Money Meets Medicine

The personal finance industry is meant to help you manage your assets, but particularly for doctors, many questions remain around what that kind of support actually means.

Does your financial advisor have your best interest at heart? Do you know how they get paid? Are they transparent in their disclosures about how their company actually works? Where are the conflicts of interest?

Because you can rest assured there are conflicts of interest. It’s just a matter of how they show up. And once you can say “Show me the money” and find them, that’s when you can make intentional, informed decisions regarding your personal finance.
In tackling this topic, we wanted to acknowledge the two main reasons you may be considering your options for charitable giving, especially as a high-earning physician.

One is that you may have religious convictions that make you feel more inclined to give. Even if you don’t hold to the same belief system that we do – specifically around tithing and the historical background of that concept – giving to your community is very valuable. Not just for the recipient, but for you, the giver.

This leads us into reason two, which is that giving money (or other valuable resources) and helping others has been shown to increase long-term satisfaction and fulfillment in your life.

There’s also a practical side of financial charitable giving to consider, which are the tax advantages you can use to create the most bang for your buck – literally.

Does tithing or charitable giving play a part in your personal finances? Should it? As usual, we’re not shying away from taking a deep dive into a very personal topic. Personal finance is personal, maybe never more so than when it comes to deciding how you want to give back.

In tackling this topic, we wanted to acknowledge the two main reasons you may be considering your options for charitable giving, especially as a high-earning physician.

One is that you may have religious convictions that make you feel more inclined to give. Even if you don’t hold to the same belief system that we do – specifically around tithing and the historical background of that concept – giving to your community is very valuable. Not just for the recipient, but for you, the giver.

This leads us into reason two, which is that giving money (or other valuable resources) and helping others has been shown to increase long-term satisfaction and fulfillment in your life.

There’s also a practical side of financial charitable giving to consider, which are the tax advantages you can use to create the most bang for your buck – literally.

You’ve done it – your training is complete and now you’re finally getting a paycheck fit for an attending physician. You think, “I’ve arrived! I’m going to start making so much more money.”

Famous last words. If you’re not prepared, that is.

Seemingly unassuming, everyday expenses still have the potential to wreck your new paycheck and your budget. I’ve seen it many times over the years: you try to be careful, but you (understandably) want to enjoy your hard-earned money. Costs creep up on you, things snowball. Suddenly, your post-tax paycheck is no different than it was in residency.

You thought you knew how to spend money wisely, but now you wonder, “What was the point of all my hard work to get here?”

Don’t worry. You can still enjoy the money you make while being aware of five main money traps that a high-income earner like you could be susceptible to if you’re not paying attention.

Specifically, how do you even access your retirement funds ahead of time? Because there’s a 10% tax penalty for early retirement withdrawal before you reach age 59 and a half. And that’s on top of the amount you’re already set to be taxed for using pre-tax funds. So… what gives?If you want to retire by age 45 or 50, you have to know how to bridge that 10% gap. So we’ve compiled several different options you can research (because personal finance is personal) and make educated choices towards your own early retirement goals.

If you’ve thought about getting financial advice from a professional but weren’t sure who to trust or how to start, you’re not alone – and your concerns are not unfounded.

Our aim isn’t to make every doctor in our listenership into a financial guru, but to avoid being so reliant on a financial advisor that you don’t know what’s going on with your money.

When it comes to finding a truly helpful financial advisor for doctors, certain criteria need to be met that might not need to be taken into consideration in other professions. To that end, I have a list of traits to share called The Four Fs, and it’s been really impactful in helping physicians find a financial advisor that makes sense for them.

In medicine, there’s a classic debate about pursuing academic jobs versus pursuing private practice: which category should a physician commit to? Admittedly, a lot of the debate focuses on the financial aspect and how that can affect the decision-making process. And of course, as a podcast focused on the power of well-managed money, we know finances are an important consideration. But there are components of the academic versus private practice discussion that are infinitely more important than money.