Financial Independence Archives - Physician on FIRE

Top 5 Reasons to Work After Financial Independence

Holmsvollur Golf Course

I was browsing the Bogleheads forum last night, and my eyes naturally gravitated to the thread titled “What is FI if you love your job?” The short answer is that FI is financial independence. Nothing more, nothing less, and it doesn’t look any different if you love, hate, or feel indifferent towards your job. The long answer, after learning that the man asking the question is about 10 years away from FI, includes the fact that the person or the job is quite likely to look and feel quite a bit different in 10 years, and Fi is a smart […]

The X Factor

WCI meditation

Today’s Saturday Selection is a re-publication of the first “instant classic” post after more than five years of White Coat Investor posts. There were numerous comments that it deserved the immediate promotion. Read on and I believe you will see why. As always, this post originally appeared on The White Coat Investor. Dr. Dahle, please tell us about this thing you call The X Factor. I spend a great deal of time on this site imparting knowledge. You know, how the PSLF program works, how to do a backdoor Roth IRA, the best way to use an HSA and […]

Second Generation FIRE

2nd generation FIRE

A couple months ago, I was chatting with Jonathan and Brad of ChooseFI just before we started recording a podcast. They asked if I had been listening to their shows, and I really, really wanted to answer in the affirmative, but the truth was I hadn’t listened to a single episode. I have since rectified that situation, first listening to my own interview, and subsequently listening to most of the material they’ve put out so far. I haven’t been much of a podcast guy in the past, but with the amount of driving I do back and forth to spend […]

Can a Bear Take Away Your Financial Independence?

bear market alaska

You did it! You worked, you saved, you conquered. Your investments add up to 25 times your expenses, or 30 times, or whatever your magic number is. You have achieved financial independence, however you have chosen to define it. What’s that low rumbling sound I hear? Is that a bear coming out of hibernation? I won’t pretend to know when it’s coming, but I promise you I haven’t seen my last bear market. It could start next month, next year, or perhaps in the next decade. If you are convinced a bear market is imminent, you may want to read […]

Introducing Ether to FI: A New Attending Striving for Financial Independence

ETF Net Worth

This is the first of what I expect to be many posts from a reader who reached out to me eager to share his path to Financial Independence in real time. I’m excited to introduce you to our new online friend who will be known as Ether to FI (E.T.F., for short). E.T.F. and I have a lot in common — we are both anesthesiologists, husbands, and fathers with an interest in personal finance. The big difference? E.T.F. is just launching his career while I am starting to wind mine down. E.T.F. has a keen interest in attaining financial independence and he […]

10 Reasons to Go For Early Financial Independence

rapelling in sand

Today’s Saturday Selection is a classic post from The White Coat Investor. In this post from about 9 months ago, the good doctor is speaking my language, although I was only good enough to come up with the Top 5 reasons to Achieve Financial Independence. As per usual, this post originally appeared at the WCI network partner site The White Coat Investor. Here are the good Dr. Dahle’s 10 Reasons to Go For Early Financial Independence. I’ve written before about some of the reasons you should NOT retire early. The early retirement crowd savaged it a bit on Reddit, which I thought […]

Make Your Declaration of Financial Independence

kids american flags

In 1776, our nation’s founders made a bold choice. They made a statement with the Declaration of Independence, and the rest, as they say, is history. Why did John Hancock, Benjamin Franklin, and company declare the original Brexit? They had grown weary of increasing taxes. They wanted to create their own rules. They didn’t feel their master had their best interests in mind. They were prepared for freedom. I’m paraphrasing, but these gentlemen felt that Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness were unalienable rights, and they were prepared to fight for them. What are you Prepared to fight […]

Dr. E’s Path to Financial Independence: A High-Income Case Study

I’ve shared my personal path to FI and we’ve explored a host of scenarios for our hypothetical 4 physicians. Today, I’d like to take a deep dive into the finances of another real physician who we’ll call Dr. E. The name has been changed (it’s not short for Dr. Evil), and the details rounded off, but we’re talking about one of your fellow readers and his actual finances. The good Dr. E is a hard-working physician, a few years into his post-fellowship career. He earns a handsome salary, but boy, oh boy, does he work hard for the money. In […]

Financial Independence versus Financial Freedom

Financial Independence is a wonderful thing. I frequently sing its praises, and I am proud to have achieved the milestone for myself and my family. Having attained FI completes half of the FIRE acronym, and I’ve got plans for the RE part soon enough. I haven’t pulled that trigger yet, though, have I? Why not? After all, by definition, I’ve got Enough. I could have given notice a year ago and maintained our lifestyle indefinitely. But the truth is I’ve been straddling the fence, and each time my toes graze the grass on the other side, I retreat. I’m still working, […]

The Live on Half Challenge

Castle Rock UP

Live on Half. It’s not a suggestion or a recommendation. It’s a challenge. If you can find a way to meet this challenge, you will be rewarded handsomely. How so? Living on half of your take-home pay, or to put it another way, saving and investing as much as you spend, should lead to financial independence (FI) in roughly 15 to 20 years. Work becomes optional. You can live the rest of your life on your own terms. That’s a reward that I feel makes certain sacrifices well worth it. What kind of a sacrifice are we talking about? I’m so glad I asked! […]

Top 5 Ways to Derail Financial Independence & Early Retirement

Does the concept of financial independence appeal to you? Would you like to have the option to retire early? Great! Me too! One of my goals is to help give you the knowledge and motivation to help make FI a reality. I’ve talked about why you might want to retire early and how to go about it. I would be remiss if I didn’t talk about how not to do it. Presenting, the Top 5 Ways to derail your FIRE plans. 1. Live Beyond Your Means This one is obvious. The only way to accumulate the money required to call yourself […]

Top 5 Reasons to Achieve Financial Independence

Welcome to another Top 5 list, the Top 5 Reasons to achieve Financial Indendence (FI). I’ll admit, it wasn’t easy whittling this list down to 5. 1. Give yourself options. Being FI, you’ve got a nest egg that should support you indefinitely. Work becomes optional. That’s right, you can choose how to spend your days. If you’ve longed for a 3-day workweek, now is the time to make that a reality. If you’ve wanted to do some teaching or research, but had chosen private practice for the better pay, now is the time to explore that academic position. If […]

My Path to Financial Independence

In My Story, I talked about the life circumstances that led me here, to create this blog after achieving financial independence. I didn’t give many details as to how that happened financially. I didn’t keep great track along the way, and didn’t know 10% of what I now know about personal finance, but I’ll do my best to recreate my path. I could go back, way back to 1st grade, when I dominated the Iowa Basics. Or the glorious junior high days, when I was a star mathlete. Sadly, that’s not a typo. But what matters is that I did well […]

“It’s Good To Be King” The Benefits of Financial Independence

Financial independence is a great life goal with many tangible and psychological benefits. Before we get into those, it’s important to establish how one determines what it takes to be FI. Know Your Spending Needs First, you need to have some idea of how much money you need each year to support yourself or your family. This includes obvious spending on needs such as food, clothing, and shelter. It should also include spending on insurances, (some) taxes, and perhaps fees paid directly or indirectly to a financial advisor. As for taxes, I would include property taxes of course, and […]

What Do You Mean, “On FIRE”?

I am the Physician on FIRE. No extinguishers required, I’m not about to stop, drop, or roll. In this case, FIRE is an acronym, as in, Financial Independence, Retire Early. I discovered the acronym about a year ago, and learned that a whole bunch of good people on the internet have been dispensing valuable information on these two separate, but related topics of Financial Independence and Early Retirement. Why the Physician on FIRE blog? After all, there are hundreds of personal finance blogs, with dozens focusing on early retirement. Well, I’ll be coming at you from the perspective of […]