[jquery]

I did this math when I was 27 and wanted to leave programming to enter medicine. When I realized I wouldn’t come ahead financially until near retirement (and that was assuming I’d make a lot less in programming than I actually have) I decided to pass. It didn’t matter what specialty I picked except a few like plastic surgery or dermatology and there’s no guarantee of getting a residency in those. That’s also not considering that extreme hours worked in medicine and the loss of your youth. My spreadsheet also didn’t account for the fact I’m making mid-six figures in programming already at my mid thirties (!!)

Medicine is not a place to go to become rich. If you already have the brains and aptitude to overachieve in medicine you can succeed elsewhere even more greatly AND retire younger.

[amdavidson]

I would love to know what job you have in programming making $500k in your mid-30s.

[jquery]

Base salary is low-six figures. I work at [insert deca-unicorn here] and a lot of that comp is locked inside non-public stock (I've been here a long time), so it could go to $0... or it could be enough to retire on. That's just the nominal risk-adjusted value of my compensation. Even assuming my stock is worth $0, just my base salary puts me ahead of going into medicine. The only way going into medicine makes financial sense over programming is if you fast track your way into it from high school and end up in a lucrative specialty, and even then it doesn't come that far ahead. Given the loss of your entire youth, I'd say it comes out even at best, unless medicine is a natural passion of yours.