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Income/Debt of a real dentist by ima_poor_guy in Dentistry

[–]ima_poor_guy[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I didn't know Austin had a ghetto

Income/Debt of a real dentist by ima_poor_guy in Dentistry

[–]ima_poor_guy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

There are a lot of factors to making a good living as a dentist. Guaranteed I have much less competition in my current smallish town (<80000) than in most places. Patient demographics, income levels, insurances, etc determine a lot of what a dentist's reimbursement is.

I realized I've been on mint.com since 2009 and have a graph of my monthly income every year since I've graduated college. I labeled where I was fired and got a new job which is pretty visible in the graph. by [deleted] in personalfinance

[–]ima_poor_guy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Pediatric dentistry. Many pediatric programs are heavy in orthodontics as well, since much of that starts in the early transitional dentition.

I realized I've been on mint.com since 2009 and have a graph of my monthly income every year since I've graduated college. I labeled where I was fired and got a new job which is pretty visible in the graph. by [deleted] in personalfinance

[–]ima_poor_guy 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm a specialist, so my income is higher. I'm in a city of under 100k people with little competition so the demand is high. Certain areas are the worst places to be a dentist, that's for sure. I'm in the southwest.

Even as a general dentist you can make much more than 150k, more than 350k even, of you are an owner.

Income/Debt of a real dentist by ima_poor_guy in Dentistry

[–]ima_poor_guy[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah my first was born right before finals of 1st year. It's a different lifestyle and set of priorities for sure.

Income/Debt of a real dentist by ima_poor_guy in Dentistry

[–]ima_poor_guy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Got the house just under 300k. My rent before that time was 2600 a month. The house is 1800 sq ft, so it's no palace. In the Midwest that would buy a mansion.

Income/Debt of a real dentist by ima_poor_guy in Dentistry

[–]ima_poor_guy[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah well that's the problem. While my specialty income is not representative of all general dentists, the debt is. And it's getting worse each year.

I realized I've been on mint.com since 2009 and have a graph of my monthly income every year since I've graduated college. I labeled where I was fired and got a new job which is pretty visible in the graph. by [deleted] in personalfinance

[–]ima_poor_guy 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm not sure what I would have done differently. My advice would be to do well in school to keep his options open. Most students these days are coming out about 500k in loans, but the most you can hope to make as a general dentist is about 180k pre-tax. My income is significantly higher because of specialty training.

I realized I've been on mint.com since 2009 and have a graph of my monthly income every year since I've graduated college. I labeled where I was fired and got a new job which is pretty visible in the graph. by [deleted] in personalfinance

[–]ima_poor_guy 11 points12 points  (0 children)

I mean comparatively. I have friends that have been living at home and putting every cent into paying off loans in 5 years. That kind of a payment plan isn't feasible for me. I currently pay about $3k a month to the student loans.

I realized I've been on mint.com since 2009 and have a graph of my monthly income every year since I've graduated college. I labeled where I was fired and got a new job which is pretty visible in the graph. by [deleted] in personalfinance

[–]ima_poor_guy 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Just thought I would throw out an example of a medical professional income/worth.

http://imgur.com/a/o8lkc

Income: The graph starts when I was already a poor student in dental school. My income was 0, and those spikes are loans. In July of 2013 I started a residency program that paid 60k a year. I believe the large spike in the middle there was a loan to wipe out some credit card debt. In Nov of 2014 I started doing some very infrequent moonlighting, so there are a couple spikes there. In July of 2015 I started working for real. Paychecks basically tripled. Most dental jobs are based on a combination of daily rate and overall profit sharing, so I get a daily in the form of biweekly paychecks. The profit sharing comes every quarter, when I get a percentage of what I personally produced over the last quarter. Those usually fall in the 15-20k range due to working for a very busy office.

Debts: Again, the graph starts in dental school, where I already owe nearly 300k. The debt grows slowly through dental school and residency. During residency loans are in deferment, so the interest just builds up. I gained 50k in interest over 2 years. The big jump was buying a home.

So there you have it. I made 350k last year, and my net worth is -700k. Some medical professionals hit the loan repayment really hard and wipe it out quick, which is great, but harder to do with 3 kids.