Dealing with self employment taxes can be a little tricky. In this episode I discuss quarterly payments or a way to avoid making them if you have W2 income as well to avoid penalties by being in the safe harbor. Bear in mind, what you pay in advance or what is withheld, may have little to no relationship to how much tax you actually owe. So I discuss what we do in our monthly financial plan to ensure that we have adequate money to pay our tax bill come April 15th. Spoiler - investing your money set aside for taxes is a bad idea. You really don't want to owe money to the IRS. They have a lot of rights that most lenders do not have, like being able to garnish your paychecks, take money out of your bank account, and send you to jail. We also discuss your term life insurance needs and how to invest that insurance money in the unfortunate situation that you become the beneficiary of a term life insurance payout. Other questions we answer are about paying off debt vs investing, self directed IRAs, mutual funds vs ETFs and dealing individual stocks. See the show notes at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/

Today’s episode is sponsored by CommonBond. http://commonbond.co/wci CommonBond has worked with thousands of doctors to help them refinance their student loans, save money, and get out of debt more quickly. And since your financial needs are unique, CommonBond has flexible plans along with award-winning customer service. CommonBond also offers best-in-class borrower protections, like up to 24 months of forbearance – just in case you run into any financial difficulties and need to press pause on your monthly payments. Best of all, listeners of this podcast will receive a $550 cash bonus when refinancing with CommonBond. Head over to CommonBond http://commonbond.co/wci to see your new rate and claim your $550 bonus.

Ever thought about doing a medical mission trip? My 15 year old daughter and I went to Honduras this summer to spend a week assisting in a local hospital. This episode I interview her about that trip and what effect the experiences there had on her. I also share an interview I did with an Honduran doctor where we discuss the difference between practicing medicine there versus in the United States. The audio isn't awesome from that interview conducted in the Honduras hospital but you can see the full transcription at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/ If medical missionary work interests you, you'll find this episode helpful in knowing what it can be like. I also answer some listener questions about financial advisor fees, including TIPS in your portfolio, VTSAX vs VTI, becoming an S Corp, and using Vanguard target date funds in a taxable account. Remember if you have a question record it at https://www.speakpipe.com/whitecoatinvestor and we will answer it on the podcast.

This podcast is sponsored by Pattern Financial Consultancy. Matt Wiggins is an experienced specialist in disability and life insurance for physicians. I've sat down with Matt, face to face, and talked about doctors and insurance. He knows what he is talking about and can get you a high quality disability insurance policy that you can trust to deliver should the worst happen. Doctors get disabled all the time. Don't think it cannot happen to you. If you don't have a disability insurance policy now, or just need a second opinion on whether or not your current one is still right for you, contact Matt today at Pattern at https://whitecoatinvestor.com/pattern

Be sure to sign up for our newsletter at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/free-monthly-newsletter/ It has a lot of great stuff including blog posts that don't show up anywhere else, a collection of the best stuff published on the web in the previous month for docs interested in personal finance, and a market report without any BS predictions about the future. It is free and you can unsubscribe anytime if you don't like it.

This episode we interview Robert Farrington, the founder of thecollegeinvestor.com, https://thecollegeinvestor.com/ where he provides lots of information for young investors, for indebted people with student loans, and millennials in particular. Robert, Mr. Money Mustache, and myself started our blogs about the same time, though both of theirs are bigger than mine. His message is about getting out of student loan debt and starting to invest. Whether it's millennials or not, his goal is to help people navigate the complex world of student loan debt, so that they can build wealth as early as possible. We discuss the order of operations for paying for college. There are nine basic ways to pay for college. You should max out each of them before moving on to the next step. We discuss each of those steps as well as the repayment plans available. If you are struggling under the weight of student loans this episode will provide you information and encouragement to get rid of those student loans and begin building wealth as soon as possible. To find the best deals for refinancing your student loans go to https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/student-loan-refinancing/

This episode is sponsored by Set for Life Insurance https://www.setforlifeinsurance.com/ Set for Life Insurance was founded by President, Jamie K. Fleischner, CLU, ChFC, LUTCF in 1993 which she started while attending Washington University in St. Louis. They specialize in individual term life, disability and long term care insurance. They work on the client’s behalf to shop around to find the most suitable products at the most cost-effective rate. Set for Life is first and foremost a client-centric company. They listen carefully to the needs of clients. Because of the volume and exceptional reputation of Set for Life Insurance, as well as the relationships they have developed over the years, Set for Life clients have access to special services not available elsewhere in the industry. This includes special discounts, gender-neutral policies (saving women significantly), priority underwriting handling and on some occasions exceptions in the underwriting process.

If you invest in the total international stock market index you may be eligible for the foreign tax credit. As long as your foreign tax paid is less than $300 single, or $600 married, it is a rather straightforward process. However, once that threshold is breached, the more complicated form is required come income tax time. The good news is if you're doing your own taxes, you're probably using tax software, and it does this all automatically in the background. But for those with higher foreign tax form 1116 is required. We discuss this in the episode so if this applies to you, make sure you are getting your tax credit. We also talk about physician mortgage loans, sharing financial information with your surviving spouse should you die, and what the going rate for financial advice is. See the show notes at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/

This episode is sponsored by Locumstory. Have you ever wondered about a different way of practicing medicine? Whether you are burned out, need to change of pace, or want to see the world, Locum Tenens might be that option for you. Locumstory.com is the place where you can get real unbiased answers to your questions. They answer basic questions like what is locum tenens and complex questions about pay ranges, taxes, various specialties, and how locum tenens works for PAs and NPs. Go to https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/locumstory and get the answers.

Make sure you sign up for the monthly newsletter at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/free-monthly-newsletter/ We update you on all the cool things going on at the White Coat Investor. We give you links to all the best stuff that has come out for doctors and other high-income professionals on finances in the last month. We also have a super secret special blog post. I call it the monthly tip, but it is a blog post that isn't published anywhere else. The only way you can get it is by signing up for the free monthly newsletter.

Our guest is Collin Hart, managing director of ERE Healthcare Real Estate Advisors. His company is a real estate brokerage that specializes in representing physicians in the process of selling and leasing back their practice real estate. In this episode we talk about when a physician should buy vs rent their practice space, properly structuring a lease, and exit strategies surrounding practice real estate. For those who are interested in owning their practice real estate or particularly interested in selling it, I think this will be a pretty useful podcast episode.

If you are not going for PSLF and have not refinanced your student loans, you really need to do that and save thousands of dollars. Check out the special WCI deals for refinancing. https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/student-loan-refinancing/

If you are not aware, we have an online course called, Fire Your Financial Advisor. https://whitecoatinvestor.teachable.com/p/fire-your-financial-advisor It's a bit provocatively titled, but the goal of the course is to distill down the most important aspects of financial literacy and help you to write your own financial plan.

This episode was sponsored by Alexis Gallati of Gallati Professional Services http://www.gallatitax.com/. 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 www.GallatiTax.com today to schedule your free initial consultation.