My blog focuses on Financial Literacy/Money and Career Discussions. No one anticipates struggling financially once starting their career, but it can happen in the healthcare industry in this instance. The following contributed post is entitled, 5 Years Into A Healthcare Career And Struggling Financially? Here’s What To Do.
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Many people believe that health care careers are a golden ticket to financial success while they are students. However, reality hits hard once working life begins. Expenses mount up and debt repayments can balloon.
If you are in the health care industry in the U.S., you can expect to earn an average of around $80,000 a year. As a physician, average pay/remuneration is over $300,000 a year. However, while these paychecks are reasonable for the majority of people, they don’t often cover all of your expenses and some of the financial difficulties that you can find yourself in.
So, what should you do if you’re 5 years into a healthcare career and you’re struggling financially? Here’s our advice:
Assess your current financial situation
Assessing your current financial situation is a good place to be. You want to track things like income and expenses with apps like Mint, and perhaps create a simple spreadsheet for everything that you’re spending money on every 1-3 months. Then you can identify leaks, which are usually things like subscriptions or dining out.
Next, you’ll want to review your debt. Seeing how much you have outstanding is critical. Federal student loans usually have an interest rate of 5% to 7%, but if the loan amount is over $100,000, that can be a significant burden. Credit card debt is much worse because rates are usually above 20%, so you’ll need to pay off that high-interest debt first before you look at repaying student loans or any other obligations.
Optimize your finances
The next step is to look at optimising your finances. This involves auditing everything you’re spending money on and cutting your non-essential expenses. For example, if you could reduce housing costs by having roommates or relocate into a lower-cost area, then that can help a lot. It also helps if you can cook everything from scratch at home and negotiate bills. Where possible, look for opportunities to claim tax benefits. If you can deduct your work-related expenses from your taxes, then you can often have more money left over at the end of the year. For example, you can usually reduce your gross yearly profits by subtracting uniform costs, any education that you paid for, and your mileage.
Increase your healthcare income
Finally, you can look at ways to increase your healthcare income within the industry. If you’ve already spent five years as a healthcare practitioner, then you’re valuable. Employers are often willing to pay 10-20% more for people with reasonable levels of experience. This can often mean going up a nursing tier or changing your specialism if you are a qualified physician. You could also look for certifications like nurse practitioner. Individuals in this position can often earn more than 6 figures. You could also become an informatics nurse or a wound care specialist. Going on a night shift or taking on overtime is also an option in many care settings. Simply changing when and how you work can significantly improve your income.
