The Truth about Money & Happiness by FinanceSuperhero

David launched FinanceSuperhero.com in March 2016. He is on a mission to Restore Order to the World of Finance. He would be honored if you would check out his blog (http://www.financesuperhero.com/) and follow FinanceSuperhero on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FinanceSuperhero).

[It is my great honor to feature FinanceSuperhero’s guest article today. When I first read his Overcome FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) in 7 Steps (thanks to PoF featuring this article in his Sunday Best Series), I was both relieved to have a diagnosis of my ailment (FOMO) and uplifted to receive wise guidance on how to overcome it 🙂 I’m sure you will find David’s writing as enlightening as I do. We have no financial relationship.]

 

The Truth about Money and Happiness

I will never forget the evening of June 17, 1994. I can vividly recall sitting on my living room floor, watching the action unfold. I was watching Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Houston Rockets and New York Knicks when NBC interrupted the programming with a breaking news corner-cut in. A white Ford Bronco raced down the 405 freeway and was chased by a convoy of police vehicles. Oddly, as time passed, it became clearer that the chase wasn’t really much of a chase.

When I awoke the next morning, I asked my parents about how the chase ended. They told me that OJ Simpson had finally stopped running after two hours and gave himself up to LA police.

All of my memories of this experience came flooding back to me recently when I watched the recent ESPN series, O.J.: Made in America.

As I watched the five part mini-series, I observed that Simpson’s happiness came from all the wrong places: fame, possessions, people, even alcohol and drugs. After being mired in controversy, Simpson’s fall from the throne was predictable. Like many celebrities before and after him, O.J. became addicted to alcohol and drugs later in life when money, notoriety, and women ceased to provide the happiness he craved.

In my opinion, it was his preoccupation with seeking happiness in all of the wrong places that led to his ultimate arrest and imprisonment on kidnapping charges in 2008.

 

The Mindset of More

Most of us will never know what it is like to be a football star. We won’t experience the life of a film and television actor. In fact, few people, past or present, can claim to understand the life of Orenthal James Simpson. His nation-wide fame began at USC, where he played football and won the Heisman Trophy in 1968. It only escalated as Simpson moved on to the NFL and the big screen.

O.J. Simpson appeared to have it all. Yet, in his mind, he was never satisfied, trapped in a race and perpetually seeking more. In his mind, the widening gap between his expectations and reality lead to unhappiness and discontentment. In his mind, chasing happiness and hoping to find it in people, possessions, and fame was akin to running toward an end zone that would always remain a few yards out of his reach.

It was a losing proposition.

 

How to Live a Life of Simplicity Instead of Enslavement

Like O.J. Simpson, the average person is destined for an unfulfilling life the moment she chooses a life of enslavement to possessions. By perpetually seeking more, she is likely to live a far less satisfying life.

It is no secret that money provides varying degrees of security. When utilized properly, money can meet the physiological, safety, belonging, and even esteem needs proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper, “A Theory of Human Motivation.” It can be leveraged to meet our most basic needs – food, shelter, clothing – as well as satisfy our vain ambitions – status, friendship, romantic relationships, employment, and socioeconomic status.

Yet, despite our human instincts which seek to convince us otherwise, there is not a linear relationship between money and happiness. Researchers have not yet established solid proof that money can or cannot buy happiness; in fact, a quick review of the research over the past ten years reveals that behavioral psychologists may be more divided on this issue than ever before.

Furthermore, it can be argued that possessions do not contribute to increased happiness. At a basic level, we value possessions based upon their utility. If we do not or cannot utilize our possessions, they cease to provide value or retain a maximum level of importance to us. For example, if I gifted you a pair of Wave Runners but established the conditional precedent mandating that they sit on blocks in your garage on a year-round basis, they would not increase your happiness. In fact, their presence might even lead to unhappiness every time you drive by the beach and lament their lack of utility.

 

Perhaps the link between money and happiness does not lie within how much money or how many possessions one possesses, but instead lies in purposefully managing the money and possessions which pass through his hands.

A UCLA study revealed that those people who would prefer having more time rather than more money also reported being happier. Respondents in the study frequently indicated that when life offered time/money “trade-offs,” more time led to greater happiness. Among the reasons cited for choosing time over money:

*Working 50 hr a week, with 2 hr of commuting a day, leaves only a few hours to spend time with my children and wife.

*I want to enjoy the pleasures of life and have artistic projects I want to complete.

*Because all I ever do is work. I just want to enjoy myself.

 

Seven Action Steps to Increase Your Happiness

In accordance with your values, strive to live a life of relative simplicity rather than enslavement to money and possessions by following these seven steps:

  1. Identify your values and spend accordingly. Spending money can make you happy when it aligns with your values.
  2. Give 10% of your income (gross or net is up to you) to a worthwhile charity, religious organization, or research fund each and every month. In doing so, you will gain emotional and psychological control over your money and practice good stewardship. The joy of giving money is unlike any other feeling, and it is often contagious!
  3. Wait 30 daysbefore making unnecessary purchases. Write down the desired purchase and reasons for making it, and if you still want the item after 30 days have passed, then make a decision which aligns with your values. A majority of the time you will discover you no longer want the item as badly as you once thought.
  4. Dream big, but do not allow your happiness to depend on the achievement of your dreams.I have made this mistake and paid dearly for it.
  5. Slow down, unplug, and cherish experiences with loved ones. Relationships are the real treasure in life.
  6. Do not allow the fear of missing outto influence your spending. Social media envy can easily incite jealousy and lead you to believe that more possessions or experiences will increase your happiness. Do not yield to those desires!
  7. Spend money on other people. Spending generously on others will make you happier than spending on yourself. After all, there is a reason that Warren Buffett is delighted by his own plan to give away 99 percent of his wealth.

 

In 2008, O.J. Simpson’s improbable run of good fortune came to an end. At his sentencing, Simpson offered an apology, telling District Judge Jackie Glass he was “sorry, somewhat confused, [and] apologetic. I just wanted my personal things. I was stupid. I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was doing anything illegal. I thought I was confronting friends. I thought I was retrieving my things. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody, and I didn’t mean to steal anything.”

These were the words of a man desperately clinging to the hope that once again, his charm and charisma could rescue him. In a moment of opportunity, Simpson squandered his chance to take responsibility for a lifetime of seeking happiness in all the wrong places and damaging countless lives in the process.

Denise Brown, the sister of Nicole Brown-Simpson, offered a much more succinct and sincere assessment of all that had transpired.

“It is very sad to think that an individual who had it all, an amazing career, beautiful wife and two precious children, has ended up like this. Allowing wealth, power and control to consume himself, he made a horrific choice on June 12, 1994, which has spiraled into where he is today,” she lamented.

May we all strive to develop a healthier attitude toward wealth and never allow money to control our happiness.

 

8 Ways to Reduce the Doctors Price Tag

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.)

 Personal Finance, Investing, Retirement, Practice Management, & Lifestyle More articles like this on Physician’s Money Digest.

$1,100 for 45 Minutes of Your Time

broadcast

I have always worked really hard: 7 jobs in college ranging from MCAT tutor, college chemistry TA, nanny, to care-taker for the disabled.

Then, I worked 2 jobs in medical school while full time mommying + full time studying.

Radiology resident: which pays 60k (starting this 7/1/2016) for 80 hour week

  • Medical Student for 4 years: 50k tuition and fees per year to study/work 100hrs/week
    • –> NEGATIVE $9.6/hr, not counting the horrendous 7% student loan interest that starts day 1 of med school.

Today, I have 4 jobs:

  • Radiology resident: which pays 60k (starting this 7/1/2016) for 80 hour week
    • –> $15.6/hr
  • Blogger: which pays me nothing so far (after expenses)
    • –> $0/hr
  • USMLE tutor: which pays me generously per hour as I’m own boss & have extensive track record of success, but I intentionally have very few clients throughout the entire year.
    • –> $130-$388/hr
  • Mommy: MWM is my #1 sources of expenses after mortgage, but like I had told her. She’s worth more than all the treasures in the world combined.
    • –> negative $0-200/hr depending on the nature of the activity Mini is doing

time is more valuable than moeny

So it is truly nice to make some $ that takes little of my time:

After all, time is the only irreplaceable resource in my life. Time can earn money, but money can’t buy back time.

This post will detail step-by-step how I made money by churning cash flow in the circle of money.

Steps:

  1. Go to https://online.citi.com/US/JRS/pands/detail.do?ID=AOProductSelection&JFP_TOKEN=9ZIHOTGY and open the cheapest/free Citibank online account
  2. Choose to fund the bank account with a CREDIT CARD
  3. Print out the authorization form. Complete form and fax it.
  4. Online account opened 10/2. Form faxed 10/5. Citibank gets deposit on 10/7. BOA is charged on 10/8. Funds available to pay bills 10/16 in $10,000 maximum increment. All funds paid back to credit card 10/21.
  5. The entire cycle takes 14 business days, well within grace period of credit card cycle.
  6. Each additional $10,000 you are moving will add additional 1 day to the cycle.

Caveats:

  1. Call the credit card you plan to use and lower your CASH ADVANCE limit to the minimum. This is protective mechanism. This prohibits your credit card company from charging the transaction (your funding a new Citibank checking account with the credit card) as a cash advance. Cash advance usually has INSTANT interest in the magnitude of 20-30%. You will lose way more than you make if your credit card company charges this transaction as cash advance.
  2. By lowering your cash advance limit and requesting an amount higher than your cash advance limit, you make sure that your credit card company can only process your transaction as a PURCHASE (and give you cash back/point rewards) OR block the transaction. This prevents you from paying more interest to the credit card company than the rewards you get from them.
account opened
You get this page after you successfully open your new Citibank checking account online. Next step is fax in the authorization form indicating how much you want charge your credit card to fund your new Citibank account.
 10/20/2015 Expand transaction for Transaction date: 10/20/2015PMT FROM BILL PAYER SERVICE Type Payment -$10,000.00 $13,973.70
 10/20/2015 Expand transaction for Transaction date: 10/20/2015PMT FROM BILL PAYER SERVICE Type Payment -$10,000.00 $23,973.70
 10/20/2015 Expand transaction for Transaction date: 10/20/2015PMT FROM BILL PAYER SERVICE Type Payment -$7,168.00 $33,973.70
 10/17/2015 Expand transaction for Transaction date: 10/17/2015PMT FROM BILL PAYER SERVICE Type Payment -$10,000.00 $41,141.70
 10/14/2015 Expand transaction for Transaction date: 10/14/2015PAYMENT – THANK YOU Type Payment -$142.00 $51,141.70
 10/08/2015 Expand transaction for Transaction date: 10/08/2015CITIBANK ONLINE OFALLON MO Type Purchases $37,168.00 $51,283.70

The above BOA credit card activity demonstrates how money is used to pay off the very credit card it was drawn from. So at the end of this, all that was charged on the BOA credit card when funding the new Citibank account was paid off by the money deposited into the Citibank.

Circle of money:

Charge BOA credit card –> Fund Citibank new checking account –> Pay off BOA credit card

Each cycle: 1.1% of the money moved was made as purchase associated, tax free cash rewards

Each cycle: takes me <30 minutes of work to complete; generates $550

That’s how I made $1,100/hr of my time spent

The credit card authorization form you need to fill out in order to fund your new Citibank account with your credit card:

Credit card autho filled in

You can also watch this YouTube video @ Dr WiseMoney for an explanation on how to do this.

I hope you make some tax-free money too. Banks are getting smarter & closing this highly lucrative (for common people like you & me) opportunity by lowering the limit of how much you can fund  a new checking account with a credit card or simply prohibiting credit card funding all together. But Citi-BOA combo worked for me (I can no longer do it anymore, my name is probably banned from the fact that Citibank effectively paid me $2,500 last year without gaining anything from me).

Hope it works for you! Give yourself a little pat on the back for all the hard earned dollars you with your day job.

Update: as of 7/14/16, Citibank prohibited funding new bank accounts with credit cards. But if you like to try still, it does not hurt. I just know that personally I am not able to do the same, I’d imagine because Citibank noticed that I had multiple open and closed accounts with them.

However, there are other banks out there that allow you to fund a new banking account with credit cards with various limits. Here’s a list. 

But make sure you read all the fine prints and avoid landmines such as the transaction being processed by your credit card company as “cash advance” rather than purchases. Do your research before you jump. If you are cautious and avoid the landmines, you get rewarded pretty heavily. Not to mention, if you are in a pinch and need cash, this is great way to borrow 0% to negative interest cash for a little while (12-21 months depending on the 0% APR promotional period of a card.)

Share your brilliant money making tips below 😉

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Medicine: The Ultimate Inhumane Pursuit of Humanity

One of my mentors whom I look up to in life recently announced her retirement, she wrote,

“It’s time for me to take care of my loved ones and myself. I’ve delayed, de-prioritized, sacrificed those closest to me as I care for total strangers. Granted it is incredibly rewarding to save a life or to improve a patient’s quality of life, I find that I no longer can justify the abuse I’m taking, and the demands medicine exerts on my loved ones. I’m at the cross-road where I must decide to do what’s best for my kids, my partner, and myself.”

 

This post started as a response to her announcement, which I decided to share with you as it came from my heart.

 

Dear Ready-to-Retire Doctor Friend,

I am sorry that you have been abused by medicine yet I am happy that you made the decision to leave the abuse behind.

I 100% agree with you that medicine is the ultimate inhumane pursuit of humanity. We were drawn to it by a higher calling and deep rooted ideals, only to find ourselves assaulted from all fronts; we are besieged and ambushed physically, mentally, psychologically, socially, and financially.

 

To this disillusionment, I have contemplated finishing residency and fellowship but quit medicine the moment I finish learning/training, never to practice medicine.

Seems ironic to invest 26 years of schooling and training, more than half million in educational costs, sacrifice precious moments with family and loved ones, suffer sleep deprivation by having no more than 4 hours/night for 15 years of my life, to anti-climatically leave the practice of medicine after spending my whole life pursuing it.

But like you, I think leaving medicine may be for the best, and for once the best for me and my loved ones, even if it may not the best for a total stranger, the fellow human being I vowed to place above all my own needs.

 

While I won’t retire from medicine for another 2400 days, at the age of 38, at the earliest, I am jumping up and down for your decision and new journey.

 

It is sad that the US as a whole treats us, those who decide to carry the weight of a fellow human being’s life on their shoulders in such an abusive and inhumane manner, starting from the very moment a starry eyed teenager decides to go to college and be a pre-med in high school. The demands on us are never ending and ever increasing, always, undoubtedly higher than those placed on any other profession known to men.

For those who persist in medicine, and bear such a burden daily while staying strong for themselves and their families, kudos to them. I’m amazed at their super-human powers and deeply honored to have fought, learned, striven, cried, fallen, and gotten up innumerable times next to them along this abusive, alienating, all consuming journey.

 

On the other hand, I’m happy that there are docs like you who recognize that we are humans after all, and that we have a life and definition of self beyond that of Dr. so and so, the medical hero who saves lives, and frequently so pre-occupied by a stranger’s life and death that he or she can’t be bothered by their own loved ones or their own dire human needs.

All because we signed up for a profession which demands that we put those human needs of others above our own.

 

You go!

 

Lots of love and great respect,

DWM

 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 Tips to Maximize Return on Your Biggest Investment: Your Education

Ø  Serve 
You came this far, at the opportunity cost of becoming CEO’s of fortune 500 companies, to serve. Nothing else could drive a human being this far against all odds, facing all stressors from all dimensions of life: physical, psychological, spiritual, financial, you name it.

Find the most suitable job where you can make the greatest positive impact on the society. It will serve you well to serve. That’s what you have dreamed of doing all along.

Ø  Teach 
There’s nothing more rewarding than to share the lessons you’ve learned and have someone else avoid the pains and mistakes you had to struggle with. Our generation of doctors stood on the shoulder of the giants who came before us; it’s only befitting to lift up the next generation of docs following our footsteps. 

Ø  Lead
Get involved in politics. I hate politics. But I hate the fact that businessmen and lawyers make laws on regulating doctors. Doctors who know what serving our community via medicine truly entails, should be the ones making laws to improve healthcare, which should include healthy patients and healthy doctors.

Ø  Clone yourself
Other than teaching, you can clone yourself via social media such as YouTube. Record patient education in short videos where you can go into much more detail than your allotted 3 minute visit with each patient.

Ø  Work for yourself
As highly motivated, self-driving individuals, we do better when we can take charge. So if you don’t find “the job” that maximize your positive impact and service to your community, create a job for yourself, be your own boss. Identify the problem, you are the solution. Find the need, your skills and knowledge will satisfy it.

Ø  Publish
Find something you are interested in. Learn the limits of what have been done and made known. Ask a new question outside the boundary of established literature/known facts and do research to answer your new question.

The quest for new knowledge is incredibly rewarding for personal edification alone, not to mention advancing the collective knowledge of the human race. While you put your heart to this, your publication will bring you authority and more support all around. 

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