ObamaCare Info

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

They should be far apart. I'm not disagreeing with that.

But you said that your husband makes the same money as your mechanic, hence my confusion. If they don't make the same salary, then I'm no longer confused but you may want to clarify that in your posts.

 

[Eastern]

But you said that your husband makes the same money as your mechanic, hence my confusion. If they don't make the same salary, then I'm no longer confused but you may want to clarify that in your posts.

Look, you're the one who said, "...doctors are notoriously bad with money and generally horrific savers..."

Clarify that. It adds NOTHING to the discussion.

 

[mhsjax]

Thank you.

You're welcome. I have worked for physicians for too long not to notice what really goes on. It was OB/GYNs. talk about malpractice insurance. OMG. Plus I have friends that are physicians as well. I think people here are too hung up on the perceived Doctor profile, this is more like a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, most aren't living the extreme high life and making TONS of money, at least not for the time and effort and responsibility they have.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

Look, you're the one who said, "...doctors are notoriously bad with money and generally horrific savers..." Clarify that. It adds NOTHING to the discussion.

My post may have been bombastic, and for that I apologize, although ironically it was one of my firm's clients, who is a physician, who said it to me. It is relevant to note that the AMA itself has addressed the issue of physicians undersaving, as well, and the number is ominous. I don't know if this link will work, as I'm posting on my phone, but it bolsters my point in a "numbers only" empirical way. http://www.comphealth.com/blog/post/223/Physician-Retirement-Planning---Are-You-Ready As to the asset value of the physician's practice, that is a known issue, as well, and is different than many highly compensated professionals face. I am truly sorry that I offended you, but the empirical evidence, less the bombasticity, supports my premise.

On a related note, will you address your claim that your husband and mechanic make the same salary, as that, equally, doesn't advance the conversation beyond platitudes.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

You're welcome. I have worked for physicians for too long not to notice what really goes on. It was OB/GYNs. talk about malpractice insurance. OMG. Plus I have friends that are physicians as well. I think people here are too hung up on the perceived Doctor profile, this is more like a plastic surgeon in Beverly Hills, most aren't living the extreme high life and making TONS of money, at least not for the time and effort and responsibility they have.

Of course! I realize I'm going to sound a little bit like Leona Helmsley or a raging one percenter here, but $300,000, much less $175,000, isn't that much money. It'll support a decently comfortable lifestyle, but by no means an extravagant one. It is, however, much more than the nation's average net compensation, which was $42,498 in 2012. True wealth almost never comes from income, it comes from equity. Income is ephemeral and is designed to be largely spent, not accumulated.

As for the time and effort put in, that is a big part of why most highly compensated professionals are highly compensated, because the firm/company/practice owns your time. It will never compute on an hourly basis, because there are not enough hours in the day, but I do not know a single person in a lucrative career who does not take work home, go in on weekends, sacrifice their personal life, etc., and while many lower-compensating professions do that as well, particularly teachers, social workers, clergy, etc., that is a part of the job for all of us who chose those careers and nobody should be surprised to find out that their chosen career requires a lot of long days.

 

[daughtersrus]

I'm not saying they make the same money; the point I am trying to make is that my husband is responsible for the diagnosis and treatment of a human being, and he is sometimes making the same money as a car dealership diagnosing and treating a car.

And I'm sure your DH doesn't get called in at 2am to see a broken down car. Or work on all the major holidays, or pay ridiculous malpractice, etc etc.

Actually you did. You said

Our car mechanic literally makes more money per hour than he did doing several procedures today. Good thing he is nearing retirement age.

If you're now saying that that they don't make the same money per hour, why did you say that they did a few days ago?

 

[manning]

Of course! I realize I'm going to sound a little bit like Leona Helmsley or a raging one percenter here, but $300,000, much less $175,000, isn't that much money. It'll support a decently comfortable lifestyle, but by no means an extravagant one. It is, however, much more than the nation's average net compensation, which was $42,498 in 2012. True wealth almost never comes from income, it comes from equity. Income is ephemeral and is designed to be largely spent, not accumulated.

As for the time and effort put in, that is a big part of why most highly compensated professionals are highly compensated, because the firm/company/practice owns your time. It will never compute on an hourly basis, because there are not enough hours in the day, but I do not know a single person in a lucrative career who does not take work home, go in on weekends, sacrifice their personal life, etc., and while many lower-compensating professions do that as well, particularly teachers, social workers, clergy, etc., that is a part of the job for all of us who chose those careers and nobody should be surprised to find out that their chosen career requires a lot of long days.

$300,000. Is that gross or net. I assume they are allowed to deduct expenses from their gross to come up with adjusted taxable income.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

$300,000. Is that gross or net. I assume they are allowed to deduct expenses from their gross to come up with adjusted taxable income.

I'm not sure I understand your question, and the number is largely academic, but I'd assume any salary data would be gross and not net, as I've never seen salary data aggregated as a net number. And yes, I assume they, like any taxpayer, can full avail themselves of all deductions and credits permitted under the tax code.

 

[manning]

I'm not sure I understand your question, and the number is largely academic, but I'd assume any salary data would be gross and not net, as I've never seen salary data aggregated as a net number. And yes, I assume they, like any taxpayer, can full avail themselves of all deductions and credits permitted under the tax code.

$300,000 is thrown out there. Is this the total amount he puts into the bank for spending? Now he doesn't pay taxes on that amount. Taxes are paid on the adjusted taxable amount. This is the amount after deductions are taken, IE cost of operating the practice such as utilities, salaries, rent, insurances etc.

After taxes and expenses are paid he may only have made a net $ 170,000 to put into the bank. I came up with figure without any calculations, just an example.

 

[A_Princess'_Daddy]

$300,000 is thrown out there. Is this the total amount he puts into the bank for spending? Now he doesn't pay taxes on that amount. Taxes are paid on the adjusted taxable amount. This is the amount after deductions are taken, IE cost of operating the practice such as utilities, salaries, rent, insurances etc.

After taxes and expenses are paid he may only have made a net $ 170,000 to put into the bank. I came up with figure without any calculations, just an example.

If a person's salary is $300,000, then that is their salary. Salary is not the same as the revenue of their medical practice, if that is what you're asking. Technically, I'd assume most physicians actually have a partnership draw, but it functionally works out the same way and they would not pay operating expenses out of that, although they would pay taxes (federal, state, OASDI, FICA, self-employment tax, net back in the self-employment FICA and OASDI credits, etc.). Then out of their net income they would pay their other personal expenses, ranging from housing, property taxes, other liabilities, personal insurances (including their malpractice insurance, if self-paid), etc., just as you and I pay our expenses with our income, so no, they wouldn't put their full salary into their bank account (unless they're committing tax fraud, I suppose). As to where I drew the $300,000 number, it is on the upper range of median incomes for physicians and $175,000 (the other number I used) is the lower range, so that is where that number originated, and it was an endorsement of the fact that while physicians do make a comfortable to very comfortable living, rarely do they become truly wealthy on their incomes alone.