Many physicians have a poor understanding of personal finance. Since personal finance isn’t a required course in high school, college or medical school, physicians are often unprepared to handle their high income when they become an attending. Sometimes the results of this lack of education are not pretty. Other times it’s a down right disaster. … Read more
Those of you who have been following me or have read my book, The Doctors Guide to Starting Your Practice/Career Right, know that I am not a supporter of buying a house right away when you move to a new job. There are many reasons to postpone purchasing a house including; doctors have a fifty … Read more
When I sat on the management committee of our surgery center, I was wondering why owners didn’t bring all their cases to the facility. They would clearly benefit financially if they increased their case load. So why didn’t they? I realized, it was because we all think like dogs. Dogs will do tricks if you … Read more
Medscape recently published their 2019 National Physician Burnout, Depression & Suicide Report and I thought some of the findings were interesting. Every year burnout and suicide seem to be taking a bigger role in the literature. They asked 15,000 physicians across 29 specialties to answer their polling questions. Forty four percent of the doctors polled … Read more
Wealth seems to be an elusive dream for many people. They desire to become wealthy, but feel they don’t earn enough money to reach that goal, as if earning more would make the difference. A study of 10,000 millionaires presented in Chris Hogan’s new book, Everyday Millionaires, showed that 69% of these millionaires reached that … Read more
We’ve all seen a few “news” pieces about the recent government shut down. It’s interesting, but not surprising, to hear that numerous government employees are crippled by the delay of a single paycheck. This is exactly the reason everyone needs an emergency fund. When an unexpected financial catastrophe pops up, we need to be able … Read more
Most people don’t realize how easy it is to become debt free. Instead they envision a horrible drop in lifestyle and great sacrifices that include turning back the clock to medical school days where they were living on peanut butter and Top Raman. When in fact, no sacrifice is required to become debt free. All … Read more
Too many doctors today believe that their income is what determines their level of success. This is a fallacy that is hurting way too many doctors. We hear things like “Become a specialist so you can make the big bucks” or “Now that I’m an attending, I can afford the payments on a new Tesla” … Read more
Most Americans live their lives on borrowed money, constantly spending a little more than they make, leaving them with a growing debt. These debt payments, and the added interest they must pay on their debt, decreases the amount of money that they have available to spend on future needs. Paradoxically, borrowing to buy depreciating items, … Read more
As Christmas approaches, I have begun seeing ads for things our family ‘must’ have this Christmas. Overspending in December is a common problem I often find when I do a financial makeover for doctors. There is a huge push to buy things during the Christmas season, whether they can afford it or not. Those who … Read more
