Once every couple of years I have medical students from the local medical school over for dinner. At some point, the conversation usually turns to finance, and I commiserate with them about their loan burdens. I typically toss them a few pearls of wisdom, wish them good luck, and we move on to something else. They always think it’s funny when I say, “If you can’t live on $200K, you …
10 reasons why doctors spend too much money
Change and health care are closely interconnected. Health care organizations are continually faced with the need to adapt to change, whether it be advances in medical care or technology, growing demand for care delivery, a patient population that is increasingly active and involved in their own health and well-being, or evolving reimbursement and cost models. By recognizing that change is inevitable in the health care sphere, organizations can focus on …
What makes you an effective change agent in health care?
Do you ever feel like time is always slipping away? Do you feel like you hardly get time to enjoy the things you love? For example, do you feel like you get enough time in your day to spend with your kids? If your answer is “no,” welcome to the club. You are not alone! I am a physician mom of young kids who used to feel like I never …
A physician’s guide to getting more time with family
Physicians-in-training make a pittance when one looks at the hourly rate, Especially when I was residency, in the early 2000’s. I often worked upwards of 100 hrs per week and made $30,000 per year. The first year, called internship, is replete with long hours and crushing responsibilities. Opportunities to make an extra buck are all but impossible. In the second and third years, however, there is much more elective time. During these …
Moonlighting is the side hustle for the not so lazy
Every day, we’re presented with choices. Some are larger than others, and though some make little difference in the grand scheme of things, some choices can be life-altering. In life and in business, when we have a big decision to make, it’s all too easy to err on the side of caution–sometimes to our personal or financial detriment. It’s human nature.
But what is it that keeps us from making tough …
Taking risks and the costs of inaction
In February 2017, I saw my last patient and left clinical medicine. Most people would say I retired. I have chosen to say I have repurposed. I no longer see patients, but I still work. I am writing the Doctors Guide series of books, keeping up a blog and working with physicians who need help with a financial makeover, usually to eliminate their debt, set themselves up for retirement or …
6 things this physician learned after retiring
How do I start a side hustle?
I have heard this plea so often, It is no wonder there are many how to blog posts trying to answer this exact question. As helpful as they may be, most of the ideas espoused are both time and energy-consuming. For instance, starting a blog is great! But if you want to truly make money, be prepared to put in full-time hours. Or Read more…
How physicians can start lazy side hustles
We had a pretty busy shop when I was in residency. So busy, in fact, that we had three secretaries working simultaneously — one for paging, one for order entry, and one for admissions. I haven’t been back there in a long time, but I hope the secretarial staff has grown commensurately with the volume and acuity of the ED. But from what I’ve seen around the country in my …
Emergency physicians are glorified secretaries with medical degrees
I love movies. Not the artsy types that win awards; I most enjoy the big, expensive popcorn blockbusters that take you away to a different time and place. However, as our income and wealth has grown, we’ve maintained a few of our “cheapskate” habits from when we were poor. One of these is we see almost all of our movies at the “dollar theater,” a second-run theater where the entire …
11 physician finance lessons from The Greatest Showman
Recently I had three important events happen during a three day period that reminded me of the brevity of our life and the need to live life to the fullest every day.
On July 4th, having planned celebratory events that day with friends and family, a CRNA in my home town awoke feeling poorly just before sun up. He was in great health the day before and lived a very active …
Do whatever it takes to have fun and spend time with your family before it is too late
There was once three brothers who set off on the journey of a lifetime by embarking on three separate roads. Each brother was uniquely different, and quickly these roads diverged.
It was believed that the eldest brother was most wise because his path was clear and straight.
The middle brother was a strong walker but easily distracted. It was hard to keep him concentrated on the task at hand.
And finally, the youngest …
Financial independence: the story of the 3 brothers
In 2017, the flagship multispecialty practice of Oregon Medical Group, moved into its new digs — a 46,000 square foot redesigned medical office building. Practice leaders and the 30-odd clinicians in six different specialties were committed to a coordinated patient experience. They wanted to ensure that patients could move smoothly between sequential visits with different care providers — on the same day. To this end, the group invested in a …
The many benefits of self-rooming patients
When we first met and got married, my husband Josh wanted to be a math teacher. Since I was also pursuing a career in teaching, I thought this was a great idea. I envisioned both of us teaching together in the same school district for forty years, becoming local superstars! We would know all the kids in town and spend our summer vacations traveling to exotic locations around the globe. …
Doctors wear white coats. But what do their spouses wear?
Medical practices with risk-adjusted contracts must sharpen their diagnosis coding. Practices that are part of accountable care organizations (ACOs) or that have risk-adjusted contracts with commercial payers have an economic incentive to accurately report the disease burden of their patients. In fee-for-service medicine, physicians are paid based on the fee schedule associated with a CPT code, and any modifier attached to that code. The diagnosis code establishes the medical necessity …
How to do risk-adjusted diagnosis coding the right way
We are now nine years into the current bull market, and the S&P 500 has risen over 300% from its March 2009 low.
Unfortunately, there are some investors that have been left behind. They sold their stock in 2007-2008 and never got fully back into the stock market. For example, a reader on the Bogleheads forum recently posted this question:
“I have had about $450k sitting in cash for too …
So you missed the bull market. What can you do now?
If you’re doing investing right, you’re saving a large percentage of your income every month (like 25-50%) and stuffing it into stocks, bonds, and real estate investments.
At first, even with a high savings rate, your net worth will be low, and the money made by your investments will also be low, like maybe a few hundred dollars a month. However, as your net worth increases, your investments will make more …
Enjoy financial freedom by reaching the land of critical mass
I was lucky to be raised in a place and time where I have not had any significant barrier in my way because I am a woman. I have been allowed to make my own choices and pursue my own path in life. My gender never deterred me from achieving what I set out to do. Can you imagine being a woman a hundred or two hundred years ago or …
The implicit biases of gender stereotypes in medicine
I was doing a procedure on a child last night, and the mother said to her son: “I want you to be a doctor, make lots of money and buy me a house.”
Of course, it was 11 p.m. on a Friday night, and I was making my riches doing a procedure on an anxious four-year-old in the emergency department.
Doctors make a good income after they finish 25 years of education …
5 ways to be financially successful as a physician
Cars are incredible inventions. They allow you to transport yourself hundreds of miles, whenever you want, in a relatively short time period. Cars allow you to arrive at your desk job without any sweat or dirt on your face. They also allow you to take amazing road trips and might even act as a camper on a rainy night.
Cars are a depreciating asset
However, don’t forget that cars are a luxury …
Physicians: Get rid of car debt. Or, how to buy a car with cash.
There are a lot of competing goals when you first get out of residency.
You have hundreds of thousands of student loans to pay off.
You need to build up your investment accounts, which lag far behind your college classmates who have been working for the past decade.
You need to save up for a down payment for your dream home.
If you have kids, you need to begin saving for their college educations.
And of course, you’ve been living like …
Pay down student loans or invest: What should doctors do?
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