Skip to content 
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!
Domestic geoarbitrage can work out incredibly well from a financial perspective for physicians. International geoarbitrage can work out even better for those that are able to work remotely. One Of The Best Ways To Build Wealth And Get Financial Independence from I Love Globetrotting (who doesn’t?).
While stocks were down in 2022, the long-term trend is undeniably positive. Jim Wang with Wallet Hacks answers a common question. Why does the stock market always seem to goes up?
With mortgage rates more than doubling, housing affordability has bottomed out. Ben Carlson with A Wealth of Common Sense wonders Why Aren’t Housing Prices Crashing?
Site sponsor Origin Investments understood that interest rates couldn’t stay low forever. How Our Interest Rate Hedging Strategy is Paying Off for Our Funds.
Target date funds are an easy enough one-fund solution that provide diversification and an asset allocation that adjusts as you grow older. Yet, the White Coat Investor doesn’t use them (nor do I). 7 Reasons I Don’t Use Target Date Funds.
Grant Cardone claims that single-digit millionaires are middle-class and worried, using some fuzzy math to illustrate his point. Sanjib Saha with Humble Dollar has seen this fear of spending from The Poor Millionaire, too.
I wouldn’t call a millionaire poor or middle class, but it’s hard to deny that what it means to be a millionaire has indeed changed. Thanks, inflation. The Darwinian Doctor shares his perspective. Millionaires Aren’t What They Used to Be.
Nearly everyone is spending more now than they were a year ago. Thanks, inflation. Chris Mamula with Can I Retire Yet wonders Are We Spending Too Much?
What do retirees do all day? Whatever they want, says early retiree Jim from Route to Retire. There Shouldn’t Be Boredom In Retirement Or You’re Doing It Wrong.
Winters up north can be boring if you let them, but I filled mine with a lot of skiing (30 days at 18 resorts) and a little curling (3 days a sub). How we make skiing reasonably affordable in Budget Skiing and Other Oxymorons.
There’s a chance that noncompete clauses could be outlawed in the U.S. The Prudent Plastic Surgeon contemplates the consequences. What Would Medicine Look Like Without Noncompete Clauses?
Not so fast, says Dr. Aaron Morgenstein with KevinMD. Don’t hold your breath: Non-competes are unlikely to disappear for physicians.
The bad news for doctors doesn’t end there, says radiologist “The” Ben White, who speaks with a colleague who escaped an unhealthy private equity-owned radiology practice. Approaching the Private Equity Job Offer.
Real Estate Investors are Wary
Interest rates have risen. Rent growth has stalled. Thus far, my real estate investments have continued to perform reasonably well. Our friends at Origin Investments made some moves to protect investors from this challenging environment, and they see opportunities on the horizon. Origin submitted the following text highlighting their IncomePlus Fund, which happens to be the largest of my passive real estate holdings.
Last year’s grueling bear market, touched off by decades-high inflation and aggressive Federal tightening, has made many investors wary about what will come in 2023. However, monetary conditions negatively impacting the U.S. stock market have led to investment opportunities in private real estate.
Origin’s IncomePlus Fund is strategically designed to withstand all market cycles, which is why the Fund has been able to earn positive monthly total returns for 43 of 44 months since the Fund’s inception. Over the past two years, the Fund has pivoted towards preferred equity which has proven to be a boon for investors looking for stable, risk-adjusted returns.
Origin Investments provides best-in-class private multifamily real estate investments for accredited investors. Its IncomePlus Fund is an evergreen private real estate investment with a tactical, all-weather strategy focused on buying, building, and lending to Class A multifamily properties diversified across the southwest and southeast. The Fund has generated an 11.1% trailing 12-month total return.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is my top pick for your first rewards card. Welcome bonus of 80,000 points worth at least $1,000 when used to book travel (after a $4,000 spend in 3 mo) and other great perks you can learn abouthere.
Another Successful WCICON
The 2023 version of the White Coat Investor Physician Wellness and Financial Literacy Conference just wrapped up, and it was the most well-attended event yet. This was the fifth one, and I’m proud to say that I’m one of only two people to have been an in-person speaker at each and every conference with WCI founder Jim Dahle being the other.
Now, I haven’t been one of the best speakers, but I have been one of the most consistent, and I must say I feel far more comfortable on stage than I did five years ago when I did my first public speaking in many years back in Park City. I was honored to share the stage with Christine Benz, James Lange, and David Graham this time around, and I hope Dr. Dahle will invite me back again to the 2024 event in Orlando, Florida.
With my family joining me this time, I had a bit less time to socialize with all of you, and I apologize for those of you I didn’t get a chance to meet. I did have some great chats with readers, and made some new friends, which is always fun.
Green With NZ
The conference ended yesterday, but we’re not headed home just yet. In fact, we won’t be home until May.
I spoke with a number of attendees who are eager to do what we’re doing, and that is travel extensively with our families long before traditional retirement age. Having this opportunity to explore the world over these last few years with my favorite people has been a blessing.
We leave for Auckland this evening on what may be our final BIG family trip together, at least of this length. With my older son preparing to enter high school this fall, life is about to change. But we’ve got a couple of months yet this winter and spring (late summer and fall in the southern hemisphere) to enjoy this freedom, and we plan to take full advantage.
New Zealand, here we come!
Have an outstanding week!
-Physician on FIRE
3 thoughts on “The Sunday Best (03/05/2023)”
Maybe see you in Auckland! I’m leaving today, New Zealand has been top notch so far.
What a lovely coincidence. I look forward to your visit!
I have to point out, my 1300 sqft condo not at all in the outskirts of the Bay Area, (more like middle skirts) was less than $700k. I admit, there wasn’t a whole lot of inventory to look at in the price range I was looking at, but things are available.