Portfolio milestone - 800K/ Net worth $1 mil

[disneysteve]

How can you blame us Steve? Starting at age 8, we have been told you guys are the top earners.

LOL! The problem is that the $100,000 income they were paying back then hasn't really changed much since then. Physician income has been flat or even falling over the past decade or two.

[sv2007]

I am 51. Keep in mind, however, that I'm a doctor which means I didn't really start earning an income until I was 29. I also went into the very lowest paying specialty, Family Practice. So that million dollar net worth has been built in about 23 years. Plus I paid off over 100K in student loans during that time,too.

There are a few doctors in the family so I'm familiar with the pay. The poorest, my sister-in-law takes "summer vacations" by substituting other doctors for a few weeks at terrible locations (Stockton, right now). but she seems to like her job; and mentioned that she'll be getting fulltime work near her home soon.

The funny thing is my sister and her husband who makes the most money ($360k/yr as ER doctor back in early 2000s) hated their jobs. Currently neither is seeing patients: one is an admin overseeing a few clinics and the other is a financial planner. Although they are making more money, but in a way have left the medical field.

I have a theory: I'm going to bet that your parent(s) are not doctors. Most of the doctors in higher paying specialities come from families with at least 1 doctor parent; while the pediatricians and the like come from 1st gen doctors.

As for income, I think folks with a decent income of $100k or more which I assumed you'd have for the past 10-20 years should have been able to have a certain net worth esp given today;s market conditions.

But what is net worth? What is enough? I guess that'd depends on a few things too.

[disneysteve]

The funny thing is my sister and her husband who makes the most money ($360k/yr as ER doctor back in early 2000s) hated their jobs. Currently neither is seeing patients: one is an admin overseeing a few clinics and the other is a financial planner. Although they are making more money, but in a way have left the medical field.

A great many doctors leave the field, or at least leave clinical practice, because the work is so outrageously over-regulated and the pay really isn't all that great given the nature of the work. As I've shared, I've recently started doing urgent care work where the oversight is minimal, the paperwork if virtually non-existent, and the pay is tremendously better.

I have a theory: I'm going to bet that your parent(s) are not doctors.

Correct. My father was an accountant. My mom was a housewife.