It’s been a little over two years since I started this journey of blogging about passive income, and I’ve learned so much along the way. The term “passive income” has come to mean something very different to me over these years.
I used to think that passive income was simply earning money in a way that isn’t proportional to the time you put in. And while this is …
How physicians can get started with passive income
To my wife,
Let’s just start at the beginning.
When we first met, you thought I was arrogant and prideful. For two and a half years we would rarely talk while we walked past each other in our small college town. At the time, we never could have imagined that one day we would get married. In a twist of irony, two weeks before we started dating you still didn’t know as …
A physician’s letter to his wife
Retirement, or half retirement in my case, is a major life change. Transitioning from the accumulation phase, to the maintenance stage, and eventually to the deaccumulation phase can be daunting. These transitions are accompanied by a series of losses. We all understand the loss of income. But there are many other changes we don’t often talk about. There is loss of social interaction. Loss of purpose. And …
The loss a physician feels after partial retirement
When Jason Kilar graduated from college he experienced tremendous personal and professional adversity. Three days after graduation, Kilar’s father ended his own life after battling bipolar disorder.
Kilar also battled professional valleys. In the months after graduation, the work-life he had long envisioned couldn’t have seemed further from the reality he faced.
After building shelves at a local store and hustling to find a job that he actually loved, this is what …
Physicians who pursue financial independence and early retirement are not wrong. It may save them.
I sadly read about another celebrity with significant wealth who died without a will. Aretha Franklin left behind an estate worth $80 million with significant future royalties and no instructions for who should receive her fortune. Over the next few years, we will hear about the fighting and legal battles over her estate.
Abraham Lincoln died without a will. Since he was an attorney, he could have written it himself, yet …
What physicians should do today if they don’t have wills
It’s human nature to be social. The collective sensation of being in a group or organization helps us belong. We see this in school, where kids band together for activities. We see this in the doctor’s lounge, where the anesthesia guys chat about the latest hospital gossip. Occasionally we see the loners who shed the collective mentality and shine through their own path. If these novel beliefs are compelling enough …
Fear of missing out can be self-defeating
It is official. I have left my day job and have two months off before starting my next day job thanks to being financially secure. As many of you know, the Tubb’s Fire has led to many changes in my life over the past year. We had many decisions to make and now, 13 months out, are putting those plans into effect. The biggest of these decisions was to …
Being financially secure is different than being financially independent
Medicine has changed immensely over the past 40 years. Not only has the drugs, surgeries, and procedures changed, but the culture and economics of medicine have changed as well.
Radiologist and blogger Xrayvsn enlisted physician finance bloggers young and experienced to write posts on the common topic of generational perspectives of the past, present, and future of medicine:
Is it still worth it to go to medical school?
We talk about money on my website, and how to make sure that you have enough of it. In fact, that’s pretty much the entire strategy for the growing crowd of people in the world who are gunning to retire at an age that most neurosurgeons start their careers.
Those of us in the medical field who also have similar ambitions to work our finances intelligently are likely to have similar …
The psychological impact of quitting medicine
If you can’t beat ’em, join them (and make it better). Am I right? This was some of the sentiment I felt as I registered with FINRA (Financial Industry Regulatory Authority) to take the Series 65 exam. Passing this exam will allow me to register in my state as an Independent Advisory Representative (IAR) and function as a financial advisor. This begs the question: Why should I become a financial …
Meet the physician who became a financial advisor
I like work. I really do. Although I have been talking up my half retirement, there is a reason I am not going the full monty. I derive pleasure from being a physician. The ability to reach out and help other human beings, and get paid for it is amazing. Not only the work itself, but the human interaction is also quite gratifying. I look forward to years of …
A physician manages life-work balance
The grass is always greener on the other side. Humans are like that. For reasons that we can never consistently define, any situation other than the one that we are in has potential to be better. I guess we just like to compare ourselves to others and assume that there is a better life over the horizon. That doctors wish to get themselves in a better situation is nothing new. …
Why physicians are attracted to real estate investments
As an ER doctor, I often meet people on the worst day of their lives. I’m the guy who gets to tell you your mom is dead. I’m the one who works the futile code on your four-year-old, while your screams cut right through everyone in the room. I find your cancer. I tell you your husband overdosed in the McDonald’s parking lot. When you decide you want to shoot …
The civilian casualties of being a doctor
ADVERTISEMENT
Doctors and other caretakers are the pawns of the health care system. We provide the services that allow hospitals and medical groups to bring in big revenue. Unless we are contracting directly with insurers, doctors will never realize the true financial firepower that we have. As the health care environment evolves, we are seeing fewer individual physician-owned groups and more conglomerates. The larger the system that we belong in, the …
Doctors are pawns of the health care system
Anger. Jealousy. Envy. Frustration. I was feeling all the emotions when NYU announced in August that their incoming and subsequent classes would be tuition-free into perpetuity. One consolation: at least I wasn’t one of the chronologically unfortunate that graduated from the school just months, or a year, before that announcement. For them, the time difference was small, but the difference in loans was vast — one year of tuition costs …
You shouldn’t worry about public service loan forgiveness
I have talked in the past about how I try to tackle the philosophy of financial independence. Part of the reason is that there are so many other amazing voices that manage the mechanical side. The other part is my profound belief that the grand majority of Americans can either cleave a path to financial independence or at least substantially improve their economic situation. Yet, the majority don’t. …
3 hurdles to financial independence
By this point, a lot of people have heard the famous Dave Ramsey quote, “If you live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.” Ramsey is known for being a proponent of attacking debt aggressively when people ask, “How should I pay off my debt?”
He proposes one method that I think works for the vast majority of Americans, but today I’ll argue that method isn’t necessarily …
How should physicians pay off their debt?
Financial freedom means different things to different people, but to me, it’s when you can quit your day job and be able to cover your expenses with other sources of income. The dollar amount depends on your unique situation, where you live, and the lifestyle you lead.
I believe all physicians can attain financial freedom, but some encounter obstacles that delay them from reaching that point and sometimes keep them from …
What does financial freedom mean to you?
Some of us like to micromanage. Obviously, this trait is useful only for certain tasks that you need to accomplish. Managing money can take some attention to detail, but fortunately, many issues work themselves out if you follow broad principles. How much you should micromanage your daily expenditures really depends on your own tolerance and your individual financial situation. We’ve all seen discussions about the cost of daily artisanal cups …
How much is micromanagement of your time worth?
Within the medical community, there seems to be a prevailing belief that when it comes to business and finance: Well, we’re just not very good at it. Some chalk it up to the lack of financial training we received in medical school. Others say it’s simply not in the physician’s DNA – that our brains are wired differently.
I would disagree.
In reality, I’ve seen many, many physicians become successful …
Physicians have the skills to be entrepreneurs
Get free updates delivered free to your inbox.
