A 30-year-old dentist sparked a fiery discussion on Reddit after questioning a widely shared statistic they saw on Instagram that claims one in four doctors over 60 has a net worth of less than $1 million.
Posting on the popular r/whitecoatinvestor subreddit, the dentist pushed back on what they called a suspiciously high figure.
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Dentist Calls Out The Stat, Says It Doesn’t ‘Pass The Sniff Test’
“I saw a post on Instagram that said a quarter of doctors in their 60s still have under 1 mil net worth. That just does not pass the sniff test,” the dentist wrote. “Pretty much any MD that does a basic 401(k) match and does the classic ‘buy too much house’ will hit 1m easily.”
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The dentist argued that even with minimal effort, a long medical career should result in substantial net worth. “Even a moron usually takes the 401(k) match, and a moron buys too much house etc. But a moron will hit 1m if they only save 6% with the 401(k) match for 30 years.”
They went even further, pointing out how the stat doesn’t add up based on income levels alone: “Most teachers easily hit that making 1/10th a doc salary.”
Personal finance expert Dave Ramsey echoed a similar concern about doctors’ financial habits, comparing them to actors and musicians. “Medical doctors are about as notorious as people in the music business or the acting world for being stupid with money,” he said in a Facebook video. “Only they add a level of arrogance to it because they’re so freakin smart.”
But commenters quickly filled in the gaps that the dentist might be missing.
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Divorce, Spending And Poor Financial Choices
Commenters shared story after story about how some doctors end up with less than $1 million by retirement. The most common culprit: divorce.
“Divorce is crazy. My buddy is paying three women alimony right now. In total it’s north of 40k a month,” one person wrote. Another claimed, “I had to pay my ex 5.5M.”
Some pointed out that even highly paid doctors fall into the trap of overspending. “I had one doctor who cleared $60k a month and he was spending $70k a month and had ZERO savings,” an accountant commented.
Others mentioned delayed earnings and student debt. Many doctors start working in their 30s, which leaves less time for compounding. One commenter described an ear, nose and throat surgeon in his 50s still paying off student loans and unable to help his kid with college costs, despite over 20 years in practice.
As one person summarized the issue: “There are plenty of millionaire teachers and plenty of broke doctors. High-income profession doesn’t guarantee anything.”
See Also: Can you guess how many retire with a $5,000,000 nest egg? The percentage may shock you.
The Dentist Still Isn’t Convinced
Despite the flood of stories, the dentist wasn’t ready to back down. “I just don’t see that as possible that 1/4 do that poorly,” they wrote. “Millionaire by age 60 is not a flex,” they added. “Docs need to have more like 5m to be patted on the back.”
One retired dentist chimed in with a sobering take: “Docs are the poor of the rich.”
For the dentist, the financial fate of most doctors should be clear-cut: “I think every single one of my classmates will hit 1m by 60 as long as they work their career till 60. Even the ones that are complete morons.”
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