Fawcett’s Favorites 5-3-21

Each week I run into a few articles that I feel are especially valuable. Every Monday I would like to share some of the best with you, my readers. I hope you find them helpful.

This week’s favorites include money can’t buy happiness but…., the double penalty a widow pays, legal steps to take after retirement, a review of the first year of a private medical practice, and how to make one application for a medical license in 29 different states.

Happy reading!

We have all heard the saying, money can’t buy happiness. But, as My Money Wizard says, it can buy a jet ski. Have you ever seen someone on a jet ski that wasn’t happy? All kidding aside, money can buy a lot of things that do make us happy, especially our freedom. Freedom to choose where and how we live, what we do each day, how we use our precious time, and best of all, how early we come home from work. Money Can’t Buy Happiness, BUT…. has great advice about reframing how we perceive money. This is a great companion article to my article on The True Power of Financial Independence is NOT Retirement. Money can indeed buy a lot of things, and many of them contribute to our happiness.

Losing a spouse is bad enough without adding the tax ramifications becoming widowed bestows. When a spouse dies, the surviving spouse will end up paying more taxes each year. FI Physician spells it out for us in Widow’s Tax and the Widow’s Penalty. Maybe it is time to do away with this marriage penalty issue, if President Biden wants to reduce the middle-class tax bill. Is it really fair that my wife will have a bigger tax bill if I die than we would have if we were both living? Be sure to talk to a financial advisor to make sure you are getting all the tax advantages you are entitled to. FI Physician is on my list of recommended flat fee financial advisors. Don’t pay more than you need for advice, especially if you are going to pay more taxes after a death in the family.

There are a few important things to do when you retire. Leisure Freak spells out the Important Legal Steps to Take After Retirement as discussed by Veronica Baxter in her guest post. After Four Years of Retirement, All is Well in the Fawcett house. We followed the things in this article that helped us successfully transition into retirement. Before you make the move, be sure to read The Doctors Guide to Smart Career Alternatives and Retirement so you don’t miss any other important moves. 

I often hear people say, “You can’t start a private practice anymore.” I know that is not true, but for those who think this statement is true, here is a chance to look inside the finances of a new practice with First Year Review of Our Medical Practice Start-Up. If they can get up and running, even when COVID interrupted their plans, so can others. Thank you White Coat Investor for sharing this story from a guest poster. If you are thinking about starting your own private practice read Advantages of Owning Your Practice and The Doctors Guide to Starting Your Practice Right. 

One of the problems with locums and telemedicine is the multiple state licenses you need before you can practice. There is, however, a way to fill out one application and get licenses in 29 different states. This vastly decreases the amount of paperwork needed to acquire licenses in multiple states. Look for Zebras spells out the application process in the article Interstate Medical Licenses: Ten Steps to Get It. If you need more help with getting started in Locums and don’t want to figure it all out yourself, get my course The Doctors Course to Thriving in Locum Tenens and get yourself off to a good start.

I hope you enjoy these articles as much as I did. I look forward to updating you again next week with a few more articles I find especially interesting. If you read an especially good article, send me the link so I can share it with others.