White Coat Investor Podcast

This is part 2 of the lively debate between Rick Ferri and Paul Merriman where we continue the discussion on the pros and cons of factor investing. See part 1 here https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/rick-ferri-versus-paul-merriman-on-factor-investing-podcast-169/ They both are just a wealth of information and experience, plus their humility makes it all the more impressive in how much you can learn from them. It is fun to have a little bit of back and forth between them as they talk to each other about how they really feel about tilting your portfolio. We also delve into the 40 pages of questions that you sent into ask these men, talking about investing in gold, what to do about low bond returns, preferred stocks, and what they would do differently in their investing career if they could go back and do it again. 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

This episode we have Rick Ferri and Paul Merriman on the WCI podcast at the same time for a lively debate on the pros and cons of factor investing. These are two opinion leaders who have affected the investing views of literally millions of investors. When I told you I was bringing them on the show I received 40 pages of questions to ask them about asset classes, changing your asset allocation, small cap value and other factor investments as well as total market investing. We talk about the historical performance of these investments. We really delve into the details of factor investing and whether it is right for you. This may be an interview you need to listen to more than once, there is so much to learn from these giants in the industry. 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

Should you pull money out of retirement accounts or skip investing in retirement accounts in order to invest in real estate? No. With this pandemic and change in physician incomes, many have been looking at other sources of income outside their medical practice. I worry when someone is being told to pull money out of their retirement accounts before they need to spend it in retirement or before required to by the government. I think you need to be a little bit worried anytime someone is recommending against something that is so beneficial to you, like retirement accounts are for doctors. But I totally understand that real estate investing is really attractive to people. It is a great asset class with a lot of benefits. I never invested in real estate, outside of retirement accounts, until I had maxed out my retirement accounts. I recommend you do the same. In this episode I discuss why with the tax benefits, estate planning benefits and asset protection benefits provided you in retirement account contributions. But I also talk about what your other options are to still invest in real estate if you choose. If you are finding our podcasts informative and helpful, check out our website! Since 2011 we have been working hard to provide valuable personal finance and investing information through thousands of blog posts written by an array of authors. You can find information on how to manage your student loans, fix and avoid common financial mistakes, understand your retirement accounts, optimize your investments, find professional help at a fair price, get started investing in real estate, and so much more, all at no cost to you. You can find out more about the courses we offer, the conferences we put on, the newsletters we provide, and interact with other WCI readers through our online forum. Head on over to https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com to start learning 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

You need a budget. Even for a high income earner a budget is a necessary tool. The higher your income, the simpler your budget might be. But the potential for positive impact is so much higher with a higher income. You want to be extremely intentional with your money because it can be really powerful. In this episode I interview Jesse Mecham, the founder of You Need a Budget, We talk about the budgeting philosophy behind the software and the four rules of budgeting. Some people might say the budgeting is just common sense, but yet so many people don't seem to be able to figure it out without some kind of help from an app like YNAB. They think that budgeting means dieting and it doesn't. It just means planning. They think budgeting means restriction, about spending less. Jesse tells us budgeting means you should spend guilt less. Enjoy this interview with a successful entrepreneur. Hopefully you will be inspired to get a budget in place! Did you know that the White Coat Investor not only has a podcast and a blog but several books that will help you on your way to financial independence. These books cover topics such as asset protection and minimizing your taxes to keep more of your hard earned money. They discuss plans for insurance, housing, spending, student loan elimination, investing and estate planning. You can learn how to become a millionaire within 5-10 years of leaving residency and how to invest in a sensible low cost and effective manner with or without the assistance of a financial advisor. There is even a book geared directly toward medical and dental students so you can start optimizing your finances early in your professional journey. Find the book that is right for you at the WCI store at https://www.shop.whitecoatinvestor.com or on Amazon. 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

I love Vanguard. I think it is great to have a real mutual fund/brokerage company that is owned by the investors and run at cost. Their low costs and passive investing has done wonders for the investment industry. However, things are maybe not the same as they were years ago, as far as Vanguard and its competitors. Fidelity and Schwab are now competing with Vanguard on price by offering their index funds at a lower expense ratio. But is that a reason to move your assets away from Vanguard? I don't think so and I talk about why in this episode. But Vanguard has it's issues and I discuss those in this episode too. I think if they're not a little bit more careful, they may see that they really have serious competition for gathering assets. Love what you hear on the podcast? Looking for more great White Coat Investor content? Head over to our YouTube channel where you can watch video recordings of our podcast, short snippets of financial tips explained succinctly by me and others, and deep dives into topics for more in depth learning. You can even learn all about real estate with webinars from our real estate partners. Check out all this and more at https://www.youtube.com/thewhitecoatinvestor. 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

Direct primary care has been described as revolutionizing primary care in medicine. Our guest in this episode is Dr. Aimee Ostick, a direct primary care physician, https://healthandhealingdpc.com/dr-ostick, who describes DPC as the impossible made simple. We talk about what direct primary care medicine is, how to transition a typical primary care practice into a direct primary care practice, and she shares her experience starting and running a DPC practice. I don't know if DPC is quite a revolution yet, but it certainly is the way I would be running my practice if I were a primary care doctor. We discuss the advantages of this model both for the physician and the patient as well as the potential challenges of starting and continuing a DPC practice. I think this model can work for many specialties and would love to see medicine transition to this more transparent way of practicing. At some point in our financial lives, it will be time to buy a home. A physician mortgage can be a good vehicle for a young doctor who's just out of school and has a more effective place to use their money than on a big down payment. These loans allow doctors to secure a mortgage with fewer restrictions and a lower down payment than a conventional mortgage. But if you're further advanced in your career or deeper into your journey to financial freedom, buying a home with a conventional mortgage and then, later on, potentially refinancing that loan to a better rate with a shorter time frame could be a great move. Wherever you are in your financial journey, make sure you use the mortgage that will be most financially beneficial for you. Hop over to our recommended tab to learn more about all of your mortgage and refinancing options at https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/mortgage. 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

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