Every month, I like to highlight some noteworthy posts that I’ve found. I pass them along to you so that you can enjoy them, too. The posts will involve topics that are often covered on this blog including personal finance, investing, physician burnout, and paying down debt.
We then end with an update on the happenings in my life and the blog. So, read all the way to the bottom to hear the exciting news about The Physician Philosopher!
Welcome to The Monthly Checkout for August 2019!
Causes of Burnout
I separate the causes of burnout into systematic/systemic and individual causes. Some of these we can control. Others seem to control us. Regardless, poor financial decisions act as a catalyst for the burnout that can result from both sources.
The White Coat Investor has a different take on burnout. He believes that there are four core causes of burnout. Do you agree with his model? Are the four factors equally weighted?
Choices in Burnout
Speaking of burnout, one of our favorite physician burnout writer is back at it. Follow along as M describes how she is a bit trapped in a job that she took to avoid burnout at her previous job. Unfortunately, a meeting with an administrator didn’t go as planned when she asked to cut back her on her forced overtime that she is currently experiencing.
Follow along as the storyteller weaves her tale:
Lost That Loving Feeling
To round out our discussion on burnout, this piece published over at KevinMD by an anonymous physician stirred my soul. It encapsulates so well the journey many of us experience into burnout.
I’m sorry that I’m not sorry for sharing this with you:
I’m Sorry: Why I Lost my Love of Medicine
Fire to the Rescue
Many of you know that I think financial independence can serve as an escape hatch to burnout. You might pursue partial FIRE through part-time work or cutting back, if available to you.
Alternatively, you could full on FIRE like Physician on FIRE recently did. If you’ve ever wondered what it is like to walk out the hospital door for the last time in your mid 40s, this post is for you:
Retired from Medicine at 43: Why, How, and What Now?
The FI False Summit
FIRE might be the pinnacle for some people. Once there, they find the financial freedom that they’ve been looking forward to experiencing, and their happiness is at an all-time sustained peak.
Others reach their FI number only to determine it wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be.
Is Financial Independence a false summit?
Financial Independence Myths
I often feel like FIRE isn’t helpful for those of us who are early in our journey. In fact, it can be downright depressing thinking about being another 10-15 years away from our biggest financial goal.
It doesn’t have to be a downer, though. We can wield the power of financial independence even when we aren’t quite there. To say otherwise is a myth, according to Passive Income MD:
The Real Goal
Speaking of myths… the real goal in life isn’t to get to our financial independence number. Here is how William J. Bernstein (retired neurologist turned financial advisor) puts it,
The heart of the investing process: The goal is not to maximize the chances of getting rich, but rather to simultaneously allow for a comfortable retirement and to minimize the odds of dying poor.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Now, how do we avoid dying poor? Fred at Money with a Purpose can help us out:
Many People Will Retire Poor: Here Are 10 Reasons Why
An Update from TPP
Life in our world has been quite busy. My son (second of three) is starting kindergarten this year. So, we will now have two children in elementary school. While I am excited about the money we can save on childcare expenses, I also want time to slow down a bit. They are all growing up too fast!
Speaking of having limited time, here are a few time saving resources:
Since the death of Rockstar Finance, I’ve been using a different curation site that finds all of the best personal finance content out there. It is called Apex Money and it was created by JD Roth of Get Rich Slowly fame and Jim Wang of Wallet Hacks.
The Audible version of The Physician Philosopher’s Guide to Personal Finance is officially out. So, if you haven’t had time to read the Kindle or Paperback version of the book, the audible book may be a little more digestible. Check it out while you work out, do dishes, or commute to work.
However, if you do find extra time on your hands and/or you conveniently live on the west coast, don’t miss out on a chance to attend a great conference! The Financial Freedom Through Investing in Real Estate Conference is a one day conference on October 26th of 2019. Click here for more details.
Thanks for the highlight Jimmy!