Fear of exposure
I hear from a lot of my professional friends, especially the doctors I’m in touch with regularly, about the fear of diving in — of starting out on their own social media journey. They’re watching us all swim around them, paralyzed by the thought of even dipping in their feet. It’s OK to feel that way. We all start somewhere, and many of us have experienced the same …
Physicians: scared of social media? Stop and dive in.
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
In the past, investors had to pay an actively-managed mutual fund to manage their money. The average actively-managed mutual fund charges about 1% of assets under management. Hedge funds typically charge 2% of assets and 20% of profits. And the worst of the worst mutual funds charge up to 3% or 4% of assets. Now, index funds can give you a diversified portfolio for less than 0.1%.
One of the easiest and high-yield ways …
Physicians: Are you paying attention to your mutual fund fees?
Q. Where do I start? I have a huge student loan debt and don’t think I’ll ever be able to pay it off.
I am a physician assistant, and my partner is a physical therapist. We’re about two years out of school. I have only recently started to try and figure out how to be smart with my money. I owe $167K in student loans, and my partner owes $200K. Our combined …
What to do if you have huge student loan debt
An interesting paper in CMAJ Open reports on a series of interviews with coders concerning their perceptions of their interactions with doctors. The study was done in Canada, but it rings true to what we experience in the U.S. The fundamental objective of coding is the same: to translate information about the patient’s story into a series of numeric ICD-10 codes for various administrative purposes. Several themes emerged from these interviews. Form …
When medical coders blame physicians
I recently was asked about taking a low or no interest car loan and using the money they had earmarked for a car to instead invest for a higher return. This “I can get a better return” game is very common and can be a dangerous game to play. Often it is used as a disguise to camouflage buying a car you actually can’t afford, while trying to sound like …
0% financing: It’s not always a good deal
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
Hustles are hustles, and side hustles add a little on the side. But if you want to maximize your income. You have to innovate.
When I started as an employed medical physician at the beginning of my career, I was overjoyed to make X. After years of watching money go out the door in medical school, and then making 0.25X in residency, I couldn’t believe that I was earning so much. …
Incorporate side hustles to your primary care practice
The idea of financial freedom is something everyone dreams of. Many of us are at different stages of that journey, but on some level, it’s something we all work toward. In a previous post, I mentioned that I’m financially free from medicine, and I’m happy to say that still holds true, even a couple months later.
Not only that, but my passive income streams continue to grow without necessarily putting in …
Spend less vs. earn more: a debate for medical professionals
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.
A guest column by the American College of Physicians, exclusive to KevinMD.com.
Being a physician is hard. And given the current landscape of medicine, it feels as though practicing medicine may be as difficult as it ever has been as evidenced by extraordinarily high rates of stress and physician burnout.
However, in these times I often …
Achieving aequanimitas and physician well-being
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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Once upon a time I wrote an article about private real estate investment trusts (REITs). These are some of the favorite tools of salesmen masquerading as financial advisors (there’s a reason they’re called “brokers”). They would sell these investments with a promise of high income. 8% yields were not uncommon. The value of these REITs were not marked to market. For years. So although you knew you were getting …
Everything physicians should know about REITs
I’m a trial attorney, and I’m a woman. Since 76 percent of all lead trial counsel are men, I know what it’s like to be a woman in a traditionally male profession. I also give workshops to women in the medical profession, and I listen to their stories of harassment. I’ve been following the #MeToo movement with interest. It started in Hollywood, and has expanded to Silicon Valley, to …
The #MeToo movement in medicine can’t come too soon
The gender pay gap is a hot-button issue among women physicians. A few years ago at a local women physicians group meeting, I listened in awe as a gynecologist discussed interviewing for a job early in her career. She and her male co-resident were under consideration for the same position. Upon touching base with her colleague after the interview, she realized he was offered significantly more: on the order of …
Commit to a conversation about the gender pay gap
Patients have a lot of choices when it comes to physicians. Making sure your online profile is up to date, complete, and contains these five items will improve the chances that a website visitor will become a patient.
Create a personal connection. Having good rapport with patients is important, and that process starts before patients ever walk in the door.
How often have you seen a physician bio that only contains a single, …
5 must-haves for great physician online profiles
Those of you that follow me know that I write and speak often on the topic of physician burnout. About a year ago, after my grandmother passed away, my extended family and I got together for a few days. One night, my cousin and I got to talking about my work, and he pressed me on a question that so many have asked me before, “What makes physician burnout different than that which every other profession experiences — and if …
If physicians are burned out, why don’t they just quit? Here’s why.
Two years ago I fielded a call from a surgeon I knew of but had not met. Raised locally, she had left the state for undergraduate school, returning to Texas for medical school and North Texas for her fellowship. Heavily recruited, she wanted to stay close to home and her family, and accepted a position with a group of surgeons practicing at one of the area’s stellar hospitals.
But she wasn’t …
For medical school graduates, the entrance strategy is more important than the exit strategy
When it comes to physicians burning out, for the most part, it is assumed that work is the primary cause. After all, physicians work long hours, have demanding schedule, and have to deal with the endless politics that comes with medicine. However, I often encounter burned out docs (many of who wear multiple hats outside of the home) who would claim themselves that work was not their primary cause of …
Physician burnout: When work is not the cause
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