We are the kings and queens of self-defeating prophecies. We place such high internal standards that we failed before we even tried. While everyone around us would be clapping hands at our valiant efforts or excellent performances, we thought our results are subpar, we judged our efforts to be misguided and inefficient.
I had a co-intern 2 years ago who awed me with her presence of mind and her self-confidence. When I’m calculating how I can pay my bills, save for retirement, she just said to me, “I don’t worry about money. I just know that I will be very rich one day. I know it in my heart. I’m generous with giving and it always comes back to me.”
She has 300k+ in student loans but she also has enough in the stock market that she gets a couple thousand dollars in stock dividend every year. She exudes confidence. I know that she will be very wealthy one day as well. She’s the perfect antithesis of (self- and) wealth-defeating prophecies.
- I will never be rich.
You can be rich or poor. It’s completely up to you, regardless of your professions. I focus more on net-worth to income ratio to evaluate a person’s financial intelligence.
For instance, a janitor with net worth of 1 million and income of 40k a year definitely have greater financial genius than a doctor with a net worth of 1 million and an income of 300k a year.
It’s both how much you make and how much you keep. I’d venture to say that the latter matters more.
Yes, you will and you can pay it off within 2-5 years of finishing residency, as white coat investor urges all of us to do.
You can even pay off your student loans within 2-5 years of finishing medical school. If you have the will, you will find the way. (I paid off my student loans as an intern.)
- I work for money.
No you don’t. We all need money to survive and we want to thrive with some of our hearts’ desire fulfilled. Working for money is an oppressive and constrictive way of being. We work to learn and to serve, and with those intentions, money follow us.
- I don’t know how to make money work for me.
Although it is true that we each measure the rest of our world with our own ruler, it is a good idea to check in with reality once in a while.
As much as the financial industries strive to make money matters as murky and as complicated as possible, money matters are stupidly simple compared to medicine.
Doctors, please don’t assume the average financial professionals went to school/training for 23 years (equivalent to shortest residency) to be mange your wealth. That’s what you do to manage your patient’s health.
Pick up an investment book today. Read it. You’ll be amazed how easy it all is. There’s one Harrison in the study of medicine, yet we can be all be Harrisons in the study of money.
- I will never be good with money.
If you can be good with medicine, you can be good with money. You are not good because you choose to not invest 3 hours to read an investment book and choose to allow someone else to manage your money for you over your life time for 13 million (what average physician pays financial adviser with Asset Under Management fees over 6 decades.) check out PoF’s genius math here.
- Money matters are too complicated.
Again. BS.
- Money matters are too boring and tedious.
Once you’ve tried to study money matters, with just 1/1000th of the dedication, diligence, and discipline as you did medicine, then tell me it’s boring and tedious.
Even if it is till boring and tedious, you’ve won 90% the battle, just automate your money matters. Set it up for stupid-simple-success with passive, emotionless, automatic accumulation of assets.
Set it up once correctly, re-evaluate and re-balance every few years. It doesn’t take much time to save yourself 13 million dollars.
- I’m too good for money.
Everyone is too good to work for money, but no one is too good to let money work for him or her. Think of the time and freedom that you can enjoy with your loved ones the minute you reach financial independence (the point where your money for your to support your lifestyle freeing you to work for anything your heart desires.)
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