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 which masks are most effective for stopping COVID-19 spread, proof that face masks really do stop the spread of COVID-19, a real life example of buying rental property in another state, should you have kids during medical training, and five ways an HSA helps you in retirement.
Happy reading!
It looks like we will be wearing masks at least until next summer. As I run into people wearing masks, I have seen a large variety of types. Which masks prevent droplets from escaping and which are just pretending to do the job? Science magazine published an article showing the results of a head to head comparison of the most typical masks used. They compared the ability of a mask to stop droplets from getting through when a person is talking. It was nice to know the mask I have been using came in second place. But it is really important to also know that bandanas and neck gaiters were not very useful. We need to get people to stop using bandanas and neck gaiters which is more like pretending to mask up. How does your chosen mask stack up against the competitors? Now that you know better, you can do better.
When our town opened up I was a little reluctant to go get my haircut. When I finally did, both the hairdresser and I wore masks. She was taking all the needed precautions. I still wondered how safe it was. Then the CDC published an article showing the absence of transmission of COVID-19 from hair stylists following precautions. They did contact tracing from two of them who were positive for COVID-19 and found that when both the stylist and the patron wore a mask, no transmission occurred. That makes me feel better about getting my haircut. How do you feel about a haircut now a days?
Many people who live in high cost of living areas want to invest in real estate, but don’t feel they can afford the properties in their area. They are wanting to invest in a more reasonable priced town. Budgets are Sexy gives us a good example with real numbers of just such an investment in the article, Yes, You Can Buy a Rental Property in Another State. I love that he did the same thing I did in my book, The Doctors Guide to Real Estate Investing for Busy Professionals and gave you real numbers. I like real examples better than theoretical examples of returns. Have you ever invested out of state? If so contact me so I can share your story.
Getting married often is followed by having children. But what happens when you get married during your grueling medical training? Should you have kids right away or wait? Docwife discusses the pros and cons of this in her article Should You have Kids During Medical Training or Wait Until Attendinghood? For us, we did not even consider my medical training in the decision. Never even thought of it. (I also was not the one who would be pregnant) We decided when we got married, during my internship, that we would not consider having kids for two years. We would spend that time getting to know each other better. After that we would start having kids. Our first was born during my fourth year of residency, 3 years and 4 months after our wedding. My wife also worked at that time. The second child was born 2 years and 2 months later when I was an attending and my wife no longer had a job outside our home. The only thing that was different for us between the two kids was as an attending I had more flexibility in taking time off. We didn’t find a reason not to start our family during residency. How about you? Do you think it mattered? If you want a better life with your family, read my book The Doctors Guide to Starting Your Practice Right and set up a better life as an attending, either employed or in private practice.
Retirement is a time in our lives that we try to stretch our money to be sure it lasts for the rest of our life. There are a lot of tricks to doing this. Her Money gives us five ways we can use our HSA (Health Savings Account) to stretch our retirement dollars. Many people are missing out on additional retirement money by misusing their HSA. They mistakenly spend the money on healthcare needs the same year they put the money into the account. There is a better way. If you need other ideas for increasing your retirement income, pick up a copy of my Retirement book and get started on boosting your retirement income today.
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.
