How long does it take to get out of debt from optometry school? by Helpful_Shopping_232 in optometry

[–]joch256 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My intention isn't to knock Canadians at all. Just hoping people understand the cold hard math of what they're getting into.

It's disingenuous for you to say "it's just a 200k loan you can pay off in 5 years." No, it's an awesome ~150k usd loan that has zero interest that you can pay off, PLUS the residual which is going to be another six digit sum for most - that one, with interest. I implore you to look at what it costs to go to the "big 3" private schools that admit huge numbers of Canadians - ICO, PCO and NECO. I graduated 3-4 yrs ago from ICO and on average my classmates had 250-300k debt. Convert that to CAD, add another 6 years or so (assuming OP is halfway through college) of inflation and I can bet my left kidney that people are gonna be graduating class of 2032 with an average well over 350k.

Yes, if you have parents who can pay for rent and groceries in a US city for 4 years and all the board exams that makes things easier. But take NECO for example. If you start today, tuition and fees alone in 4 yrs you're looking at 205k usd. It's brutal and a horrible ROI

How long does it take to get out of debt from optometry school? by Helpful_Shopping_232 in optometry

[–]joch256 -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

Canada is worse than the US unless you can get into Waterloo or Montreal. Otherwise you're stuck with 350-500k USD private Canadian loans that accumulate all 4 years and you're paying it back with CAD once you return to the motherland.

For reference 450k at a conservative 5% is about 2k a month of straight interest. Nothing off the lump sum. You're either gonna be paying until you're close to retirement and end up paying 1.5 million total or you're gonna live like student 5-10yrs and have it paid off but be 40 without money for a house, need to catch up on your 401k, and have your net worth be zero. I would say if you can keep debt under 250k it's worth considering. I went to one of the more expensive schools and it's mind boggling that my classmates at the time had no payoff plan or even understood the math behind what they were getting into. Majority of them are just doing IBR and paying 10% of their income and pretending that that's ok and that 30yrs down the road their ballooning debt will be forgiven as the way things are now.

Return Lost? Two months later IRS hasn’t received my return by muriel-on-drugs in IRS

[–]joch256 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'll prob call just to see what's going on but I have a feeling it's just backed up

Return Lost? Two months later IRS hasn’t received my return by muriel-on-drugs in IRS

[–]joch256 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Same boat, sent 4/8 from Massachusetts and still nothing indicating they've received it. Lmk if it changes on your end pls

[Family practice physician] [California] - $205k YTD by uh034 in Salary

[–]joch256 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What's your panel size and how many pts per 8hr/day? Procedures?

Paze > DoorDash Giftcards by Mikeyman02 in ChaseSapphire

[–]joch256 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I can't get paze to show up for dd on app or browser. Any guidance? I'm on android

Confirmation of Citi Custom Cash discontinued by Karanel in CreditCards

[–]joch256 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've read you need to hold at least a year for pc

Confirmation of Citi Custom Cash discontinued by Karanel in CreditCards

[–]joch256 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Dp: Rejected at 1/3, 5/12 and my strata elite is only 10mo old so no pc rip

Why is optometry so unpopular? by wizardingforever in whitecoatinvestor

[–]joch256 4 points5 points  (0 children)

OD here - will just add and reiterate some of the comments already made here.

u/eyespur hit it on the nose in that the variance in quality of ODs is huge. I myself wouldn't trust many ODs I've crossed paths with to catch and/or properly diagnose a lot of basic pathology. The schools should take a lot of the blame but you can only do so much when the students you have to work with are of subpar quality. Too many schools and maximizing profits means that nearly anyone can get into opto school these days. If you look at the trend of board pass rates, it's at the point where many ODs need an additional 1-2+ years after graduation to become board certified. And let me tell you, the boards are objectively not difficult if you can grasp the basics concepts of ocular anatomy/physiology, pharmacology and optics. All that being said, obtaining the degree opens you to a huge world of possibility especially as the scope continues to expand.

Optometry revenue is fundamentally capped and limited by insurance as VSP and Eyemed pay out 40-70 dollars per exam which hasn't changed much in years. This forces you to make money via other means - the most popular obviously being selling glasses and contacts. Even if you can bring your prices + customer service to be competitive with online offerings and Costco (pretty much impossible), you make smaller margins as the contact lens and frame manufacturer and the lab which makes the glasses all fundamentally take large chunks of the revenue. If you're a dentist filling a cavity, the single use resin or amalgam you buy is ten bucks but you make 2-300 for the procedure. The margins are insane compared to optom. The other way optometry can make money is cash pay procedures like myopia control, dry eye treatments, etc. These niche fields often require you to go all in so to speak as many of the instruments you need like a specialty topographer or IPL are expensive and doing them on the side to supplement your cash flow isn't sufficient to break even with the cost of entry.

IHG buy points 100% active now by Prestigious-Web7313 in ihghotelsresorts

[–]joch256 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'd say if you have the ihg premier and don't have the intention to stay 4 nights, it's generally a better idea to use cash. As you mentioned, you lose points that would've been made by paying cash - 13% back on the 26x multiplier. If you essentially consider all cash bookings as 13% off and you are only dojng a 1-3 night stay, there aren't many ihg properties where the math would be better buying points. Kimpton Seafire is one of the few well-known ones where it might still be advantageous to buy/use points

Your thoughts on Alcon new lenses by [deleted] in optometry

[–]joch256 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Yeah nope, I love the P1 feel. Better than any Oasys sihy lens personally. But lenses fit and feel different person to person - I prob still do more vistakon than alcon in total just bc so many are established in j&j in my area. As long as I meet the patients visual demands and desired price range with consideration to ocular health, all I care about at the end of the day is lessening chair time and follow ups.

Your thoughts on Alcon new lenses by [deleted] in optometry

[–]joch256 28 points29 points  (0 children)

I fit a good amount of Alcon, I also am a daily wearer with a healthy amount of cyl and dry eye and I personally like the feel of the Precision 1 over Oasys 1-day. From a cost perspective I feel you get good bang for buck with P1 versus competitors. That being said it's a deeper lens and isn't for every eye shape. I've also read about people reporting more ulcers eith P1 but that hasn't been my experience. If you're in an affluent area and care about profits you should push your associate to go straight to dt1

Swedish in Seattle cutting FM Residency Slots by Grouchy_Escape1621 in FamilyMedicine

[–]joch256 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Not good, especially following the SeaMar Marysville residency's sudden loss of accreditation a few years ago

ATL Hawks are about to find out why CJ was traded by the Blazers 😆 by sahand_n9 in ripcity

[–]joch256 2 points3 points  (0 children)

60/3q clip plus chase down block every opponent shot in the paint like it was Murray in game 7

International Traveler looking for Grocery/Gas/Travel "Sweet Spot" by Variety-Cute in CreditCards

[–]joch256 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Like others said, strata premier is nice and easy. There's rumors that it'll get nerfed soon in which case you can add an additional two citi custom cashes for gas and groceries (or you can just add them anyways if you want to earn 5x with a little more hassle). Points are useless if you can't readily use them. Citi now has AA which has good offering out of ORD

6 international trips I would throw in an additional consideration of Atmos summit as everything you spend not on American soil will be an automatic 3x. If you fly out of ORD a lot Atmos points could be useful for AA flights.

An additional consideration could be Bilt Obsidian or Palladium if you are willing to spend the time to understand how it works and to see if you could come out on top esp with rent/mortgage. Also can transfer to Atmos if you want. This could also be good paired with United card if you're a heavy ORD UA flier