Backdoor Roth IRAs are a frequently-discussed topic on physician blogs and social media sites. But most conversations assume you understand basic investing concepts that many novice investors don’t. I’ve written this post as a reference guide for anyone who needs help with the mechanics on how to set up a backdoor Roth IRA. Continue reading
Roth IRA
How Should You Allocate Savings?
If you live a reasonably balanced lifestyle, you will, at some point in your lives, find yourselves debt free, 529s funded and accumulating cash. As physicians, particularly in dual-doctor households, you can accomplish this 10 years or so out of 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
When to Convert to a Backdoor Roth IRA
Few doctors and other HIPs (High Income Professionals) qualify to contribute directly to a Roth IRA. In 2017, you are prohibited from doing so if:
- MFJ – your AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) is above $196k
- MFS – your AGI is above $10k
- Single – your AGI is above $133k
The workaround is to contribute to a nondeductible (“n/d”) TIRA Continue reading
How to prioritize savings choices
“…when we finally step across the threshold of retirement—our financial lives essentially shrink Continue reading
I have negative net worth! Why pay a financial planner?
Recently, Passive Income, MD kindly asked me to write a guest post on what, initially, seemed to be a difficult topic. He wanted me to write a post making the case for residents – Continue reading
My 12-Step Program for Year End Tax Planning
Do you habitually postpone your tax planning? If so, you need to enter our 12-Step Program for Tax Planning Procrastinators. You have two weeks for a mini-tax makeover – plenty of time to save money, especially when you’re calculating the cost of Christmas presents piling up under the tree! Continue reading
Roth IRA conversions part 2 of 2: When and how to convert
Should a high income professional convert pre-tax retirement accounts to a Roth IRA and pay the taxes in peak earning years? The answer may seem obvious to some, but this is Continue reading
Roth IRA conversions part 1 of 2: How to build wealth
Imagine having a stash of hundreds of thousands of tax-free dollars awaiting your retirement. No rules about what you can use the money for, and no limits – at any time Continue reading
Fiscal Fitness News 