Sean Pyles

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Mental health care that's actually built to last.

We're back and answering your money questions to help you make smarter financial decisions.

This episode's question comes from a listener's email.

Hi Elizabeth and Sean, I love your podcast and was hoping that you can help me with a job dilemma I'm having.

I'm in my last year of medical school, which means over the next few months, I have to rank all the hospitals I've been interviewing at for residency positions.

In March, an algorithm will sort through everyone's ranks and tell me which hospital I'll be training at for the next five years.

I'll be 26 when I start my training and 32 when I graduate.

The starting salary for residency is about $60,000 to $80,000 and goes up every year to about $100,000 to $120,000 in the last year of training.

Once I graduate, I'll make around $500,000 to $750,000.

Wow, that's a lot of money, listener.

Okay, my options right now can be sorted into three buckets.

One, New York City, great slash prestigious hospitals that will make it easy to find jobs in the future.

Everything is very, very expensive, and I probably will not be able to save a lot or put much into retirement.

Two, other cities, Pittsburgh, Boston, Philly, Baltimore, expensive, but less expensive than New York City, still prestigious and will be easy to find jobs in the future.

Option three, Long Island, Connecticut, Rhode Island.

Much less expensive than a major city, and I can expect to save a ton, but hospitals aren't as prestigious.

I'd still be able to find a job, but I wouldn't leave with the same set of skills as if I were to graduate from a New York City program.

I'm essentially struggling with high cost of living now, but better opportunities in the future, versus saving money early, and good but not great opportunities in the future.