Financial planners

[The White Coat Investor]

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I've used financial planners and never been very impressed. Vanguard or Fidelity mutual funds are not that complicated and they have plenty of managed account options that are low cost and fairly hands off and painless.

I think balance is key. It's difficult to justify living a sybaritic lifestyle fresh out of residency. That being said... most of us sacrificed over a decade of our lives for advanced learning and self sacrifice to get to this point. We above all specialties should be the most in tune with our own mortality. After living like a resident for a few years after residency, I then finally decided to just enjoy life...within reason. I have no idea when my number might be up or God might call me home. Most of us all know at least one physician or colleague who has died unexpectedly and at a relatively young age. I honestly have a hard time picturing myself in my 80s and am convinced something terrible will happen to me well before I reach that point. That being said, I save, I pay down debt aggressively but I've decided not to save much for retirement until I pay off my high interest loans (at which point I'll dump an equal amount to retirement). I bought a nice house and I'll fully admit that it's too big for me. You know what though? I like it and it makes me happy. I have a nice watch and I have a nice car. I also like having some of the latest gadgets. I've started going on more vacations and like to splurge for a nice trip at least 3 times a year. I don't think that's financial suicide and I consider that just part of trying to live and enjoy life. Hell, I'm in my 40s now and if I lived in a 1 bedroom apartment saving every dime I earn and working as many hours as I could to pay down X or save for Y, I'd have a heart attack in 5 years. Just enjoy your life. Enjoy your relationships and loved ones. Work on your personal life, but don't punish yourself and lose out on some of the most valuable years of your life in the name of maximum financial gain. There's no reason to have a warped sense of guilt when you decide to enjoy some of the benefits from all those years of sacrifice and hard work. You've earned it.

I agree balance is key. So is mindset. When you've convinced yourself that $50K a year is a lot of money and that you won't be any happier driving a BMW than an Accord, it's easy to be relatively frugal (i.e. frugal relative to your income) and that's all you need.

I certainly agree that if you've done this right, you should have money coming out of your ears in your 40s and feel no qualms about spending a lot of it. At this stage in my life, I'm literally done saving for retirement and college. If I keep working until 65 and never put another dime into retirement, I'll be fine. So every dollar now going into retirement accounts is about early retirement.

My advice is that you shouldn't live in your early 30s like you are now in your mid 40s. Spend 2-5 years after residency living on a resident salary or something similar. (Heck- give yourself a 50% raise to $75K a year!) The difference between your attending income and that amount is so large that you can obliterate student loans, pay for a big chunk of a fancy attending house, and put gobs of money into retirement accounts. Then, consciously and deliberately, increase your spending in such areas that seem to you like they will make you happier.

 

[deleted547339]

The beautiful thing about your approach is that no one can argue it isn't going to work. It is. I'm pretty impressed with paying off $80K in residency. I don't know that I made much more than $80K in residency. I think the salary was $34K the year I applied.

Yea, we started mid 40s. It helps having a wife that works. She makes a little less than I do. I also make pretty good money moonlighting.

 

[Groove]

I just recently cut back on all the moonlighting. I live 5 mins from work and have gotten so spoiled over the past 2 years. The extra money isn't even worth it to me anymore and I've gotten to where I hate living out of a hotel, so if it's less than 1.5hrs away, I just usually drive back.

 

[EctopicFetus]

Do you pay $30K a year to get your lawn mowed? Lots of docs are paying that to have their finances managed. At the typical price at which most financial advice is offered ($5-30K a year) I feel like I can "mow my own lawn."

NO I dont. I think you should be well under 1%. Im at 50 basis points.

Yes I can do it myself. I can also clean my house myself. I can also change my own oil. I do what I enjoy. I enjoy picking some stuff out there as far as investments go but it is clear as day as I get out further and further from residency.

1) Docs think they understand finances better than they do
2) Docs make poor choices financially
3) Docs lack investment discipline

Now, if you arent one of these 3 I think thats ok. To be honest I think you could really keep your investments super simple and be fine.

Look anyone who has been on this board for anytime knows I think most FPs suck and try to pull money from you. Im just saying they have a purpose. It is hard to find good ones but they are out there.