chase money or no? (IT job, debt, average, degree)
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choice is between simple life or more stress for more money. So what I want out of life is to not be living a rat race. To live a life where I am free to do whatever I want whenever I want. I figure work hard save money, invest, and retire young. Or I can go for the monotonous life and work m-f 8-5. So two professions I am thinking of is Physical Therapy or Nurse practitioner.
I worked in PT felt it was chill and just a low stress life. Pt I worked with seemed disgruntled. For PT I can see myself doing that and just living an average life. I would take a more chill approach to life and do hobbies. Also dpt is 3 years of schooling and can be 100-150k in debt. One said no money in pt, other says too much paperwork with low insurance reimbursements and to do something else, etc... ONe mentioned when the economy tanks patients don't need PT as much.
NP I have shadowed lots of job opportunity, very low debt, high return on investment, lots of different specialities to work in. However with that comes higher stress. From my understanding it looks like salary range can be 80k-200k as a NP. It can be more if you decide to go to autonomy states can open your own practice. PT looks like salary ranges from 60k to 110k. In the end we all just want to be happy and live a fulfilling life. I don't want to be in a rat race and live pay check to paycheck. Forced to work to pay bills etc.. My idea is a lot of jobs suck regardless, work is work. Might as well do a job where you get paid more and in demand so you can invest and retire young
Last edited by Chasemoneyornah; 02-08-2018 at 10:39 PM..
I chose the "more stress for more money" option. I was a highly paid computer programmer analyst. I didn't know that the IT jobs that I had would be so stressful when I started this career. But I chose to stay and ride it out. The money was very good and I wasn't sure what I would do if I left this career.
Personal choice. Maybe this belongs on the Philosophy forum, LOL. If you can get your expenses down to a low level and live on reduced income, great. You could even come out ahead of the game.
My older sister is a PT, she's in her mid 40's and has been doing it for almost 24 years, she graduated college in '94. She only has a BS, back then the MS in PT was just picking up and now, as you know, it's pretty much a doctorate or nothing.
Does she still enjoy it, I guess, I've never heard her complain about her work. Yes, there's a lot of paperwork, that's probably the only negative she says. She makes over $50/hour working with outpatients. Crazy enough, she has been working at the same rehabilitation hospital for the last 24 years. She still laughs when the 70, 80 and 90-year-old male patients try and hit on her, I guess they still have blood following to certain areas of their body!
She's married (husband is also a PT, they met in college) with two kids in high school, and I don't think she has any regrets with the profession she chose.
Can't comment on NP too much, although many more places with shortages of general family care physicians are turning to them and PA's to fill that gap. I do know nurse anesthetists (another master's degree) make some nice money, but of course have a big responsibility. It seems many hospitals out there are turning to NA more and less to anesthesiologists (MD) since they're "cheaper" salary wise.
It really depends on you, and your financial analyst apparently.
Can you live without internet access, and the latest iPhone?
Can any future spouse, if that is on your wish list, do the same?
In the end, stress is a killer, and life is too short to spend it being miserable. No matter what you do, life is going to throw some stress and misery your way. Choose the path you think will make you happiest, but please bare in mind, some people prefer physical out door work while their bodies are still strong. They see it as less stressful.
What they don't do is project forward to an age 48+ body, and look at how much they will like physical outdoor work then.
Investing is really all about sheer luck. It's really no different than gambling. You win some, you lose some, and in the end, you hope to at least leave the table with what you put into it.
If you retire early, what will you use for health insurance?
I retired early but get my health insurance through my wife's work. She is nine years younger than me so she will be in the workforce for awhile yet. Her health insurance is much better than what I had when I was working for a multi-billion dollar corporation. Ha ha.
But in four years I will be 65 and will get my health benefit via Medicare.
So perhaps having a spouse that still works and has access to health insurance is an answer for some.
In the end, stress is a killer, and life is too short to spend it being miserable. No matter what you do, life is going to throw some stress and misery your way. Choose the path you think will make you happiest
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