This Sunday morning as I
was spending -- or more accurately, wasting -- a little time scrolling through my
Facebook groups when I ran across a post from a veterinarian that was
struggling with finances. My first
thought was, “of course veterinarians struggle; we don’t make much.” My second thought was, “it does not have to
be this way.”
She was of retirement age
and had worked as a veterinarian for over 35 years. She had worked hard and long hours from the sound
of it, but she was lamenting about the fact that she had no money saved and
could not retire. She was facing a surgery
that would take her out of her practice for 3-6 months and she didn’t know how
she would keep her business afloat while she was out of work. How could she keep her one doctor practice going
without the doctor?
Reading this post brought
up thoughts of sadness and anger that this veterinarian had planned so poorly for
her future. She cannot even take time out to care for herself let alone
actually retire. This women’s story made
me want to scream, jump up and down, and warn every young person in our
profession to walk a different path and make better decisions than some of your
elders made. How do you get to the age of 68 and not have any money set aside
for your future?
I know what you are going
to say: student loan debt, credit cards, divorce, kids, lack of health
insurance, or medical bills that have built up over the years. All things that happen to us, but if we are thoughtful
with our money and work very hard, don’t have to take us down.
How do we do better?
No matter how much money
you bring in, live on less. Set yourself
up a budget and follow it. It sounds
like the common sense that our parents and grandparents preached to us, but so
many of us don’t follow their advice. We
blindly spend money that we do not have, using credit cards and taking out
loans, so that we can have everything that we want NOW. It is a little like Veruca Salt, the girl in
Willie Wonka, “I want it now!” No
delayed gratification for us, we deserve to have everything that we want, regardless
of our financial situation. We are too
impatient to wait and to save for anything.
This is precisely what gets us into trouble. We don’t really need the new iPhone or
tablet. We don’t need Starbucks
or restaurant food – except Taco Bell – we all need Taco Bell. When your spending is planned ahead of time,
your money will be more available for savings and retirement investing.
Pay off those student loans
now. Government sponsored forgiveness
program are like handcuffs to your life.
Who wants to watch student loans loom over them for 20 years? Get those suckers paid off as fast as you possibly
can. I was listening to Dave Ramsey’s
podcast a few months ago and a young couple – they were both veterinarians –
had come out of school with over $500,000 in debt between the two of them. They decided that they were going to focus on
their debt and get it paid off as soon as possible so they could live their
lives without student loan debt. They focused
their attention on the debt, worked full time and weekends at emergency
clinics, lived on a budget, drove beater cars, and paid off their debt in less
than 5 years. That’s right – two
veterinarians, student loan free before they were 32 years old! Listening to that couples’ story made me realize
that veterinarians are not special when it comes to student loan debt. You can overcome your debt in a short amount
of time if you choose to focus in on it.
Contribute to your 401K or
Simple IRA at your job. Every paycheck!
Please take advantage of your work retirement plan. The younger you start, the more money you will
have when you reach retirement. You will
think that is does not matter or that you cannot afford to contribute, but you
will never miss the $25, $50 or $100 dollars that you contribute every 2 weeks. Those small amounts will grow into hundreds of
thousands of dollars in 20-30 years if it is invested in a good growth stock
mutual fund. You will never be sorry
that you saved money for your future.
Many of the retirement plans offer employer matching as well, and that
is just free money! Don’t say no to free
money! Ever!
While I am using this women’s
plight to make a point, I have tremendous sympathy for anyone that finds
themselves in this situation. Many of
her peers have volunteered to help in her time of need, because that’s what generous
veterinarians do. I want us to learn from her story and prevent others from
finding themselves in her situation. Money
doesn’t buy happiness but having some control over it can buy you stability for
your future.
Dr. Julie Cappel
Do not save what is left
after spending but spend what is left after saving. – Warren Buffett
“A simple fact that is hard
to learn is that the time to save money is when you have some.” - Joe Moore
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