will love - at my age, the FIRE DESIRE revolves not so much around escaping it, as it does balancing it with other meaningful people and activities. An abundance of riches, but maybe not the greenback kind.

Martha · 03-20-2006, 03:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich_in_Tampa

Right on. Actually, with the benefit of decades of hindsight, the biggest sacrifice: spending my 30s paying off loans instead of investing early. If I had invested those many tens of thousands of dollar before I was forty, I would be way, way, way FIRED.

Biggest reward: a career I have and always will love - at my age, the FIRE DESIRE revolves not so much around escaping it, as it does balancing it with other meaningful people and activities. An abundance of riches, but maybe not the greenback kind.

I spent my 30s doing the same thing. It is wonderful that you had a career you loved. I hear from many professionals, both doctors and lawyers, that they don't love their careers anymore. To much a focus on the business aspects (paperwork, billable hours/units, etc) and not enough on the profession.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rich_in_Tampa

Hey, Ha - where's all that hostility coming from?

Ha gets moody at times.

Brat · 03-20-2006, 03:55 PM

I have less pity for lawyers, unless they are sitting on my side of the table.**

Martha · 03-20-2006, 03:59 PM

So, those of you with children where both husbands and wives work, how is it working out? This is sort of on topic as the OP and his wife both work hard and thus need outside childcare. We never had kids so we never had to worry about someone else caring for them.

My best friend had a higher paying job than her husband. When their kids were young, he became a house husband for a number of years. It worked well for them, but it was a bit tough on him because of how unusual it was for the man to stay at home.

Most of the lawyers in my age group in our office had wives who stayed home with the kids while they worked too hard. Some have regrets about missing their children's childhoods.

I think it would be very tough for two parents that work long hours to raise their kids. I don't mean to be critical that they have children; I just don't know how they make it work without feeling like you are missing out on their lives.

Martha · 03-20-2006, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brat

I have less pity for lawyers, unless they are sitting on my side of the table.

NOBODY has pity for lawyers.

Brat · 03-20-2006, 04:09 PM

Working parents, mom makes more. Want to spend time with the kids. Been there done that, daughter doing it.

What is does mean is that your adult social life is zilch because every waking moment not at work rightfully belongs to the family.* To do it right isn't easy, but it is a lot easier long run when your children transition into a healthy adulthood.* For most it is like running a mid-distance marathon: exausting, painful in parts, rewarding to finish.

I (maybe not you) am old enough to remember the 60's when we fought for the right to do our own thing.* Little did we know how exausting it would be.

justin · 03-20-2006, 04:14 PM

Me and DW work. 1 year old and 1 more on the way. It's working pretty good. Our hours aren't too bad - me ~42/wk, DW - ~45-50/wk.

Weekends are wonderful since there is no take-home work. Weekdays are a 5-day marathon with little free time. DW's mother takes care of the little one during the day, so the little one has lots of interaction with family.

We are able to spend more money this way (on things that matter to us). We also save double or triple what I would save if only I were working. DW also likes the social interaction that work provides (you can only talk to a 1 year old for so long...).