InteriorAttack t1_j9z8pih wrote on February 25, 2023 at 5:36 PM

First of all if you are going to invest stop trying to time the market. You wont win. You wont beat anything. You should be investing in tax advantage accounts every pay period. Second there is nothing wrong with paying down loans since they are 6%ish. You could do both. And third you need to find a higher paying job. 300 hours of OT to "only" make 90k isn't great and to spend 130k on student loans to do is crazy to me

Scallion-Busy OP t1_j9zaw5t wrote on February 25, 2023 at 5:50 PM

Yeah I invest in the mutual fund bi-weekly so not trying to time the bottom. But with last years volatility within the market on those really bad wash outs I did throw significantly more $ into stocks I’ve been patiently waiting an entry for.

Agreed I could probably do both, but would probably want to do 60-40 of 70-30 to get ahead of this thing.

And totally agreed. I was dumb and went into PT to help people. It’s rewarding but the financial stress is not worth it for me personally. I’ve worked an “easy gig”. A “low volume” clinic… however now we are slammed and I’m seeing 15-18 patients a shift. It’s exhausting. Mentally and physically.

I’ve realized I need to increase my income. We are moving for my gfs job. She’s a physician and doing her fellowship. I am going to use next year to look for a higher income position as this may mean I need to leave orthopedics (my “passion”… what I studied my ass off for 3 years to learn) for home health care or a nursing home/ snf. I will also be looking for a travel position as we will only be in CT for a year.

But yes the debt to income ratio or rate or return for physical therapists is atrocious. I just did not understand this when I was younger.

Thanks for the response

alwayslookingout t1_j9zxyu0 wrote on February 25, 2023 at 8:24 PM

I personally think DPT is a rip off, if not outfight a scam. Calling it a “doctorate” so they can charge PTs more for schooling is abhorrent. But that’s besides the point.

My wife also had about $125K of loans at ~6% APR for her grad school. When loans got put on deferment she went in super hard and paid all of it off. You have plenty in savings IMO- I’d go all in on those loans again.

Scallion-Busy OP t1_j9zyvsz wrote on February 25, 2023 at 8:30 PM

I 100% agree with you. It was turned to a doctorate so we can do “direct access” so you can see a PT without being referred by a MD … buts it’s only for 10 visits of 30 days whatever comes first. Plus that’s only after 3 years of experience. I’ve talked many aides out of pursing PT. It financially just can’t be justified. Reimbursements keep getting cut so we have to see more people.