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The Sunday Best is a collection of articles I’ve curated from the furthest reaches of the internet for your reading pleasure.
Every week, I scan hundreds of headlines, read dozens of posts, and bring you the best of the best to save you time and mental energy.
Financial Independence (FI) is a primary focus, but it’s an awfully broad topic. I tend to approach FI and early retirement from a fatFIRE perspective and through the lens of a physician, so expect to see those biases in the selected articles.
Related topics that have become recurrent themes include early retirement, selective frugality, tax issues, travel, physician issues, and of course, investing.
For more great articles, take a peek at The Sunday Best Archives. Now let’s get to the best… The Sunday Best!
I had a great time at WCICon22 this week, nearly 5 years after speaking at the inaugural WCICON in Park City, Utah. You know what else happened five years ago? Dr. Cory S. Fawcett retired. He shares what he’s been up to since then on Financial Success MD. Five Years Retired from Surgery.
Ether to FI is nearly 5 years into his anesthesia career, or halfway to his 10-year FI plan, and he plans to make this his best year ever. Ether to FI: 2022, The Best Year Yet & a Net Worth Update.
The Physician in Numbers has tracked her spending for nearly two decades, and she’s gained some insight over that time. She takes a look at 2021 in numbers. What I Learned From Reviewing Our Yearly Spending.
The early retired duo behind All Options Considered also took a look at last year’s numbers. Like the post above, we don’t get all the numbers, but we do get their insights and a detailed breakdown by percentages. A 2021 Spending Review.
If you’re sensing a theme here, you’re onto something. This is, by far, the most meticulously detailed breakdown yet, as the Dragons on FIRE dissect their 2021 Early Retirement Expenses. Healthcare expenses tend to add up for a cancer survivor!
Where does the money come from? The same fire-breathing FIRE bloggers discuss their portfolio earnings and income sources. Funding Our Early Retirement – 2021.
John from ESI Money updates both his 2021 spending totals and his net worth as he and his wife are 2/3 of the way to being able to call themselves decamillionaires. 2021 Financial Year in Review and 2022 Forecast.
Carl of 1500 Days, whose household net worth is also north of $5 Million now, is relatively frugal, but frugality is not the point. To answer his question, yes, it bothers me to see other people wasting food, among other things. It Was Never About Frugality.
It will never be about frugality either for this week’s Post FI Notes interviewee, whose annual expenses tally about $300,000. He admits to many investing mistakes while somehow fumbling his way to a not-so-small fortune in retirement. Post FI Notes 014: $20 Million with a Unique Asset Allocation.
With low interest rates and, until a month ago, a booming stock market, many have wondered why anyone on earth would consider making extra debt payments. The White Coat Investor explains the Benefits of Paying Off Your Mortgage — Evaluating the ROI.
- Related: Debt Free by Forty: Why I Chose to Pay Off My Mortgage
- Also: Paying Off the Mortgage Early is a Mistake I’ll Never Regret
Our Crossroads interviewee, a 52-year doctor working three jobs, wonders if he would regret paying off the mortgage on his $1.3 Million home. FIRE Crossroads 020: Should They Pay Off the Mortgage?
Is affordable (or paid off) housing as important as living where you’d most like to be? The Fioneers explore how one couple justified the move to a more expensive locale. Leveraging Coast FI to Move to Your Dream Location.
What if your dream location is in another country? The Frugal Expat has you covered. 8 Tips on How to Move to Another Country.
Losing weight is simple, but not easy. The same is true of saving money and reaching financial independence. The Physician Philosopher discusses the dichotomy and how to bridge that gap. TPP #65: The Difference Between Simple and Easy.
Picking stocks that will outperform expectations is neither simple nor easy, no matter how much you think you know. Just ask Michael Flack with Humble Dollar. A Tale of Two Stocks.
An In-Person Conference!
This week’s been a whirlwind as I was able to attend the first in-person conference from Dr. Jim Dahle and company in nearly two years. I was part of the small production team for last year’s virtual WCICON, but the last one with hundreds of us actually getting together took place two years ago in Las Vegas for WCICON20. That was the very beginning of the pandemic; this feels like the tail end. I sincerely hope that proves to be true.
This week’s conference was WCICON22, the White Coat Investor’s growing conference to address financial literacy and wellness among physicians and other high-income professionals. I gave a well-received talk on retirement spending and shared a mixed 12-pack and 8-pack of different IPAs with an emphasis on haze as we continued the conversation outside of the lecture hall.
Once again, Dr. Dahle and his experienced team put on an incredible meeting, and the sponsors treated us well. Highlights included a happy hour with Passive Income MD, a dinner at Roy’s with Origin Investments and FPL Capital Management, and a memorable talk by Bo Parfet from DLP about climbing the 7 Summits and his attempt to reach the top of the incredibly dangerous K2.
Also this:
I didn’t think I’d see Dr. Jim Dahle on stage talking about sex, but here we are. #WCICON22 @WCInvestor pic.twitter.com/xu3FGuAips
— 🅿🅷🆈🆂🅸🅲🅸🅰🅽 𝚘𝚗 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝙴 (@PhysicianOnFIRE) February 11, 2022
Best of all was socializing with so many of you in the concourse, lobby, exhibitor hall, by the firepits, around the pool, and at dinner. It was a lot of fun, and if I didn’t get a chance to say hello this year, please seek me out next year. It will be at the same resort in Phoenix in early March. I may put together a smaller FIRE-focused event beforehand nearby. Stay tuned, as I’m just brainstorming on that at the moment.
If you happen to be in central Florida, I should have more information to share next week on an Orlando meetup at the end of this month with Dr. Kim from Passive Income MD, Dr. Sadhu from Physician Finance Basics, me, and some other friends of ours.
DLP Prosperity Event Next Month — a 100% Off Discount Code
Two events in two months! I’m pretty busy for a semi-retired guy.
DLP was in attendance this weekend, and I’ll be seeing my friends Rich, Bo, and Shannon again next month in sunny Florida for the next in-person Prosperity event. Once again, they’ve got an incredible speaker lineup, and I know from experience that we’ll be well taken care of if you choose to join me.
If you’re hoping to learn a lot about their investment offerings, you’ll be disappointed. They do give a brief update on their 5 funds at one of the dinners, but the main foci are on family, legacy, and wealth growth and preservation for the participants. You can see my review of my first Prosperity event here.
They’ve gone back and forth a bit on how much to charge, but just this week, they’ve provided me with a discount code making the event free to accredited investors.
You can now register for the March 17 – 20, 2022 event in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL using code SPECIALFREE.
You can check out the itinerary and speaker lineup here. Three square meals, snacks, and beverages (including craft beer that may or may not be green) are all provided.
Last Call for Expert Witness Startup School!
Dr. Gretchen Green’s course offering will be coming to a close tomorrow, so if you’re a physician looking for a lucrative side gig, now’s the time to act.
By the time you are done taking Expert Witness Startup School, you will:
- Communicate effectively from the first call to deposition
- Set an appropriate hourly and daily rate, track your time, send invoices
- Use a contract that protects you and facilitates clear communication of expectations
- Review cases efficiently and organize your case workload
- Scale your business through networking and marketing
- Evaluate if expert listing services, brokers, and other third parties are right for you
- Stand out as a go-to expert in your area of expertise (including CV review)
- Decide whether or not to form an expert witness business such as an LLC
Modules use step-by-step practical instruction to help you see your progress immediately. Templates help you get organized from the start so you are ready to grow your business from day 1.
An overview of the course contents:
If $500 to $1,000 an hour sounds like decent pay to you, click here to learn more about expert witness work and how to get started.
Enrollees referred from Physician on FIRE who remain enrolled beyond the no-questions-asked refund period will also receive two financial books of your choosing. What have you got to lose?
A Recommended Tax Strategist
Hamilton Tax and Accounting
How much of your hard-earned money disappears every year at tax time? What if you could keep more of every dollar to build lasting wealth for you and your family? We help our clients save thousands of dollars on their taxes year after year.
Let’s take a look at your unique situation and see how you can do the same. Schedule your consultation now to find out how you could save tens of thousands in taxes, so you can grow your wealth.
Contact:
Grayslake, IL StevenHamilton@HamiltonTax.net (224) 381-2660
Have an outstanding week!
-Physician on FIRE
3 thoughts on “The Sunday Best 02/13/2022”
Can you pay for the Expert Witness Startup course from a 529?
No, but the tuition should be fully tax-deductible as a business expense to your new expert witness business!
You’ll find a list of 529-eligible institutions of higher learning here: 529 Plans: What You Need to Know About College Savings Plans
Cheers!
Leif
Happy Super Bowl Sunday! Loved the post on 1500 about valuing time vs. money. Sometimes it just feels better to do something yourself, even if it is less efficient. But other times, just spend the money and use the time for something you enjoy instead.