Feeling like a tremendous loser bc of my career path

[Anonymous]

I know this is going to generate a lot of eye rolls. But I had no idea when choosing a career path how dramatic the differences in income would become by middle age or how much I handicapped myself early on from more lucrative career choices. I am not starving. I make $230K/year as a primary care doctor. But my classmates who made different choices are now earning triple my income; friends who are law partners making $1-4M/year; and they consider that chump change next to the tech and finance people who pull as much or more. I just had no idea how disparate things would become.

[Anonymous]

Comparison is the thief of joy.

[Anonymous]

OP, I figure out from elementary school through graduate school and then to a career, how many people made it big - millions, WSJ coverage, etc. I came up with about 30 - 35 out of 100s or about 8%. It's a bell shaped curve, no matter what your profession. Somebody is always going to hit it big while another person never got off the ground.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Comparison is the thief of joy.

This is true. In most of the country $230k is a lot of money, especially for one person.

[Anonymous]

Would you have been able to succeed in those other careers? Would the work be more fulfilling for you than what you do now? If not, why are you worrying about it?

[Anonymous]

Surely you knew going into it that primary care would not be compensated the same way that, oh, neurosurgery is. Or cardiology. Or whatever. I'm a lawyer and most of us aren't partners making well over 7 figures every year.

At any rate, 230k a year is just fine. More than just fine. No matter how much you make, there will always be folks making more than you do. Get over yourself -- you need to manage that ego.

[Anonymous]

Meh. I'm in tech and dont make $230k and im ok with it. Comparison is the thief of joy

[Anonymous]

If you're a good, caring doctor who gives time to patients, you are helping people in a very personal way that those other professions are not... while still making an unbelievably high salary that would be the envy of most.

[Anonymous]

Yeah but would you really want to be a big law partner? Or work in finance? That would be a big no thanks from me. Makes me shudder to think of it.

I make 130k a year in my 50s but I like what I do and have absolutely no job envy in this regard. I respect your being a physician, which is hard work, though not what I would want to spend my days doing. But you help people in ways those classmates of yours do not and you should feel good about that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you're a good, caring doctor who gives time to patients, you are helping people in a very personal way that those other professions are not... while still making an unbelievably high salary that would be the envy of most.

Agree. Unlike the vast majority of us earning something comparable, you are actually doing important work.

[Anonymous]

Also, I think you are being a little unrealistic about how much your peers are actually "pulling in".

Those salaries are peak, and positions are difficult to obtain and keep. Many are forced out early, get fired, or burn out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're a good, caring doctor who gives time to patients, you are helping people in a very personal way that those other professions are not... while still making an unbelievably high salary that would be the envy of most.

Agree. Unlike the vast majority of us earning something comparable, you are actually doing important work.

Thanks. Meaningful work truly is why I pursued it and I am grateful every day for what I get to see, do teach, change and help with. It’s definitely a non-material benefit that will keep me working much longer than some other people. Still, it would be nice to have less financial anxiety re: retirement and future health costs.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you're a good, caring doctor who gives time to patients, you are helping people in a very personal way that those other professions are not... while still making an unbelievably high salary that would be the envy of most.

Agree. Unlike the vast majority of us earning something comparable, you are actually doing important work.

Thanks. Meaningful work truly is why I pursued it and I am grateful every day for what I get to see, do teach, change and help with. It’s definitely a non-material benefit that will keep me working much longer than some other people. Still, it would be nice to have less financial anxiety re: retirement and future health costs.

At 230k a year you shouldn't have major financial anxiety. Sounds like you could use a (good) advisor.

[Anonymous]

This is a troll because in medicine, more than most fields, the OP could have easily understood the likely earning implications of picking one specialty over another.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Comparison is the thief of joy.

This is true. In most of the country $230k is a lot of money, especially for one person.

To 99% of the world that’s a lot of money!