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The Sunday Best (10/24/2021)

The_Sunday_Best_2021

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_Sunday_Best_2021

 

 

You’ve probably noticed by now that the wealthiest people aren’t always the happiest. So what should your retirement goals be based upon? ESI Money interviews the author of You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think & What the Happiest Retirees Know. Wes Moss Interview on the Happiest Retirees.

 

This emergency medicine physician seems poised to be a happy retiree with lots to look forward to as he winds down his career. Post FI Notes 004: $5.5 Million at 55.

 

Happy birthday to Mark, the middle manager by day and blogger at Financial Pilgrimage. He proves to be wise beyond his year in 40 Reflections on Life for My 40th Birthday.

 

Happy 59.5th birthday to Cory Fawcett from Financial Success MD. Last Month was Monumental for My Retirement, and Yours. So, What Should We Do? Apparently, celebrate by buying a brand new grand piano, according to his post in the ever-popular weekly Non-Frugal Friday thread in my fatFIRE group.

 

Steve Adcock has some advice, and none of it is good. Well, none of it in this post anyway, as he points out the hypocrisy of the pundits and pretenders. The 15 Worst Pieces of Financial Advice, Ever.

 

It might sound like bad advice to tell an attorney to start walking dogs, delivering food and packages, or charging scooters for extra cash, but that’s exactly what the Financial Panther likes to do in his spare time. Why does he do it? The Reverse Latte Factor – How You Can Side Hustle Your Way To Financial Independence.

 

These interviewees can’t be bothered with a small hustle here and a little side gig there. They’re thinking that bigger and faster is better, and they’ve got a plan of their own. FIRE Starter 004: Fast fatFI in Five Years???

 

Real estate is part of their plan, and one passive real estate investment marketplace, in particular, stands out among the crowd as a leader in deal flow and transparency. Crowdstreet: An Honest Review of the Largest Online Real Estate Investing Marketplace.

 

Meanwhile, this millionaire couple in their 30s has been shifting from active real estate to the passive side. Should they hang on to their final five rental properties? FIRE Crossroads 004: Messing with fatFIRE in Texas.

 

A White Coat Investor columnist is also at a major crossroads. Dr. Charles Patterson dissects the moral imperative argument that is uniquely applied to physicians thinking of quitting while discussing the alternatives to clinical medicine. My Spouse Is Quitting Medicine.

 

Dr. Dawn Baker of Practice Balance has transitioned to part-time anesthesia, and she and her family have now transitioned to part-time off-the-grid living. She describes their lives in the mountains, getting away from it all, in Let’s Do Stuff That’s Not on the List.

 

She could be making more money if she had stayed at her regular gig in Salt Lake City, but life isn’t all about money, is it? Ben Carlson with a Wealth of Common Sense tells tales about Warren Buffett, Shelby Davis, and An Unhealthy Obsession With Money.

 

When you can’t spend the money because you know how much more you could have in 20 years if you invested it, instead, you may have an unhealthy relationship with money. Matt Trogdon with Humble Dollar takes a different approach, looking at the pre-tax cost of post-tax purchases. What it Really Costs.

 

There is a maddeningly large gulf between hospital charges, what it really costs, and what the patient actually pays. Steveark from Slightly Early Retirement survives a health scare and gets another scare in the mail, receiving A Quarter Million Dollar Bill.

 

Learn how to better manage your student loan debt, and explore refinancing to a lower rate with cash back offers up to $1,000! Student Loan Resource Page

 

Keeping In Touch

 

If you’re anything like me, you could be doing a better job of keeping in touch with your friends, especially those who live in different cities and states than you. At this point in our lives, it’s not unusual to go months or even years without talking to some of my best friends from high school, college, med school, residency, different jobs and neighborhoods, etc…

Still, when we do catch up, whether over the phone, video chat, or in person, we pick up right where we left off.

I left Minnesota two years ago, moving back to northern Michigan, but I spent my first 26 years in Minnesota, and another 5.5  years in my late 30s and early 40s in the land of 10,000 lakes. Even though we live 550 miles away, I continue to renew my season tickets for University of Minnesota football. In fact, I decided to upgrade to the lower level this year.

It’s totally worth it.

Not because we’ve got a stellar team — the Golden Gophers have had their ups and downs (curse you, Bowling Green) — but for how it helps me keep better in touch with friends and family. I usually take my brother to one game and my Dad to another. I assume that will happen again post-COVID.

So far this year, I’ve been able to make it to 4 games, and there’s a 5th in my future. Before and during the games, I’ve gotten together with some of my freshman year dorm buddies, 4 of them to be exact, a college roommate, a med school classmate, a residency colleague, a high school friend, and the one and only Doc G from the Earn and Invest podcast.

This snapshot made it onto the lower left corner of the jumbotron screen in the west end zone for a few seconds. It was fun to see @physicianonfire and my buddy and me on the big screen.

 

 

The pair tickets cost me $1,260 for the season (7 games / 14 tickets). I spend additional money on food and drink with pre-game and post-game festivities, not to mention the hundreds of miles driven back and forth. For that, I not only get the excitement of sitting in the 9th row at the 32-yard line for B1G Ten football, but it also keeps me better connected to my good friends from eight years at The U.

And that is priceless.

 

 

Good News; Bad News

 

Which would you like first? The bad news? Me, too. Always best to end on a high note.

So the bad news is that the November event for DLP Prosperity will not be held in person, as originally planned. As membership has grown rapidly, they have outgrown the planned event space. If you made travel plans as I did, hopefully, you’ll be able to cancel those plans for credit or a refund. I’ve found the airlines to be quite forgiving. If not, DLP will do what they can to make you whole.

The good news is that the event will still be happening, and it will be virtual, so it will be much, much easier to attend, and it will remain free for Prosperity members and prospects. You can  register for the event here.

Speakers at the virtual event will include:

  • David A. Sinclair, Ph.D. A.O.
    Professor of Genetics,
    Harvard Medical School

    David Sinclair is a tenured Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, best known for his research on delaying and reversing aging.

  • Oz Pearlman
    Mentalist

    A world-class entertainer who has been dazzling audiences with his mind-reading abilities for more than a decade.

  • Lloyd Reeb
    Author

    For more than 20 years, has led the Halftime Institute, a global team that teaches, coaches and connects successful men and women in pursuit of significance in the second half of their lives.

  • Scott Bornstein
    Chief Memory Training Expert
    Bornstein Memory Training

    Since 2005, Scott Bornstein has refined the memory training systems to the demands of high-performing executives and sales professionals.

 

They are planning a grand, in-person Prosperity event for March, and it will be held near St. Augustine, Florida.

I was hoping to see some of you in person this fall. Hopefully, that can happen next year.

 

Register for the Virtual DLP Event

 

Fly Southwest?

 

If you fly Southwest, and you wanna get away, I’ve got 2 bits of good news for you.

Chase has has also increased the welcome bonuses across the board for their 3 co-branded Southwest Airlines credit cards from 40,000 points to as much as 100,000 points (with a $2,000 spend in the first 3 months & another $10,000 within the first 12 months) for a limited time.

You can rack up those Southwest “miles” (they call them points) quickly with any of these:

 

I’d like to apologize on behalf of the marketing team that came up with the 3 P names for these cards that appear to be in the wrong order, but they’re not.

The Plus card is the most basic and has an annual fee of $69.

The Premier card sounds like the fanciest card, but it’s not. It has mid-range perks and a mid-range annual fee of $99.

Finally, the Priority card is the most premium card of the bunch that gives you some upgraded boardings, the most bonus points on your cardmember anniversary, etc… Its annual fee is 149.

When you reach 125,000 points, you are rewarded with a companion pass that gives you a buy-one-get-one free deal on Southwest flights for the remainder of the year in which its earned AND the year after. A common tactic is to start earning points late in one calendar year (i.e. now) and reach 120,000 points early in the following calendar to earn almost 2 years’ worth of free flights.

 

 

Have an outstanding week!

-Physician on FIRE

 

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1 thought on “The Sunday Best (10/24/2021)”

  1. Great Sunday Best as always PoF! My favorite this week was “An Unhealthy Obsession With Money”, because I too sometimes have an unhealthy obsession with money!

    Thankfully I don’t take it quite as far as those famous folks do in the post, but it’s definitely a word of warning to me! 🙂

    Thanks as always PoF!

    Reply

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