Physicians writing on KevinMD about their own money and the business of practice: student loans and forgiveness, disability and life insurance, index funds and retirement accounts, whether to hire an advisor, financial independence and retiring early, side income and real estate, contracts and negotiation, selling a practice to private equity, and leaving insurance for direct primary care. Three maintained records draw on this archive: Physician personal finance: what physicians say about their own money, in their own words, Private equity and corporate medicine: what physicians say, in their own words, and Direct primary care: what physicians say, in their own words.
Necessity is the mother of invention. If you need something badly enough, you are more likely to find a way to obtain it. This proverb clearly rings true in all aspects of life. The key is really knowing how badly we need it. I knew someone who wanted to become a dermatologist. After several additional years of research after medical school and applying to residency, she eventually achieved her goal. …
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The majority of physicians will never experience the vast upper echelons of wealth
There’s a lot of financial information out there. Some of it is helpful, and some of it is unhelpful.
I’m sure many of you take notice when the Dow Jones falls 1,000 points in two days.
And even if you don’t usually follow the stock market on a daily basis, when the stock market is dropping, the financial news media will let you know about it.
Because when the stock market is crashing, …
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Don’t watch too much financial news
Physician financial literacy is dismal. In the past, many physicians got their first introduction to finance from insurance salesman or financial advisors who give presentations over a free steak dinner.
My medical school’s attempt at teaching us personal finance was to have a financial advisory firm give a half-day lecture about student loan management, budgeting, and investing. While the advice wasn’t inherently bad, I don’t think many of my classmates retained …
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A simple solution to rapidly increase physician financial literacy
By the time you read this, I will have completed a transition to working half-time. Now, I know a lot of docs out there think emergency docs are already only working half-time, so perhaps I ought to start with explaining why that isn’t the case, even if emergency physicians work fewer hours than many other physicians.
Let’s start with the fact that most Americans consider 35 to 40 hours a week …
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7 reasons why this physician works half-time
As we get older, time becomes are more valuable commodity. I clearly remember that as a college student, I was more than willing to wait in line for over an hour simply to get a free sandwich promotion. Nowadays, I’m not even too interested in waiting 20 minutes to be seated at a restaurant. Our priorities evolve.
One interesting aspect of time that remains relatively unchanged over time is our tolerance …
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The impact of commuting on your financial plan
A common proverb teaches that, “The road to hell is paved with good intentions.” Medicine is a world where people are well-intended. Yet they fail to change a system that is broken and continues to produce burned out, depressed, and suicidal doctors. We can see their final destination, look back, and realize that we helped pave the road that carried them to that destination.
Today, I want to hammer home the purpose …
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How burnout helped this physician find his purpose
At some point in your investing career, you’ve likely heard of a stock that’s gone on a ridiculous run or a certain part of town that has now become the trendiest in the area, and you’ve kicked yourself for not investing. We’ve all been there.
Well, the cliche is true: hindsight is indeed 20/20. In hindsight, who wouldn’t have purchased as many shares as they could of Amazon or Apple back …
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How to avoid FOMO when investing
We all know the importance of compound interest in building wealth. The fuel for compound interest is time — the longer you are committed, the greater chance your investments will grow. This applies not only to financial growth but also to essentially everything else. As a rule of thumb, the more you study for a test the better you ought to do. The longer you have practiced medicine, the more …
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Financial success as a doctor isn’t rocket science
If you have been following my writing, you know I have been out of the surgical workforce for a year and a half. I have settled into a much more relaxing lifestyle as an author who can set his own work schedule. This week I got a flashback of what my old life was like as a general surgeon when I attended a four-day conference called FinCon.
Each morning of the …
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Live your life the best you can, and don’t spend it all in the hospital
I believe we have power. That deep inside each of us resides a unique purpose and identity that are unstoppable. That embracing this power leads to lifelong contentedness. Finding this well of vitality is complicated. Certainly it starts by telling ourselves the right stories about our lives. By becoming the protagonist of our own unique narrative, we dive deeper into ourselves. In the past I have even gone as …
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Avoid the power drain of life
The tricky part about retirement planning is uncertainty.
Uncertainty in retirement planning comes from three major sources.
1. Current and future income
Doctors are fortunate in that they have very high job security. Even if you were to be let go from your current position, there will almost always be another position somewhere in the country (although you might have to move out of your current metropolitan area).
However, the high income doctors currently …
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How to plan for an uncertain financial future
I have talked in the past about coping with financial freedom. Once we reach the mountaintop, we undergo a number of emotional changes. It is, however, a mistake to believe that the transformation only begins once we have attained our goal. In my humble opinion, there are five stages of financial independence. These stages begin with conception and meager bank accounts, and end with financial freedom and hopefully …
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The 5 stages of financial independence
An excerpt from the Docs Outside the Box podcast, episode 4: Financial Ed. for Docs 101
Dr. Nii: All right, everyone. Welcome to another episode of “Docs Outside the Box.” We have a treat for you today. Today, we’re going to be interviewing Katie Brewer, CFP, and owner of Your Richest Life. Katie, thank you for joining the show. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself before we go …
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Financial education for doctors 101
Guess what? You’re surrounded by rich doctors. You probably didn’t even know it. You know why? Because doctors don’t talk about that filthy lucre known as money. So while you’re assuming that all the other doctors in your group, office building, and hospital are in the same position as you, you’re wrong. Some of them are rich. There are ten things they’re not telling you, but which …
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10 things wealthy doctors won’t tell you
How much we micromanage our lives is dependent upon our compulsivity and how many goals that we set in life. Medicine is a profession that attracts some of the most goal-driven people I have ever met. There are egos, obsessions, intelligence, and diligence all packaged into one unit. This is simply overwhelming. Fortunately, these habits tend to evolve with age. I’ve seen some of the most incendiary personalities in medicine …
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When a $5,500 decision becomes a $200,000+ loss
No, I’m not saying that the process of investing in index funds is difficult. In fact, it’s actually quite simple to build a diversified index portfolio, whether your money is invested at Vanguard, Fidelity, Schwab, or Etrade.
What makes investing in the stock market so difficult is tolerating its high volatility. Many investors are unable to stick with the stock market in the long run because of the ups and downs.
But those who stay invested …
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It’s really hard to make money in the stock market
Let’s be real here. Women make babies. Women also kick butt working. Sometimes women need to make babies while kicking butt working. So, you know, the human race can survive … no big deal. But, all too often, families are unfairly burdened by our dismal maternity support system. Bleary-eyed and bloody, new mamas emerge from childbirth facing a mountain of medical bills and no income.
For my first pregnancy, my family …
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10 financial tips for physician maternity leave
I was driving up to Northern Michigan recently for a nice vacation with family, and like any long road trip, before I left, I turned on my GPS on my iPhone to see how many hours it would take to get there.
There’s an initial excitement to get on the road, looking forward to how enjoyable your upcoming vacation will be.
However, once you hit the highway, road trips can become long, …
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Think of investing as one long road trip
