“The focus is more on clinical services and less on retail sales”

To mark Talk Money Week, OT has launched the My money diary series, speaking with optometrists in a range of roles about their approach to budgeting and gathering insight on how optometry as a profession is valued. 

Here an optometrist and practice director on batch cooking as a student and the effect of the Welsh GOS contract on his practice finance.

“For my pre-reg, I was paid £7800 a year. I lived in a student house and it was challenging to make ends meet during that year. I would batch cook and I wasn’t eating out much. I never received any financial support from my parents.

“My first salary as an employed optometrist was £40,000. Within optometry, for a long time, it was difficult to get a massive uplift on that over the course of a career. In contrast, graduates in many other fields would see their salary increase over the years until it reaches a threshold.

“My wife has a senior role within her organisation and is paid more than me, so our household income is significantly higher than my income alone. We invested in rental properties around 20 years ago, and we have always prioritised overpaying our mortgages. Those properties are part of our retirement savings.

“We have quite a large, old house so it is quite energy-hungry, but we have managed to significantly reduce our outgoings on utilities by installing a ground source heat pump as well as solar panels and battery storage.

“The new national contract in Wales has gone some way towards addressing a model that was based on cross-subsidisation. It would still be hard to make a living from clinical fees alone in Wales, but I wouldn’t be able to run the type of practice that I have in England. Within my practice, the focus is more on clinical services and less on retail sales.

“As a practice director, I have always prioritised reinvesting the money that I earn in the practice. It makes my job more interesting and enjoyable, and I think it has ultimately made the practice more successful. I would encourage people who want to have financial freedom to look at becoming a director of a business. It has enabled me to indulge my professional passions.

It’s no use saving all your life and then popping your clogs at 55 and never being able to enjoy it

“I have always been someone who has lived within my means. I have never lived with an empty bank account – I would get nervous if I logged on to my banking app, and discovered there was only a couple of hundred quid left. My wife and I both save quite heavily. Our priority for spending is holidays. It’s not wearing the flashiest clothes or driving the flashiest car. I have a big birthday coming up next year and we are going to Japan as a family – my wife, son and myself.

“I have had serious health challenges over my life, and you don’t know what the future holds. It’s no use saving all your life and then popping your clogs at 55 and never being able to enjoy it. This is not a dress rehearsal – you have to enjoy what you’ve got.”