If you’re like me, or one of the millions of med students with student loan debt, you need a plan on how to repay it. Learning about the different loan servicers, repayment plans, and complex financial terms can be a bit daunting. As a graduating med student, I understand your plight. Here are some simple steps to help you tackle your student loan debt:
Step 1: Figure out how much student loan …
6 steps to tackle student loan debt in residency
There was a recent news brief stating that the average internist generates about $2.4 million annually for the hospitals that they work for. While it’s no surprise that doctors help others make money, seeing a figure to your worth hammers home how much we sustain the health care system, often at our own expense.
This means that a hospitalist making $240,000 …
It’s important to understand the money trail in medicine
Many physicians are looking for alternative sources of income and are looking for ways to diversify their investment portfolio from the volatility of the stock market. Some have heard of real estate syndications, but what exactly is a syndication? For those who have not heard of it, real estate syndications can be an attractive investment vehicle for busy professionals who do not have the time or experience to actively manage …
Real estate syndication 101: a physician’s guide
I’m a graduating fourth-year medical student, and as most physicians know, this has been one of the best years of my life. I just matched into my top choice residency and am one step closer to becoming a primary care sports medicine physician, my dream job. Many of my classmates have capitalized on this time of excitement by making the controversial decision to buy a home before they start residency. I have not. …
I don’t plan to buy a home after medical school. Here are 12 reasons why.
There are some milestones that need to be appropriately celebrated. For the 80% of physicians who graduated with student loan debt, paying those loans off certainly qualifies as such a moment. Everyone has a different way of tackling their student loans. Today, I want to outline how we paid off $200,000 in student loans in 19 months, and then discuss what our plans are to rid ourselves of the rest …
This doctor paid off $200,000 in student loans in 19 months. Here’s how.
Wealth seems to be an elusive dream for many people. They desire to become wealthy, but feel they don’t earn enough money to reach that goal, as if earning more would make the difference. A study of 10,000 millionaires presented in Chris Hogan’s new book, Everyday Millionaires, showed that 69% of these millionaires reached that level of affluence on a household income of less than $100,000 a year. If all …
Why many doctors live paycheck to paycheck
Proof of concept is important because accountability is a tenuous thing. One can pretty much say whatever they want on the internet. They can boast. Spin half-truths. Tell a tale. The most deadly of these are the ones that are just a slight variation of reality. Personal finance is no different. Net worth projections, budgets, the acumen of a business venture or …
Is the physician financial independence community preaching to the choir?
It was a beautiful warm mid-July morning in Minnesota. And I was taken by surprise by my feeling of complete and utter contentment. I was with my family bicycling around a lake on a smooth groomed gravel path surrounded by trees, ferns and so many shades of green my breath was taken away. The cool riparian air mixed with the warmth of the sun, and the laughter of children up …
3 tools doctors can use to prevent burnout
An excerpt from The Physician Philosopher’s Guide to Personal Finance: The 20% of Personal Finance Doctors Need to Know to Get 80% of the Results.
At my little girl’s golf practice one day, I got to talking to her coach. I asked him how he decided he wanted to be …
Should I pay down my debt or invest in the market?
Nearly five years into practice, I have negotiated my first contract, multiple pay increases, call compensation and independent contractor status. I prepared by researching my market value and reading about negotiation strategy. The following are some points I have learned along the way.
If you negotiate in medicine, you may feel like the only one.
Over the years, my mid-career colleagues confided that they have not received a single pay increase, only …
Physician negotiating: Go get what you’re worth
It’s interesting, but not surprising, to hear that numerous government employees are crippled by the delay of a single paycheck. This is precisely the reason everyone needs an emergency fund. When an unexpected financial catastrophe pops up, we need to be able to weather the financial storm.
Many people consider a car breakdown, a sick pet, or a roof leak to be an emergency. These are not emergencies. These are things …
Government shutdowns show the importance of an emergency fund
Reaching financial independence is no small feat. One has to turn inward and explore personal habits, goals, and rebalance value systems. These are somewhat introspective topics. Indeed, they require quite a bit of self-focus. This, I believe, is good. If we don’t continuously re-evaluate our beliefs and actions then how are we going to grow? On the other hand, such thinking leads to another critical question. Is financial independence selfish?
Are …
Is financial independence selfish?
While at a gathering during residency, I found myself talking to an older physician. He graduated from the same residency ten to fifteen years prior. He was a natural leader and a good storyteller. He was also a good teacher because he was about to teach me a lot about delayed gratification.
In the midst of our discussion, I told him that my wife and I intended to move …
Physicians should take their time with big purchases
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So much of personal finance and investing isn’t about winning; it’s about not losing. That’s because investing is a single-player game; it’s you against your goals, not you against your neighbor or your partner or some yahoo on an internet forum. However, there are precious few whose ultimate financial goal is to be broke and if you can avoid doing that, well, that’s one mark of success. There aren’t that …
8 ways to go broke as a doctor
Most don’t realize how easy it is to become debt free. Instead, they envision a horrible drop in lifestyle and great sacrifices that include turning back the clock to medical school days where they were living on peanut butter and ramen. When in fact, no sacrifice is required to become debt free. All it takes is to decide that becoming debt free is what you want and then stop borrowing …
Most physicians don’t realize how easy it is to become debt free
Not only is an audit unlikely to happen — if it does, it’s rarely a huge deal.
Few words inspire such fear in the hearts of Americans as “IRS audit.” But one of the biggest mistakes that taxpayers make is letting fear of the IRS stop them from taking advantage of tax savings they deserve. Especially for locums tenens docs and other 1099 income earners since the 67,000-page tax code favors …
Physicians should stop being afraid of getting audited by the IRS
The tale of two physicians
There once was a physician who had no idea what personal finance was. She was living the American dream, but with lots of student loan and credit card debt. During her residency, she paid minimums on all her debts, but had neither a savings account nor a retirement account.
During fellowship, there was a slight jump in her income, and she used that as an opportunity to …
What this physician wish she knew about money as a young doctor
One of the great teaching experiences in a young medical student or resident’s life is to be placed in front of his or her peers with an attending physician quizzing him or her on the spot about a particular patient.
Often, when radiology imaging is involved, the said victim will be asked to interpret the study and point out any salient features.
I have been subject to this numerous times in my …
How a radiology trick can surprisingly help your finances
In an ideal world, we should all be compensated fairly for our services and skills. The reality, as we all experience, is an amalgam of mistakes and victories. One hopes that with time our skills will translate to a greater number of victories. Most greenhorns entering the workforce are unfortunately poorly equipped to assess their worth. I certainly was.
Greenhorn doctors stand to lose a financial lot from mistakes simply because …
Negotiation tips for new doctors
You wouldn’t have known it by looking, but Viktor had once been on several modestly successful television shows. He lived for acting. It brought him joy and purpose. So much so that it was the first thing he mentioned to any who happen to pass through his single room next to the nursing station. Viktor was almost famous, definitely broke. His little space in the nursing home …
This patient’s regrets were much deeper than money
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