A recent, true-life client situation is the inspiration for this month’s post. Dr. Tony* and his wife, Sam*, had just made a bid on their “forever” home in California. We had prepared a plan scenario to determine the amount of home they could reasonably afford given their long-term goals and projected income and savings. After some expected haggling, they emailed to tell me their bid had been Continue reading
financial planning
Are you house-poor? A case study
“I think we are house-poor,” said Greta*, a physician client who lives with her husband, Zeke*, on Long Island. We were only part-way through developing their IFP (Initial Foundation Plan) so I didn’t yet have a grasp on whether this statement was simply a feeling or based on difficulties with their cash flow and the inability to reach Continue reading
Does it make sense to keep your old house? [VIDEO]
Johanna talks about issues you should consider when deciding whether to rent out your old home. But there may be situations which lend themselves to renting out your house – let’s talk about it in my Vlog, When to Convert to a Rental. Continue reading
How to Get to Financial Independence (FI)
A client and I were meeting recently and were going over her plans for a radical change in her work habits. She’s a fairly new attending (less than 5 years out) and plans to cut back by 50% in 10 years and then retire when her youngest starts college. And she wants the same for her husband, who is not a physician and makes about 1/3 of her salary. As we put together a plan to make this happen, she made a comment that struck me: Continue reading
Recruitment and Signing Bonuses
Recruitment and signing bonuses are a popular topic on WCI this time of year (along with Teslas for some unknown reason). Here are a few things you should consider when negotiating them. Continue reading
Ideas for Doing Finances as a Couple [VIDEO]
It’s a rare couple that is in 100% agreement on spending. But you need to be able to find some common ground, especially if you are planning for early FI. Ben has some tips to help you pull in the same direction when you’re discussing money! Continue reading
How to stack education savings
We have an awful lot of expectant physician client families right now – something in the virtual water, I guess! A common question is how to save for education. What accounts, how much, when, for whom and so forth. So this month’s Doctor Dilemma is for all of you parents-to-be and grandparents-to-be who are trying to sort this out. Continue reading
The Irrelevance of Fees (Expense Ratios) in your Investment Portfolio
The most common question prospective clients ask about our investment philosophy involves the fees charged by the funds we use: “Do you recommend active or passive funds? What about the fees?” The low-fee-fetish on many physician finance sites is good clickbait Continue reading
Expense Ratio Exercise: Which Portfolio Wins? [VIDEO]
Fees are a popular discussion on many physician financial blogs and some passive funds have managed to drop expense ratios to under .1%. But how much do expense ratios matter to your long-term fiscal fitness? Continue reading
Market Volatility: When to be afraid
Have your nerves been on edge because of recent swings in the stock market? When @Hatton1, a popular WCI forum participant, started a thread on 2/3/18 titled I congratulate the forum, she was giving everyone a big high-5 for not panicking over the 1,100 point drop in the Dow the day before. Continue reading
