Have you ever dreamed of retiring from medicine in your 40s? In this episode we interview a doctor who actually did retire recently at the age of 43. Of course long time readers will know the Physician on Fire (https://www.physicianonfire.com/) well. But he retired completely from medicine this summer after going part time a couple of years ago. We talk about what it is like as an early retiree in this show. We discuss how he is paying for health insurance, what he is doing to continue to find meaningful activities for his time, and how his relationships with his wife and children have changed now that he is home all day. We also talk about how he retired early including what his savings rate was, how he invested, how he decided he was financially ready to retire, and what he would change about his journey to financial independence if he could go back and do it again. If you are thinking early retirement might be for you, listen to this episode to learn how to do it and what it could be like. See the full show notes at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/classic-blog/

This episode is sponsored by SoFi https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/Sofi . Hundreds of white coat investor readers have refinanced with SoFi over the years for two reasons. One, they make it really easy with their great tech solutions online so you can find out your rates very quickly and get through the process with minimum pain. Two, they give great rates. People compare them to a lot of their competitors, and they end up going with SoFi because SoFi so often the lowest rate out there. If you apply via at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/Sofi , not only will you get paid $300 if you close the loan, but you will get a lower interest rate as well. They also have a fantastic medical and dental resident program, with $100 monthly payments. If you're worried that you can't refinance your loans because you'll end up with a huge payment, SoFi has a program to help you during your residency, that you still get those low payments just like you would get in an income-driven repayment program but still save money on the interest that is accumulating. Check out SoFi today https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/Sofi

Setting financial boundaries with your parents is challenging. These are the people that took care of you for the first 18 years of your life. But that doesn't mean that you are indebted to them for the rest of their lives, to provide for them regardless of their financial choices. A listener asks about helping her parents financially who have already declared bankruptcy once and are in debt again. Most people that have debt problems don't actually change their behavior. They didn't get into debt because they can't do math. It's not a math problem, it's a behavioral problem. They can't live within their means. They don't know how to manage money and that is why they are back in debt. I can understand why you would want to help them, but what you need to keep in mind is how you help them because you can certainly make things worse. We talk about how to help people financially in a way that helps them be successful and keeps your finances safe in this episode. It is possible to do with set rules and clear boundaries. See the show notes at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/classic-blog/

We also answer other listener questions in this episode including how long you should hold a bond fund, what an admirable nest egg for 5 years out of residency is, whether you should diversify out of fear for devaluing US Dollar, and putting together a contingency document for your spouse in case of your sudden death.

Sponsor
The Principals at DI4MDS https://www.di4mds.com/have collectively been advising physicians, business executives and other professionals for over 40 years, utilizing knowledge and resources to take care of their life & disability insurance needs. Experience and relationships enable them to secure specialty specific disability and practice overhead insurance policies for residents, fellows and practicing physicians with special discounts and favorable underwriting. They have established numerous guaranteed approved disability plans for residents and fellows and high earning specialists with disability benefits up to $250,000/mo. Their expertise extends to military physicians and are honored to assist those who serve our country. They have guided physicians through the claim process enabling them to collect over $1M in benefits in 2019. They can be reached at info@di4mds.com or 888-934-4637.

There are some aspects of finances that are unique to resident physicians. It is really during this time that you are putting on the training wheels and learning to manage your finances before the big money comes in. We interview a resident in this episode and discuss cashflow/budgeting, filling out a W-4, doing Roth or tax deferred retirement accounts when going for PSLF, seeking student loan management advice, disability insurance for a two resident couple, and dealing with an HSA when switching between programs after your intern year. See the full transcriptions for this episode at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/classic-blog/

Sponsor

The Principals at DI4MDS https://www.di4mds.com/have collectively been advising physicians, business executives and other professionals for over 40 years, utilizing knowledge and resources to take care of their life & disability insurance needs. Experience and relationships enable them to secure specialty specific disability and practice overhead insurance policies for residents, fellows and practicing physicians with special discounts and favorable underwriting. They have established numerous guaranteed approved disability plans for residents and fellows and high earning specialists with disability benefits up to $250,000/mo. Their expertise extends to military physicians and are honored to assist those who serve our country. They have guided physicians through the claim process enabling them to collect over $1M in benefits in 2019. They can be reached at info@di4mds.com or 888-934-4637.

The Mega Backdoor Roth IRA allows you to contribute an additional amount into an Roth IRA due to the fact that some employer 401k plans allow after-tax contributions. Listen to this episode to see if and how you can take advantage of this opportunity. See the full transcription and links to everything talked about in this episode at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/classic-blog/

Our podcast today is sponsored by one of my favorite partner companies, Earnest at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/refi Save money on your student loans by refinancing with Earnest. The cool thing about Earnest is that you can choose custom terms to fit your budget. You can pick your exact monthly payment. You can select fixed or variable rates. You can even choose your custom term. The shorter the term, the lower the interest rate. They are not going to pass you off to a third party servicer, nor penalize you for making any of your payments early. Your family is always protected with loan forgiveness in the event of your death. You can refinance anything from $5,000 to $500,000, a much wider range than most of these companies offer. Check out Earnest today and get $500 cash back when you refinance.

Every doctor and other high income earner wants to reduce their investment taxes. Our podcast guest, Phil DeMuth, is just the man to help you do that. See the full transcription and links to everything discussed in this episode at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/ Phil is the managing director at Conservative Wealth Management, LLC, http://phildemuth.com/ where he enjoys working with "high net worth clients and saving them from the depredations of the financial services industry." He is the author of 11 books, my favorites being The Affluent Investor and The Overtaxed Investor. We really focus on taxes in this episode, especially investment-related taxes. Phil says that doctors are ducks in a shooting gallery. We are the most vulnerable people in terms of taxes and we need to learn to defend ourselves as best we can. In this episode we look at all the tax reducing tactics like maximizing the use of retirement accounts, using tax efficient investments in your taxable accounts, getting your asset location right, making sure your dividends are qualified and that your capital gains are long-term, depreciating real estate, tax loss harvesting, donating appreciated shares to charity to flush those capital gains out of your portfolio, getting a step up in basis at death, etc. Which of these tactics will make the most impact? Listen to this episode to figure it out.
Contract Diagnostics http://contractdiagnostics.com/ is a long-term advertiser with us here at WCI. I love this company as they’ve helped hundreds of WCI get a ‘fair shake’ when it comes to reviewing and understanding their employment contracts – its 100% they do there. This is a company that specializes in physician contract reviews – specialization is something we can all appreciate here. All contracts are reviewed by an in-house attorney and presented in a simplified way back to you. Using custom documentation, compensation data, and times from 6am to 8pm they make it easy for you. All packages are flat priced so you know what you will pay upfront – residents and fellows can even make interest free payments over time. They have a new 'Compensation Review' offering coming soon for those of you happy in your positions as well. So look them up today – contractdiagnostics.com or 888-574-5526. They've have helped many of your WCI colleagues.