Tag: Student loans

So… who’s looking for a new job?

by M, posted in Burnout

"So... who's looking for a new job?" We scanned each other's eyes over the Zoom screen, as if the miniature windows of these four pixelated beauties could reveal any hidden truths. Nothing. Taking a sip of my pinot gris, I soaked in the uncomfortable silence. Conversation was always going to land here.  Months spent on Slack commiserating over this foreign new world of startup culture, complaining about our ineffective EMR, griping about entitled patients - and yet, this topic had never been breached. It clearly had been top of mind as I watched everyone glance away from their screens, yet no one wanted to answer.  No one wanted to shatter the illusion that we didn't know one of us would eventually walk away from our unexpected support group.

San Juan County Park sunset

Career Lifespan of a Millennial Doctor: 10-15 years MAX

by M, posted in Burnout, Student Loans

Millennial doctors are declaring our career lifespans to be shorter than our predecessors.

At first I assumed it was selection bias due to reading all the physician FIRE blogs when starting my burnout journey.  But, among my cohort of millennial doctors comprised of Emergency Medicine, Pediatrics and Med/Peds physicians at this unofficial reunion, NONE of us are planning on having a lengthy career in medicine.

4 years of pre-med.  4 years of med school.  3-4 years of residency.

All that training for us to then make enough to pay off the 6 figure loans, stockpile our money and GET OUT in just about the same amount of time it took for us to get through training to begin with.

Badlands, South Dakota

How I’m Plotting My Escape From Medicine

by M, posted in Almighty Dollar, Burnout

I just spent the entire morning planning my escape from medicine.

I don't even know how the ball started rolling, but I found myself lost in the math trying to figure exactly how little I needed to live on.  I've long known the 4% rule - if you can live off of 4% of your total investments, you could presumably retire.

Are you good on $40,000/year?  Your number = $1,000,000.

What could I cut back on to get to my personal number?

Seven Waterfall Hike, Oregon

How This Millennial Doctor Paid Off $100,000 in Student Loans in 2 years

by M, posted in Student Loans

Every January, I go through my spending over the previous year to see where my money went using Mint.  It just hit me today - since refinancing my student loans in Dec 2015, I have paid off $100,000!  It has felt like such a slow and painful process, but finally I'm at a tangible mark - $100,000 certainly feels like a HUGE accomplishment. ...

Sunset in Panama City Beach, FL

Crushing Medical Student Debt

by M, posted in Student Loans

One of my biggest regrets of going into medicine is not fully investigating the costs: the costs to my personal life AND the financial cost.  I remember the idealism of my teens and early 20s - I was going to help people!  I might even save lives one day!  What greater contribution to society could one give?  Any costs brought on by my education was worth it, so I took out the full amount of student loans available without any questions. ...

The Rotunda, San Francisco, CA

Mo’ Money Mo’ Problems

by M, posted in Student Loans

When I turned 30 and had essentially completed everything on my bucket list, I was left with the crushing weight of my student loans as the last goal to tackle.  I was able to walk away from undergrad without any student debt - I was fortunate to have gone to premed before skyrocketing tuition rates, had several scholarships and was lucky to have parents who had saved for higher education since I was born.  But, after 4 years of med school and taking out the full amount that was offered, I ended up with $217,000, compounding at 6.55% interest. ...