With today being Richard's LAST day of Medical School, I find that we are beginning to have a lot of discussions about loan repayment. Loan repayment is very intimidating and as it begins to creep up on us, I felt the need to discuss a little bit of it.
When I share my life with people their response always is "it'll be worth it one day because he will be making tons of money" or the "big bucks". This sort of comment really ruffles my feathers but I often take this as a moment for education. What so many people don't realize is the free time that doctors give up, the short leash that the hospital puts them on or the amount of debt that young doctors are in and how long it will take them to get out of the red. Doctors do all of these things because they are passionate about medicine, passionate about caring for people and passionate about educating them.They are able to looked beyond the ever increasing dollar amount that continues grow and plague their lives simultaneously. They do this in order to achieve their dreams.
In speaking with multiple medical students, it is very common for them to have accrued somewhere around 200,000 dollars in debt. Following their graduation from medical school, these new doctors will be starting their residency programs where on average the salary is 48-50,000 dollars a year. For most, this does not include the costs for any benefits. It also does not include, living expenses, car insurance or any other "real life" expenses. Six months following their graduation, medical students will have to begin paying on these student loans with a significant amount of interest on top of the 200,000 dollars (+ 30,000 dollars in interest).
Over the next 10 years, we will devote a large portion of our monthly income to paying off this debt. I have been blessed with an incredible job that over the last 2 years has allowed us to take out only the necessary money for tuition and not worry about living expenses. Richard and I have talked about how fortunate we are to be in a position where we can do this as a couple with two salaries. One salary to keep ourselves a float and the other to pay off loans. It is a terrifying to think that very soon we will begin paying on all of this debt and that this will be a huge part of our lives until 2024!
The salary of a doctor is not what it once was due to cutbacks and reimbursements. The days of private practice are over and this next generation of doctors has been told to "expect to work for a hospital".
The dream of becoming a doctor, a dentist, a veterinarian, a lawyer and many other professions all come with a hefty price: DEBT.
A few months back, I came across an article that did an awesome job discussing this subject. I urge you to read this if you haven't already. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/went-230-000-debt-become-135821351.html
