I sadly read about another celebrity with significant wealth who died without a will. Aretha Franklin left behind an estate worth $80 million with significant future royalties and no instructions for who should receive her fortune. Over the next few years, we will hear about the fighting and legal battles over her estate.
Abraham Lincoln died without a will. Since he was an attorney, he could have written it himself, yet …
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Burnout and dealing with its symptoms has become a hot topic in the last decade. It’s a problem that has multiple contributing factors. Some of those factors are thrust upon us and are beyond our control, such as government regulations. Other factors are self-imposed, and thus under our control, such as volunteering for extra call shifts. One self-imposed factor is a little thing we use to improve our lives, our …
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If you have been following my writing, you know I have been out of the surgical workforce for a year and a half. I have settled into a much more relaxing lifestyle as an author who can set his own work schedule. This week I got a flashback of what my old life was like as a general surgeon when I attended a four-day conference called FinCon.
Each morning of the …
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An interesting phenomena recurs when I work with physicians to makeover their finances. They almost never believe that overspending is the problem. They believe the reason their credit card balance is growing, and their large monthly income isn’t enough to pay their expenses can’t be due to their own choice to overspend. They always have a reason for the lack money:
They have huge student loans.
They have eight kids.
They are in …
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Timeshares, for those who might not know, are a way to own the right to use a vacation resort. It comes in two forms, owning points or owning a specific room in a complex for a specific week. It’s like a partial ownership of a condo at a resort. These units can be traded for other timeshares all over the world. If you own a week, it can be traded …
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Often a stay at home mom, like we have in our house, is not thought of as a contributor to wealth. Too often, only the person who “really” works and brings home an income is considered to be generating wealth. This is a case of incorrect thinking.
The non-working spouse is a very big factor in attaining wealth. In the book, The Millionaire Next Door, the spouse is considered one …
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A few years ago my son expressed interest in racing bicycles. I thought that would be a great way to spend time with him, and if I was going to be at all the races, I might as well race too. It would also help me take a few unwanted pounds off and get me into better shape.
We started racing part way through the year and learned the nuances of …
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It’s that time of year again. Over 30,000 medical residents are about to finish their training and start their first job. Many of them will make some big financial mistakes during their first year that will haunt them for years to come.
One of the biggest errors many doctors make is to buy a house right after they leave residency. Society gives us a big push to own a house, after …
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Upon retiring from clinical medicine and becoming a full-time author/coach (I like to say I’m repurposed), I was uncertain as to the amount of taxes I needed to pay. I have a complicated tax return with several K-1s that don’t surface until March. My final return totals 32 pages for federal and 5 pages for state. After making an estimate of my tax bill at year end, I figured I …
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In 2013 I began searching for ways I could change my career to reduce my workload, but not give up medicine altogether. During that time I took a cruise and looked at various jobs I could do on a cruise ship. One of the jobs I was qualified for, I thought, was to be a Cruise Ship Doctor.
After talking with the ship’s doctor to find out what it was like …
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Many doctors don’t want anything to do with investing money. They feel investing is not what they were trained to do and therefore a waste of their valuable time. I think this attitude gets some doctors into trouble.
It is true that our time is best spent in our main area of training, but it’s very important for us to also have an adequate knowledge of investing. Being somewhat familiar with …
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I was recently asked what I thought was the number one problem that caused unhappiness in America. We are one of the most prosperous nations in history. You might think that with all that prosperity and wealth, Americans would be happy. Obviously, wealth does not equal happiness.
Many would argue that since America has a lot of poor people, it can’t be considered a wealthy nation. But our poor are still …
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High performers constantly struggle with the issue of time management. The more things you are good at, the more people who think you have talent, the more opportunities you are presented with, the harder time management becomes. In order to manage your time, you must first grasp one crucial concept: You cannot “manage time,” you can only manage yourself and how you take advantage of time.
Time will march on no …
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Kids watch our every move. Who hasn’t seen a young boy who imitates what his dad does. Even to the point of standing, just like dad, leaning up against a railing with his legs crossed, and a piece of straw hanging out of his mouth. They hear what we say at home and around the dinner table, especially when we are not talking to them. They watch how we spend …
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In February 2017, I saw my last patient and left clinical medicine. Most people would say I retired. I have chosen to say I have repurposed. I no longer see patients, but I still work. I am writing the Doctors Guide series of books, keeping up a blog and working with physicians who need help with a financial makeover, usually to eliminate their debt, set themselves up for retirement or …
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Recently I had three important events happen during a three day period that reminded me of the brevity of our life and the need to live life to the fullest every day.
On July 4th, having planned celebratory events that day with friends and family, a CRNA in my home town awoke feeling poorly just before sun up. He was in great health the day before and lived a very active …
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It’s amazing how frequently I cross paths with doctors who have never taken the time to actually assess where they stand financially. They tend to fall into a few categories; they never thought of it, they don’t want to know, or they feel they just don‘t have the time.
When I work one-on-one with doctors on a financial makeover to get them on track to accomplish their goals, get out of …
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One of the biggest complaints I hear when I discuss becoming debt free is the dread of living on a shoestring. We did enough of that in medical school, and we don’t want to do it again. Let me make something perfectly clear right up front, you absolutely do not need to scrimp and sacrifice to get out of debt and live debt free, but if you choose to, it …
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We all can use advice from time to time. Sometimes that advice is about personal finances, Investing, or borrowing. When choosing this person, stay away from financial advisors who have a conflict of interest. The advisor who makes money on your investment decisions is like the pharmaceutical rep who is telling you all about his new medication and why it is better than what you already use. The advice might …
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I recently was asked about taking a low or no interest car loan and using the money they had earmarked for a car to instead invest for a higher return. This “I can get a better return” game is very common and can be a dangerous game to play. Often it is used as a disguise to camouflage buying a car you actually can’t afford, while trying to sound like …
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