Physician personal finance: what physicians say about their own money, in their own words

Last updated September 20, 2026.

Read together, the 414 essays and podcast transcripts on this page say that physicians earn in the top few percent, start a decade late with $200,000 or more in debt, and are taught nothing about what to do with either. The arguments that follow from that have not changed much since the physician finance bloggers arrived in 2017: pay off the loans or wait for forgiveness, buy the disability policy in residency, put the money in index funds and stop trading, be careful whose advice you pay for, and decide what enough is. What has changed is who is asking: essays mentioning burnout went from 11 percent of posts in 2020 to 2022 to 43 percent since 2023, and the question has moved from how to retire early to whether money is what keeps physicians in jobs that are hurting them.

This page is a maintained record of what physicians have written about their own money on KevinMD.com, a physician-authored publication founded in 2004 by Kevin Pho, MD, a board-certified internal medicine physician in Nashua, New Hampshire. It draws on 414 essays and podcast transcripts about physician personal finance, published between June 2006 and September 2026 by 159 named contributors, 280 of the posts bylined by physicians. Nearly a quarter of the posts, 97, were written under pseudonyms by physician finance bloggers, mostly in 2017 to 2019, and the page says so where it cites them. Every claim on this page is attributed to a named author with the date it was published and a link to the original.

The sections below are organized around the questions residents, physicians, and the people who advise them ask. Each opens with a direct answer, followed by what named authors have said, in the order they said it. Many contributors on this subject sell into it, financial planners, insurance agents, real estate sponsors, coaches, and course sellers, and each is identified where cited. This is a page about physician opinion and experience, not financial advice.

What do physicians say about medical school debt and loan forgiveness?

Physicians on KevinMD have described the debt in the same range for a decade, $200,000 at graduation on average and $300,000 to $450,000 for many, and they divide on what to do about it. One group pays it off in a few years on an attending’s salary and says so; the other enrolls in Public Service Loan Forgiveness, makes 120 payments at a nonprofit, and writes about whether the government will keep its promise. Student loans or debt appear in 34 to 42 percent of posts in every period of the record, the most stable subject on the page.

Chad Chubb, CFP, a financial planner, wrote in January 2017 that the goal for any medical professional should be “to have their student debt forgiven” through PSLF, and that the program requires 120 payments on consolidated direct loans, in “A medical resident’s guide to personal finance.” Rishi Thaker, DO, wrote in October 2018 that “two-thirds of medical graduates have more than $250,000 in debt” and that the 2007 to 2017 PSLF cohort was getting its information from loan servicers “who weren’t ultimately responsible for forgiving the loan,” in “You shouldn’t worry about public service loan forgiveness.” James Turner, MD, an anesthesiologist who blogs as The Physician Philosopher and sells coaching, wrote in March 2019 that he and his wife paid off $200,000 in student loans in 19 months because their debt-to-income ratio was under one, in “This doctor paid off $200,000 in student loans in 19 months. Here’s how.” Altelisha Taylor, MD, MPH, a family physician who writes the blog Career Money Moves, wrote in May 2019 as a graduating student with about $200,000 in loans that she was enrolling in PSLF and saving a separate fund in case “PSLF changes and for some reason I can’t get my loans forgiven,” in “Questions about Public Service Loan Forgiveness that you were afraid to ask.”

Benjamin Yin, MBA, wrote in June 2019 that “the average student loan balance for medical school graduates stood at $196,250” in 2018, against $287,331 for dental graduates, in “The quest to cure medical professionals’ student loan debt.” Paul Morton, CFP, a financial planner, wrote in March 2020 that “your loans will still accrue and capitalize” through residency, and that enrolling in PSLF is a money win, maybe, if it works, in “4 financial mistakes medical residents make and how to avoid them.” Katrina Gipson, MD, MPH, wrote in January 2023 that in AAMC data 91 percent of Black medical students graduated with debt at a median of $230,000, against 71 percent of white students at $200,000, and argued loan forgiveness as a health equity measure, in “Student loan forgiveness: a key step in achieving health equity for minority physicians and patients.”

Do physicians need disability and life insurance?

Yes, and this is the closest thing to unanimity on the page. Every physician who has written about it says the same three things: buy own-occupation disability insurance during residency while it is cheap and you are healthy, buy term life insurance rather than whole life, and treat anyone selling you a permanent policy as a salesperson. Disability or life insurance appears in 10 to 17 percent of posts in every period; the number is small because the advice does not change.

A cardiologist who blogs as Dads Dollars Debts wrote in December 2017 that a policy should be own-occupation, because otherwise “the insurer may force you to take another type of job” and not pay, in “Doctor, you’re now a parent. It’s time to get your financial plan in order.” A physician who blogs as Wall Street Physician wrote in January 2018 that a healthy 30-year-old could “purchase $1,000,000 in 20-year term life insurance for around $400 per year,” and that once financially independent “you don’t need to continue to pay the premiums,” in “A physician’s guide to life insurance.” Cory Fawcett, MD, a retired surgeon who sells books and coaching on physician finance, wrote in June 2019 that if someone is selling anything but term life insurance, “consider them salespeople and not advisors,” in “You just finished residency. It’s time to consider life insurance.” Altelisha Taylor, MD, MPH, wrote the same month that as a resident she “opted for an own-occupation definition of disability,” that unisex policies are cheaper for women, and that residents can buy a maximum benefit of $5,000 a month, in “9 things I learned when purchasing disability insurance.” Shane Tenny, CFP, a financial planner, wrote in September 2023 that “Compared with term life insurance, whole life insurance has higher premiums,” and laid out the case on both sides for high earners, in “The pros and cons of whole life insurance for high-income earners.”

How do physicians say they invest?

In low-cost index funds inside tax-advantaged accounts, and the arithmetic of doing so is the most repeated content on the page. The vocabulary arrived with the bloggers: “index fund” first appears in October 2017, “backdoor Roth” in December 2017, and index funds, 401(k)s, or Roth accounts appear in 35 to 38 percent of posts in every period since, against 7 percent before 2017. The disagreements are about whether to pay debt or invest first, traditional or Roth, and whether real estate belongs alongside the index funds.

A physician who blogs as Live Free MD, a pen name, wrote in December 2017 that a couple contributing $18,000 to a traditional 401(k) will find “this will reduce their taxable income by $18,000,” saving $6,000 in taxes, and worked through when the Roth version wins instead, in “How to choose between a traditional and Roth 401(k).” Wall Street Physician wrote in August 2018, on the four things a graduating resident can do with an old 401(k), that “you have to pay ordinary income taxes on the rollover when converting a 401(k) to a Roth IRA,” in “Converting your 401(k) to a Roth IRA after residency or fellowship.” Altelisha Taylor, MD, MPH, wrote in July 2019 that a 403(b) or 401(k) allows $19,000 a year and a Roth IRA $6,000, and that an employer match “is when the company places an equal amount of their money into your account,” in “Which retirement account is best for physicians?” Syed Nishat, BFA, a financial advisor, wrote in May 2021 that a nondeductible IRA is the first step to a backdoor Roth IRA, since “those investors are often locked out of Roth IRAs by their income level,” in “Why physicians should use a nondeductible IRA.” Cobin Soelberg, MD, JD, an anesthesiologist and financial planner, wrote in February 2022 that “the most crucial factor in achieving financial independence is consistency,” and that missing the ten best market days over 20 years cuts a 9.85 percent annual return to 6.1, in “There are so many paths to financial freedom.” Mike Chando, MBA, wrote in August 2026 that a $5 million pre-tax retirement account “is not economically equivalent to $5 million of after-tax wealth,” carrying about $1.75 million of embedded tax at a 35 percent blended rate, in “Retirement account taxes distort physician net worth.”

Should physicians hire a financial advisor? Physicians disagree.

This is the record’s longest-running argument, and the advisors are on the page arguing their own side. The do-it-yourself position is that a physician who can learn medicine can learn index funds, and that a 1 percent fee on assets compounds into hundreds of thousands of dollars. The other position is that physicians are overconfident about money in the way they are about everything, and that the right advisor, fee-only and paid for time, is worth it. Financial advisors appear in 20 percent of posts before 2017 and 43 percent since 2023, the fastest-rising subject on the page.

Cory Fawcett, MD, wrote in March 2018 that many a doctor has dropped an advisor after discovering he was “making more money off the portfolio than the doctor was,” and distinguished the planner “who is paid a fee for her time, not a commission or percentage,” in “Physicians: How to find a financial advisor.” A physician who blogs as DocG wrote in August 2018 about a first advisor who “often felt like, to me, a trusted physician, lawyer, or accountant,” and who lowered his fee in a year of poor returns, in “A physician’s first financial advisor.” Nii-Daako Darko, MD, MBA, published in September 2018 an interview explaining fee-only, fee-based, and commission advisors, and disclosed that he and his wife had “about $600,000 close to $700,000 in student loan debt,” in “Financial education for doctors 101.” Wall Street Physician wrote in September 2019 four reasons to hire one, including that “a financial advisor who charges an hourly fee would be the ideal person” for a one-time portfolio review, in “4 reasons why physicians should hire a financial advisor.”

Altelisha Taylor, MD, MPH, wrote in November 2020 that “many financial advisors have incentives to invest your money in suboptimal ways,” and that an advisor fee of 1 to 2 percent plus 1 percent in fund fees leaves little more “than what you’d make in a savings account or with a government bond,” in “5 questions to ask before you hire a financial advisor.” Amarish Dave, DO, a neurologist who writes on physician finance, wrote in August 2023 that many physicians think “because we are highly educated, we can also be effective financial advisors for ourselves,” and advised getting fees in writing, in “Choosing financial advisors for physicians.” Rob Natale, AIFA, an advisor, wrote in May 2026 that for a physician earning over $300,000 a 1 percent fee drag “could easily translate into $200,000 to $500,000 less wealth,” in “15 financial advisor questions for medical professionals.”

What is FIRE, and should physicians retire early? Physicians disagree.

FIRE, financial independence and retiring early, arrived on KevinMD in April 2016 with an anesthesiologist writing under that name, and for three years it was the page’s dominant subject: financial independence or early retirement appears in 39 percent of posts from 2017 to 2019, against 10 percent before and about 21 percent since. The argument was never really about the math, which everyone agrees on, 25 times annual spending at a 4 percent withdrawal rate. It was about whether a physician trained at public expense may leave at 45, whether the pursuit hollows out the years before it, and what a physician is for once the money is not the point.

The anesthesiologist who blogs as Physician on FIRE wrote in May 2016 that financial independence means having enough saved and invested to “allow you to quit gainful employment,” that “If your household spends $100,000 a year, you need a minimum of $2.5 million,” and that he had reached it at 39, in “How this doctor achieved financial independence at age 39.” Dads Dollars Debts asked in August 2017 whether, given the physician shortage and the public cost of training, “is it selfish to quit early,” and answered that a burned-out physician should feel free to, in “Is it OK for a physician to retire early?” Physician on FIRE wrote in January 2018 that “there are no rules that dictate you ought to retire” once you reach it, and that your life needs purpose, in “5 reasons to keep working after financial independence.” Live Free MD, a pen name, wrote in February 2018 that “financial independence means nothing if you don’t have your health,” in “Financial independence means nothing if you don’t have your health.”

The dissent came from inside the movement. DocG wrote in May 2018 that he had reached financial independence in his early forties and that medicine gives him “the one thing that financial independence will never be able to buy,” in “For this physician, financial independence is bittersweet,” in October 2018 that side hustles and speculative ventures are “a financial independence wild goose chase,” in “The financial independence wild goose chase,” and in March 2019 that the community self-selected the people with “the exact right amount of luck, privilege, intelligence, and skills,” in “Is the physician financial independence community preaching to the choir?” James Turner, MD, answered the shortage argument in November 2018: the problem “exists not because too many board-certified docs retire, but because not enough are created,” in “Physicians who pursue financial independence and early retirement are not wrong. It may save them.” Bonnie Koo, MD, a dermatologist who coaches women physicians on money, wrote in May 2019 that while financial independence is “tied to the ability to retire early, the real prize is flexibility,” including an unpaid maternity leave a physician can afford to take, in “Why women physicians should take control of their finances.” An anonymous physician wrote in March 2021 that home equity and retirement savings “catapulted us into being very comfortable (fatFIRE)” and that she had not known anyone her age who retired early, in “How financial independence evolution shaped the end of my medical career.” Stanley Liu, MD, wrote in September 2026 that a Monte Carlo analysis can “demonstrate you have, say, an 84 percent chance of achieving financial independence in 21.3 years,” and that the interesting stretch is the years before the number arrives, in “The sweet spot before physician financial independence.”

What do physicians say about side income, locums, and real estate?

That the second income buys the freedom the first one cannot, and that “passive” is a misnomer. Real estate is the record’s most cyclical subject: 2 percent of posts before 2017, 30 percent in the blogger years, 42 percent in 2020 to 2022, and 23 percent since. Side income or locums have held near 30 percent since 2017. The authors who write most about real estate sponsor syndications or sell courses, and the page says so.

James Turner, MD, wrote in August 2018 that “Side hustles definitely can serve as an additional income stream, form of diversification, and asset protection,” in “Side hustles are the best kind of asset protection.” The anesthesiologist who blogs as Passive Income MD, and who sells real estate courses, wrote in December 2018 that “passive income is almost never completely passive” and that the word that matters is hustle, in “How physicians can get started with passive income.” Cory Fawcett, MD, wrote in December 2020 that as a full-time surgeon he “managed 64 rental units using about 10 to 15 hours a month,” in “Doctors with real estate holdings need to automate.” Masaki Oishi, MD, MPH, a neurosurgeon who co-develops real estate projects, wrote in March 2021 that he had built “a real estate investment portfolio of over $250 million in assets” without leaving practice, in “Physicians can practice medicine and build wealth through passive real estate investing.” Param Baladandapani, MD, a radiologist who coaches physicians on real estate, wrote in July 2021 that most physicians “wait decades to hit their financial independence numbers” in the stock market and face sequence-of-return risk when they get there, in “How doctors think about financial independence is dead wrong.” Pranay Parikh, MD, who co-founded a syndication platform, wrote in June 2023 that “working with a team you trust is the single most important factor” in syndication investing, in “Unlock financial freedom: The physician’s guide to lucrative multifamily syndications and wealth accumulation.” Trevor Cabrera, MD, wrote in September 2025 that people including his mother warned he would tire of locum tenens as a gap filler, that it became a career, and that “It is about who the locum tenens is, not where they are,” in “Locum tenens: Reclaiming purpose, autonomy, and financial freedom in medicine.”

What do physicians say about compensation and contracts?

That the first contract is the one that matters, that almost everything in it is negotiable and almost nobody negotiates, and that the structures physicians do not read, RVU curves, non-competes, forgivable signing bonuses, determine their income for decades. Compensation or contracts appear in 44 percent of posts before 2017 and 42 percent since 2023, the one subject that was on the page before the bloggers and is back after them.

Robert A. Felberg, MD, wrote in June 2017 that the typical salary negotiation has a zone of potential agreement between $20,000 and $50,000, and that a 3 percent raise on $230,000 rather than $200,000 compounds “over your 35-year career equal to millions of dollars,” in “Pay off your medical school loans for free? Here’s how.” Halee Fischer-Wright, MD, then chief executive of MGMA, and Todd Evenson, MBA, wrote in December 2018 that “at least 80 percent of compensation plans in 2017 did not include quality incentives,” and that primary care compensation peaks in years 13 to 17 and falls after 23, in “5 anomalies about compensation physicians should know about.” Altelisha Taylor, MD, MPH, wrote in April 2022 of a job paying $10,000 to $15,000 less where “the retirement matching was so good that it more than made up for it,” in “8 things to negotiate besides salary.” Aaron Morgenstein, MD, Allison Nazinitsky, MD, and Corinne Sundar Rao, MD, wrote in April 2023 that non-compete clauses “reduce job opportunities, lessen mobility, and lower negotiating power,” and that antitrust law blocks physician-run salary surveys, in “Physicians in crisis: How wage-fixing in health care is limiting compensation and driving doctors away.”

Tod Stillson, MD, a family physician who coaches physicians on micro-corporations, wrote in March 2024 that every employer has “multiple contractual templates to choose from” and presents only the one that favors it, in “Physician employment 2.0: Unveiling the secret world of employment lite.” Paul Morton, CFP, wrote in September 2024 that “The average loaned bonus is forgiven after two years,” becoming taxable income in the year it is forgiven, and that a $30,000 bonus nets far less after taxes, in “The secrets of physician signing bonuses.” Michael Suk, MD, JD, MPH, MBA, an orthopedic surgeon and health system executive, wrote in May 2026 that under nonlinear RVU curves a surgeon working 80 percent of a schedule earns closer to 60 percent, and that three years at 80 percent can produce “a 30 to 40 percent lifetime earnings gap,” which falls mostly on women, in “The physician gender pay gap is an engineering problem.”

Is physician burnout a money problem?

Increasingly, physicians on KevinMD say yes, or at least that money is what keeps a burned-out physician in place. The argument has two versions: that financial fragility, a top-1-percent income with no savings behind it, makes leaving impossible, and that financial independence is the only intervention that removes the employer’s leverage. Burnout appears in 11 to 15 percent of posts in every period before 2023 and in 43 percent since, the largest single change in the record.

Physician on FIRE wrote in December 2018 that a physician who spends $100,000 a year and invests $100,000 a year “in 15 years you’ll have $2.5 Million,” and that “good money management can help reduce burnout in your career,” in “Personal finance strategies to combat physician burnout.” Sneha Mantri, MD, Andrew Spector, MD, and Nada El Husseini, MD, wrote in November 2019 that “Only the Medscape survey in 2018 asked about money,” with 24 percent citing insufficient compensation as a contributor to burnout, and that burnout research should include compensation, in “How compensation can affect physician burnout.” Amarish Dave, DO, wrote in August 2023 that “feeling burned out is often a function of financial fragility,” even for physicians earning in the top 1 percent, and that $20,500 a year in a tax-deferred account from age 30 at 8 percent is about $2 million by 60, in “Doctor burnout: the impact of financial fragility.” Roma Mehta, MD, wrote in September 2024 that “there are gender differences in burnout,” with studies showing 30 to 60 percent higher odds in female physicians, and that investment education is a burnout intervention for women, in “Empowering female doctors: How investment education can combat burnout and build wealth.” Brian Case, CFP, Jerry Schreibstein, MD, Jonathan Moss, MBA, and Anders Apgar, MD, wrote in January 2025 that physicians who feel trapped by financial constraints are “more likely to experience dissatisfaction and burnout,” and that employers should treat financial planning as a wellness benefit, in “Personal financial planning shouldn’t be a taboo subject.” Jerina Gani, MD, MPH, a primary care physician, wrote in November 2025 that “working harder in medicine is making us as doctors poorer” and quietly harming patients, in “Physician income vs. burnout: Why working harder fails.”

Why do physicians say doctors are bad with money?

Because they start late, spend to catch up, and were selected for traits that make them good at medicine and poor at saving, according to the physicians who write about it. The recurring diagnosis is lifestyle inflation in the first attending year, when a resident’s habits meet an attending’s income and the house, the car, and the school are bought at once. Frugality or lifestyle inflation appears in 32 percent of posts from 2017 to 2019 and 16 percent since 2023, and the essays that discuss it are the record’s most quoted.

Sidney Christiansen, MD, wrote in October 2016 that a physician saving on the low end of salaries at 4 to 7 percent over a 25-year career “will be looking at over $3.5 million saved,” in “Be frugal: The key to physician financial fitness.” Physician on FIRE wrote in December 2017 that “a frugal person looks for a good value” and a cheap one the lowest price, in “Physicians: It’s possible to be frugal, but not cheap.” Live Free MD, a pen name, wrote in January 2018 that he and his wife spend $50,000 to $60,000 a year, and that a household needing $150,000 a year “then you need to save $5 million,” in “Physicians: Beware lifestyle inflation.” James M. Dahle, MD, an emergency physician who founded The White Coat Investor and sells courses and books, wrote in September 2018 that wealthy doctors “could actually tell you where their money goes each month,” and that “doctors don’t talk about that filthy lucre known as money,” in “10 things wealthy doctors won’t tell you.” James Turner, MD, wrote in June 2019 that competitiveness is a strength at work and “a real weakness when it comes to moderate minimalism,” and that wealthy people “save enough money first for their financial goals and spend what is left,” in “4 reasons why doctors are bad with money.” Jordan Benold, CFP, a financial planner, wrote in June 2023 that physicians should “invest 10 to 20 percent of your paycheck into retirement savings” and “avoid using debt to finance your lifestyle,” in “Top 4 money mistakes doctors make.”

How has the physician finance conversation changed since 2006?

The record has a prologue, a boom, and a turn. Before 2016 the archive holds a few dozen posts, most of them Kevin Pho’s short commentaries on physician pay and a handful of guest essays on asset protection and loan repayment; “financial independence” first appears in a June 2008 post of his titled “Docblogger: Doctors and their money,” and in March 2010 he argued, citing Ford Vox, that primary care physicians need financial independence from insurers. Neither post is indexed. The boom is 2017 to 2019, when a dozen pseudonymous physician finance bloggers syndicated to the site and it published 97 personal finance posts in 2018 alone, nearly all of them on FIRE, index funds, real estate, and lifestyle inflation. The turn is 2023 onward: the bloggers are largely gone, the financial planners and the physicians writing under their own names have taken over, and the subject has become burnout, advisors, contracts, and, in 20 percent of posts since 2023, AI.

Term 2006 to 2016 (41 posts) 2017 to 2019 (186 posts) 2020 to 2022 (74 posts) 2023 to 2026 (113 posts)
Student loans or debt 34 percent 42 percent 36 percent 40 percent
Financial independence or early retirement 10 percent 39 percent 22 percent 21 percent
Index funds, 401(k), or Roth 7 percent 35 percent 38 percent 35 percent
Real estate 2 percent 30 percent 42 percent 23 percent
Side income or locums 7 percent 32 percent 30 percent 28 percent
Financial advisors 20 percent 25 percent 28 percent 43 percent
Disability or life insurance 10 percent 16 percent 15 percent 17 percent
Compensation or contracts 44 percent 32 percent 26 percent 42 percent
Burnout 15 percent 14 percent 11 percent 43 percent
Frugality or lifestyle inflation 15 percent 32 percent 26 percent 16 percent
AI 0 percent 1 percent 1 percent 20 percent

The first substantive contributor essays are Sidney Christiansen’s on frugality and Eugene Rosenberg’s on why he retired early from primary care, both in 2016, with Rosenberg writing that physician reimbursement “was ratcheted down year after year” as managed care contracts paid a percentage of Medicare, in “Why this primary care doctor retired early.” Then the bloggers: Physician on FIRE in April 2016, DocG, Wall Street Physician, Passive Income MD, Live Free MD, Dads Dollars Debts, and Another Second Opinion through 2018, alongside Dahle, Fawcett, Turner, and Taylor under their own names. 2020 to 2022 is real estate and the pandemic. Since 2023 it is Dave, the planners Morton, Benold, Tenny, and Bilodeau, and physicians writing about money as a burnout problem, with Gani, Suk, Chando, and Liu in 2025 and 2026.

The KevinMD physician personal finance corpus by the numbers

The figures below describe the set of KevinMD posts this page draws on, as of September 17, 2026. They are counts of what KevinMD has published, not survey data about physicians’ finances.

Measure Value
Posts in the corpus 414
Date range June 23, 2006 to September 17, 2026
Named contributors 159
Posts bylined by an MD or DO 280
Posts by pseudonymous physician bloggers 97
Podcast episodes with full transcripts 38
Posts by companies or sponsored, counted but not cited 15
Posts in the corpus that are not indexed, counted but not cited 23
Total words About 452,000
Peak year 2018, 97 posts
Most frequent contributors Altelisha Taylor, MD, MPH (24); DocG, MD (22); Passive Income, MD (19); Cory Fawcett, MD (17); James Turner, MD (17); James M. Dahle, MD (16); Wall Street Physician, MD (13); Kevin Pho, MD (13, 2006 to 2011); Amarish Dave, DO (12)

How this page was built and how it is updated

The corpus was assembled from title searches for personal finance, physician finance, financial, student loan, student debt, loan forgiveness, PSLF, disability insurance, life insurance, retirement, retire early, financial independence, FIRE, investing, real estate, net worth, salary, compensation, income, side gig, side hustle, locum, financial advisor, money, wealth, 401(k), taxes, budget, frugal, and mortgage, plus relevance searches for physician personal finance, student loan debt, disability insurance, financial independence, retirement, and compensation. That returned 1,397 posts. The 414 that are about physicians’ own money, rather than health care costs, insurance, or physician pay as policy, are the record; a post qualified when it used the vocabulary of personal finance, loans, insurance, retirement accounts, investing, advisors, side income, contracts, at least three times. Term frequencies were computed against the full text of each post on the corpus assembled for the September 17, 2026 build; this page was converted to the current standard on September 20, 2026 without rebuilding that corpus, so the counts and figures are as of September 17, 2026. Posts are counted whether or not they are indexed; citations on this page are limited to posts that are indexed and can be verified at the link. Twenty-three posts are not indexed, Kevin Pho’s short commentaries and podcast episodes without transcripts, and fifteen are company-bylined or sponsored posts by insurance agencies, contract-review firms, and advisory firms; both groups are counted but not cited. Physician finance bloggers who wrote under pseudonyms are identified as such, and contributors who sell into the subject, financial planners, insurance agents, real estate sponsors, coaches, and course sellers, are identified where cited. Quotations are taken verbatim from the original posts. Author credentials are as they appeared in the byline at publication. Every source is linked in the sentence that cites it, and the full list appears at the end of the page. The closest archive is the Finance category. Related records: Physician burnout: what physicians say, in their own words, Medical school: what students and physicians say, in their own words, Private equity and corporate medicine: what physicians say, in their own words, and Women in medicine: what women physicians say, in their own words.

This page is updated as new physician finance essays are published on KevinMD. When it is updated, the date at the top changes, the counts in the tables are recomputed, and new named claims are added to the relevant section. Nothing is removed unless the original post is removed. An author who believes a quotation on this page misrepresents them can write to Kevin Pho and the page will be corrected.

To cite this page: Pho K. Physician personal finance: what physicians say about their own money, in their own words. KevinMD.com. Updated September 20, 2026. https://kevinmd.com/physician-finance

The 63 KevinMD posts cited on this page, in order of publication