A few co-residents/ attendings have suggested that I present a talk on personal finance for doctors. Though not a fan of public speaking, I finally drummed up the courage to do so. My supportive program director gave me Friday 1/29 lunch conference time for this talk.
Although I don’t have a degree in accounting, tax law, or business, I firmly believe in DIY personal finance. For the simple reason that no one else will care to maximize my hard earned dollars more than I do.
I am also learning each day that doctors are targets for financial exploitation by innumerable sectors of the financial industries (from real estate, car dealership, insurance sales rep, to financial advisers, you name it, whenever you sign, charge, or write a check.)
The goal of this site and discussions are to raise some awareness regarding personal finance in my professional community so that we can take charge of our financial lives, rather than becoming lambs roasted for the feasts of financial professionals.
Here’s an illuminating post by White Coat Investor on financial advisers. I hope the numerous attending physicians who commission financial advisers to manage their hard earned money read this post and learn about the opportunity cost of paying (especially commission based) “professional(s)” to manage their money.
I decided to title my talk, hopefully the first of many, “A Dollar Goes a Long Way Today/in Training”. This post will be an outline for a series of presentations.
The series will cover,
- How does a dollar go a long way today/in training?
- Where do I put my dollar?
- How do I make an extra dollar?
- How do I stretch my dollar?
- The true value of a dollar.
- How does a dollar go a long way today/in training?
- Time Value of Money
- Lowest tax bracket in our lives going forward
- Refinance student loan to a lower rate Pronto
- Where do I put my dollar?
- Get company retirement contribution match (1 dollar becomes 2 instantly)
- Pay off student loan (high interest debt reduction = guaranteed high return)
- Contribute to ROTH space (pay taxes now and never again)
- How do I make an extra dollar?
- Moonlighting
- Credit cards with cash rewards
- Embrace your inner nerds (be a tutor or a consultant)
- How do I stretch my dollar?
- Refinance your student loans (lower interest means faster pay off and/or greater cash flow per month to put your dollars elsewhere)
- take advantage of 0% interest offer from credit cards (interest free money gives you Time Value of money for free.)
- Monitor and optimize your credit score (high score means better deals-interest rates, terms- on all major purchases from a house to a car)
- only use credit cards that pay you back: in tax free dollars, miles, or gift cards
- The true value of a dollar.
- Recognize your values.
- Acknowledge your priorities.
- Spend your dollar on what makes you the happiest.
Any other topics I should include for this introductory series? Any request on additional topics? If you are giving a talk on personal finances in training, what would be your take home points?