Cory Fawcett is a general surgeon and the author of The Doctors Guide book series.
An excerpt from The Doctors Guide to Real Estate Investing for Busy Professionals.
I left my 20-year general surgical practice at age 51, only 12 years after buying my first apartment complex. By then, my real estate investments were producing more passive income than I was spending. I no longer …
Back in 2001, we paid off our last personal loan, our home mortgage. At that time, we decided to begin investing in real estate with the money that used to go towards digging us out of our personal debt. Our real estate was held in an LLC, and we acquired loans to purchase these properties. In fact, most of our real estate was purchased with 100% financing.
In 2002, the credit …
I am often asked the question, “Is it better to pay down debt or invest?” It is uncanny how often this question comes up. This question is asked as if those were the only two options to choose from. I never hear, “Should I go on a three week trip to Paris or invest?” “Should I buy a new car or pay off my debt?” “Should I buy disability insurance …
Many physicians have a poor understanding of personal finance. Since personal finance isn’t a required course in high school, college or medical school, physicians are often unprepared to handle their high income when they become an attending. Sometimes the results of this lack of education are not pretty. Other times it’s a downright disaster. Yet some of us are able to figure out this thing called money.
I was thinking about …
When our kids were in the 5 to 9 age range, we used to buy each of them a souvenir on our vacations. They always wanted the most expensive item in the store, a great big teddy bear that cost $400. We would tell them no, they needed to pick something less expensive. They weren’t happy about not getting their first choice. It was then that we decided that we …
Locum tenens is a great way to make a living or earn some extra income. But frankly, there are some groups of physicians who should not even consider doing locums work. When you pair the right person with the right job, you can get employment bliss. But when the wrong person takes a job, both the employer and the employee are often unhappy.
I believe everyone should enjoy the work they …
Most Americans live their lives on borrowed money, constantly spending a little more than they make, leaving them with a growing debt. These debt payments, and the added interest they must pay on their debt, decreases the amount of money that they have available to spend on future needs. Paradoxically, borrowing to buy depreciating items, decreases one’s net worth.
Stop the madness this year. No more spending more than you make. …
When I sat on the management committee of our surgery center, I was wondering why owners didn’t bring all their cases to the facility. They would clearly benefit financially if they increased their caseload. So why didn’t they? I realized, it was because we all think like dogs.
Dogs will do tricks if you give them a treat immediately after their successful performance. Dogs will not do tricks if you promise …
The Match is complete, and now the fourth-year medical students are preparing to make their move to residency and chief residents are preparing to start their new career as an attending. The next phase of their lives is about to begin.
The Match got me thinking about a comment I read recently from a doctor who decided to not become a general surgeon, which she had always wanted to be, and …
I would like to share six lessons that I learned from my dad. Parents have a big responsibility in bringing up the next generation. Our kids learn from watching what we do more than hearing what we say. So doing what’s right pays dividends with our kids. As physicians, we miss a lot of time with our family due to our schedules. When we do have time with our family, …
Here we are, coming down the home stretch and about to finish residency. With an increased income comes some new financial decisions. The need for life insurance is one of those decisions. If you don’t have any, now would be a good time to consider getting some.
The purpose of life insurance is to support the people who are dependent on your income if you die and aren’t there to provide …
We have all received many gifts throughout our lifetime. Most are long gone and forgotten, but a few gifts stand out as favorites. As kids, we are given so many toys that we don’t even remember most of them. As we get older, practical gifts like ties and socks are given. Sometimes people don’t know what to give us, so we get gifts we don’t even want or need. There …
Many people look at their 401(k) like it is a piggy bank. Since they often don’t have any other savings, when they need a lump sum of money for a large purchase, the only account they have with a decent balance is their retirement account.
Since most people are not saving outside of their retirement plan, many people end up with an empty checking account, an empty savings account, no emergency …
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There are only three valid reasons to file an extension on your taxes, which changes your required filing date from April 15th to October 15th. Unfortunately, I see many people who have filed an extension incorrectly or for the wrong reason that end up getting billed by the IRS for interest and penalties. There is no reason anyone should have to pay penalties for late tax filing since correctly filing for …
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 …
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 …
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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 …
Too many doctors today believe that their income is what determines their level of success. This is a fallacy that is hurting way too many doctors. We hear things like, “Become a specialist so you can make the big bucks,” or “Now that I’m an attending, I can afford the payments on a new Tesla,” or “I’ve lived in an apartment too long, now is the time to get my …
How often do we face a physical or mental feat that we’ve always wanted to do, but never seemed to be able to complete successfully? I had a physical feat that I wanted to do my entire life, and this year, at age 56, I finally succeeded. I can still picture my junior high gym class. Lots of other people could do it. Why couldn’t I? They didn’t seem to …
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As Christmas approaches, I have begun seeing ads for things our family “must” have this Christmas. Overspending in December is a common problem I often find when I do a financial makeover for doctors. There is a huge push to buy things during the Christmas season, whether they can afford it or not. Those who choose to overspend, end up with a big headache when their January’s Visa bill arrives.
Overspending …
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