Maxing out your retirement accounts will make estate planning easier, give you better asset protection, you'll pay less in taxes, all while your investments grow. A tax protected retirement account provides all this for you, whether it is a tax deferred accounts like a 401(k)s or tax free accounts like Roth 401(k)s and Roth IRAs. Whichever one you choose to use, you are almost always better off than investing in a taxable account. We cover the downsides in this episode but they are not very big in comparison to the upsides of maxing out retirement accounts. These accounts are protected in case of bankruptcy. A 401(k) contribution gives you a tax break up front. You can rebalance within the account without a cost for buying and selling or a tax consequence.  And you will almost surely take that money out of the account at a lower tax rate than you put it in. It is important to understand that a tax deferred retirement account is your biggest tax break. I discuss the different types of retirement accounts in this episode as well as the contributions you can make to each of them. I cannot stress the importance of maxing out your retirement accounts enough. I also answer listener questions about tax benefits of private real estate funds, why I recommended an independent agent for disability insurance, collecting on both individual and group disability policies,  how long you should continue your disability insurance policy, what to do with your money in residency, asset allocation, and adding small caps to your three fund portfolio. I estimate that 80% of doctors need, want, and should use a financial advisor and/or an investment manager. Some investment gurus such as Dr. William Bernstein think my estimate is way too low. At any rate, if you want to use an advisor temporarily or for your entire life, there is no reason to feel guilty about it—just make sure you are getting good advice at a fair price. If you need help updating your financial plan or just getting one in place, check out our list of recommended financial advisors at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/financial-advisors. You can do this and The White Coat Investor can help. The White Coat Investor has been helping doctors with their money since 2011. Our free financial planning resource covers a variety of topics from doctor mortgage loans and refinancing medical school loans to physician disability insurance and malpractice insurance. Learn about loan refinancing or consolidation, explore new investment strategies, and discover loan programs specifically aimed at helping doctors. If you're a high-income professional and ready to get a "fair shake" on Wall Street, The White Coat Investor is for you! Main Website: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com  YouTube: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/youtube  Student Loan Advice: https://studentloanadvice.com  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Twitter: https://twitter.com/WCInvestor  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/whitecoatinvestor  Online Courses: https://whitecoatinvestor.teachable.com  Newsletter: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/free-monthly-newsletter 

If you are not financial independent you need to have a disability insurance policy in place. About one out of every five doctors over the course of their career uses a long-term disability policy. If you don't protect your income, what really is protected? It is really foundational to your financial plan. You need to have a policy in place that will replace a large portion of your income if you get disabled so you can continue moving forward with your plan. If you get disabled and you can't actually earn your income, then all of that effort you put into your financial plan goes out the window. I have been collecting disability questions from you for several weeks. I brought Matt Wiggins from Pattern Insurance www.whitecoatinvestor.com/pattern on this episode to help answer questions and give some additional information as an insurance agent. In this episode we talk about the three D's of disability insurance - definitions, discounts, and deadlines, pregnancy and disability insurance, the top insurance companies, how agents are paid, getting out of a bad policy, graded vs level premiums, and what riders may or may not be worth adding to your policy. If you don't have disability insurance you need to listen to this episode. If you aren't sure your policy is adequate, you need to listen. If you have a great policy in place, pass this episode on to a colleague, you probably know someone that needs the push to get this in place.   Getting quality disability and life insurance should be the first financial chore for a doctor to complete. Most docs don't have the ideal policy for their gender, specialty, state, or health status and 1 in 7 doctors get disabled at some point during their career. Because these policies can only be purchased through brokers, we have put together a list of vetted agents who are experienced with working with the specific needs of medical professionals and who have your best interest at heart. If you have questions about insurance and what kind of policies would be the best fit for you, check out our insurance recommended list at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/insurance and feel the peace of mind that comes with knowing you have the optimal policy in place. You can do this and The White Coat Investor can help. The White Coat Investor has been helping doctors with their money since 2011. Our free financial planning resource covers a variety of topics from doctor mortgage loans and refinancing medical school loans to physician disability insurance and malpractice insurance. Learn about loan refinancing or consolidation, explore new investment strategies, and discover loan programs specifically aimed at helping doctors. If you're a high-income professional and ready to get a "fair shake" on Wall Street, The White Coat Investor is for you! Main Website: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com  YouTube: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/youtube  Student Loan Advice: https://studentloanadvice.com  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Twitter: https://twitter.com/WCInvestor  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/whitecoatinvestor  Online Courses: https://whitecoatinvestor.teachable.com  Newsletter: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/free-monthly-newsletter 

Do doctors need a side gig? No. But it certainly can ease the stress that comes from changes in your physician income beyond your control, like with this pandemic. But living like a resident, saving and investing appropriately can also do that. I think each of us needs to find a balance and realize that if you will carve out a chunk of your income and invest it in some reasonable way, you'll be okay. Doctors make enough money that if they will just manage the money well, they don't need a side income. But it never hurts to have a little bit of side income if that is something that interests you.  Besides discussing the necessity of side gigs in this episode I also answer listener questions about where to put your PSLF side fund, what asset allocation to have in your 457 account, whether my opinion on the use of bonds has changed given recent market events, and should you be interested in a side gig, how to pay yourself from that money.  As a white coat, you have valuable knowledge. Various companies want that knowledge. And they’re willing to pay you for it! That’s why we’ve put together a list of recommendations for companies that pay you to take surveys. If you’re looking for a profitable side gig for not too much effort, getting paid for surveys could be the perfect solution for you. You can make extra money, start a solo 401(k), and use your medical knowledge to impact new products. One of the WCI columnists makes an extra $30,000 a year just doing these surveys. Sign up today and use a fraction of your downtime to make extra cash! Go to https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/MDSurveys. You can do this and The White Coat Investor can help. The White Coat Investor has been helping doctors with their money since 2011. Our free financial planning resource covers a variety of topics from doctor mortgage loans and refinancing medical school loans to physician disability insurance and malpractice insurance. Learn about loan refinancing or consolidation, explore new investment strategies, and discover loan programs specifically aimed at helping doctors. If you're a high-income professional and ready to get a "fair shake" on Wall Street, The White Coat Investor is for you! Main Website: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com  YouTube: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/youtube  Student Loan Advice: https://studentloanadvice.com  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Twitter: https://twitter.com/WCInvestor  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/whitecoatinvestor  Online Courses: https://whitecoatinvestor.teachable.com  Newsletter: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/free-monthly-newsletter 

What is it like to train and practice medicine in Venezuela? Dr. Postalian emailed me a while ago saying, “if you are interested in learning about medicine in a completely crazy and destroyed economy like Venezuela, let me know." See the full show notes here https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/classic-blog/ We have talked about medicine and finance in other countries, but they're usually very developed countries. I thought it would be interesting to talk a little bit about growing up and training for medicine and particularly finances in a mixed economy like Venezuela. Besides discussing what it is like to train and practice medicine in Venezuela we talk about hyperinflation. Hyperinflation is devastating to live through, but academically very interesting. Most of us have never lived in a country that experienced any sort of hyperinflation. We discuss how that affected his physician parents, their incomes and savings. How does that experience affect his investing strategy now? Venezuela was doing great, best economy in Latin America, bright future and everything, but it fell apart. Dr. Postalian reminds us not to take anything for granted. No more wading through dozens of books at the library, scrolling through hundreds of blog posts on dozens of blogs, or checking in daily with online forums trying to gain a financial education the way the hobbyists do. For a fraction of the price of hiring a professional financial planner, the Fire Your Financial Advisor online course will take you from feeling anxious and having no plan to having a written financial plan you can follow the rest of your investing career as a professional and a retiree. This course is the material that should have been taught to you in college, medical school, or residency but never was. Fire Your Financial Advisor also has a version eligible for CME credit. Get your financial life in order today. Go to https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/courses to sign up. You can do this and The White Coat Investor can help. The White Coat Investor has been helping doctors with their money since 2011. Our free financial planning resource covers a variety of topics from doctor mortgage loans and refinancing medical school loans to physician disability insurance and malpractice insurance. Learn about loan refinancing or consolidation, explore new investment strategies, and discover loan programs specifically aimed at helping doctors. If you're a high-income professional and ready to get a "fair shake" on Wall Street, The White Coat Investor is for you! Main Website: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com  YouTube: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/youtube  Student Loan Advice: https://studentloanadvice.com  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Twitter: https://twitter.com/WCInvestor  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/whitecoatinvestor  Online Courses: https://whitecoatinvestor.teachable.com  Newsletter: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/free-monthly-newsletter 

Which states are best for real estate investing? This is like asking which investment is best. You can really only know in retrospect and it'll depend on how things perform over the next 10-30 years. But there are a few things to know that would probably help. I discuss those in this episode as well as list the states that typically make the top of that list. But personally, if I was going to buy a rental property, I think the best place is down the street. It is easy to check on and you can fix the small things yourself without hiring a professional. If you want to invest in real estate outside of your state I think the best way to do that is through syndications or private real estate funds. I also answer many listener questions in this episode about investing in a Roth or a tax deferred 401(k), what to do if you income goes up, mortgage forbearance, tax loss harvesting, multiple 401 (k) rules, small practice retirement plans, paye vs repaye, mega backdoor Roth contributions, keogh plans, and more. Lots of listener questions answered in this episode. See the full show notes at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/classic-blog/ The White Coat Investor is proud to introduce our No Hype Real Estate Investing course, which will provide the framework for developing further knowledge and experience as you progress in your real estate investing career. We call it an introductory course because there is always more to learn. But this is no short, superficial course. There are over 200 lectures and videos adding up to more than 27 hours of content by over 15 different instructors. We think it just might be the best real estate course on the planet. Continue your wealth-building journey today with the No Hype Real Estate Investing course at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/courses. You can do this and The White Coat Investor can help. The White Coat Investor has been helping doctors with their money since 2011. Our free financial planning resource covers a variety of topics from doctor mortgage loans and refinancing medical school loans to physician disability insurance and malpractice insurance. Learn about loan refinancing or consolidation, explore new investment strategies, and discover loan programs specifically aimed at helping doctors. If you're a high-income professional and ready to get a "fair shake" on Wall Street, The White Coat Investor is for you! Main Website: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com  YouTube: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/youtube  Student Loan Advice: https://studentloanadvice.com  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Twitter: https://twitter.com/WCInvestor  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/whitecoatinvestor  Online Courses: https://whitecoatinvestor.teachable.com  Newsletter: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/free-monthly-newsletter 

Financial infidelity can mean many things. I have talked for a long time about the important of being on the same page financially with your spouse. It is so important to be open with each other as far as your finances go. If you are not doing this together, you are almost surely not going to be successful. For this show I have a guest that shares her story of financial infidelity, a spouse who was hiding a gambling addiction. See the full show notes here https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/classic-blog/. She wanted to come on the show to share her experience so that others in similar situation would not feel so isolated. A lack of support when faced with a spouse with an addiction can be a big obstacle to getting help. She shares her story along with resources where you can turn for help if you are dealing with addiction in your family. We also discussed what she did to protect herself financially, and in her recovery, so that she can thrive after a worst-case financial scenario like she experienced. I would hope that no other listeners and readers are going through something as difficult as this, but as we discussed in this episode, it is unfortunately more common than we think. Hopefully this show can reach those who could benefit from hearing this doctor's experience. If you are finding our podcasts informative and helpful we would encourage you to sign up for our monthly newsletter! It is totally free and includes useful, actionable information NOT AVAILABLE on the regular blog posts. It's almost like being in a secret club - the kind of club that can boost your knowledge and enhance your wealth at the same time - with no strings attached. Visit https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/newsletter to sign up today. You can do this and The White Coat Investor can help. The White Coat Investor has been helping doctors with their money since 2011. Our free financial planning resource covers a variety of topics from doctor mortgage loans and refinancing medical school loans to physician disability insurance and malpractice insurance. Learn about loan refinancing or consolidation, explore new investment strategies, and discover loan programs specifically aimed at helping doctors. If you're a high-income professional and ready to get a "fair shake" on Wall Street, The White Coat Investor is for you! Main Website: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com  YouTube: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/youtube  Student Loan Advice: https://studentloanadvice.com  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Twitter: https://twitter.com/WCInvestor  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/whitecoatinvestor  Online Courses: https://whitecoatinvestor.teachable.com  Newsletter: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/free-monthly-newsletter 

If you want to retire early, which specialty would be best to go into? Let's get one thing straight from the beginning, medicine is not a great option for FIRE in the first place. With the long years in training, you won't even start making significant money until your mid thirties with $300-400K in student loan debt. Traditional FIRE at 30 or 35 like all these FIRE blogs talk about is not possible in that situation. So if your goal is to retire early, medicine is probably not the right place for you. Not to mention if you are a medical student with this question, there is probably an issue with the career you chose. Maybe you should be thinking about getting out of medicine into a career you’ll be happier in long term. But I do answer this question in this episode even so. Shorter residencies do get you to attending income sooner but those also tend to be on the lower end of salaries for physicians. It may not make sense to choose a specialty with a shorter residency if you will be paid significantly less each year afterwards. In this show I share which specialty I think is best for retiring early and why. I also answer listener questions about buying a home while in the military, timing the market, being over leveraged in your real estate investments, disability insurance for military doctors, tax loss harvesting, and more. I also bring on a guest for a few minutes, Ryan Inman from Financial Residency Podcast and Physician Wealth Services to answer a couple of listener questions about rebalancing and investing on the fixed income side. Lots of your questions answered in this episode! Still not sure what to do with your student loans? Overwhelmed with how to tackle that giant debt in an ever changing political climate? The experts at StudentLoanAdvice.com are here to help guide you through the best options to manage your loans – our experienced staff have consulted on over $250M in student loan debt, and the average studentloanadvice.com client has saved over $190,000 dollars. You will receive a customized student loan plan using the principles of The White Coat Investor, get answers to all of your student loan questions, gain clarity about your financial future and start down the right path toward financial freedom. Book a consult today at https://www.studentloanadvice.com. You can do this and The White Coat Investor can help. The White Coat Investor has been helping doctors with their money since 2011. Our free financial planning resource covers a variety of topics from doctor mortgage loans and refinancing medical school loans to physician disability insurance and malpractice insurance. Learn about loan refinancing or consolidation, explore new investment strategies, and discover loan programs specifically aimed at helping doctors. If you're a high-income professional and ready to get a "fair shake" on Wall Street, The White Coat Investor is for you! Main Website: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com  YouTube: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/youtube  Student Loan Advice: https://studentloanadvice.com  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Twitter: https://twitter.com/WCInvestor  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/whitecoatinvestor  Online Courses: https://whitecoatinvestor.teachable.com  Newsletter: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/free-monthly-newsletter 

What should a physician or dentist who wishes to sell their practice know about the process? What mistakes do doctors make in this transaction? What strategies can doctors use at the time of sale? These are the questions we answer during this interview with Kyle Rudduck, CFA, CFP of Constellation Wealth Management. Kyle spent the early years of his career working with consulting firms that focused on the healthcare sector with buyers and sellers of medical practices.  He describes the practice valuation process in this episode and we discuss the range of multiples on EBITDA for a practice, how to minimize the tax cut when you sell, as well as what can be done in the years prior to the sale to increase the value of a practice. He talks about how a sale typically affects employees, and how a sale is different than a merger. We discuss how often doctors regret selling their practice to a hospital, private equity group, or other entity. This can be a huge transaction that you will probably only do once in your lifetime. You want it to go as successfully as possible. This episode will help you navigate the process. Do you ever find yourself wishing there was somewhere to go to ask your finance, insurance or investing questions? The White Coat Investor community is a great place to turn. We have a thriving community across all of our social channels - facebook, twitter, instagram, reddit and our WCI forum. We have been discussing solutions to your money problems since 2011. Join the conversation with thousands of other White Coat Investors. Follow WCI on your favorite social media platform for financial resources, tips and strategies. Just head to your platform of choice and search for The White Coat Investor. You can do this and The White Coat Investor can help. The White Coat Investor has been helping doctors with their money since 2011. Our free financial planning resource covers a variety of topics from doctor mortgage loans and refinancing medical school loans to physician disability insurance and malpractice insurance. Learn about loan refinancing or consolidation, explore new investment strategies, and discover loan programs specifically aimed at helping doctors. If you're a high-income professional and ready to get a "fair shake" on Wall Street, The White Coat Investor is for you! Main Website: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com  YouTube: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/youtube  Student Loan Advice: https://studentloanadvice.com  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Twitter: https://twitter.com/WCInvestor  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/whitecoatinvestor  Online Courses: https://whitecoatinvestor.teachable.com  Newsletter: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/free-monthly-newsletter 

During this pandemic many physicians have seen their income dramatically lowered. What can you do when you are faced with a severe pay cut? We have a guest on this show who is dealing with that right now, having lost 50% of his income. I walk him through what can be done in this situation. Getting on a budget and cutting out any discretionary spending is the place to start. Putting your private loans on forbearance may be necessary. Stop investing. You really need the cash at this point especially if you don't have an emergency fund. The less you spend the longer you can go. Start looking around for other work. Whether you realize it or not, you're in a negotiation right now with your employer. They are trying to decide how little can they pay you and not have you leave but also without them going out of business. Now is the time to be the team player so you are the last guy cut and the first guy hired back. If this is you situation, we get into more details in this episode. so give it a listen and hopefully it will help. We also answer listener questions about investing in real estate during the pandemic, mortgage forbearance, backdoor Roth IRAs, tax loss harvesting, and more. This episode is all about the questions you and your colleagues need answered right now. If you’re looking to Boost Returns, Lower Taxes & Build Wealth, join the WCI monthly Real Estate Opportunities list for tips and strategies to maximize your real estate returns and for introductions to exclusive investment opportunities. Expect educational emails that introduce you to syndicators, fund companies, online courses, and online real estate platforms. Go to https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/reopportunities to sign up today. You can do this and The White Coat Investor can help. The White Coat Investor has been helping doctors with their money since 2011. Our free financial planning resource covers a variety of topics from doctor mortgage loans and refinancing medical school loans to physician disability insurance and malpractice insurance. Learn about loan refinancing or consolidation, explore new investment strategies, and discover loan programs specifically aimed at helping doctors. If you're a high-income professional and ready to get a "fair shake" on Wall Street, The White Coat Investor is for you! Main Website: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com  YouTube: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/youtube  Student Loan Advice: https://studentloanadvice.com  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Twitter: https://twitter.com/WCInvestor  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/whitecoatinvestor  Online Courses: https://whitecoatinvestor.teachable.com  Newsletter: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/free-monthly-newsletter 

My risk for an above policy limit malpractice judgment is one in 20,000. A listener asked me how I came up with that number as he is in a different specialty and wanted to figure out what his risk is. In this episode I share where to find the numbers to figure out your risk for being sued above the policy limits. But the truth is the vast majority of above policy limit judgments are reduced on appeal to policy limits. If you are worried about an above policy limit judgment realize that it is possible but the chances are pretty low. If this is something you worry about, listening to this episode will help calm that fear. If this isn't something that worries you, we also cover other listener questions in this episode. I address whether to investor or pay off debt during this bear market, shopping for disability insurance, what to do with a 457 from an old employer, starting a side gig, variable withdrawal rates, HSAs, and my experience owning single stocks. If you have questions you want answered on the podcast you can record them at https://www.speakpipe.com/whitecoatinvestor If you’re like most doctors, nobody taught you anything about personal finance or investing during your undergrad, professional school, or residency. And even though your family - and perhaps even your business - rely on you to be the Chief Financial Officer, you have never been given the tools to succeed. Enroll in WCI Financial Boot Camp, a FREE educational email series, and learn to convert your high income to wealth. You will learn the basics of investing, saving, insurance, and more. Your high income alone will not lead to financial success, but as always, we want to help you on your financial journey. Go to https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/financialbootcamp to sign up today! You can do this and The White Coat Investor can help. The White Coat Investor has been helping doctors with their money since 2011. Our free financial planning resource covers a variety of topics from doctor mortgage loans and refinancing medical school loans to physician disability insurance and malpractice insurance. Learn about loan refinancing or consolidation, explore new investment strategies, and discover loan programs specifically aimed at helping doctors. If you're a high-income professional and ready to get a "fair shake" on Wall Street, The White Coat Investor is for you! Main Website: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com  YouTube: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/youtube  Student Loan Advice: https://studentloanadvice.com  Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Twitter: https://twitter.com/WCInvestor  Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thewhitecoatinvestor  Subreddit: https://www.reddit.com/r/whitecoatinvestor  Online Courses: https://whitecoatinvestor.teachable.com  Newsletter: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/free-monthly-newsletter