EXCITING NEWS: I was selected to deliver a national training in San Francisco this November entitled: Personal Finance Solutions for Busy Mental Health Professionals. This 3 hour workshop includes material from my upcoming eBook about Investing. Stay tuned to get first crack at the NEW EBOOK; and it’s FREE to my readers.

The following is a guest post from Crystal at Budgeting in the Fun Stuff, where she writes about finding the balance between paying your bills, saving for your future, and budgeting for the fun stuff along the way.

Free Money Finance (FMF) had this post  which went over an article from Yahoo that listed the worst paying jobs for doctors.  The absolute worst paying position still brought in $175,000*.

Well, based on past posts  at FMF and others I’ve seen online, some commenters argue that doctors still carry high debts because they “have to”  live in the nicest neighborhoods, drive the best cars, and send their kids to expensive private schools.  They also have student loans.

FMF’s post argued that even with liability insurance and student loans, a doctor should be able to build wealth quickly.  I completely agree.

Let’s say a doctor has to spend 50% of his/her salary on insurance, taxes, and expenses like that.  That would still leave the worst paid doctor with about $87,500 a year.  I’ll also say that this hypothetical doctor has $150,000 in student loans as the average college debt for doctors was listed at $140,000. 

Well, if  I made $87,500 a year, I’d live and save a little off of $40,000 and put the other $47,500 towards my student loan debt.  I’d be debt free in less than 4 years.  Then I could send that extra towards my average $200,000 mortgage in Texas (paying it off in less than 5 years) or even add more to retirement savings.

This would mean that I could be completely debt free within 9 years of graduating and own a really nice house to boot.  I’d also have $2 million saved for retirement within another 21 years if I could get an average return of at least 6%.

What about the nice car and expensive private schools?

Well, do you know what your doctor drives?  I have no idea.  That $40,000 a year budget could easily include a car payment of $350 a month (ours did).  If I was a doctor, I’d drive whatever I’d like that could comfortably and consistently get me from Point A to Point B.  I like the Toyota Prius, so I’d buy one of those with cash or use my awesome credit to get a low rate in the beginning when I’m strapped.  I’d still have it bought outright within my first 2-3 years out of college.

I don’t have kids, but even if I did, the public schools where I live currently are one of the highest rated districts in Texas.  My kids could go there.  If they needed more mind stimulation, I could hire them a personal tutor or even afford to send them to private school with cash by the time they were in middle school.  I might have to drive a worse car or retire on less or push back retirement a few more years, but I could remain debt free.

Some of you may argue that it is impossible to live on $40,000 a year.  It’s not – we do it and live pretty happily.  We make about $60,000 a year after taxes, insurance, and benefits.  We save about 40% of that ($24,000) - 30% for retirement and 10% for shorter-term goals.  We live on the other $36,000 a year.  We have a pretty nice house (1750 sq.ft. 3 bedroom that was built in 2004), 2 cars, and even fun extras.

This article made me regret not liking science, math, or college enough to pursue a medical degree. 

*That $175,000 is an average and doesn’t take into account the doctors that make scraps working for charities or non-profits – please don’t yell at me for them. 

How about you, could you build wealth pretty quickly by taking home “just” $87,500 a year?

YAKEZIE SHORT CARNIVAL

Enjoy this personal finanance reading; stop by their sites to read more.

 How to Create a Budget-Setting Goals at KNS Financial

 How do you know if you are rich? at Living Financially Free Ministries 

Crank Up Your Money Saving Goals With SmartyPig at Free From Broke 

GUEST POST by Mr. Credit Card 

Today, Mr. Credit Card from Ask Mr. Credit Card  is going to share some thoughts about the importance of improving yourself  and learning new skills as an employee. Mr Credit Card has recently compiled a review of identity identity theft protection services, which you might want to check out.

If you hang around the blogosphere enough, you will notice a recurring theme; the desire of many to get out of their JOBS’ and work for themselves. Very often, the reasons cited include:

• Poor job fit
• Spend more time with family
• Hate answering to a boss
• Lack of job security in corporate America

Most the reasons cited above are true to a certain extent. But instead of  drooling about the prospect of starting your own business, why not use your time as a corporate employee to improve yourself and acquire new skills? You might actually find that doing so may get your a promotion or  a leg up when you strike out on your own. Check out these skills to further your career.

1. Learn to delegate – One of the things employees must learn as they progress up the organization is to delegate. We’ve all seen this again and again. The best salesperson on the team is a terrible manager or the smartest programmer stinks as the boss.  There is a transition from team member to manager. Very often, the person who is successful at a specific task fails when he or she gets promoted because they never learn to delegate.

Learning to delegate is a very important skill to learn. You frequently hear successful entrepreneurs talk about working ON their business, not IN the business. If you fail to delegate, you may find it difficult to grow your own business.

2. Learn to be productive – I guess in certain corporate jobs, it is easy to just coast along. But if you want to rise to the top, you have to be productive. That means getting your most important task done first. And not being overly distracted by things that do not really matter.

3. Polish up on presentation skills - Demonstrating good presentation skills is crucial in the corporate world. But they are also very important if you have your own business. After all, you have to pitch to venture capitalists, vendors, and other organizations if you are seeking any partnerships. If you lack presentation shills in a corporate setting,  likely you will be poor at promoting your own business too.

4. Enhance your people skills – Some folks do not succeed in the corporate world because they have poor people skills. You could make the argument that perhaps this is an impetus to strike out on one’s own. And there are many professions where you can get away with poor people skills. For example, a freelance computer programmer or writer may not need these as much as someone in other professions. Still brushing up interpersonal skills can go a long way towards advancing your career or even growing our own business. A business owner needs people skill to deal with employees or his/her business partners.

5. Build relationships – Very often, folks who are shy of promoting themselves view others who are “close” to their bosses as brown nosers. I used to think that way too. However, having become my own boss, I actually appreciate employees who update me,  ask my opinion, and  ask questions when they are unsure. I enjoy a close relationship with my employees. Here is the truth. In the real world, you will only be promoted if you have the trust of your superior and this only happens when you build a strong relationship with him or her. Furthermore, you can only get things done with peers if you’ve built sound relationships.

If you have your own business, the ability to build relationships is even more important. Business owners who lack this skill are at a disadvantage because strong business relationships relate to future success.

6. Get things done – There are many folks who simply do not get things done on time or properly when given a project to do. There are plentiful reasons and excuses. But to be truly successful in whatever you do, you must develop the habit of  getting things done by hook or by crook.

 A key attribute of successful executives and business owners is the ability to get things accomplished on time.

Summary 

 There are many folks who are unhappy with their present jobs for a variety of reasons and want to eventually “start their own business” or “earn passive income”. But I would suggest that even if you are unhappy with your present corporate job situation, there are skills to learn that could earn you a promotion, increase your  job fulfillment and even a higher salary. At the very worst, improving yourself will give you a better shot at success when you do strike out on your own.

So do not moan and groan about your present situation. Instead, make use of your time now to improve yourself (and obviously plan your next venture). You will  be much better off with an action-oriented  attitude no matter what the future holds.