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 think everybody should get rich and famous and do everything they ever dreamed of so they can see that it’s not the answer.” – Jim Carrey. The Monevator also recognizes that money won’t solve all of our problems. Pros and Cons of Being Wealthy.
As noted in the post featured above, people love to hate on the wealthy. What they don’t realize, says The Darwinian Doctor, is that Wealth is Not a Zero Sum Game.
If you’re not wealthy yet, give it time, says the Financial Pupil. Why Time is the Greatest Factor to Successful Investing.
The Banker on FIRE agrees and would add consistency and simplicity as additional factors to investing success. The scenarios presented in A Relentless March Forward provide further proof.
It’s more difficult to find agreement as to whether or not our economy is currently in a recession. Big ERN, Ph.D. with Early Retirement Now examines the definitions, data points, and arguments for and against an ongoing recession. Recession or Not?
If we are in a recession or about to enter one, it will be over someday and things will be better. We tell ourselves similar stories about our own lives, often to our detriment, says Fritz Gilbert with Retirement Manifesto. Have you been afflicted with The Someday Syndrome?
One More Year Syndrome may be a cousin of Someday Syndrome. Full Time Finance explains why he’s pressing on for that extra income. Working One More Year, Is It For Me?
- Related: The Power of One More Year
Working one more year could get you past the second bend point, a goal I achieved in 2022. The White Coat Investor looks at his earnings record and that of his wife. Social Security Bend Points — Maximizing Your Benefit.
Speaking of benefits, if an FSA is a part of your benefits package, learn how to get the most from it and how it compares to an HSA (the better option, IMHO). Cut Your Tax Bill With a Flexible Savings Account (FSA) from Paychecks and Profits.
When you realize you’ve reached or surpassed all of your savings goals, you’ve got choices to make and numerous options to choose from. 7 Things You Can Do When You’re Done Saving for Retirement. Some people choose a combination of most of these.
Cancer survivor Chris from Life Outside the Maze has a unique appreciation for both financial independence and the musings of a hospice doctor. Financial Independence: Taking Stock.
It started with Rockefeller and Gates — no, not that Gates, although Bill has a busy one of his own now. An intriguing look at the past and present in a History of Family Offices from With Compound.
Philanthropy is often a component of family offices, and targeted giving is a goal of a number of Silicon Valley billionaires. From Dylan Matthews at Vox, How effective altruism went from a niche movement to a billion-dollar force.
Physicians and pharmacists, Register with Incrowd for the opportunity to earn easy money with quick "microsurveys" tailored to your specialty.
Going Live With Dr. Gretchen Green
Doctors, if you’re interested in learning more about how to get into lucrative expert witness work, I’ll be doing a Facebook Live in the Physicians on FIRE Facebook group tomorrow morning, Monday 8/29 with Gretchen Green, MD. The Facebook group is for medical doctors only.
Since most of you will be working, the recording will remain available in the group. If you’re not able to join or watch the replay or don’t do Facebook, click here to learn more about Expert Witness Startup School, Dr. Green’s excellent online course that shows you the ropes. There’s a money-back guarantee and course profits go to two select educational charities. How cool is that?
Course enrollment does end tomorrow night, so there’s no time like the present to investigate further.
$20 or $250? It’s Up to You
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Upcoming Webinars
Market Outlook and Real Estate Investing
Hosted by Sovereign Properties
Gain insights from Sovereign Properties’ CEO Russ Krivor on capitalizing in today’s market. Discover our fund’s strategy for investing in discounted land near thriving Sunbelt cities and the latest trends in multifamily and active adult living. What You’ll Learn: • Market insights for multifamily and senior living • Strategic land acquisition in growth areas • Sovereign’s innovative active adult community model
When: November 13 | 8 am PT | 11 am ET
Try the free FingerPrint survey now and reveal your current financial plan’s strengths and areas of opportunity in less than ten minutes. Not only will you get a free financial fingerprint report but Forme will send you a $20 Gift Card just for completing it.
If you’ve got a bit more time, Forme is offering $250 to chat with you, and if you choose to work with them, you could potentially be rewarded with an additional $1,500*.
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Feeling Minnesota
Fish fry, football, Camp FI — it’s a great time of year to be back in my home state. I realize that the late Chris Cornell didn’t have good times in mind when he penned the lyric “Looking California, but feeling Minnesota,” but personally, I’m feeling good when I’m feeling Minnesota.
My folks held their traditional late August fish fry last evening, and I set up a fish taco bar to spice things up a bit. Later this week, I head to the Golden Gophers football season opener on Thursday evening, followed by Camp FI Midwest Friday through Monday, at which point I’m off to Orlando for FinCon and some quality pre-FinCon time with my buddy from residency with the perfect name for an anesthesiologist: Dr. Stoner.
I’ll miss the final day of the bloggers’ conference in favor of a morning kickoff at Huntington Bank Stadium in Minneapolis on Saturday, and I’ll probably stay another week to catch game number three before heading back to Michigan for game four in East Lansing, and yes, I’ve got tickets for that one, as well. Thanks, Dr. B!
Here in Michigan, our builders have begun framing our new home, and it’s incredible what’s been accomplished in two short weeks!
I’m still running, and I managed a difficult 14-miler in muggy 70-degree weather the other day. I’m leaning towards signing up for Fox Cities Marathon in mid-September to get the dang thing over with. The thought of long training runs through mid-October for Detroit’s or Grand Rapids’ marathons does not sound enticing at the moment. I’m planning on going out for an 18-miler this week, and if I survive that unscathed, I’ll probably go ahead and plan on a full 26.2.
Invest in Your Wine and Drink It, Too
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Still the Best Brewery Tour
Personally, I spend more time at breweries than wineries. I’ve been on dozens of brewery tours in my day, and having now done this one twice, I can say with confidence that the New Belgium Brewing tour is the best I’ve seen.
I toured the expansive brewery with my brother five years ago and I brought my friends Carl and Michael along for the 90-minute tour this time around. There’s a good amount of trivia and education, plenty of in-tour beer sampling, and I was happy to see that new ownership hasn’t seemed to impact the quality of the beer or the visitor experience. Cheers to that! 🍻
Twitter Fun
My doctor friends (especially the urologists) will appreciate this tweet. Follow Physician on FIRE for this and other witticisms.
I was impressed to hear @michaelbatnick utter the term “digital penetration” without even a hint of a giggle when discussing Target’s corporate earnings on the latest Animal Spirits podcast with @awealthofcs
You, sir, are a true professional.
— 🅿🅷🆈🆂🅸🅲🅸🅰🅽 𝚘𝚗 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝙴 (@PhysicianOnFIRE) August 25, 2022
Have an outstanding week!
-Physician on FIRE
Upcoming Webinars
Market Outlook and Real Estate Investing
Hosted by Sovereign Properties
Gain insights from Sovereign Properties’ CEO Russ Krivor on capitalizing in today’s market. Discover our fund’s strategy for investing in discounted land near thriving Sunbelt cities and the latest trends in multifamily and active adult living. What You’ll Learn: • Market insights for multifamily and senior living • Strategic land acquisition in growth areas • Sovereign’s innovative active adult community model
When: November 13 | 8 am PT | 11 am ET