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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!
A big thank you to the 1,510 readers who answered my survey! I got to know a lot more about you; you’re wealthy (more than half are multimillionaires), younger than me by about a year and a half on average, and exceptionally good looking. OK, I didn’t glean that last part from the survey, but I’ll bet it’s true! All the data can be found in my 2021 Reader Survey Results: A Wealth of Information where I also respond to some of the negative feedback I solicited.
The Financial Samurai combined the results of two surveys to reach one sobering conclusion. Why The Smartest Countries Are Not The Happiest.
If you’re reasonably young and able-bodied, the Financial Panther has some advice for you. Do The Weird Things Now Because One Day You Won’t Be Able To. What, exactly, does the feisty feline have in mind?
Is your pursuit of financial independence defined by “needs” or “wants”? And what’s that have to do with your chances of success and satisfaction afterward? Tic Toc Life explores these important questions in What’s Your “Why”? (And the Point of FI).
He’s easily FI at 50, but enjoying the work for now. Might he take the next step when his daughter graduates from high school soon? Post FI Notes 003: FI Radiologist With One More Year Syndrome.
- Related: The Power of One More Year
In the corporate world, so many of his colleagues talked about retiring by 55. Now that Mr. FIREstation is 55 and has been retired for 5 years, he’s wondering what happened to all those people and their plans? Finding few peers to play with, he asks “Where are All the Other Kids?”
These kids took a sabbatical 3 years ago, and they’ve been playing too much to want to go back to work, even though they could have hit “the number” if they had. From Budgets are Sexy, I Could Have Been FI by Now…
Working less gives you more time to play, and may allow you to live like you’re retired before actually retiring. But could it make you better at your job? Passive Income MD thinks so. Would Working Part-time Make You a Better Doctor?
With 60+ hour workweeks, very little time off, and four young kids, this is one doc that could benefit from a part-time schedule. FIRE Crossroads 003: Academic Radiologist with 22 Vacation Days a Year.
This week’s FIRE Starter left her full-time gig for a more flexible and equally lucrative solution. FIRE Starter 003: A Young Anesthesiologist’s Take on Geographic Arbitrage.
The Real Estate Intensivist saw his net worth buoyed by the three properties he accumulated during his education and training. Real Estate Intensivist: $190,000 in Debt to a Positive Net Worth Before the First Real Paycheck.
The Debt Free Dr. is also a fan of real estate as an asset class, and he explains How To Battle Inflation With Real Estate Investing.
One can also battle capital gains taxes with real estate by deferring and reducing the tax on recently realized gains and avoiding them entirely on a new investment in the right place. The Millennial Money Woman shares the pros and cons of QOZ investing in Opportunity Zones for Real Estate Investors: The Good, The Bad, The Ugly.
If I didn’t have such a hefty balance of harvest losses carried over, I might be looking into opportunity zones myself. Origin Investments, the firm behind my largest passive real estate investment, closed their first QOZ fund with $265M invested into 11 projects, and they’ve since opened up a second opportunity zone fund. Get the details and projections here. This fund, like most QOZ funds, is open to accredited investors only.
Let’s see how these 5 accredited investors, who were interviewed by ESI Money, achieved that lofty status:
- Millionaire Interview #256
- Millionaire Interview #257
- Millionaire Interview #258
- Millionaire Interview #259
- Millionaire Interview #260
Just Like Old Times
I can’t recall the last time my brother and I spent the better part of a week living with my parents. No spouses, no kids, just the four of us. It’s probably been two decades or more, but that’s what’s happening this week!
My big bro has been stuck working at home for at least 18 months. For a change of scenery and to maintain some sanity, he’s been spending one week a month working from a little guest quarters at my parents’ place.
Although I was just there a month ago, I’m making an encore appearance. My kids have some obligations that are keeping them home, so I made it a solo trip to take in two home Golden Gopher football games (won the first one!), a homebrew club meeting, and a rare beer share with friends in my old stomping grounds in northern Minnesota.
Shout out to the reader who saw me walking through the tailgate lot the other week wearing my Maroon & Gold “Vaccinated AF” shirt and mentioned it after the fact. If you see me again, say hello!
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With any luck, I’ll be enjoying some venison backstrap for dinner on Thursday or Friday. I’m no hunter, but we’ve got two in the family, and they’ll be taking advantage of an early season to help thin the herd. Apparently, they’re finding COVID-positive deer (also chronic wasting disease), and culling the herd this is the solution. So I guess the question is, can a guy who’s vaccinated as &!(* catch COVID from eating a medium-rare venison filet? Seems unlikely, and it’s a chance I’m willing to take.
For those of you waiting on more vaccine new for kids 5 to 11, the FDA is meeting on the 26th of October, and the CDC has meetings scheduled for November 2nd and 3rd to discuss the data that they will have had weeks to dissect.
I have a hard time understanding the nonchalant pace. In the best case scenario, second shots might be given right around Thanksgiving with these kids considered fully vaccinated a week later in early December. Better late than never, but I was once hopeful they’d be vaccinated before school started.
Last Call for WCICon22 Early Bird Pricing!
Want to save $300 on registration for the White Coat Investor Financial Literacy and Physician Wellness Conference? The cost for in-person attendance goes up significantly after 10/19 — that’s two days from now, so if this conference has been on your radar, now is the time to take the next step.
The in-person event takes place in Phoenix, AZ from February 9th to 12th. By attending the talks, particularly those with a physician burnout / wellness angle, you can earn up to 17 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ and Dental CE credits, so you may very well be able to use CME funds for this. If you don’t have one, the trip can be a business expense.
I’ll be returning from a month in southern Europe to speak at the conference — the topic being retirement withdrawal strategies, and there will be another several dozen speakers more qualified and experienced than me! To see the speaker lineup and topics along with all the other details you’ll want to know, visit the WCICON22 info page.
If you’re not able to join us in person, there is a virtual option again this year. WCICON21 was entirely virtual, so the WCI team has experience in putting together an excellent experience that can be enjoyed from anywhere in the world. Whether you choose the online option or travel to Arizona, you will have lifetime access to all of the talks, which will be recorded.
I hope to see you there, whether in the conference center, by the pool, or via the magic of the interwebs!
A Rewarding Bitcoin Credit Card: Earn 3.5% Back in $BTC for 3 Months
Like the Upgrade Bitcoin Rewards Visa featured recently, the BlockFi Rewards Signature Visa Credit Card rewards you with 1.5% of your purchases in Bitcoin, which is a great way to start owning the cryptocurrency with the least amount of effort.
The BlockFi card offers the additional benefit of a generous 3.5% (a 2% bump above normal) reward for purchases made in the first 3 months with the card until you’ve got $100 in Bitcoin. Also, once you’ve spent $50,000 on the card in any given year, you’ll receive 2% back in Bitcoin on all future purchases.
Furthermore, with your Bitcoin (or any other cryptocurrencies) in a BlockFi interest account, you can earn interest on your holdings. They advertise up to 8.25% APY on certain currencies, and currently, Bitcoin balances under about $5,000 worth earn 4.5%.
If you listen to the Animal Spirits podcast as I often do, you know that Ben Carlson from A Wealth of Common Sense has been racking up some Bitcoin by putting all of his expenses on this card. If you’d like to dip a toe in to feel the current in the cryptocurrency world, this could be a simple first step. As always, if you can’t pay off a credit card in full each month, don’t even consider having one.
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Have an outstanding week!
-Physician on FIRE
7 thoughts on “The Sunday Best (10/17/2021)”
With two kids of my own awaiting a vaccination, I’m hopeful that a vaccine will get approved soon. It certainly is taking awhile…
Better late than never I guess!
Thanks (as always) for a great Sunday Best PoF! You always fill my Sunday evenings in with plenty of great reading!`
Hey – you don’t need to publish this comment, but just a heads up that your bitcoin rewards are capped at $100 in bitcoin with the 3.5% offer mentioned in above (footnote 2 on their website). That is only $2,800 in spend (about) so not amazing. You might want to add a note pointing that out.
Cheers! Love your blog!
Thank you — I’ll update that!
Haha where can I see this tshirt? I would love one for my front row seats behind the goalie this season since we will unavoidably be televised.
My wife got mine on Etsy. Looks like Amazon has them, too.
Cheers!
-PoF
Thanks SO much for the callout & link! The Gophers had another nice win over Nebraska, yesterday didn’t they? Now if the Vikings can get on track. I’m on the Board of the MN Zoo and we’ve put in place COVID mitigation plans for primates, felines, and hoofed animals. We are also testing a veterinary vaccine against COVID. Strange times!
That was a fun one! Gearing up to watch the Vikes take on the Panthers today.
I’m glad to hear the Zoo is taking steps to protect their animals — I’ve heard of a number of zoo animals and pets testing positive, but I haven’t heard about serious illness or deaths in animals due to the disease. I hope they don’t get it as bad as many humans do!
Cheers!
-PoF