Fawcett’s Favorites 12-16-19

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

This week’s favorites include a list of the amount of salary you need to earn in each state to be considered rich, advice we wish we had received in medical school, the diversity of being in locums, buy experiences instead of things, and for a little light reading – are doctor wives gold diggers?

Happy reading!

So what does it take to be considered rich? MSN Money recently published a list of the Income it Takes to be Considered Rich in Every State. They took into account the cost of living as well as the incomes in each state to achieve their rich status. They based their story on a recent survey by YouGov that asked Americans what salary it takes to be considered rich. The interesting thing is the higher your income, the higher you set the bar for what is considered rich. I don’t think it is the amount of income that makes us rich, but a combination of income and net worth and I explained why in my piece What Does it Take to Become Wealthy? Hint, it’s not Money. What do you think? Is there a difference between wealthy and rich? Where does your income fall in your state? 

Don’t you wish you could go back and give yourself advice on things you know now that would have come in handy if you knew them in medical school? If you could, do you think your medical school self would have applied that information? Are you applying that information now? Here is the advice that Medscape’s medical student advisory board would give to the next generation of physicians. Take a look at what Sarah Averill, MD, Kendra Campbell, MD, and Shiv Gaglani, MBA have to say in Advice Doctors Wish They Had Gotten During Med School. Then you could check out my article, What I Wish the Younger Me Knew About Debt.  What would you contribute to the list?

Does your work life seem a bit ho-hum? Need a change but not really wanting a career change? Then maybe working in locums could put a little spark in your life. Locumstory published an article on The Diversity of Locums Experience from Dr. Patel’s viewpoint. There are some incredible opportunities out there for doctors if they just reach out and grasp them. If you want to learn all the ins and outs of being a Locums Doctor, check out my online course The Doctors Guide to Thriving in Locum Tenens. From now until Christmas, those who buy the course will also get a one-on-one phone consultation with me in 2020 and an autographed copy of any one of my “The Doctors Guide to” books that you choose. 

Americans spend a lot of money. But do we really get value for our purchases? Many of us park our very expensive car in the driveway because the garage is full of inexpensive junk that we just can’t part with. Maybe we would have a nicer life, and be able to get our car in the garage, if we Spend Money on Experiences by PassiveIncomeMD. Posted by Physician on FIRE. My family enjoys the fun memories we make more than the trinkets we purchase. I bet yours will too. Remember, as Christmas approaches, to give gifts of experiences and save room in your garage.

I’ve heard it said that doctor’s wives marry for money and live like the Real Wives of Beverly Hills. But is that really true? DocWife explores this issue in her piece Honest Question: Are Doc Wives Gold Diggers? I think the life of a doctor’s wife is difficult and Docwife covers many of these difficulties in her article. It’s a tough life in the house of a doctor; long hours, missed events, on-call days and weekends. But there are also rewards. I wrote about my wife in, Your Spouse is Your Greatest Financial Asset. My wife had to think long and hard about marrying someone who would not always be there for the family due to his work schedule. The future income wasn’t a factor in her decision.

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.

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