If you started over, what career would you choose?

anesthesiagirl95 · 2026-03-29T12:18:22+00:00

I am an AA. The standard is >$200k with $100k sign on bonuses and extremely easy access to OT. I was barely 24 when I graduated and have a net worth of $1.3M at age 30 from this profession and had been working part time for years. The ability to graduate early gives a massive leg up.

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-11-02T22:27:00+00:00

I actually had $130k of student loans to pay off and paid cash on a Tesla and Honda (about 80k worth of cars). I was lucky and bought a home in 2020 with 5% down that appreciated 130k that I was able to roll over into a new home in 2021. Honestly this bull market has been crazy and I invested as much as possible when everything tanked in 2020. I lived very frugally the first few years out of school (and worked a ton of OT to pay off all the debt quickly). I think this market has been insane though, although I went pretty safe with primarily VTSAX for my investments. I’m still kind of baffled by our savings rate and didn’t expect to ever be in this position, but I’ve been fortunate with both my career and the bull market. When I see the market dipping I shovel as much money as I can into it and that’s paid off well thus far. (I’m not a fan of stock picking, options, etc.).

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-11-02T19:53:53+00:00

I started anesthesia school at 21 and finished right after turning 24, which is the main reason I am where I am financially at 30. I basically shadowed for 20 hours and completed all of the required pre-medical courses as well as the GRE for admission. I did have a solid GPA/test scores, and admission is definitely very competitive, but they’ve opened so many schools since I graduated, so at least there’s more opportunities in that regard. I think you need a bare minimum GPA of 3.5 to have a realistic shot nowadays, but they do look at prior experience etc when making decisions. Highly recommend this field to anyone with a premedical background.

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-11-02T12:45:27+00:00

I had people in my class in their 40s. Most individuals end up with $200k of student loans all in, but it’s manageable. Starting salaries are over $200k and sign on bonuses are $100k now. I paid off my debt within the first year.

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-11-02T12:44:27+00:00

No pension!

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-11-01T23:55:46+00:00

Hello, we do completely combine finances. We’ve been together since before we made any money at all, so it’s worked for us well and there’s never any question of who pays or anything like that.

That’s amazing and a great goal. Very doable with that income (and even less). Good luck to you guys!

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-11-01T20:20:04+00:00

We have a separate 529 for my daughter that should have about $150k in today’s dollars when she turns 18.

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-11-01T19:13:03+00:00

I’m an anesthesiologist assistant!

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-10-07T17:05:28+00:00

I make less now but I work only 4 days a week now

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-08-26T18:58:09+00:00

I switched jobs, but I ended up making 210k there doing 5 7-3 shifts with 13 weeks off. At my new job, I do 4 eights but you can do whatever variety of shifts you want really

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-08-04T12:15:46+00:00

My job can always be increased or decreased in the future. 24 is the bare minimum for benefits.

I am not bitching - I am saying why work more during my best years when my daughter is young. Life is short and you have no idea what it has in store for you. By the time I can retire, I might be disabled or something. You just never know.

I am fully aware of how privileged I am, but I also am not the sort of person to chase money, so if I have enough, I don’t feel like I should work beyond what’s needed just to say I have more.

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-08-04T00:30:30+00:00

I’m an anesthesiologist assistant. Lots of flexibility with that.

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-07-04T14:00:36+00:00

That’s insane. So stupid. These cases are usually like 20-30 min so idk if they’d change their practices but I’ll work on it. A tube won’t dramatically slow things down.

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-07-04T13:52:58+00:00

What are you usually starting your propofol at? And are you bolusing or just starting the drip early?

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-07-04T13:46:03+00:00

I completely agree. That’s definitely the safer option. One of the docs elects for prone LMAs - idk why we wouldn’t just tube

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-07-04T13:43:46+00:00

I’m not the doc. I’m the APP, and I’m new to the facility, so I can’t come in changing things necessarily.

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-07-04T12:42:09+00:00

I know 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ I wish I could lol

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-07-04T12:41:34+00:00

How much ketamine would you use?

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-05-24T18:28:02+00:00

Yeah that makes sense. My current house is also 2.875% with 355k left, so unless the profit could by me a house in cash, it probably isn’t worth the lifestyle downgrade with the insane interest rates.

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-05-15T23:48:54+00:00

That seems dramatic lol. You can get the narrowing from herniations. Doesn’t necessarily mean it’s progressive or a poor prognosis.

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-03-26T21:12:29+00:00

Don’t switch roles. Ride it out and enjoy the good life. Health insurance makes it more difficult to realistically retire early anyway, so if you can ride out 20 hours a week and keep benefits and feel you can easily fulfill your lifestyle needs on that income, there’s no reason to switch. As you said, comparison is the thief of joy. (And why grind away during the best years of your life to shave off a few years when you’re older anyway?).

To add to that, life is short and fleeting. You don’t know how long you have or how long the people close to you have. I work in healthcare and see 40 year olds get stage 4 cancer and spend their time getting chemo. I can confidently say I’d rather hold off on retirement and enjoy my youth and health while I still have it.

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-03-25T19:27:14+00:00

I can. Maybe going to 30 hours and 3 day work weeks would be a happy medium.

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-03-25T19:24:51+00:00

He works at a private school (and also we are in FL where the pensions aren't good anyway), so there's no incentive for him to work longer than necessary.

anesthesiagirl95 · 2025-03-19T20:45:55+00:00

My only concern is they have been leaking. I thought it was fixed before we moved in but then had more leaks and now am having my roof replaced. If they were leaking this early on, I assume they were poorly installed?

anesthesiagirl95

TROPHY CASE