Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Physician Personal Finance”
“Regrets, I’ve had a few. But then again, too few to mention…” These famous lyrics from Frank Sinatra’s My Way unfortunately remind me that my financial decisions during my first decade earning an attending’s salary were chock full of regrets. I did it my way, and I paid dearly. With the sincere hope that you avoid these same pitfalls, following …
A thoroughly enjoyable post from Eat the Financial Elephant recently introduced me to the concept of the Dirtbag Millionaire. This is a rare hybrid of two usually distinct personality types: the “dirtbag” being a necessarily frugal lover of the outdoors who maximizes time spent on passion pursuits (ski bum, river guide, etc) while working the bare minimum to survive, often …
There’s an epidemic in the U.S. that jeopardizes the future of our children more than obesity; is more toxic than the drinking water in Flint, Michigan; grows more insidiously than cancer. I witness countless patients suffering the consequences.of this epidemic daily, and it has even claimed several of my own family members. It is an epidemic lack of insight. It …
I’m fortunate to work alongside one of my closest friends from residency. While we both live in the same seaside suburb of LA, he lives a spendier lifestyle than I do but often invites me to join him at the latest foodie restaurant, concert or cultural happening. He knows me well enough that when he witnesses my mental gears calculating …
A few months ago, a friend dropped off a carload of third graders at my daughter’s birthday party and mentioned that he was going from our house to a “daddy date” with his high school freshman daughter to buy her a pair of jeans. Having just scored a nice pair of lightly used brand name jeans, I thought I’d share …
You have worked like a dog through your undergraduate years, medical school, residency and perhaps fellowship to reach your professional apex as a working physician. Finally you get your first check, and it has more zeroes at the end than any document you’ve seen short of your student debt statement. One friend from your study group who has the same …
The key to living well is living not just within, but comfortably beneath your means. This means cultivating habits that will reward you in the future. One key habit is to adopt a perspective that allows you to appreciate how good your life is right now. While it has always been fashionable (if tiring) to whine about low resident …
In medical school we studied necrotizing fasciitis, colloquially dubbed “flesh-eating bacteria” in the lay press. One of the hallmarks in distinguishing this disease from less aggressive soft tissue infections is pain out of proportion to physical exam findings. I’d come to remember this concept decades later, as I began to develop a reciprocal theory: pleasure out of proportion. (Decontextualized, …
You’re a busy person, you want only the essentials: what can you do today (as a med student or resident) to make your life better tomorrow? Following is a basic tool kit with immediately actionable items, to be elaborated in later posts. Reduce expenses. Optimize housing, transportation and food. Dine in. Buy staples in bulk. Brew your own coffee. Get …
Whether you’re a physician fresh out of residency, or a medical student starting the journey, I’m going to make you feel uncomfortable. The productive kind of discomfort, where intense reflection leads you to adapt and thrive. First, consider priorities you care about deeply – your family or partner, your friends, your spiritual community and personal opportunities to do good for …