New visitors to Physician on FIRE may be excited at the prospects of financial independence and the possibility of a reasonably early retirement, but overwhelmed when presented with a lot of technical talk about specific investment accounts and strategies.
This is totally understandable; we’re not taught the difference between a 401(k) and 457(b) in medical school or residency. If you’re self-employed like I once was, you may have opened a SEP-IRA (as I once did) when an individual 401(k) may have been a better idea.
Nearly all employed attending physicians and some residents will have access to a workplace retirement plan or plans. For the employed physician, the most common names for those are 401(k) and 403(b).
If you’re self-employed, you may have the option of contributing to either an individual 401(k) or a SEP IRA, each of which can accept up to $57,000 in contributions (or $63,500 in an individual 401(k) for those 50 and over).
If your health insurance plan is considered an HDHP (high deductible health plan), you will be able to invest in an HSA. This allows you to defer another $7,100 of income per family or $3,550 in 2020 as you max out an HSA.