The Sunday Best (10/29/2023)

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!

Jorge Sanchez, MD, curated this week’s articles.

Sunday Best

You’ve worked hard for your money, and now you’re ready to flip the script. How would you like your money to work for you instead? In this week’s post, we talk about how to build an income investing portfolio that can support you and set you up for a comfortable retirement: Income Investing: The Smart Way To Reach Financial Independence.

FXAIX (Fidelity 500 Index Fund) and FNILX (Fidelity Zero Large Cap Index Fund) are two mutual funds offered by Fidelity that aim to provide similar returns as the largest companies in the U.S. stock market. But which one is better? In this post, we’ll compare FNILX and FXAIX’s key differences: longevity, expense ratio, performance, tax efficiency, and diversification strategy: FNILX vs FXAIX: Which Fidelity Mutual Fund is Better?

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

“Never Spend Your Principal” has been spouted as investment wisdom for many years. The Whitecoat investor disagrees, explaining the two primary reasons you can absolutely Spend Your Principal in retirement.

Could your investment portfolio survive a nightmare scenario? The FiPhysician highlights the risks and how to estimate your exposure to and damage from them in this recently updated article: Portfolio Stress Testing.

FIREing can be a double-edged sword. While you’re finally free to do as you wish with your time, life can suddenly seem empty without the busyness of work. Dr. Carrie Ditzel, a geropsychologist, shares a compassionate article about the importance of maintaining social connections. From Psyche, How to feel less lonely as you get older

When it comes to retirement planning, many are plagued with fear and anxiety over financial preparedness. Richard Quin from Humble Dollar retired over a decade ago and shares why math on retirement shouldn’t be as complicated as we make it: Is It That Hard?

• With less income anticipated, saving on taxes is a big topic in early retirement planning. Here’s a list of critical considerations. From Financial Success M.D, How to Successfully Plan for Retirement Income and Taxes

Financial Mechanic celebrates her one year of FIRE and shares 17 Revealing Insights To Early Retirement.

Chris Mamula and his wife followed their investment philosophy for nearly a decade until they changed their minds. In Can I Retire Yet, Chris talks about the benefits of Changing Your Mind when it comes to investing and why doing so doesn’t mean you’re weak or lacking conviction as often perceived by many.

What Does Inflation Mean for Your Retirement Plan? In this podcast episode, Above the Canopy dive into technicalities in detail, explaining the 4% rule, Monte Carlo simulations, stocks and bonds in inflation, and more.

Best Interest explains why your short-term needs don’t mix well with stocks. And why Treasuries under-serve your long-term goals. How Much Time Is Needed For Stocks to Outperform Bonds

Integrity means doing what you say. While the word often gets overused, Tim Maurer argues that applying the principles of integrity in financial planning is critical to success. From Forbes, The Real Meaning Of ‘Integrity’ In Financial Planning.

Joe shares with Coach Carson the highs, lows, and priceless lessons that led to his remarkable rental portfolio of 10 properties: Our Rental Investing Journey: 8 Years, 10 Properties, Financial Freedom.

Ken Cutler chronicles a heartfelt story about the lessons learned from taking over his family’s trusteeship of estates, threading all the legal, financial, and emotional complications involved. From Humble Dollar,  Promises kept.

During this period of high inflation, I’ve been tracking the best places to move and manage cash into the safest short-term securities in existence- Treasury bills (a.k.a. t-bills). If you’re looking for a way to move money in and out of a treasury account digitally, I recommend public.com. Here’s why: Public.com Review: Easiest Way to Buy U.S. Treasury Bills.

SEP IRA and SIMPLE IRA are two popular employer-sponsored retirement plans that allow you to contribute much more than you could to a traditional IRA, and both offer tax advantages. But which plan is right for you? In this week’s post, we’ll review the key differences between SEP IRAs and SIMPLE IRAs, including their eligibility, flexibility, tax advantages, and more: SEP IRA vs Simple IRA: Which Retirement Plan Is Right for You?

Sequence of Returns Risk and 5 Strategies To Make Your Retirement Last

How to Adapt Your Investment Strategy for Lower Interest Rates

How My Wife Left the Medical Profession at Age 48