This week is continuing financial education week. See more information and resources to get financially literate at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/classic-blog/. I do this week every year with book reviews on the blog and podcast to encourage you to get financially literate. I view getting financially literate as reading a handful of books and getting a financial plan in place, whether that involves taking an online course like my Fire Your Financial Advisor https://whitecoatinvestor.teachable.com/p/fire-your-financial-advisor, or meeting with a good financial advisor who gives you good advice at a fair price, or just drafting up your financial plan yourself. I consider that your initial financial education. Your continuing financial education is following a good blog or podcast and reading one good financial book a year. I'm obviously partial to mine, but there are other good physician specific podcasts and blogs out there that you can follow if you like. And I share recommended books on the blog and podcast this week. If you've never read a finance book, I would start with the ones on my recommended list. The ones I review during continuing financial education week aren't always the ideal first book that you should read. Maybe the first book you should read is either the White Coat Investor or the White Coat Investors Financial Bootcamp, but I can't just have people read that every year.
We also offer some sweet deals to give you a little more encouragement to become financially literate. For this week only, if you buy our Fire Your Financial Advisor online course, we're going to give you the online version of the 2018 Physician Wellness and Financial Literacy Conference for free. That is basically an $800 value for just $499. This offer is good through Monday, December 2nd at midnight.
Sponsor
This podcast was sponsored by Pattern Financial Consultancy https://whitecoatinvestor.com/pattern . 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 https://whitecoatinvestor.com/pattern.
A contract is just a vehicle to set expectations. But understanding those expectations is very important. We discuss what you need to know about negotiating a contract in this episode. See the full transcription at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/classic-blog/ A contract discusses the physician's time and job responsibilities. Along with how they will be compensated, what benefits are provided, and what happens when that employer-employee relationship is terminated. Having a solid understanding of all these things will make a difference in your efforts to build wealth. Not to mention the benefit of negotiating that compensation so you ensure you are paid what you are worth. In this episode I interview Jon Appino from Contract Diagnostics, a long time advertiser that has helped many WCI readers and listeners better understand their contracts and negotiate better compensation packages. This is not an expensive service, a few hundred dollars. Considering how much money we are talking about, especially if it becomes a long-term job, a couple of hundred bucks is money well-spent. Listen to this episode to learn more about contracts, who is qualified to review one, find out what you are really worth, what you can negotiate in a contract, and whether or not you should hire someone to help with this process.
This episode is sponsored by Locumstory.com. A lot of physicians have questions about locum tenens, and locumstory.com is the place for them to get real, unbiased answers to those questions, basic questions like, “What is locum tenens?” to more complex questions about pay ranges, taxes, various specialties, and how locum tenens works for PAs and NPs. And then there’s the big question: Is it right for you? Go to locumstory.com and get the answers.
Our guest this episode is an asset protection attorney. See the full transcription here https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/classic-blog/ A lot of readers and listeners had questions about the cost to value for asset protection. We discuss the cost of asset protection and the value of proactive asset protection planning with Brian Bradley of Bradley Legal Corp. He shares tips and questions to ask as you are identifying an asset protection attorney to work with. The first line of defense is insurance and then reducing your liability as much as possible. After that we start looking at asset protection strategies of what exemptions you can receive in your state and then jurisdictions in regards to trusts, whether that is domestic trusts, offshore trusts, or a hybrid bridge trust. This won't be for everyone but certainly as your financial life becomes more complicated, as you become more wealthy, as you take on more risks with businesses and investments, it may behoove you to find an asset protection attorney.
This episode is sponsored by Sofi https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/sofi . Hundreds of white coat investor readers have refinanced their student loans 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 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 save money on the interest that is accumulating.
Deducting your business vehicle sounds like a great way to lower your tax bill. Unfortunately it is probably not going to be a significant deduction for most doctors. For starters W2 employees cannot deduct a car or business mileage. You don't own a business so you cannot own a business vehicle. A business can buy a car if it is going to use it at least 50% for business purposes. Regardless of the percentage of time you use your car for business purposes, business owners can still deduct their business miles. Deducting business miles is worth $.58/mile in 2019. That is not insignificant and can really add up. I discuss the rules of business vehicle tax deductions in this episode to help you decide what you can deduct.
I also answer listener questions about how businessmen making millions avoid paying taxes, being on Tricare and using an HSA, what to do with the TSP when you retire, what to do with the whole life insurance policy your parents bought you, and how the pro-rata rule affects the mega backdoor Roth IRA. See the show notes at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/classic-blog/
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.