When we sit back and really analyze the thousands of ER docs we’ve worked with and spoken to over the past 15 years, we’ve pinpointed one specific thing the financially successful have in common. Most would think high income, or even savings rate. While those may be great indicators, even those have flaws. No, this specific thing is, without fail, the best litmus test for success and we can make positive inferences without needing to evaluate any other piece of a client’s financial puzzle. You’l...
Jan 16, 2024•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s often the case that people are short-sighted with their retirement. The focus is on getting “to retirement” (saving and accumulating), but not necessarily how to get “through retirement.” That has its own layers, such as: How will you acquire money in retirement? From what accounts? In what order? Where will you be living in retirement? Spousal income? Social Security? You can quickly see there are dozens of variables at play. On today’s episode, we’ll discuss Shohei Ohtani’s MLB contract a...
Jan 09, 2024•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast A new year carries with it the best intentions for ourselves. From eating right and exercising, to relationships and hobbies, and even finances, we get a clean slate at becoming a better version of our past selves. And where many focus on general areas to improve or specific financial to-do’s, we wanted to come at things from a different perspective. One that hopefully sparks a moment of clarity and facilitates action. On today’s episode, we’ll discuss all the things that will prevent you from a...
Jan 02, 2024•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast For those who haven’t heard of Dave Ramsey, he’s an American radio personality who gives financial advice to roughly 18M listeners a week. Oddly enough, he isn’t actually a financial advisor; he does not have his own clients. Yet he has written several books on finance and his words carry a lot of weight. Mr. Ramsey recently had a pretty controversial statement go viral regarding how much a retirement portfolio earns and how much can safely be withdrawn from said portfolio in retirement. On toda...
Dec 26, 2023•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast Have you heard the notion that investing in the S&P 500 is synonymous with having a financial plan? How about investing in the S&P 500 IS diversifying your portfolio? If either of these thoughts haven’t crossed your feed yet, they may be soon as they’ve gained more and more traction lately given the performance of the index over the past decade or so. On today’s episode, we’ll discuss both of these concepts in depth and how they can impact wealth building. Perhaps the rules for diversification h...
Dec 19, 2023•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast As we’ve discussed before, ER docs are a special specialty. Beyond the financial uniqueness, so, too, are the personality traits. Whether those personalities are formed as a result of becoming an EP or if they are a prerequisite for going down the path in the first place, that’s a topic for debate. In either case, the nature of the job promotes an interest in, ironically, getting out and leaving the profession in many cases. And with this desire, there tends to be a match found in start-ups with...
Dec 12, 2023•21 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s common to think tax brackets are fixed and only change or adjust when voted on – typically under new legislation. While this is somewhat true, what’s overlooked is within that voting there are year-to-year updates that are cooked in based on various factors. And once enacted, these changes can harm or benefit you. Either way, they sneak up similar to the way price changes at the grocery store or the gas pump do. In today’s episode, we’ll talk about the hard number changes to tax brackets, g...
Dec 05, 2023•26 min•Transcript available on Metacast The year-end rush is here. Between holidays, vacations, wrapping up school, family – life gets a different type of hectic. But it’s the most important time to get things done if you haven’t already when it comes to year-end financial and tax planning. To make things easier, we’ve comprised a comprehensive checklist for ER docs that can hopefully be tackled by the end of the year with the goal of maximizing wealth building. Feel free to reach out if you need help with any of the items we’ll discu...
Nov 28, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast Like most things financially related, EP’s are simply different than the average American. Purchasing a home is no different. So when the question of home affordability comes up, there are a lot of additional considerations at play than what may be necessary for others. We’re talking income variability, tax responsibilities, accelerated saving obligations, and so much more. On today’s episode, we’ll address homebuying from the perspective of an ER doc and all the things that you should be consid...
Nov 21, 2023•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast The financial world is vast and complex. There are a lot of players and services to understand and figure out. When it comes to ER docs, our experience is they are naturally inquisitive – they like to do their due diligence by asking questions and getting to the bottom of things. On today’s episode, we’ll recap and respond to the top questions we recently received from a group of 75 ER doctors....
Nov 14, 2023•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast The financial world is vast and complex. There are a lot of players and services to understand and figure out. When it comes to ER docs, our experience is they are naturally inquisitive – they like to do their due diligence by asking questions and getting to the bottom of things. On today’s episode, we’ll recap and respond to the top questions we recently received from a group of 75 ER doctors....
Nov 07, 2023•38 min•Transcript available on Metacast The biggest risks associated with owning rental properties have to do with certain variables that are typically out of your control. Think neighborhood changes, real estate market cycles, and especially locality risks. So if there was a way to hedge some of this risk, and yield tax benefits, then owning rental properties would be more valuable than we typically communicate in our podcast, especially when compared to the earnings that are achievable for an ER doc with such a high salary. On today...
Oct 31, 2023•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast A properly designed financial plan is truly a work of art. It requires decades of discipline, hard work, and thought. What most don’t realize is that they’re only halfway to the finish line once they reach retirement. If you look at a financial life like a marathon, the working years make up the accumulation or pace-setting part of the race. The second half is the draw-down or stamina period. That “home stretch” is all about strategizing to ensure your reserves get you to the finish line. This r...
Oct 24, 2023•22 min•Transcript available on Metacast We started this podcast for several reasons, one of which was to provide great content for ER docs. We wanted this to be true whether you’re a client, prospective client, or even a DIY’er. But there’s a bit of irony in our pursuit in that even if listeners pick up and implement a few nuggets of information they hear us discuss, there are likely tons of missed wealth-building opportunities occurring within their financial lives. In order for there not to be, it would require an almost inhuman abi...
Oct 17, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast There’s a saying that goes, “It’s not what you earn, it’s what you get to keep.” This couldn’t be more true for ER docs – especially those with multiple income sources and self-employment income. Now picture being able to save a month’s worth of shifts in taxes every year. Pretty great, right? Fortunately, that could be a reality if four specific categories of tax savings are adhered to and maximized. On today’s episode, we’ll go over these four “tax hacks” and discuss the various opportunities ...
Oct 10, 2023•33 min•Transcript available on Metacast There’s more job turnover than ever with the consolidation happening in EM. Of course, with any transition or change, it can be stressful. Inevitably questions will come to mind like: How long will it take to find new work? What will the pay be? How will management operate? But, one thing that can get overlooked is the topic of malpractice insurance – not just for the new job, but tail coverage for the prior one. On today’s episode, we’ll discuss this topic of whether a private med-mal policy is...
Oct 03, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Consciously or subconsciously, ER docs know they can’t keep doing their job forever. Unlike other professions, it’s rare to see people working into their 70s and 80s in this field. But what would a world need to look like for that to not be the case? How would things need to be structured to make working to 70, 80, or even 100, doable? On today’s episode, we’ll discuss the concepts of “retirement” and “financial independence” and the things you’ll want to consider to not only get to these stages...
Sep 26, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s been a couple of years since that infamous ACEP workforce study was released which forecasted an alarming surplus of ER doctors by the year 2030. Like seemingly all things relating to the emergency medicine space, the estimate doesn’t seem to be playing out as expected. If anything, if trends continue, we could be living in a world where the exact opposite is true – possibly an undersupply of ER docs. On today’s episode, we’ll discuss what a recent expert panel of ER doctors presented on th...
Sep 19, 2023•19 min•Transcript available on Metacast Making money while you sleep is a worthy pursuit. And what better way to do it than within the comfort of your bank account! Little risk; high returns… it seems these days everybody is comparing rates between different savings account options. But someday the musical chairs will end and where will you be? In today’s episode, we’ll discuss cash as an investment vehicle, the topic of inflation, and all things long-term investing in high-interest rate environments....
Sep 12, 2023•16 min•Transcript available on Metacast Tax-loss harvesting is sort of like a buzzword – many have heard it, but the true value of it and how it plays out is often misunderstood or, at the very least, confusing. While there can be value, the ultimate benefit is more nuanced than one would think. On today’s episode, we’ll hopefully show why that is and ultimately discuss whether or not it’s everything it’s cracked up to be, especially as it pertains to the investment accounts of ER doctors....
Sep 05, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast Change is inevitable in life, and healthcare is no exception. This was especially true during COVID, but even to this day, more debt, high inflation, and its effect on wages and supplies, as well as legislative changes, all combine to create volatile environments within healthcare. On today’s episode, we’ll get into two recent cases of change – MedExpress and APP – and what this could mean for ER docs. As always, we’ll reinforce some financial suggestions that you should be considering amidst ch...
Aug 29, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast The time has finally come – student loan payments are officially commencing. And while we hoped a major legislative change would kick the can further down the road or eliminate the debt altogether, unfortunately, that hasn’t happened. With that said, there are some major updates that need to be considered that just went into effect. This is why today’s episode is a must-listen; we’ll go over Biden’s SAVE Plan option, some ER doc-specific math and case studies of when refinancing debt or hopping ...
Aug 15, 2023•29 min•Transcript available on Metacast High income and busy – those two ER doc characteristics make hiring financial help a common and reasonable decision. But it’s for those same reasons ER docs have a target on their back when it comes to financial solicitation. And not all sources of solicitation are the same; there are landmines out there that should be avoided at all costs. One such landmine you’ll hear us frequently bring up is universal life insurance. On today’s episode, we’ll get into more of the math involved in these polic...
Aug 08, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast As a high-earning ER doc, inevitably if or when you have a significant other, the topic of “should they work?” will come up. And that decision, though likely very personal in nature, actually has a lot of added financial layers that don’t exist in, say, the case where both partners need to work in order to fund the household. In today’s episode, we explore the financial dynamics of dual-income households, get into all the variables at play including many that get overlooked, and give our positiv...
Aug 01, 2023•24 min•Transcript available on Metacast It can become a full-time job unraveling identity theft. While there’s no way to fully prevent it, there are definitely measures that can be taken to reduce the likelihood of it happening to you or a loved one. In today’s episode, we discuss why ER docs are more susceptible to identity theft, the most common forms prevalent today, how to prevent them, and what to do if it happens to you....
Jul 25, 2023•30 min•Transcript available on Metacast There are very few people in the world who are happy to write a check to the insurance company. But it’s what’s referred to as a “necessary evil.” So when the question of “should you increase your coverage or not?” pops up, it’s easy to think of reasons as to why the current coverage amount is sufficient over obtaining more. On today’s episode, we’ll talk about raising your disability insurance coverage from the point of view of the price-sensitive insured, as well as the objective fiduciary adv...
Jul 18, 2023•25 min•Transcript available on Metacast It’s officially summer! Which means change is in the air for new attendings. Let’s set the stage a bit – typically work responsibilities are new and stress-inducing. And when it comes to finances, that tends to leave three different options. The first is it’s all so overwhelming, so it’s better to do nothing or procrastinate. The second is the understanding that something needs to be done, but that something ends up being rushed and likely does more harm than good. And finally, there’s a methodi...
Jul 11, 2023•31 min•Transcript available on Metacast Any big challenge or task can be broken down into many steps. This is a concept we discussed toward the end of last week’s episode. What if we take that approach and apply it to the working career of an ER doc? More specifically, quantify the number of shifts in the average career and utilize that knowledge to make improvements. Can that have positive tangible benefits in terms of career satisfaction and longevity? We think so. In this episode, we’ll approximate that number of shifts, discuss th...
Jul 04, 2023•23 min•Transcript available on Metacast In the movie Blank Check, a boy comes across and deposits a $1M check. And in the pursuit of achieving all his goals and dreams, he runs out of money. It’s very similar to the story of professional athletes running out of money within a few years out of the league. How that relates to today’s episode, without spoiling too much, is there’s a difference between being rich and being wealthy. In today’s episode, we’ll discuss why almost all ER docs are rich, but many are not wealthy. The key differe...
Jun 27, 2023•20 min•Transcript available on Metacast AI has been a hot topic over the past year. Everyone is discussing new technology and how it will improve, or in some cases, not improve our day-to-day lives. But the one question on most people’s minds is: Will it replace my ability to make a living? In today’s episode, we explore this question as it pertains to ER docs and emergency medicine. We’ll also look at how AI could impact financial markets and what that could mean for investment returns....
Jun 20, 2023•32 min•Transcript available on Metacast 
