Several years ago I had a discussion with one of my residents. He was telling me about how great it was to fly back to Portland to visit his girlfriend. The airplane flight was only 45 minutes and fairly inexpensive. This conversation got me thinking about travel and what mode of transportation is best for … Read more
Often a stay at home mom, like we have in our house, is not thought of as a contributor to wealth. Too often, only the person who “really” works and brings home an income is considered to be generating wealth. This is a case of incorrect thinking. The non-working spouse is a very big factor … Read more
Today I was honored to find my latest book, The Doctors Guide to Smart Career Alternatives and Retirement, hit #6 on Amazon’s top 100 Best Selling Financial Books list. Thanks to all of you who have purchased my book. I’m hoping it will help many doctors who are looking for a change. We will all … Read more
Have you ever wanted to be your own investment advisor? Have you ever cringed at the fees you are paying for investment advice? Does your investment advisor make more money off your portfolio than you do? Now is your chance to learn what it takes to be your own investment advisor. I have been asked … Read more
Last year I wanted to take my family on vacation during Christmas break while my youngest son, Keith, was on break from college. My oldest son, Brian, was not able to get time off work as that was a very busy time for the store. So we decided to take a staycation to allow our … Read more
I have been helping doctors with their personal finances for a long time. I recently realized that there is a single statement, if doctors would learn to use it, that would change their lives. It is very common for me to encounter doctors who are in over their heads financially, struggling with debt, and living … Read more
In my last post, I told my story of how I got out of medical school with only $18,000 of debt. By the time I left residency I had that whittled down to $6,000 at 3% interest. Then during the next three years after starting my practice I had accumulated almost $500,000 of new debt. … Read more
As the year comes to an end, congress has passed the new tax bill. This was certainly not tax reform as has been discussed, but simply a rearrangement of how they calculate our taxes. This new plan lowers tax rates but eliminates many of the items that were previously deductible. Sort of like rearranging the … Read more
Almost everyone is familiar with the story of Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carol. I was thinking about that this year and thought Charles Dickens could have just as easily written about Ebenezer’s financial situation and had visits from the ghost of finance past (Debt), the ghost of finance present (Budget), and the ghost of … Read more
I am continually running into people who are confused as to what constitutes debt when we are doing a makeover with their spending plans. Wikipedia defines debt as money owed by one party, the borrower or debtor, to a second party, the lender or creditor I have clients who list out their accounts payable as … Read more
