As promised from the last post,

  • Take a financial snapshot (debt & asset denoted as D & A) of where you are NOW
  • D: Student loan balance and interest rate
  • D: Private loan balance and interest rate
  • D: Personal loan balance and interest rate
  • D: Consumer debt (credit card) balance and interest rate
  • D: Mortgage balance and interest rate
  • D: Any other balance owed
  • A: Retirement accounts balance and estimated/realistic annual return after tax
  • A: Home equity
  • A: Cars, boats, anything else you own of financial value
  • A: Trust funds
  • I recommend using an excel spread sheet to tabulate your debt and asset.
  • Make a budget based on your monthly income and expenditure.
  • How much money do you have after paying your monthly bills?
  • Decide where to invest your money. Look at your list of debts & assets above. Putting one dollar into which category gives you the highest guaranteed after tax and/or tax-free return?
  • Paying debt down guarantees return. The return is interest saved. Prioritize your debt by paying down the highest interest debt first.
  • Some people choose to tackle the smallest balance debt first. The idea is that the emotional reward of have something paid off entirely can garner motivation. I don’t personally use this strategy, but others swear by it.

For most pgy’s with large student debt balances @ 5.4+%, paying student loan down produces highest guaranteed tax free return.

  • Take regular financial snapshots. I recommend quarterly.
  • Track your progress by writing down your debts and assets.
  • It’s motivating to see your net worth grow, or your total debt diminish.
  • You can re-evaluate how you allocate money using each snapshot.
  • You can change your budget to accommodate new goals. 
  • If your net worth is decreasing, it’s time to re-strategize.

This may seem like quite a bit of work and most pgy’s have little energy or focus after leaving hospitals and clinics.

But building net worth is a lot easier than medicine. Starting now will save you much strife down the road. Most doctors love being doctors, but many are burnt out because of the monetary burden of debts and expenses.

I will unpack some of the above principles with steps in later posts.

To let me know which principle you are most eager to hear first. Comment below.

Growing net worth on high debt/income ratio: Principles

10 thoughts on “Growing net worth on high debt/income ratio: Principles

  • March 24, 2015 at 8:36 AM
    Permalink

    I was pretty pleased to locate this site. I wanted to thanks for your time for this amazing read!! I undoubtedly enjoying every small bit of it and I’ve you bookmarked to take a look at new stuff you blog post.

  • March 20, 2015 at 9:55 AM
    Permalink

    You should participate in a contest for top-of-the-line blogs on the web. I’ll recommend this site!

    • March 3, 2016 at 1:09 PM
      Permalink

      Thanks for your support. how do i participate in a contest for top-of-the-line blogs on the web?
      My site URL has changed to drwisemoney.com. please help spread the word, so that people who were following debtfreedoc.com can be re-directed.
      let me know if there’s any topic you’d like me to cover 🙂

  • March 20, 2015 at 8:58 AM
    Permalink

    This web site is mostly a stroll-by way of for all the information you wished about this and didn’t know who to ask. Glimpse right here, and also you’ll positively discover it.

    • March 3, 2016 at 1:07 PM
      Permalink

      Thanks for the support. My site URL changed to drwisemoney.com. please help spread the word, so that people who were following debtfreedoc.com can be re-directed. let me know if there’s any topic you’d like me to cover 🙂

  • March 16, 2015 at 8:03 PM
    Permalink

    I love your tip on taking regular snapshots of your financial indicators! It’s never too late to start!! Thank you!!

    • March 18, 2015 at 11:08 AM
      Permalink

      It is indeed never too late.

  • March 13, 2015 at 7:57 PM
    Permalink

    Paying down higher interest debt is definitely ideal for saving money in the long term. For me, I have been paying down my lower interest student loans from undergrad first (which happen to be higher minimum monthly payments as they were private loans). As I have been paying those off, it has been freeing up extra money for me to apply towards my larger balances. Similar to Dave Ramsey’s Snowball Method

    • March 14, 2015 at 5:22 AM
      Permalink

      congratulations for paying your undergrad loan down! it’s a great feeling and you are well on your way to success 🙂 keep it up!

  • March 13, 2015 at 2:31 PM
    Permalink

    Great information for doctors and all the rest of us !

Comments are closed.