Money Talk For ER Docs™

Emergency Physicians change jobs more frequently than other medical professions. EPs also hold an average of 2.5 different jobs, at the same time. COVID seems to have only propelled changes within emergency medicine. There are 5 financial areas that you will NEED to juggle, in addition to all the personal stress that comes from change. What's more: neglecting or maneuvering the wrong way can have...

Everyone has wondered if they can save money by going the variable route, whether it's with student loans, mortgages, or insurance. And variable can be sweet... If you can get it right. But there is POWER in predictability, as was showcased in Texas this past week with variable electricity rates that shot up 9,000X the alternative fixed rates. So, where and when can variable rates rule? We explore...

Taxes are a pain. Ripe for procrastination. Rightfully so; there are so many areas to trip up on when there are over 70,000 pages of tax code! New legislation this year—more to come next year: we go over the most relevant areas of consideration for ER Docs. We'd hate for you to miss a deduction or a deadline, so tune in! And like everything that you don't specialize in, it's usually in your best i...

Are you abiding by the 20/20 rule? On average most ER Docs surprisingly are. If you aren't, START SOMEWHERE. The easiest way to figure out your starting point is to dissect your cash flow. Really do a deep dive into where your income is going each month and assess if your outflows align with your values and goals. Then, prioritize saving money before secondary expenditures. But even if you are sav...

Thinking you may be missing out on life-changing wealth from GameStop stock? Unsure what exactly is transpiring and how you can benefit from it? We'll give you the rundown of what is going on, how you should approach it, and how to draw the line between speculating and investing. Distractions in everyday life can deter or even prevent us from reaching our goals. Investing is no different. Building...

Kids are expensive. We hear that all the time. What comes to mind are things like food, clothing, maybe even a first car at 16. The reality is: all of that pales in comparison to the cost of education. It's sticker shock every time we go over the numbers with clients.  If there is anybody that understands the cost and value of education, it's you. So in this episode, we discuss saving for college....

Our goal for this episode is to lay out all of the retirement accounts that you might be eligible for, including some lesser known options that can be extremely advantageous for an ER doc. If you want to be financially sound, you need to not only know what might be available to you, but likely contribute to a combination of these accounts. It can be complex and overwhelming understanding the retir...

Would you rather have $1M invested, growing at 7% per year or a $1M home, mortgage-free? If this question causes pause, that's understandable. On this episode, we discuss how there is a purely numerical answer to this question, but even so, that may not be the conclusion you arrive at. Like everything in finance, the psychological impact cannot be ignored.  In any event, with all-time low interest...

On today's episode, we speak with our first guest – Dr. Julia Huber. Julia is a wellness advocate and coach for EP's utilizing her unique vantage point as an EP herself to define burnout and moral injury, and to address some of the current thinking on both individual and systemic issues.  EM is already a high-stress career. COVID has only amplified that. It is so easy to ignore problems and unheal...

Income isn't predictable and stable. Shifts are hard to come by, a spouse may have lost a job, you might have needed to help out a family member, and you might have missed out on income due to catching COVID. Imagine a world where you have so much liquidity in reserves that no matter what happens to your income, you're insulated and you have flexibility in determining your next financial move. In...

It's here. An extension of the original CARES Act passed in March designed to help people and businesses get through the pandemic has passed. We call it… the sequel. We've done the analysis for our clients and ~75% will be eligible for this round of funding. That's understandable given the disruptions in emergency medicine. And if this goes for you, you'll want to apply ASAP or seek help.   In thi...

Happy Holidays! In this episode, we review an exhaustive list of "naughty" financial behaviors you could have partaken in this year… and "nice" ones. If 2020 was tough on you, that's understandable. This list can serve as an accountability plan for something to strive toward heading into a new year.

In this episode, we recognize that disruption is not only inevitable in emergency medicine but due to COVID, it has tremendously accelerated. Because of change, people have had decisions forced upon them or have opted to make a shift in their professional life. There are numerous considerations an ER Doc has in comparing multiple job opportunities. It is prudent to take the time to sit down and wr...

In this episode, Scott identifies four criteria to consider in the quest to hire the perfect financial advisor and what a centenarian, world-record-holding runner can teach us about how it's never too late to get your finances organized and work with the right person.

New tax and financial information is cropping up so fast, and has over the last 8 months, creating opportunity, confusion, and complexity. We try to sift through that in this conversation pertaining to the PPP loan.  If you took a loan, you're going to want to listen. If you didn't, you're still going to want to listen for those with 1099 income, as talks are looming that more PPP money might beco...

2020 has been tough on everyone. For ER Docs specifically, you are at the forefront of battling a global pandemic, risking your lives for others. On top of that, you've likely experienced some financial lapses in income as a result of shift cuts or RVU reductions. In this episode, we just want to take some time to think about some things ER Docs can be thankful for, some financial, some not, this...

Everyone is allergic to taxes. Most don't understand it or care to understand it. But with 100% certainty, everybody wants to pay as little as legally possible. To achieve this, you have to plan for all the opportunities that will, or may, present themselves before April 15. In this episode, we discuss how the proposed tax changes under a Biden Presidency might impact ER Docs.

Where is the grass greener? The W2 or 1099 income? In this episode, we outline each income type, the pros and cons, and some of the intangible considerations. Be sure to listen to see how you may be able to increase your pay by $30k-$40k per year.

In this Halloween-themed episode, we discuss our top spookiest financial mistakes we see ER Docs make and how playing defense with your finances could be more important than playing offense.

In this episode, we discuss how the respective political parties got their mascots and how markets behave in an election year. We provide some cool analogies that will hopefully bring things into perspective and give you confidence as the political arena heats up. 

In this episode, we talk about jiu-jitsu, and how that associates with work-life balance for an ER doc. We bring up topics of burnout, the often desired goal of retiring at 50, and how working more is a slippery slope to compensate for bad financial habits. Hopefully, this provides some tools to achieve balance in your life.

In this episode, we discuss COVID and its impact on our lives and the lives of our ER Doc clients. Then we get into the John's Hopkins tracking dashboard and how that inspired the Vitals™ financial planning process we implement today. The takeaway being that without consistent, ongoing data, a financial plan may not be as impactful as it should be.