The Sunday Best is a collection of articles I’ve curated for your reading pleasure.
Expect most of the writing to be from recent weeks and consistent with the themes presented on this website: investing & taxes, financial independence, early retirement, and physician issues.
Presenting, this week’s Sunday Best:
I had a great chat with Gwen & J on the FIRE Drill Podcast. Listen in as we discuss curling, craft beer, travel and all things FIRE.
We just discussed new health insurance options in 2019 which will impact the self-employed and early retirees. Mr. Firestation has had to buy his family’s insurance on the open market since leaving Megacorp, seeing 33% and 48% increases the last two years. Health Insurance – Biggest Concern for Early Retirees.
With pensions becoming a thing of the past and employment less secure, Mr. Tako believes The FIRE Movement was Inevitable.
The FIRE is dead. Long live the FIRE! For one person named Bob, the FIRE is dead. From Tawcan, FIRE. RIP. 2014 – 2018.
Case studies are always fun, and this couple’s plans aren’t so different from ours. Millennial Revolution dives into a Friday Reader Case: Retire in our 40s with 3 Kids to Travel the World?
This dual physician couple is taking a break after military careers to travel the world with their two kids. They discuss the logistics of this incredible gap year, as well as their future plans with Dr. Tarang Patel on the Doctor Money Matters. Episode 18. Drs. Bepko — Military medicine to world travelers.
Call me weak, but I’ve parked my Electrified Fortified Bike for the winter. I’m excited to bring it out of hibernation in a couple short months, though. Is this your year to pick up an e-bike? Pour Not Poor has the details:Â Electric Bike Basics: What are They and Should You Consider Getting One?
Have you invested in real estate notes? The Brokest MBA in America has, and he’s sharing his hints and tips. Notes on Notes. I’ll let you decide whether or not to accept advice from a man who uses that moniker.
Small Woodland Animals
If you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you may have noticed a few silly posts from me regarding small woodland animals. I don’t know why exactly, but The White Coat Investor seems to have a fascination with the creatures. I’m pretty sure I’ve heard him bring them up in podcast before, too, or maybe that’s just my imagination.
Among the dozens of quiz questions in the pre-tests and post-tests in his latest Opus, the Fire Your Financial Advisor course, is this curious question (which I nailed, by the way).
Since he covers topics that I don’t spend a lot of time discussing (i.e. mortgage lenders and real estate agents, I felt it would be smart to diversify into areas that Dr. Dahle doesn’t touch. Like small woodland animals, for example.
The course has been available for a couple weeks now, and while $499 isn’t cheap, that’s about how much many retired physicians are spending every week on financial advice (and they probably don’t even know it). This couple was pretty close) to that $500 a week figure.
If you care to check it out, you’ll learn a ton, and you can get all $499 back, no questions asked, if you don’t find it worthwhile. Please note that the introductory price of $399 has come and gone, but if you buy through any link (like this one) on this site, I will see a commission, and you will be supporting my charitable mission to donate half my profits.
Blind Tiger Meetup Tomorrow in New York, New York
Switching gears from small woodland animals to large, blind jungle ones, I’ll be in New York City for a few days this week, and you’re welcome to join me for a beverage this Monday evening.
The Biglaw Investor and I plan to check out the Blind Tiger Ale House around 7:30 or 8:00 tomorrow Monday, 1/29. Yes, that’s p.m. — Josh still works full-time.
I’ll be the only guy in the joint wearing a maroon and gold headband with the Minnesota “M” on it. I’ll probably be the only guy in the joint wearing any kind of headband, because who wears a headband?
Hope to see you there.
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Have a super week!
-Physician on FIRE
Weeee! Thanks for the mention PoF. Definitely in good company this week! 😉
Cheers!
Thanks for the shout-out, PoF! Love your round ups–especially the link to the female FIRE bloggers! Glad to know there are so many of us out there.
Enjoy NYC! If you get a chance, check out “Xian An Famous Foods” for hand-pulled noodles. One of my favourite restaurants!
And thank you for the tip! Going for some NYC pizza pie tonight.
Thank you for coming on the podcast and for linking to it here! We had a blast chatting with you about curling & all things FI.
Looking forward to listening to your episode on the FIRE Drill Podcast! One of my favorites. And thank you for using your platform to share these fantastic women.
“The Biglaw Investor and I plan to check out the Blind Tiger Ale House around 7:30 or 8:00 tomorrow Monday, 1/29. Yes, that’s p.m. — Josh still works full-time.”
Yes, otherwise known as “mid-day” in NYC. See you there!
Another great round up again
Thanks for the mention PoF!
Would love to own an eBike and get around more with a bike. ?
E-bikes really are great and the article you highlighted was excellent. There is no shame in sitting out winter. After about 7 years of e-biking, this is my first winter attempting it. Some good lessons learned. I am using my electricifed recumbent trike that I put together last summer. The lack of traffic on the trails is excellent as are the smiles I get from just about everyone who sees me riding this thing. However, bumpy ice is not so much fun. My only regret is that I didn’t go with the recumbent Fat Trike I was considering for a smoother ride – I am currently plotting how to convert the front tires to fat tires.
“Mr. Firestation has had to buy his family’s insurance on the open market since leaving Megacorp, seeing 33% and 48% increases the last two years.”
He reports a 48% increase, but it’s actually a 25% increase (6K increase to 30K this year from 24K last year), no? Also, the increase over three years appears to be 400% (24K increase is 400% of 6K initial cost).
Nevertheless, I share his alarm. Prices are actually much worse than this in my neighborhood (for late 50s couple with no kids).
Good catch. The $6,000 figure was employer subsidized, too. Lucky for him, he can get back on megacorp’s insurance in a year or two, whereas many of us will be on our own until Medicare kicks in at 65.
Best,
-PoF
Thanks for the catch – I’ll fix that % increase. It was the premium that went up +48% this year.
Enjoying the podcast now – great to hear you live and talking about CURLING & FIRE. Love them both! Enjoy Hawaii in February!
Glad you included Tawcan’s FIRE. RIP. 2014 – 2018. This is the best article I have read in a while. This is my favorite quote from that post “…no matter where you go, you will always bring yourself. So if you are not in a happy place while pursuing FIRE, you sure won’t be happy once you reach it.”
I’d love to be featured. What is the process and criteria?
It starts with making me aware of your site, which you’ve done. I choose favorite articles that fit my readership (high income FI) and I notice when others link to me and share my content on Twitter, etc…
Cheers!
-PoF
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Small woodland animals may contain affiliate advertising links…Nice round up as always.
I always like reading about people taking time to travel.
Great roundup as usual. Enjoy NYC!
I see no animals!
I’ll see if I can remedy that when I get to the airport. Seems to be a common (and fair) complaint.
Cheers!
-PoF
I see a squirrel. I consider them to be neighborhood and attic creatures. The Tawcan post was great. Health insurance is still scary. I guess I will just have to suck it up and pay the ransom for 3 years. I will try to find out more about catastrophic policies too.
Lol, at least I’ll know how to spot you at the Blind Tiger! We should get Dough doughnuts after.
The small woodland creatures page is hysterical, but where are the cute animals? r/aww is full of ones you can import! I wonder if you’ll get even more views to that page?
I’ve now added one. Just for you and hatton1.
I’ll be sure to save some dough for Dough Doughnuts.
Cheers!
-PoF
Yess (x2)!
It’s too bad the ebike is stowed. This time of year is when the most epic rides happen and when I can most easily get away with taking an entire traffic lane. I added bar mitts and winter cycle boots to the armament for this year. Have fun in New York.
You are far more hard core than me. I don’t know the first thing about bar mitts or winter cycle boots, but if they allow you to go year round, good for you.
Stay warm out there!
-PoF