Last year after finalizing the process of taking over this, my sister’s blog & domain, and after organizing her memorial and inurnment, I wrote a post announcing that I’d be the new resident blogger behind Dr Wise Money here.
From The Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha Mukherjee
Society and illness often encounter each other in parallel mirrors, each holding up a Rorschach test for the other.
5 Myths about Doctors Our Society Believes
Doctors are rich.
Are you kidding?
How rich do you feel when you are 36 years old, just starting your first real doctor’s job, with half a million dollar worth of student loans at 7% interest rate with capitalization of interest accrued over your 7 years of residency training, you just moved for the job, have no house, no money in retirement accounts, and your car is 20 years old?
Time value of money is not on a doctor’s side with the delay in critical savings (retirement, college, home, etc.) and the prolongation of carrying high interest debt. Even with one of the highest starting physician income of 350k, the post-tax take home could be as little as 200k. Even if one puts $200k of post tax income towards his/her half million student debt, it will take a few years.
Let alone one needs to save for a house, save for retirement, raise a family, save for kids college, not to mention the catch up component of missing 14 years of 2 doubling time in investment (assuming 10% annualized return).
So when people say, the big debt is no problem since you’ve got big income, I wish they would do some math and put themselves in their doctors’ shoes.
Doctors are confident.
Myself and majority of my colleagues are some of the most insecure people I have ever met. We constantly are surrounded by the smartest, hardest working, most amazing peers, and frequently feel that we might have gotten to where we are (med school, residency, or a job) by luck or worse, by mistake. The impostor phenomenon or fraud syndrome is prevalent, undermining our self worth and performance constantly. Too many of us believe that “I’m not as smart or as good as others might think I am.”
Doctors are healthy…
You may read the rest of the article on physician money digest.
5 Traits Separating the Wealthy from the Wealthy-want-to-be
Life is a trajectory.
Wealth or poverty could be a lifelong or even multi-generational directional evolution. We are each journeying in the direction of greater or less wealth. Instead of comparing with one another, it’s helpful to see where we are moving towards, respective to our current financial snapshot.
It’s not news to see riches from rags or great wealth squandered away. There are some traits one could reflect upon what makes the difference between one heading for the positive or negative direction.
- Substance vs. appearance.
The wealthy focuses on substance; the wealthy-want-to-be focus on appearance.
- Service vs. profit.
The wealthy focus on service; the wealthy-want-to-be focus on profit.
- Create vs. consume.
The wealthy create; the wealthy-want-to-be consume. Creating with the mind sharpens us. Consuming passive entertainment rots our brain. Creating jobs, opportunities, service, or products increase wealth; consuming depreciating assets and purchasing on credit (with interest rate not justifying the purchase) deepens poverty. Consuming fast food, easy outside solutions causes poor physical and financial health.
- Learning vs. earning.
The wealthy works to learn; the wealthy-want-to-be works to earn.
- Who do you pay first?
The wealthy pay themselves first, in the form of investing in producing and appreciating asset. The wealthy-want-to-be purchase consumables, depreciating assets, or even liabilities for themselves first before investing for their future.
If you like this article, you might enjoy other DWM articles on Personal Finance, Investing, Retirement, Practice Management, & Lifestyle.
All articles by DWM are for informational purposes only and not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a professional accountant, financial adviser or lawyer, before making financial decisions.
6 $ Insights from My Kid’s Flying Lesson
Mini Wise Money’s dad gave her a flight lesson (and more to come) as her return from China trip present. I was honorably chosen to be her passenger while her dad, her grandpa, and our dog Lola observed from the ground.
While up in the air, watching my 8 year old flying a plane with the instructor by her side (yes she did the whole flying from takeoff to landing), I realized several things about money, about life in general.
1. It is never enough.
Up in the sky, the mansions with acreage of land look puny. Part of me feel the huger, the greed bubbling, the desire to possess more and to label more things as mine. How great would it be to buy Mini a $350k plane of her own?
2. It is always enough.
As her plane took us close to the mountains, I marveled at its grandeur and beauty, unrivaled by the most luxurious man-made structure on earth I’ve ever seen. I realized that if I am aware of the beauty surrounding me, the feeling of abundance is always present, whether I own more or less.
3. Sky is the limit.
The human mind is an incredible processing machine. Her very first flight lesson, Mini went from timid to adventurous, testing the boundaries of her skills and knowledge. It was beautiful to watch her mind open and blossom in front of me. Sky is the limit, the lesson we wanted to impart and instill in Mini with all that we’ve provided her seems to sink in literally and figuratively for her today.
4. Experience matters so much more than stuff.
To me, this experience of being the passenger to my 8-year-old flight captain was priceless. I can see, to her as well. Her joy, excitement, and intrigue lasted much longer than all the stuff/presents she has gotten which frequently are more expensive than this first 2-hour flight lesson.
5. Pick our battle; victory is ours.
Sure, we have turned down Mini’s request to buy and keep a pony. She gets weekly horse-back riding lessons. We did not throw her a carnivore theme $1000 birthday party. We picked our battle, maxed out 23.5k of Roth investment, 14k of her 529, and this year adding her 5.5k of Roth IRA while supporting Mini to dabble in activities and experiences to expand her mind and her horizon.
6. In spite of how expensive children are, they truly are the greatest joy one could experience.
Mini herself said to me, “Mommy, you would have been a millionaire already if it weren’t for me. I’m going to have dogs instead of children. Kids are too expensive and they talk back.” As I responded to her, “I would not trade the whole world’s treasure for not being her mom one day.”
Kids are more than someone who could potentially live our dreams, it’s even more marvelous to watch them develop and fulfill their own dreams.
If you like this article, you might enjoy other DWM articles on Personal Finance, Investing, Retirement, Practice Management, & Lifestyle.
All articles by DWM are for informational purposes only and not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a professional accountant, financial adviser or lawyer, before making financial decisions.