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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!
The “Dragon Gal” from Dragons on FIRE retired 5 years ago, 2 years before her husband. She reflects on her accomplishments, failures, and psychology of early financial freedom in My Fifth Year of Early Retirement.
Ben Carlson with A Wealth of Common Sense came into some money recently, and he likes the timing of the windfall. Investing a Lump Sum When the Stock Market is Down.
Odds are that we’ll see another 75 basis point increase in the fed rate after their next meeting. What does that mean, exactly, and how does it affect you? Federal Rate Hikes and How They’ll Impact Your Wallet.
The surging value of the US Dollar has made international travel more appealing. Have you considered working a US doctor job overseas? This dual physician couple has been practicing telemedicine in Portugal for nearly two years. 5 Financial Considerations for American Doctors Wishing to Live Abroad on White Coat Investor.
Maybe you’d rather just go to another country and not work for an extended period of time. Jake Northrup with Kitces.com shows us how a financial planner approaches an extended absence. Sabbatical Financial Planning: Taking Extended Time Off Without Derailing The Career Or Retirement.
Form an S Corp, they said. It will reduce your taxes, they said. Sometimes, that maneuver can backfire. From Solo Building Blogs, When does S corp election cost you MORE in taxes and NOT make sense?
There’s a lot of one-size-fits-all and sometimes just plain bad financial advice out there. The FI Tax Guy does a deep dive on Roth conversions, taxes in retirement, and the over-simplification of investing advice out there. TikTok Tax Advice?
Speaking of tax advice, REPS can save some individuals or couples a ton in taxes, but there’s a lot of misunderstanding of when and how it applies. The Prudent Plastic Surgeon breaks down what you need to know. Real Estate Professional Status: A Primer for Physicians.
If you’re not willing or able to put in 750 hours of material participation in real estate, there are other ways to invest in real estate more passively. From RealtyMogul, Retirement Investing in Real Estate: New Opportunities.
Fundrise, best known for their diversified real estate portfolios where one can invest $10 and get an instant 100% return , is broadening their horizons with a billion-dollar fund investing in late-stage startups. Coming soon: The Fundrise Innovation Fund.
The Money Commando doesn’t have a billion dollar fund, but he does have a $10 Million net worth now. Must be nice to get 7-figure commission checks! Net worth – June, 2022.
If the unknown has you working “one more year” a few more times, Mr. Money Mustache is hear to talk you out of that nonsense. Why You’ll Probably Never Run Out Of Money.
Financial wellness is one of eight wellness categories that Dr. McFrugal considers when evaluating his current state. What Does Wellness Mean to Me? What does it mean to you?
A primary motivator behind recognizing physician burnout / resilience / moral injury is to improve the wellness of those tasked with keeping us well. The Physician Philosopher shows us How to Thrive as a Physician in a Broken System.
FIRE Sale on Determined: How Burned Out Doctors Can Thrive in a Broken Medical System
You can read my review of Dr. James Turner’s new book for an overview, or you can have all 226 pages on your phone or tablet for just 99 cents!
As of today, the paperback is $19.99, the hardcover is $29.99, but the Kindle version is 95% off. I’m told this book launch discount disappears after the first week, so you’ve got today or tomorrow to get a potentially life-changing book for the price of a Slurpee.
Just because it’s [temporarily] cheap, don’t think you’re getting some e-book that’s been thrown together. This is the full-fledged book that “Jimmy” has been working on for the better part of a year, and it could be just what the doctor ordered to help you figure out how to once-again enjoy the career you worked so hard to have.
Hot in Herre
We’re not hitting 104 degrees like they did in Great Britain, but the heat and humidity has finally arrived in northern Michigan, with highs consistently in the 80s for the first time this summer.
The lake has warmed up, and we love that! The house has also warmed up, and that’s less awesome. With prudent use of our whole house fan, I can generally keep the indoor temps in the 70s, but the humidity isn’t going anywhere.
I finally broke down and bought a free-standing 10,000 BTU air conditioner that can cool one good-sized room, and it should arrive tomorrow. At about half price for a refurbished unit, it was just $220 on Woot. If I were smart, I would have ordered the thing a week earlier, but at least it will be here in time for my parent’s upcoming visit.
I hope you’re staying cool while enjoying summer while it lasts. We’ve still got about six weeks left before Labor Day!
Our new place, on the lake and across the street, will have central air conditioning that we’ll probably use two weeks out of the year. So far, we’ve got footings and a nearly-complete block foundation. Next up will be some slabs poured for the crawlspace and garage, and then we can start framing.
The finished product, from a modified Truoba modern house plan, should look something like the renderings below. If you’re looking for a semi-custom house plan, they’ve got some great options, and the architect was easy to work with as we went back and forth with our many modification requests.
We chose the Truoba Class 519 plan, expanded it to a 4-car garage, and added about 300 square feet to get both upstairs bedrooms facing the water. The renderings on the site have far more detail and images of what the inside could look like.
Physicians and pharmacists, Register with Incrowd for the opportunity to earn easy money with quick "microsurveys" tailored to your specialty.
Join Me at Camp FI Midwest!
I’ve become a regular at the long-weekend retreats known as Camp FI. To find out what it’s all about, you can read my review of my past experiences at Camp FI.
In short, it’s a relaxed weekend with a short formal schedule with talks from 3-4 speakers and breakout sessions organized by 40 to 60 fellow campers. Expect to meet really interesting people, enjoy beverages around a large nightly campfire, and come away with some new ideas and friends.
This next one is Labor Day weekend at a retreat center called Dunrovin near Marine on St. Croix, Minnesota — about 45 minutes northeast of the MSP airport. This will be my 4th Camp FI there and 5th overall, and I keep coming back for more. It’s a great bookend to the summer.
I hope to see you there!
Have an outstanding week!
-Physician on FIRE
