Money Talk For ER Docs™

When it comes to the job of an ER Doc, dealing with life-and-death situations on a daily basis is likely to be the most intense and challenging part of the job. However, for many, the workplace brings another challenge - workplace violence. Coming into contact with a revolving door of patients, many of whom are in vulnerable or frantic states of mind, increases the likelihood of verbal or physical...

How many credit cards should you be carrying on your person? What expenses should be charged to what cards? How often should you get a new credit card and how does that impact your credit score? There's a lot that goes into choosing the right partners for your money. It's sort of like the operating system for your cash flow: all money flows through the accounts and cards you select. We find ER Doc...

Before a pilot even takes off, the route to their destination is already mapped out. But just because this baseline is established, doesn't mean there won't be deviation along the way. Events like turbulence or maintenance can still occur outside the scope of the planned route. The fact that the plan exists allows pilots to pivot while understanding where they still need to get to. Without that pl...

Disability insurance is arguably the most complex insurance to analyze, discuss, and overall understand. When we look at other insurance, such as life, flood, even to some degree auto, those insurances have pretty defined circumstances for which need to occur in order to pay out. But with DI, there is a wide range of disabilities that can occur, policy definitions that can be met, job duties that...

It seems that people who historically have never been interested in politics have now become obsessed with politics over the past 5 or so years. In doing so, they let emotions seep into other areas of their lives. This couldn't be more relative when it comes to investing and the general outlook of the economy. Coming off the midterm election, in this episode we'll discuss if there's any room for e...

Most ER Docs are searching for ways to diversify their income. What's the number one method for achieving this that comes to mind? Rental properties. But so often are the financial realities of owning rentals overlooked. And most importantly: the methods for maximizing rental profitability never come to fruition. In this episode, we'll give our point of view, having worked with hundreds of ER Docs...

When it comes to sports, everybody loves the big play. The game winning Hail Mary pass in football. Or, the knock-out punch in boxing. And when it comes to baseball: the walk-off home run. While these are entertaining for spectators, studies show that the majority of victories don't rely on these single big plays. Instead, they rely on many small victories over the course of a game or a season. Wh...

The "4% Rule" is a personal finance industry standard.  If you've never heard of it, it's a guideline for the rate at which you can pull from your retirement account and still have the account survive in retirement. A new study reveals the industry standard of 4% is overstated and could lead to millions of Americans running out of money in retirement if adhered to. A scary thought. An even scarier...

Your vehicle can be one of the most important, and most difficult, deductions to get right as a 1099 earner. Beyond the lease versus buy decision is another layer: the depreciation factor. With that comes a whole slew of considerations most tend to overlook. What car to buy? When to drive it over another vehicle? How often to drive? When is the right time to buy and place the vehicle in service? A...

The average American has it much easier than ER Docs when it comes to health insurance. For one, they are probably employed by a company not only offering options to choose from, but also assisting in paying the premiums for those options. Whereas many ER Docs are 1099 earners on their own when it comes to making selections and footing 100% of the bill for coverage. Additionally, the average Ameri...

On this special anniversary episode, we take a dive in the responses to our free Vitals™ survey. We get into savings rates, East Coast vs West Coast comparisons, average mortgage and student loan balances for ER Docs, and so much more. This will be a fun one. Just remember, while data can be valuable, every individual's circumstances are different. Keep an open-mind and enjoy it for what it's wort...

The IRS is a formidable force that shouldn't be taken lightly.  So when you owe what are referred to as "back-taxes," how those are handled is extremely important. Despite the plethora of options that the IRS gives to help taxpayers stay current with their taxes, all too often we find ER Docs are owing significant amounts from prior years. And back-taxes can have this almost quicksand like effect...

There are tried and true building blocks to a financial plan – areas where if you at least hit those, you can achieve a large percentage of what is needed to reach your goals. The key thing is this: you have to hit all of them… and do so effectively. Because over-concentrating or under-concentrating in one or another will inevitably wreak havoc on the rest of your plan. On today's episode, we'll p...

Retirement looks different for every ER Doc. Many plan to retire early. Others may reduce workload and extend their working years. Aligning retirement with a spouse is another common goal. Regardless of the way you retire, how you access your retirement savings should be a major point of interest, especially if you are being tax and investment allocation conscious. The traditional way of pulling m...

One of Biden's campaign pledges was to provide student loan relief. Well that day has appeared to come… at least to some degree. Based on the overview of Biden's three-part plan, most ER Docs won't benefit because of income that surpasses the thresholds. While that may be true in some cases, digging into the details presents potentially a different story. On this episode, we get into how there is...

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. That couldn't be truer when it comes to imagining your retirement. ER Docs get so busy and caught up in the day-to-day grind that it can be difficult to find time to envision a reality, perhaps 10, 20, or 30 years away. But thinking about it and discussing it can actually provide comfort and motivation in the present. On today's episode, we'll evaluate what "...

It's important to remember: The IRS is your partner in everything you do. We know ER Docs already pay a lot in tax. The last thing you want is to get audited and potentially pay even more tax. So will the IRS hiring 87,000 new agents over the next 10 years mean more audits and potentially more tax paid in the coming years for ER Docs? We'll explore that question and take a look into the current st...

There are several financial "rules of thumb." Take not exceeding 28% of your gross pay on your mortgage payment or maintaining 6 months of spending as cash reserves, as examples. And while these may not be adequate for everyone, they can serve as a general guideline and promote action where otherwise action would not have been taken otherwise. In that sense, these guidelines carry positive influen...

The K-1 is an animal. It's the tax form that reports the earnings, losses, dividends and more in pass-through businesses like S Corporations and partnerships. A large portion of ER Docs receives K-1 income – either issuing their own via S Corp, receiving one as a partner in a small or large group, or even as an investor in a limited partnership venture. In any case, the form itself is highly confu...

It's human nature to want to escape a situation that is worsening. House is on fire? It's probably best to get out. Boat is capsizing? The saying "abandon ship" exists for a reason. Given this reoccurring theme, we as humans are "anti-deterioration", if you will. But when it comes to the stock market, is that the right mentality to have? To answer that, it takes an evidence-based look at things th...

Applying for a residency is stressful. There's the matching process, applications, interviews, and looming questions like "Will I get my first choice?", "Will I get at least somewhere in my top 5?", and inevitably, "Will I get a match at all?" With a looming theory that EM is getting more and more competitive, the landscape for MS4s seems tougher than ever. But is that the reality? We'll dig deepe...

With new legislation comes new opportunities… and sometimes hurdles. That's why it's vital we stay diligent in keeping up with the financial-related topics being tossed around in Congress. Sure, some Laws or Acts never end up seeing the light of day. But today's retirement plan-specific proposals have received almost unanimous bi-partisan support positioning them as highly likely to pass later thi...

It's never fun seeing your investment portfolio go down in value. But with uncertainty, volatility, disruption, and shifts presents opportunity. In a previous episode, we referenced five action items to take during a downturn. In this episode, we'll re-evaluate one of those topics: the Roth IRA – probably the most powerful, yet illusive type of retirement account available to ER Docs. We'll get in...

The most alluring investment is one that is guaranteed with a high rate of return. What if I were to tell you an investment option that checkmarks both of those boxes does exist right now? You'd probably be eager to get more information. On today's episode, we'll talk about I Bonds, give some background into them, and even inform you on how to buy them. But are they all what they're cracked up to...

We work with hundreds of ER Docs across the country all with different ages, personalities, beliefs, socio-economic backgrounds and even career paths within EM. It's really a melting pot of people. But despite these differences, we have identified five financial personality types, we feel, encapsulate the majority of our clients.  Our goal for this wasn't to put people in a box or make anyone feel...