1. Attend the cheapest medical school you can get in.
Education is what you make of it. You have been a driven self-starter all your life to even survive as pre-med. Truly a good doc is a good doc, no need for high price to prove it.
2. Anchor ourselves, find happiness from within.
As much as the society, your mother in law expects you to have a “doctor’s” lifestyle, you don’t need to internalize those flashy, unsustainable stereotypes. Know that happiness, health, and beauty all comes from within, nothing expensive on the outside will adorn or hide the lack thereof on the insides.
3. Pick your poison.
Human nature, we have desires. Denying all desires 100% of the time makes life horrible. Granting our desires 100% of the time makes us dirt poor and unable to retire at 75. Find a balance, pick your poison and be content.
4. Walk the talk.
Health translates into wealth exponentially.
Focus on your health, physical, psychological, spiritual, and financial health. How can you be health care provider if you are not health yourself? True our career demands so much from us that it’s challenging to be stay healthy, more so than any other career. But we like challenge, that’s why we choose medicine as a way to serve. So now, rise up the challenge and exemplify the health that you teach your patients to work towards.
5. Stop working for money; get money working.
It’s never worth your time to work for money. $1000/hour? $10,000/hour? No amount of money is truly worth your time. So stop working for money.
Put your money to work Today, no matter how little. Put Time value of money on your side.
6. Let money follow us.
Stop going for the highest bidder of your labor, your time, your most precious asset. You choose medicine because you wanted to serve. Don’t lose sight of that. Look around you, identify the needs in your community and see how you can fill that need. As you focus your mind and energy on serving others, money will follow you.
7. Frugal living, wealthy vacation.
Choose a low cost of living city to call home. Day to day make healthy financial choices such as skipping the latte that’s bad for both your health and your wealth.
Your home, after your student loan, is likely your largest liability. I call homes liabilities because they constantly take money out of your pocket, while appreciating at deplorably low rates. Frugalize your daily expenses; once in a while, you have the option to enjoy a luxury vacation.
This is the reason why I choose to live in Tucson rather than California, even though many of my loved ones are there. For the 14 years I was in California, I neither had the time or the money to enjoy all that it has to offer. For the short 2 years in Tucson, I embrace the incredible nature and outdoors, while maximizing both my health and wealth.
8. Splurge on A few things your heart desires, don’t buy everything it fancies.
I splurge on things I care about without blinking an eye. I also don’t buy new shoes until there are holes in the bottom (holes on the sides don’t affect functionality of the shoes.)
My 8 year old, Mini Wise Money, learns and practices this philosophy by saving 95% of all her income (gift money, and work for DWM LLC,) while sporting her $72 Ann Taylor silver flip-flops with pride (I don’t agree, but she said she rather buy one thing she really likes than 10 little cheap things she likes so-so. Can’t argue with that.)
The doctor’s price tag is exorbitant. Don’t buy into that. Know what makes you happy (hint, things purchasable with money usually don’t make you happy, at least, not for long.)
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