r/financialindependence • u/fidgit86 • 9d ago

What do you do that you earn six figures?

It seems like a lot of people make a lot of money and it seems like I’m missing out on something. So those of you that do, whats your occupation that pays so well?

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u/DrThirdOpinion 9d ago

Lol, you need to meet some pediatricians if you think everyone is making huge salaries.

Some of us do pretty well, but some specialities earn criminally low salaries for their amount of education, cost of education, opportunity cost, giving up the best years of your life to study, and the sheer responsibility we deal with in terms of human life every day.

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u/nottaylorgreer 9d ago

Go peds lol

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u/GuidanceStock1069 9d ago

I’m a pediatrician. Yeah… pay sucks taking student loans into consideration. I’m a little bitter about it, but I love my job.

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u/kaitalina20 9d ago

My cousin is some fancy specialized peds doctor so I have no idea what he does day to day, but I know that whenever he ever actually finds the time to talk to me (which is rare) he is always overworked but he still loves it and says he knows what he signed up for. He’s a resident is why so much work is pushed onto him

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u/pizzaboba 9d ago

Do pediatricians not make significantly more than normal physicians?

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u/cheddarwock 8d ago

They make significantly less than most other physicians including the pediatric sub-specialties. For example, a pediatric infectious disease specialist makes much less than an adult infectious disease specialist.

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u/TalkScience2Me 9d ago

When I was a senior in high school, I asked my pediatrician if I could shadow her. She said unless I was planning on being a surgeon, becoming a doctor isn't worth the time, stress, and debt lol I ended up going into Biotech

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u/[deleted] 9d ago

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u/DrThirdOpinion 9d ago

You’re not doing brain surgery, the surgeon with about a decade more training than you is performing brain surgery. A medical student can be a first assist.

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u/SHAZAM7744 9d ago edited 9d ago

I was a pharmaceutical rep with one of the biggest. Of the 4 products I sold 3 were #1 in their class (product #’s 3 and 4 rotating out about every two years.) I had responsibility covering three different residency programs. By far the largest was the Family Practice residency. One of the third years had gone through the recruiting process and was hired by one of the largest private practices in Mesa. He pulled me aside in confidence and told me almost bragging about his starting salary of $75k/yr and that included insurance billing as well as after his portion of operating cost responsibilities. He had a MOUNTAIN of student debt from both undergrad and med school. He asked me what I thought. I smiled and congratulated him. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that after 5yrs as a Pharma Rep my annual salary plus quarterly bonuses were a little more than double his. I started at my job when he was two years into med school (in Az at that time family practice residencies were 3yrs - I’m not sure how long they are now.) I was also fortunate enough to have a full scholarship. It didn’t suck playing a sport I loved that essentially paid for me to earn two degrees over 5yrs that paid for my entire undergrad at 100%. So when I graduated I had a zero balance.

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u/DrThirdOpinion 9d ago

Tbh, you probably thought he was taking about his salary, but that was likely his signing bonus. $75,000 wouldn’t be unheard of for a private practice. Private practice FM is absolutely not making $75,000 a year, full stop. Many private practices will pay a $25,000 a year stipend while FM residents are still in residency.

I am more than willing to bet you misunderstood the situation.