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05-16-2026LAST POST
I never saved a cent when I was younger. Usually blew it on cars and having a good time. Thoroughly enjoyed myself. No regrets.
I never make plans. Things just happen. Making plans limits what you do and hence achieve.
Mason Hatcher wrotePretty common major for medical fields...my dad is an MD and he majored in Chem...as did my future MD brotherMy BMW costs less than the pickups most people drive in Texas. It is also less than many other SUVs. I drive an X3, and it is a tremendous value
If you want to be a dentist why are you majoring in chemistry? Those seem incongruent
Me on the other hand? I dropped out of the accelerated BA+JD program I was in midway through my Sophomore year. Worked the front desk at a shitty Ramada near campus on the graveyard shift for $9 an hour....worked my way up through various roles at better hotels over a decade or so and now I likely make quite a bit more than I would have as a lawyer....go figure...life is weird.
Davil wroteLove this, but some of us are born to make plans and meet objectives. I remember laying in the bottom bunk, a 5YO, wondering how I'd ever be able to afford a house like ours. (Probably 900-sq.ft.)....
I never make plans. Things just happen. Making plans limits what you do and hence achieve.
You know if your a planner or not, there's no changing what you are.
Germanauto wroteI was planning on joining a dental school in Augusta, because it was the least expensive school in the U.S. and hopefully, financially I’ll be fine. But you and the other dentist that gave me advice are really worrying me. Because I always assumed the dentist make a phenominial salary, 400k-600k. I plan on opening a practice, but of course that maybe years down the road, because I’d like to work in an office to gain experience of then go from there.I'm an M.D.
OP, loans for Dental school are insanely high. Pick the dental school with the lowest loan burden. Either go for one of the higher paying specialities, which are competitive, or eventually start your own General practice in a less competitive area. Making $200-300k as an employed W2 Dentist with that loan burden is a raw deal.
Of everybody I know in Dentistry, only a couple are making the big bucks. They started their own practices, which is really difficult and takes years to build up, but worthwhile in the long-run.
I’ve spoken to a general group of doctors in various fields and it’s shocked me that even though they make good money, years after they graduated, they’re still in debt.
Do you regret becoming a dentist? Did it not live up to your expectations? Is it a field that’s become concentrated due to many people becoming dentist? What do you recommend I do?
DocL wroteSame question for you, do you regret joining this field? Would you have preferred another profession, rather then this one?The consensus with a lot of dentists, and on the private the FB dental pages where I am a member, is that dentistry is not worth it to go into today. Now this may just be a small sample size, but all of my friends feel the same way. And that should say something.
Now if it's your dream to become a dentist, then by all means follow your dream. I just like to be brutally honest when I've seen the profession change over the past 15 years, and not for the best, business wise.
And btw, I was a Psychology major in college. One of my friends was a nutrition major. Another was a history major, and so on. Picking a science major makes it alot harder on yourself in college with the workload. I did have all A's in the pre-med classes.
HTH.
ppointer wroteI second a lot of this. I'm technically a front end designer/online marketing guy. Worked at various smaller businesses and one or two big companies since I graduated in 2004. That being said I always had a side business. I did design work on the side, sold tires online for many years, started an online pillow business etc... all while I worked my full time job. Finally after the last place I worked went under and laid everyone off (all 2 of us) I wanna say like 2016 maybe late 2015 I decided not to go back to a regular job and focus on my businesses.I retired a couple of years ago. Started out as a software engineer, and stayed in that field my whole career, eventually becoming a VP of engineering at a public company toward the end. I enrolled in business at college, but within two weeks of my first Fortran class I switched my major to software engineering. Just loved it, and no regrets.
Managed to save some money. About 25 years ago I got deep into the stock market. First five years I made a pile of mistakes, but managed to not lose everything. Got heavy into Apple, Amazon, Google, etc., in the later 2000's, and that set me and wife up for the future.
If I could council my younger self, I would have shipped my butt to silicon valley to get involved with a start up or two. Austin also a good place for that today. Any opportunity to build your own business is definitely a ton of work, but extremely rewarding (I was part of an IPO in the 90's).
Ultimately, if I didn't enjoy what I did, for the most part, the struggle would have been exponentially harder.
What I told my two step-daughters over a decade ago: Try to get all of your career missteps out of the way before you turn 30. Also, personal relationships turn out to be way more beneficial than skills and experience. Your connections can help you get way further. My best job opportunities were never advertised, but came from my contact list.
Best decision I ever made. At the time the tire business provided enough income for basic expenses, plus I had a lot of savings, however in that time through my connections and me just putting myself out there and taking on projects I may not have taken when I was working, I got introduced to some people and we started a new business. That couldn't have come at a better time because then covid came along and killed the tire business. However the new business had way surpassed anything the tire business ever did.
Still doing that now and I make waaaaay more than I ever could have at a job in my industry. Fortunately I've saved enough that I should be good when AI takes over.
Moe2Moto wroteI regret it 100% and so does my wife. And a few of my close dentist friends feel the same way. The problem now is I have zero experience in anything else. Maybe I can get a job as a greeter at Walmart.Same question for you, do you regret joining this field? Would you have preferred another profession, rather then this one?
Alfisti wroteLets also keep in mind that in Canada you can be/are waiting several months for a basic appointment for all those higher taxes you are payingThis is the result of a failed state. Complete and utter lunacy.
Davil wroteHaha, you sound just like a good friend of mine who is also AustralianRenaissance man. Income is through my own app business where I write apps that somehow ended up being rather successful.
I never saved a cent when I was younger. Usually blew it on cars and having a good time. Thoroughly enjoyed myself. No regrets.
I never make plans. Things just happen. Making plans limits what you do and hence achieve.
I love his perspective on life. With that said, I don't necessarily agree with all of what you said. Saving some money early in your 20s and doing that through your entire career, especially in something like a Roth IRA and taking advantage of at least the 401K match at your job, will give you a MASSIVE step ahead in achieving financial independence. I'm not saying don't have fun, but don't blow it all on silly crap all the time. Some people like yourself can succeed very well with living the YOLO lifestyle, but for the vast majority, that is not the case.I've learned that mapping out goals isn't ideal and it can slow you down. Set a goal and seize opportunities as they present themselves and step outside your comfort zone occasionally when those opportunities present themselves. In some cases, the goal evolves and becomes better and perhaps different than you originally thought it would be.
It's an interesting job for sure. My degree was in environmental science, a very general degree. Most people that got this degree became park rangers, went to Sierra Club, and the like. I wanted to make money. I got lucky and found an internship my last semester in college and that was that. Most people I work with have chemistry, biology, human health, or geology degrees or engineering degrees like chemical engineering.
I've learned that the people that make the most money are those holding the money: The private equity guys.
Want to make a ton of money? Go into corporate or personnel finance of some type. All my friends that are in this business line do WAY better than me. Sounds boring as hell though. I also fired my financial advisor at Morgan Stanley 10+ years ago as well and started managing things myself. Best financial decision ever. Nice guy, but far from worth the price in fees. Those guys do so little for what they are paid. Right up there with realtors, IMO. Again, though. People that touch and handle the money make big money.
For the OP - it's about life choices. Save and live cheap as early as you can. Avoid debt. What car do you have at 23YO? It says unemployed? How do you pay for school now? Living expenses? While I didn't work hard, I pretty much always had some type of job all the way through school/undergrad/grad, etc. Good luck!
///M4Lou wroteMy university charges 2k per semester, compared to other universities. So cost is very low, and I’m very grateful to have parents that are willing to pay it. They told me my only goal is to finish school and not to worry about anything else.I'm in health care - was lucky that I did state schools and had some Army money from active service and help from my pop. Finished med school w/ no debt and a net worth of 5k. If I hadn't had that (army money and parent help) - I'd have done some service related programs whereby they pay for school and you give them back service time (air force, navy, army, etc). Looked hard at Navy flight surgery program.
For the OP - it's about life choices. Save and live cheap as early as you can. Avoid debt. What car do you have at 23YO? It says unemployed? How do you pay for school now? Living expenses? While I didn't work hard, I pretty much always had some type of job all the way through school/undergrad/grad, etc. Good luck!
XutvJet wroteIt's very different in AUS, compulsory pension (superannuation) of 10% of earnings contributed by employer, so salary 100K, 10k on top is sent to your super. There's not a ton of variance from person to person, tbh there's no real comparing the US system and AUS, two different worlds. In the US you are very, very reliant on the deal you strike with your employer for your health and retirement fund.I'm an environmental consultant. I've been doing the job since 1998 and slowly worked my way up the ladder. I work in mergers and acquisitions and I'm basically a glorified home inspector. My clients hire me to evaluate the environmental risks of acquiring a business and affixing a dollar figure to it to knock down the purchase price. The deals may range from $5M to $500M and may include one to 100+ sites all throughout the world. I work with every major company you can probably think of including the big dogs like Apple, Google, Amazon, Samsung, BMW, etc. I evaluate the company's compliance with various environmental rules and regulations, known or suspected contamination on the site(s), and legacy issues like asbestos and other carcinogenic chemicals formerly (or currently) used in products manufactured by the company that could come back and bite them with huge lawsuits. I work hand in hand with private equity companies, attorneys, insurers, e environmental regulatory agencies.
It's an interesting job for sure. My degree was in environmental science, a very general degree. Most people that got this degree became park rangers, went to Sierra Club, and the like. I wanted to make money. I got lucky and found an internship my last semester in college and that was that. Most people I work with have chemistry, biology, human health, or geology degrees or engineering degrees like chemical engineering.
I've learned that the people that make the most money are those holding the money: The private equity guys.
Want to make a ton of money? Go into corporate or personnel finance of some type. All my friends that are in this business line do WAY better than me. Sounds boring as hell though. I also fired my financial advisor at Morgan Stanley 10+ years ago as well and started managing things myself. Best financial decision ever. Nice guy, but far from worth the price in fees. Those guys do so little for what they are paid. Right up there with realtors, IMO. Again, though. People that touch and handle the money make big money.
Moe2Moto wroteYes, but I'm going to counter this a bit with something that while not being the best pure financial advice is, I believe, good life advice:Basically what I’ve learned so far from y’all is, no matter what my profession is. I should be saving my money young.
Money is important, and saving is important, but like most things in life the extreme end of the question is rarely the best answer. While you should certainly save and be mindful of the future, I also think that you should be mindful of the present and enjoy life. I spent 20ish years driving "sensible" cars and frankly, I kind of regret it. I'm not saying I should've gone out and bought cars way above my means, but something fun would've been nice too. Those years are gone now, I'll never get them back, and I could've enjoyed them more than I did; this applies to other things like travel, etc.
You're going to unfortunately learn this more and more the older you get, but life is a total crapshoot – none of us have any idea how long we're going to be here. I've had several friends that went far too young due to brain cancer, car accidents, falling injuries, etc. And I know people now, in what should be the prime of their lives, getting cancer, Parkinsons, ALS, and more. It's depressing and reminds you how those of us that are healthy and alive are only that way oftentimes due to luck more than anything else.
So I would say that while you absolutely need to be mindful of the future and plan for it, don't let it blind you to the present either. Strike a sensible balance between the two and enjoy life both in your early years and in your later years. Because who knows how many years you have to begin with?
Sorry if this is overly maudlin or whatever – I think it's just an important perspective to at least consider. After all, as they say, you can't take it with you.
Phillies8008 wroteThank you for this, so I do agree with you. When I got my car, my dad told me that I really need to enjoy my youth, travel, drive fast cars and have fun. But never let this get in the way of my education.Yes, but I'm going to counter this a bit with something that while not being the best pure financial advice is, I believe, good life advice:
Money is important, and saving is important, but like most things in life the extreme end of the question is rarely the best answer. While you should certainly save and be mindful of the future, I also think that you should be mindful of the present and enjoy life. I spent 20ish years driving "sensible" cars and frankly, I kind of regret it. I'm not saying I should've gone out and bought cars way above my means, but something fun would've been nice too. Those years are gone now, I'll never get them back, and I could've enjoyed them more than I did; this applies to other things like travel, etc.
You're going to unfortunately learn this more and more the older you get, but life is a total crapshoot – none of us have any idea how long we're going to be here. I've had several friends that went far too young due to brain cancer, car accidents, falling injuries, etc. And I know people now, in what should be the prime of their lives, getting cancer, Parkinsons, ALS, and more. It's depressing and reminds you how those of us that are healthy and alive are only that way oftentimes due to luck more than anything else.
So I would say that while you absolutely need to be mindful of the future and plan for it, don't let it blind you to the present either. Strike a sensible balance between the two and enjoy life both in your early years and in your later years. Because who knows how many years you have to begin with?
Sorry [...]
Now yes, I really should save money for the future and that’s what I’ve been doing lately, but of course I’m going to try and enjoy as much of my youth as I can before it’s to late.
Phillies8008 wroteThis is sage advice.You're going to unfortunately learn this more and more the older you get, but life is a total crapshoot – none of us have any idea how long we're going to be here. I've had several friends that went far too young due to brain cancer, car accidents, falling injuries, etc. And I know people now, in what should be the prime of their lives, getting cancer, Parkinsons, ALS, and more. It's depressing and reminds you how those of us that are healthy and alive are only that way oftentimes due to luck more than anything else.
I also married wealthy, lol - j/k. My wife has worked her way up in her profession and now does very well. She's also built a solid reputation where companies reach out trying to recruit her regularly.
I'm a college professor & contrary to what the public believes, we don't make a lot of $. I could actually make more teaching at my kids' high school than I do working at one of the top universities in the country.
My wife works in neurovascular medical device sales.
