I received a couple of questions about cars in the Facebook group https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/facebookgroup and thought it would be interesting to compare and contrast them. The first one was from a soon to be resident who wanted to know if he should ship his car across the country because he wasn't sure it would survive the cross country drive. It is worth $2000 but needs some repairs to survive residency. There comes a time when you have to admit that a car is "totaled." If it costs more to repair than it is worth, it is totaled. It is time to get rid of it, getting whatever you can out of it. The second question came from someone who is expecting a baby and wants a car with a third row. But he has a lease on a car until February and wanted to know if he should buy the new car anyway and just pay out the lease. Stop leasing cars first off. If you don't have the cash to buy the car, buy a less expensive car. If you don't have the cash to buy a less expensive car, and you have to borrow for it, it ought to be a $5,000 car or less. We get more into the details of these car questions in this episode and hopefully help you make that decision on when to fix the old car or buy a new one. See the show notes for more information at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/

This podcast is sponsored by Sofi https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/Sofi a long time White Coat Investor partner. Hundreds of white coat investors have refinanced with SoFi over the years. If you apply via this link you'll get paid $300. SoFi also lends to medical and dental residents with $100 monthly payments, so it is a great option if you're not getting any sort of a REPAYE subsidy. Sofi has a number of other products as well. They have a personal loan product https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/sofiloan . They have a mortgage product. It's not technically a doctor mortgage, but you can avoid PMI with less than 20 percent down, with it. There is also SoFi Money https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/sofimoney, which is basically a high yield checking account that I've been happy with. Check out these SoFi products today, especially for student loan refinancing, which is what most of white coat investors listeners and readers have used them for. Knocking a couple of percentage points off your interest rate can save you thousands and help you get out of debt months sooner.

Unlike our typical shows where we answer questions people have pre-recorded, this episode will be a bit of a back and forth with a listener who had a lot of questions. She is missing one key element that could answer many of the questions she asks in this episode. It is a written investing plan. 95% of people out there are in the same boat. They come to me with a question of, "Should I buy this fund or this fund?" I'm like, "For what? What's the plan? What's the goal?" Without the plan it is hard to get your finances organized and on track for your goals. We talk about how you can create a written investing plan in this episode. We discuss how to set reasonable goals and what should be your next level in personal finance. Whether you are just starting out in your journey to understanding your finances or you have listened to all 114 podcast episodes before this, I think you will find something valuable you can apply to your financial life in this episode. See the show notes at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/

This episode is sponsored by Alexis Gallati of Gallati Professional Services – Alexis is not your typical tax advisor. With over 15 years of experience, she has been helping physicians all over the country save money on their taxes. As the spouse of a busy physician, she understands the burden of high tax payments physicians incur during their lifetime. Not only will she create a high level strategic tax plan for you, guaranteeing money in your pocket, but Alexis will proactively work with you throughout the year to maintain your tax plan, prepare your annual tax returns, and represent you in case of an audit. The investment in her tax planning services is a fixed-price agreement and her tax maintenance packages are a flat monthly fee. If you’re tired of complex tax jargon and giving away most of your paycheck to the IRS, visit Alexis’ website at https://www.gallatitax.com/ today to schedule your free initial consultation.

The https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/scholarship/ competition is heating up again. This is an essay contest for medicine, osteopathy, podiatry, dentistry, law, pharmacy, optometry, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, CRNA, veterinarian students. Submit your essays to scholarship@whitecoatinvestor.com

The White Coat Investor Financial Bootcamp is out in audio book now. Check it out at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/BootcampAudible

Should you start a retirement plan for your office? When is it worth starting? What things should you consider? A practice retirement plan can help with recruitment and retention of employees. But if your employees don't value that it may not be worth starting. Running a group practice retirement plan can be expensive for employers. But once you have employees it is no longer a do it yourself project. It is time to get a pro involved and help run the numbers and decide what plan is right for you. There are half a dozen ways you can structure a retirement plan for a practice. Sometimes the best thing to do is not have a plan and just invest in taxable. We discuss when starting a group practice retirement plan might be right thing for you in this episode and answer other listener questions about buying homes, investing vs paying off the mortgage, how to figure out what expense ratio you are actually paying on your investment fund, and more. Remember if you have questions you would like answered on the podcast, record them at https://www.speakpipe.com/whitecoatinvestor. See this episode's show notes at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/

This episode is sponsored by Earnest. Save money on your student loans by refinancing with Earnest at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/earnest . Choose custom terms to fit your budget – like picking your exact monthly payment or selecting fixed and variable rates. Earnest’s Precision Pricing matches your custom term with a custom interest rate — saving you even more money when refinancing. You won’t be passed off to a third-party servicer nor penalized for making payments early. Your family is always protected with loan forgiveness in cases of death and dismemberment. Get $500 when you sign a loan with Earnest. (They can lend in DC and all states except DE, KY, NV. They can only offer fixed rates in AK, IL, MN, NH, OH, TN, and TX.)

Check out our updated Reddit page at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/reddit We received little bit of help recently from a redditor who has made our reddit page a lot more useful. There is the Wiki there now and additional links that are helpful. We have put a lot more color and organization on the page so be sure to check out the reddit page if you haven't check it out in awhile.

We have also updated our recommended financial advisor page at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/financial-advisors/ It is a lot more standardized and useful. Every one of the advisors on that page have been vetted by me and I highly recommend any of them to you. I think you'll enjoy the update page, either for yourself if you need a financial advisor, or if you just need some place where you can send your colleagues, friends, and family members and know that they are going to get good advice at a fair price.

"Always ask yourself, where can your portfolio go wrong? And if you can't come up with lots of different reasons, you probably are too overconfident on it. I want everyone to have an exciting, fun, and thrilling life, I just don't want you to get it from your investments. If you're getting entertainment from your investing you're probably doing something very, very wrong. Your investing should be very, very boring." Allan Roth shares lots of wisdom like this in this episode. Read the show notes at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/

If you are in need of financial planning or advice, check out our recommended list of financial advisors at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/financial-advisors/ We have revamped the page to make it more user friendly for you. Find one that offers the services you need. They all working with clients nationwide or you can find one close to you. Compare their fees and get good advice at a fair price.

This episode was sponsored by Bob Bhayani at https://drdisabilityquotes.com/. They are a truly independent provider of disability insurance planning solutions to the medical community nationwide. Bob specializes in working with residents and fellows early in their careers to set up sound financial and insurance strategies. Contact Bob today by email at info@drdisabilityquotes.com or by calling (973) 771-9100.