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In terms of saving, I did some research with bots. Found that if you have both W2 401k (not 403b) and 1099, you can have two 401k plans with separate limits of 70K. Basically you have two employers, hospital and yourself. One 401k for each employer.


For example 400K W2, 100k 1099
401k one (W2): 23500 (pre tax or Roth) + employer pre tax match
401K two (1099):46500 ((pretax + after-tax)/ total after-tax). This 401K should be mega door 401k with in plan conversion.
Basically you can have a total contribution of: 23500+ match + 46500. Remember you can only have one employee contribution. Roth components can be up to 70K (23500 employee + 46500 after tax).

403b does not work because IRS treat the participant of 403b plan as the owner of plan which leads to the aggregates. One limit only. Why? Sounds socialism, lol.

Are your guys/gals doing this? 70K Roth is very attractive. Even 46500 still very good. Am I missing something?
Correct. Between my 401a/403b/457b

Plus my own 1099 solo 401k (employer only contribution)

U can bypass the 70k irs 415c limit
Since I’m age 50. I put away 30k x 2 plans plus the 401a plus the match that was close to 95k give or take

Plus 69k on the solo 401k side (employer only contribution).

So 160k into retirement last year

The only thing that really matters is not to exceed $23500 (if under age 50) on the employee side COMBINED on ANY retirement account

And this is a little different for me this year since I had 4 different w2 employers lol. Mega Roth with one w2. Another one with mandatory pretax. Still the one with the 401a. My own solo 401k.
 
If you include the mortgage that adds another 30k to the 200k

My mortgage is $4500/mo (taxes insurance principal and interest) so that’s over 50k a year plus hoa lawn pool whatever upkeep adds another 10-15k. Depending on normal household maintenance. I just dropped 23k on two 5 ton hvac Carrier mid tier 18 seer last month. And I heard that was an excellent price considering it’s around 15k-17k each from more reputable guys lol. Gotta get this dude to register it for 10 year warranty.

Life is expensive.
200k annual spend includes the mortgage, property taxes, insurance, and hoa. We use the neighborhood pool that's covered by the HOA fee. What's the square footage on your house that you need two condensers? I have Tempstar which is the budget line of Carrier.
 
200k annual spend includes the mortgage, property taxes, insurance, and hoa. We use the neighborhood pool that's covered by the HOA fee. What's the square footage on your house that you need two condensers? I have Tempstar which is the budget line of Carrier.
6k sq feet. 4 hvac units. It’s Florida so we need our hvac. Replaced 3 of them in the last 20 months. They can last 20 years if you are lucky. But really it’s Russian roulette after 10-12 years. Current ones were 14 years old.

Yeah. Any brand of carrier including its budget brand is ok. My neighbors are carriers sales executives so gives me all the scoop.

200k post tax isn’t bad.

I’ve certainly had lifestyle creep. I’m probably spending 30-35k a month. Idk. Something like that.
 
In terms of saving, I did some research with bots. Found that if you have both W2 401k (not 403b) and 1099, you can have two 401k plans with separate limits of 70K. Basically you have two employers, hospital and yourself. One 401k for each employer.


For example 400K W2, 100k 1099
401k one (W2): 23500 (pre tax or Roth) + employer pre tax match
401K two (1099):46500 ((pretax + after-tax)/ total after-tax). This 401K should be mega door 401k with in plan conversion.
Basically you can have a total contribution of: 23500+ match + 46500. Remember you can only have one employee contribution. Roth components can be up to 70K (23500 employee + 46500 after tax).

403b does not work because IRS treat the participant of 403b plan as the owner of plan which leads to the aggregates. One limit only. Why? Sounds socialism, lol.

Are your guys/gals doing this? 70K Roth is very attractive. Even 46500 still very good. Am I missing something?
Your bot is wrong. The employee contribution is combined across all 401k and 403b plans, pretax or post tax.

This is easy to look up in pick your financial blog. It’s on WCI for sure.

403b does have a separate…loophole. It involves Roth employee contributions at 2 403bs. Google more without bots.
 
And this is exactly my point, which seems to have flown right by.

You're focused on the historic annual return, and for some reason wanted to point out the odd 20-30% return.

The nice thing about the last 15+ years of uninterrupted bull market is that everyone made money.

The unfortunate thing is that half of all doctors in their middle working years from age 30-60, including apparently most of this forum, have never lived through a real downturn of any kind, and are seemingly unaware or at least unconcerned that LONG periods of ZERO growth have actually happened in modern history to industrialized nations. That is a genuine risk.

So we've got a mix of people here who obsess over 11% average returns and salivate over 20-30% returns as if they're inevitable and some kind of birthright, with people who think it's impossible to save $100K out of a $500-700K income so the only answer is "balls out" high risk investments to get rich quick, stock pickers who think they know something the market doesn't, people who are think this tech/AI bubble means robot butlers are around the corner and that an EV company that can't sell any ****ing EVs isnt really an EV company. And then there are the crypto doomers.

It's absolute insanity.

And the fact that you used an AI chat bot to formulate your reply to me is the absolute icing on the cake. 🙂

My opinion, worth what you paid for it. 🙂
You are a Bear, I get it. Nothing wrong with that. Probably shows in your portfolio. Again, nothing wrong with that.
I was using AI to show what the market has done over the past 20 years. I don't have that information at my fingertips icing or no icing.
and ANYBODY would salivate over 20-30% returns even the hedge fund managers. There is NOTHING wrong with high risk investments if you have that kinda tolerance. High risk comes high reward.
 
Your bot is wrong. The employee contribution is combined across all 401k and 403b plans, pretax or post tax.

This is easy to look up in pick your financial blog. It’s on WCI for sure.

403b does have a separate…loophole. It involves Roth employee contributions at 2 403bs. Google more without bots.
I did say clearly that employee portion is combined. The separate ones are the employer and after-tax portions.
 
Correct. Between my 401a/403b/457b

Plus my own 1099 solo 401k (employer only contribution)

U can bypass the 70k irs 415c limit
Since I’m age 50. I put away 30k x 2 plans plus the 401a plus the match that was close to 95k give or take

Plus 69k on the solo 401k side (employer only contribution).

So 160k into retirement last year

The only thing that really matters is not to exceed $23500 (if under age 50) on the employee side COMBINED on ANY retirement account

And this is a little different for me this year since I had 4 different w2 employers lol. Mega Roth with one w2. Another one with mandatory pretax. Still the one with the 401a. My own solo 401k.
It is my understanding that you're mandatory pre-tax contribution does not count toward the employee contribution limit since it is actually an elective employee contribution limit.
 
I did say clearly that employee portion is combined. The separate ones are the employer and after-tax portions.
The summary of your post states otherwise.

You can have
24.5k elective employee deferral across 401k/403b
24.5k in a 457b

401a or 415 plans can have a mandatory contribution which is actually separate from the 24.5k employee elective deferral which is a gift to high earning employees.

And then yes the remaining 72-24.5k can be employer space per 401k. The presence of a 403b triggers aggregation of all 401/403 employer account contributions to the IRS max which sucks.

The third thing to consider is if you are married. Then you can give your spouse an employer profit share form your 1099-solo401k. And vice versa if they have 1099 income (though that entails a controlled group formation; functionally the same limits in the end).

as an aside…careful reading of the code indicates that 2 403b plans could be intentionally over contributed to on a Roth basis and…it is unclear just exactly how a penalty would be assessed. You already paid the taxes… Spiritrider on the WCI forums knows the details on that.
 
It is my understanding that you're mandatory pre-tax contribution does not count toward the employee contribution limit since it is actually an elective employee contribution limit.
Correct. That why the only thing u really need to be concerned about is the EMPLOYEE 401/403b contribution.

457b employee contributions are exempt from the 401/403b across all plans $23500 employee limit as well.

It’s very confusing to most people.
 
Correct. That why the only thing u really need to be concerned about is the EMPLOYEE 401/403b contribution.

457b employee contributions are exempt from the 401/403b across all plans $23500 employee limit as well.

It’s very confusing to most people.
Another thing to note, I had no issues rolling over my former academic, governmental 457 into my military TSP, but my last "not for profit" health system's 457 (which has enough in it that I don't have to take a distribution from), is "unqualified" and cannot be rolled over into my TSP or solo 401(k) 🙁
 
Another thing to note, I had no issues rolling over my former academic, governmental 457 into my military TSP, but my last "not for profit" health system's 457 (which has enough in it that I don't have to take a distribution from), is "unqualified" and cannot be rolled over into my TSP or solo 401(k) 🙁
I have some in a non-governmental ("unqualified") 457 too, but stopped contributing to it. The lack of portability and control over it makes me a bit nervous.
 
I have some in a non-governmental ("unqualified") 457 too, but stopped contributing to it. The lack of portability and control over it makes me a bit nervous.
too many risks and limited rollover options.

The only reason I would do the non govt 457b is if I worked say in California with high state income taxes and knew I was moving to Las Vegas Nevada’s with zero state income income taxes

And if I took the lump sum distribution at least I can justify I saved 9.25-11.25% state income taxes by taking the lump payment in Nevada

Or does California “recapture “ state tax deductions on non govt 457b plans

Some states re capture 529 plans state tax deductions if you move it out of the state plan
 
Correct. Between my 401a/403b/457b

Plus my own 1099 solo 401k (employer only contribution)

U can bypass the 70k irs 415c limit
Since I’m age 50. I put away 30k x 2 plans plus the 401a plus the match that was close to 95k give or take

Plus 69k on the solo 401k side (employer only contribution).

So 160k into retirement last year

The only thing that really matters is not to exceed $23500 (if under age 50) on the employee side COMBINED on ANY retirement account

And this is a little different for me this year since I had 4 different w2 employers lol. Mega Roth with one w2. Another one with mandatory pretax. Still the one with the 401a. My own solo 401k.

Thats fantastic. People who are trying to retire sub or early 50s are trying to get there through brokerage mostly. These are the people i know. Not sure why they think like this. Had a recent convo with someone in tech abt to retire next year who has something called deferred compensation for 7 years when he officially leaves enuf to cover expenses and then social security right after that ends. Will be 55 yo next year. He says the IRA money will be passed onto kids. I didnt know this was a thing i figured the ira money is supposed to be used when they require you to take RMD to get the most out of it? Guy has been working since 21 yo in fairness so a 32-34 loing career plus partner is in similar field with 30 year career but def not as accomplished.
 
too many risks and limited rollover options.

The only reason I would do the non govt 457b is if I worked say in California with high state income taxes and knew I was moving to Las Vegas Nevada’s with zero state income income taxes

And if I took the lump sum distribution at least I can justify I saved 9.25-11.25% state income taxes by taking the lump payment in Nevada

Or does California “recapture “ state tax deductions on non govt 457b plans

Some states re capture 529 plans state tax deductions if you move it out of the state plan
Agreed. I am in CA and might retire in another state, hence contributing initially. But the risk and lack of rollover options led me to stop. Better to just throw post tax income into a brokerage and pay capital gains down the line (at least I control it fully then).

No idea about whether they recapture for a later lump sum distribution. That would be annoying.
 
I have some in a non-governmental ("unqualified") 457 too, but stopped contributing to it. The lack of portability and control over it makes me a bit nervous.
There's also creditor risk for non-gov 457 plans. Some hospital systems are more solvent than others. Some I might trust and some I would not.
 
Honest question, what do people spend $15-20k a month on without a mortgage?

In my earlier years, living in LA, I was only able to max out 401k contribution while spending most of my money on new construction home, mortgage, furniture, landscaping, etc. That period of time ate up huge chunk of income at the cost of long term investing and large debt:income ratio. Seemed kinda dumb and risky at the time, but it was the price to pay to live in nice part of LA.

Fast forward to today, mortgage paid off, house appreciated to multimillion $ (though "only" 200% vs 230% S&P in same timeframe). HYSA FU fund in 2026 will have 15 years of living expenses (just no vacation money) before it runs out. Already have multiple six-figure cars, been to many of the top restaurants in world list, seen lots of the vacation hotspots that appear on the Insta, spent $5-10k per day on fancy exotic vacations.

Basically running out of things to buy and see, and looking for suggestions. Single, no kids, no debt, currently saving $50k a month these days.
 
Honest question, what do people spend $15-20k a month on without a mortgage?

In my earlier years, living in LA, I was only able to max out 401k contribution while spending most of my money on new construction home, mortgage, furniture, landscaping, etc. That period of time ate up huge chunk of income at the cost of long term investing and large debt:income ratio. Seemed kinda dumb and risky at the time, but it was the price to pay to live in nice part of LA.

Fast forward to today, mortgage paid off, house appreciated to multimillion $ (though "only" 200% vs 230% S&P in same timeframe). HYSA FU fund in 2026 will have 15 years of living expenses (just no vacation money) before it runs out. Already have multiple six-figure cars, been to many of the top restaurants in world list, seen lots of the vacation hotspots that appear on the Insta, spent $5-10k per day on fancy exotic vacations.

Basically running out of things to buy and see, and looking for suggestions. Single, no kids, no debt, currently saving $50k a month these days.

I have some NFTs I could sell you. They're worth about as much as that story.
 
That last sentence was kind of a joke.

But in all seriousness, me and a lot of my residency classmates after buying a house became really good savers and don't envision ourselves working full-time past mid to late 40s. Traveling/locums anesthesia and/or getting lucky with a single unicorn stock pick moved up the timeline by a lot.

We're millennials and were still in high school/med school in the dotcom/housing bubble crash, but we remember what happened.
 
A retiree with a $200,000 yr budget might want a portfolio of $X million to yield that $200K post tax at a SWR of Y% ... but there's a world of difference between a retiree whose $200K budget has $180K of fixed expenses, vs one whose $200K budget is $120K of fixed expenses plus $60K of travel.
Is this an age-related thing in terms of retiring with that much spending and fixed debt in old age?

Millennial me and my colleagues kind of went a different path, in that we we did all the fun stuff while we were younger and our bodies still worked good and recovered fast, so that as we got older having done many of the bucket list things, kids in college and college fund already paid for, and mortgage paid off, we could slow down, go part time earlier, and cut living expenses way down, like well under $100k per year.
 
Honest question, what do people spend $15-20k a month on without a mortgage?

In my earlier years, living in LA, I was only able to max out 401k contribution while spending most of my money on new construction home, mortgage, furniture, landscaping, etc. That period of time ate up huge chunk of income at the cost of long term investing and large debt:income ratio. Seemed kinda dumb and risky at the time, but it was the price to pay to live in nice part of LA.

Fast forward to today, mortgage paid off, house appreciated to multimillion $ (though "only" 200% vs 230% S&P in same timeframe). HYSA FU fund in 2026 will have 15 years of living expenses (just no vacation money) before it runs out. Already have multiple six-figure cars, been to many of the top restaurants in world list, seen lots of the vacation hotspots that appear on the Insta, spent $5-10k per day on fancy exotic vacations.

Basically running out of things to buy and see, and looking for suggestions. Single, no kids, no debt, currently saving $50k a month these days.


Wife and kids can be pricey.
 
That last sentence was kind of a joke.

But in all seriousness, me and a lot of my residency classmates after buying a house became really good savers and don't envision ourselves working full-time past mid to late 40s. Traveling/locums anesthesia and/or getting lucky with a single unicorn stock pick moved up the timeline by a lot.

We're millennials and were still in high school/med school in the dotcom/housing bubble crash, but we remember what happened.
U haven’t pain of housing and stock crash like I have. Some in their late 50s and early 60s have experienced 2 stock market crashes

We are currently in an unprecedented 15-16 year run in the sp500

At least you have some perspective what happened in 2000 and 2008. But if you go even further back. 1989-1991 were lean years as well in housing. Took almost an entire decade for housing to come roaring back.

But yes. I think those who got got between 2010-2020 before the current run up in housing along with the stock market run up are sitting pretty.

I was doing really well. Almost 1 million net worth in early 2008 less than 4 years out of residency. Feeling good. Let’s say I lost a ton of money on a house I purchased in 2005 as well as the stock market.

It took almost 5 years for me to return to my net worth level in 2013. A huge set back. And around that time the anesthesia market started contracting as well. Salaries depressed with mergers.

The anesthesia locums rates were $150-175/hr in most markets between 2013-2018.
 
And yes. The marriage and kids thing is real. Lol. It’s gonna to set u back a few million in both time js expenses.
 
I posted this a few months ago but since we are on non govt 457 plans…buyer beware

Is there a reason these hospitals offer 457b vs giving people after tax / mega back door Roth accounts? I'd rather have a 401/403b with after tax contributions and inservice distributions every day than I having "access" for a nongovernmental 457b.

There has to be some reason other than pure laziness (although it may be just that).
 
Is there a reason these hospitals offer 457b vs giving people after tax / mega back door Roth accounts? I'd rather have a 401/403b with after tax contributions and inservice distributions every day than I having "access" for a nongovernmental 457b.

There has to be some reason other than pure laziness (although it may be just that).
Simple answer. It has to do with history of when these accounts were ruled legal by the irs.

Non gov 457b have been around for 4 decades.

The “mega Roth” has been around less than 10 years. I know usap and team health offer mega Roth option.

Roth 401k have not been popular until the last 10 years as well.

So it’s not pure laziness. It has to do with history and when these types of plans existed.

Many of us old timers didn’t have solo 401k options either. We only had sep irs and sep Ira have not been phased out either (money in sep Ira and rollover ira prevents people from doing real back door Roth 7-8k conversions annually due to the pro rata rules)
 
Many of us old timers didn’t have solo 401k options either. We only had sep irs and sep Ira have not been phased out either (money in sep Ira and rollover ira prevents people from doing real back door Roth 7-8k conversions annually due to the pro rata rules)
Do you do solo 401K now? I just have one W2 job and one weakly matched employer 401K - but having a solo 401K with complete control and the ability to max it on both sides seems amazing.
 
Correct. Between my 401a/403b/457b

Plus my own 1099 solo 401k (employer only contribution)

U can bypass the 70k irs 415c limit
Since I’m age 50. I put away 30k x 2 plans plus the 401a plus the match that was close to 95k give or take

Plus 69k on the solo 401k side (employer only contribution).

So 160k into retirement last year

The only thing that really matters is not to exceed $23500 (if under age 50) on the employee side COMBINED on ANY retirement account

And this is a little different for me this year since I had 4 different w2 employers lol. Mega Roth with one w2. Another one with mandatory pretax. Still the one with the 401a. My own solo 401k.

So u put away 160-170k a year now including roth ira in ur retirement accounts. Do u still care to contribute to after tax accounts or are u spending the rest since ur already saving 160-170k which is already amazing?
 
So u put away 160-170k a year now including roth ira in ur retirement accounts. Do u still care to contribute to after tax accounts or are u spending the rest since ur already saving 160-170k which is already amazing?
That was last year.
This is is gonna to be closer to 97-100k total combination of after tax and pretax. Haven’t run h the the numbers for the w2 im generating that needs to be reported by Jan 31 2026
 
Do you do solo 401K now? I just have one W2 job and one weakly matched employer 401K - but having a solo 401K with complete control and the ability to max it on both sides seems amazing.
Yes. I finally transfer my sep ira to solo 401k

I had solo 401k run by third party company 2009-2014 as well with way more fees. But now I have much cheaper 401k company.

Gotta fire 5500 ez form by July on the 401k. The sep ira is very little paperwork.
 
That was last year.
This is is gonna to be closer to 97-100k total combination of after tax and pretax. Haven’t run h the the numbers for the w2 im generating that needs to be reported by Jan 31 2026

When u say this year u are talking ahout tax year 2025 or tax year 2026?

I dont blame u to drop ur total savings from 160-170k to 100k in total retirement and after tax brokerage combinations since u have 30-35 expenses per month.

Also, those 5500 ez forms are a joke to fill out. Spend the 15 minutes to learn how to fill it and send it to ur accountant to file it. Was paying someone 500 then they wanted 1000 to file this. Beyond easy to do it urself. Literally look at the one from year before and update 2 or 3 numbera amd thats it.
 
Yes. I finally transfer my sep ira to solo 401k

I had solo 401k run by third party company 2009-2014 as well with way more fees. But now I have much cheaper 401k company.

Gotta fire 5500 ez form by July on the 401k. The sep ira is very little paperwork.
Who do you use for solo 401k?
 
Who do you use for solo 401k?

U can do mega Roth with him as well. Couple of the docs on this board use him as well. U can claim a $500 a year tax credit (that’s credit) for established the plan x 3 years as well.

Other people use fidelity and vanguard solo 401k. I had vanaguard but now that Vanguard sold their small business to private equity. I moved my money from vanguard

 

U can do mega Roth with him as well. Couple of the docs on this board use him as well. U can claim a $500 a year tax credit (that’s credit) for established the plan x 3 years as well.

Other people use fidelity and vanguard solo 401k. I had vanaguard but now that Vanguard sold their small business to private equity. I moved my money from vanguard

Ah yeah I know the mysolo guy's website well lol.

I use Employee Fiduciary. Bogleheads forum recommended them, but their website is clunky af and hasn't gotten better in 3 years. I may switch to the mysolo guys in 2026. Depends how much 1099 vs W2 I do.
 
When u say this year u are talking ahout tax year 2025 or tax year 2026?

I dont blame u to drop ur total savings from 160-170k to 100k in total retirement and after tax brokerage combinations since u have 30-35 expenses per month.

Also, those 5500 ez forms are a joke to fill out. Spend the 15 minutes to learn how to fill it and send it to ur accountant to file it. Was paying someone 500 then they wanted 1000 to file this. Beyond easy to do it urself. Literally look at the one from year before and update 2 or 3 numbera amd thats it.
1000 for 5500ez? Fxxk them. You can do them online in less than 5 minutes each. Super easy.

Chatgpt/gemini/claude whatever are really good for this kind of stuff, rule based.
 
1000 for 5500ez? Fxxk them. You can do them online in less than 5 minutes each. Super easy.

Chatgpt/gemini/claude whatever are really good for this kind of stuff, rule based.
I just copied my friends codes for the 5500 ez.
 
1000 for 5500ez? Fxxk them. You can do them online in less than 5 minutes each. Super easy.

Chatgpt/gemini/claude whatever are really good for this kind of stuff, rule based.

Yeah i realized all they did was changed the ira value for end of that tax year and updated the contributiom amounts. Im an idiot for not doing it a few years ago. Also if u extend ur tax deadline to the oct 15 date it automatically extends the 5500ez. I dont have to deal with the july deadline and everyone shud know this info.
 
Yes. I finally transfer my sep ira to solo 401k

I had solo 401k run by third party company 2009-2014 as well with way more fees. But now I have much cheaper 401k company.

Gotta fire 5500 ez form by July on the 401k. The sep ira is very little paperwork.

Fire the company u get to keep the plans and file the 5500ez on oct 15 just extend ur tax filing. U can requeat to have all ur previous 5500ez copiea and just use them to see how easy this is. 5 min tops to do.
 
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