Financial Clarity for Doctors

Welcome to our 30th episode and one year anniversary of the Financial Clarity for Doctors Podcast! This week on the podcast, Corey and Rachelle help you better understand how much money doctors need to retire. If you’ve been listening to us for a while now, or have been keeping up on the blog, you might be able to guess today’s question. So, how much money does a doctor need to retire…. It depends...

This week on the podcast, Corey and Rachelle dive deep into Tax Loss Harvesting with our special guest and Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA®), Zach Kill of Finity Group LLC.  In a perfect world, our investments only appreciate in value and we happily pay taxes on our investment earnings.  As it turns out, the world isn’t perfect and sometimes investments go down in value. While not ideal, this can...

  You've most likely heard of behavioral economics and are familiar with some of the leading theorists, Richard Thaler, Amos Tversky, or Daniel Kahneman, and so on. You may even be able to talk about a few of the main concepts during friendly conversations with friends or family. In today's podcast, our own Finity behavioral economics guru, Owen Chambers, will help take you further into behavioral...

Ep. 27 How Much House Can a Doctor Afford?     There are a multitude of things to consider when buying a home. In this week's Financial Clarity for Doctors podcast, we help you better understand things to consider when determining how much house you can afford as a doctor.  We discuss all the costs associated with purchasing and owning a home, and how to make smart homeownership decisions so you c...

Physician Contract Review You worked hard to get where you are today, so it's essential you know what you're stepping into when you select you to make that next big move. Physician contracts can contain convoluted language in your contractual agreement(s); a team can lend you our experience and expertise to ensure that you can make a well-informed decision. If you're making the transition into pra...

Transitioning to Practice For doctors, one of the most significant life events is transitioning from residency or fellowship into practice. This usually involves a significant pay increase, a job change, possibly a move to a new city, student loan payments increasing, the desire to purchase a house, new car, maybe start a family, among other things. There are many things for physicians to address...

One thing almost every client asks about as they transition into practice is what to do first. You all have competing goals. If you have debt, you want to pay it off immediately. You also know you’re a little late to the retirement savings game and want a million dollars in savings tomorrow. So how do you figure out what to focus on first?  It depends! What makes sense for you does not necessarily...

Own-Occupation Disability Insurance:  Do I need it?    Hosts Corey Janoff and Rachelle Vanderzanden dive into detail on the important topic of own-occupation disability insurance.  Many doctors have heard from somewhere that they need this, but do they really?  When should you get it and why?    What is it?  Long-term  disability insurance  is income protection.  If you are unable to work for a fe...

On today's Financial Clarity for Doctors Podcast, we speak with popular author, Carl Richards, about having a discussion around finances with your spouse.   Our conversation with Carl Richards is essential listening for anyone who is or plans to have a partner one day. It's never too early to begin thinking about or talking about your financial future. Our guest lays out some ground rules to help...

Why would you want to be on FIRE you ask?  Because in this case FIRE means Financial Independence, Retire Early.  That is a concept we can get behind and one that our guest Dr. Leif Dahleen is living and breathing.  Leif is the author of the popular Physician on FIRE blog as well as a retired anesthesiologist.  Retiring early might not be for everyone, but I think we are all striving for financial...

Nobody likes to see their investment portfolio decline in value. It doesn’t matter whether you are in retirement or just getting started with investing.  The recent COVID-19 pandemic caught the world off guard, however, unexpected market movements from time to time really should be…expected.  We discuss strategies for navigating this COVID-19 market with Aaron Lewis, MD – anesthesiologist by day,...

Peggy Haslach takes over the podcast this week with a special bonus episode. When I was young, mothers would say to their daughters, “Settle down and find yourself a good doctor to marry.” Today we are joined by Lara McElderry host of the “Married To Doctors” podcast who tells us that being married to a doctor is not the life of shopping and country clubs people seem to think it is. And she is ver...

Investment Risks There are many different types of investment risks.  The recent public health crisis and resulting market volatility has demonstrated one type of risk, but there are other things to consider with your long-term investments as well.  Try not to focus on one type of risk and ignore all the others. Changes in price.  We have seen huge changes in the stock market almost daily lately. ...

Despite the recent volatility in the markets, we still need to save for retirement!  Roth accounts can be a great source of tax-free income in retirement when used correctly.  Some high-income earners cannot fund Roth IRAs directly, but there is a strategy many folks can use to get money into this account. Roth IRA.  What is it?  A Roth Individual Retirement Account (IRA) is an account you fund wi...

Dr. Brandon Peters took some time to speak with us about the importance of sleep and how it is a huge part of your overall health and how it can improve the quality of your work and help you avoid burnout. Healthy sleep habits.  Most people need 7-9 hours of sleep per night, and it is important to do this as consistently as possible.  Develop a routine that helps your body be ready for sleep.  Cut...

Are you bored hearing Corey and Rachelle talk about financial planning for families and couples?   This one is for the lonely hearts (or happily single folks) out there on Valentine’s Day! Don’t ignore insurance:   It’s not just for families.  Disability insurance protects YOU.  It’s your ability to earn an income and work toward your own goals that you should be protecting.  If you plan on having...

With tax season finally here, we know our clients will come up with lots of questions for us.  We can tell them how to make a backdoor Roth IRA contribution, but most of the time we’re going to tell you to ask your CPA or tax planner!  In this episode, we’re going to try to beat you to it and ask our favorite CPA for you.  That’s where Ryan Kramer comes in. When should you start planning for taxes...

Getting paid more is not the solution to avoiding burnout.  Jimmy Turner, the Physician Philosopher, is here to help us get our financial houses in order so that we can work the way we want and the amount we want.   Burnout.    We all know this is a problem for a lot of doctors.  Financial insecurity can be a huge contributor by forcing people into work that they don’t enjoy for the sake of money....

Spencer Salvador joins us to talk specifics about PSLF and what doctors need to do to qualify for student loan forgiveness! “Is Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) a good fit for me?” - This is one of the most frequent questions we get from residents and fellows and doctors new in practice.  Often followed by a statement that indicates they don’t trust the program.  That is understandable!  How...

Happy Holidays to all our listeners!  This short episode highlights a few tips for not breaking the bank over the holidays and making the most of your time with loved ones.  We also have a video version of this one with us wearing our festive holiday attire!  Check it out on our YouTube channel:  https://youtu.be/zrav8ejiHU8 .   Tips for our listeners: Young kids do not need extravagant presents,...

Estate Planning Creating a will and other estate planning documents is not exactly fun, but it’s a gift to those you leave behind.  One thing we can do is make our wishes clear, so our loved ones can navigate a difficult situation a little more easily.   What is estate planning? At its most basic, an estate plan is a set of documents that help others carry out your wishes when you are incapacitate...

Maybe you’ve purchased a home before, but have you ever tried to sell one?  Not as easy as you think!  Rick McDowell is back with a few tips to make it as painless as possible.   Your home has to look like someone else can live there!  When people walk into your home, they want to be able to imagine living there.  Keep it tidy!  Put away the things you don’t need, so there is more room in people’s...

Thinking about buying a home but have no idea where to start?  Rick McDowell is here to help!  This is something that comes up for a lot of physicians early in their careers, so we wanted to put together an episode with a few tips and tricks.   Communication is key!  Have a clear outline of what your needs and wants are and communicate that with your real estate agents and your spouse.  You have t...

Divorce – What to Know Beforehand In this episode, we continue our discussion about divorce with attorney Blake Van Zile.  In the second part, we talk about some surprising things that come up in divorces, the affect of divorce on businesses, and what to look for in an attorney.  As well as a few funny anecdotes to break up the divorce-talk tension. Unexpected things in divorce.  If you agree that...

In our very first episode with a guest, we talk about all things divorce-related with attorney Blake Van Zile.  We loved talking about divorce so much that we had to break this one into two parts.  In this first part, we focus on some basics of divorce, child support and alimony, and prenuptial agreements. What is the main goal in a divorce?  Trying to find a fair and equitable way to end a marria...