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

 

I was back on the Docs Outside the Box podcast for some great conversation with Dr. Nii Darko and Dr. David Rhoiney of SurgiFI. Hot takes on F.I.R.E., are you punking out if you work for someone?

 

It’s not exactly work, but you can housesit for someone and stay in their home at no cost. Technology has made it possible to housesit for strangers all over the world. FIRE and Wide describe their experiences. Is House Sitting Really A Free Holiday? Our Honest Answer & How-To Guide.

 

Many digital nomads combine domestic and international housesitting with remote work for the ultimate in geographic arbitrage. How can you make big money doing so? Kristin McCasey with Play Louder tells us What Jobs Make $100 an Hour (or More) and Can Be Done Remotely?

 

At $100 an hour (or more), you could work part-time and clear $150,000 a year. What can you do with an income like that? The White Coat Investor shows us How to Build Wealth on a $150,000 Salary.

 

You’ll have to be wise with your money! The Investment Banker on Wheels talks about smart money, dumb money, fast money, and the latest classification to come to the table. Wall Street Thinks You’re Dumb – The Rise of Wise Money.

 

You’d also be wise to refinance any private or previously refinanced student loans if you’re paying more than 3% or so on that debt. A number of physicians in our Physicians on FIRE Facebook group report paying under 1% (as low as 0.15%) as their variable rates tied to the LIBOR have floated down after refinancing with several different companies including SoFi, Earnest, Laurel Road, and Splash Financial.

• Clever Hack: With the Splash Low Rate Guarantee, if you check your rate with them and choose to refinance student loans of more than $50,000 with another company, they’ll hook you up with a $250 Amazon gift card. And all of the companies listed above (and a few more) will give you cash back when refinancing after using the links on this site to reach them (and I’ll donate $50 to a charity of your choice).

 

Money, for many, is a two-player game, and you’d be wise to consider your partner’s preferences, says the Prudent Plastic Surgeon. Finances and Your Partner: How to Get on the Same Page!

• Bonus: How I Convinced My Wife to “Budget Party” With Me

 

 

 

If your partner doesn’t want to “live like a resident” to get ahead financially, Dr. James Turner and Ryan Inman say that’s perfectly fine in the latest Money Meets Medicine podcast episode. Why It’s Okay to Live Like an Attending.

 

Laurie and family of the Three Year Experiment have lived relatively modestly for three years, achieving savings rates of around 40%. The results of the experiment have been outstanding! We Doubled Our Net Worth.

 

After receiving my 2019 tax return, I started tax planning for 2020 in earnest. Michael Kitces from Nerd’s Eye View shows us how the landscape could look a whole lot different as soon as 2021 (and how that could impact 2020 tax planning) if a “blue wave” arrives. The Biden Tax Plan: Proposed Changes And Year-End Planning Opportunities.

 

This week, I looked at the tax ramifications of owning my international stock funds in the account that currently holds them. Turns out I may have been doing this wrong all along. International Stocks & Asset Location: Is Taxable or Tax-Advantaged Best?

 

John from ESI Money has been interviewing millionaires and multimillionaires for years. He recently hit the 200 mark, and he crunched the numbers to report on the trends he’s been seeing. What We’ve Learned from 200 Millionaire Interviews.

 

It turns out John has taken a shining to the millionaires he’s met, and he now hangs out with 60 or so of them (including me) in the Millionaire Money Mentors premium membership site. He explains his affinity for the well-heeled in Five Reasons I Like Hanging Out with Millionaires.

• Alert! The introductory price for the membership expires tomorrow, and I don’t believe it will ever be cheaper. Sign up today and you’ll have 7 days with a money-back guarantee to decide whether or not it’s for you.

 

They’re Free and They’re Spectacular

 

I’m talking about the 23 or so talks on various real estate topics that will be available for you over the course of 3 days next weekend.

I was planning to be in Los Angeles to catch this one live. Last year, it was a one-day conference and registration was something like $800.

This year, due to the ongoing pandemic, it will be held virtually and streamed to your desktop, laptop, phone, or Smart TV at no cost.

Someone asked me how the organizers can afford to offer so much value for free, and that’s a question you should be asking if you don’t know the answer.

The answer is that the talks are only available for free for a limited time, and there is an option to get lifetime access along with other perks for a fee. That fee is lowest before the conference (i.e. now!), $50 higher during the conference, and another $50 more after the conference wraps up next Sunday.

 

To have access to all the talks (and the opportunity to upgrade to VIP access), register here.

 

Why do I promote it? That’s another good question. For one, I know quite a few of the speakers, and they’ve got a wealth of knowledge to share. I think you could learn a ton from this lineup.

And, yes, I do benefit financially when someone does opt for an upgraded pass. I also own a sliver of Passive Income MD, Peter Kim’s business that put this all together.

It’s one of those situations where everyone wins, but the biggest winner will be you if you take the free option, learn something actionable from the talks, and act upon it using your newfound knowledge.

 

 

 

Another Sober October

 

The fall seems like a good time to practice healthy habits. January is so cliché, and Lent is a grueling seven weeks long, so for three years running now, my wife and I have given up alcohol for the month of October.

The first year I did this, I chronicled my results in a guest post over at ESI Money. Like I did that first Sober October, this year I’m also counting calories and limiting myself to 2,000 a day. Those efforts were good for an 8-pound weight loss in 2018, and I’d be happy to see similar results this time around.

I haven’t officially given up caffeine for the month, but I haven’t had any yet, either. Somehow, I went from rarely having a soda to cracking one nearly every afternoon this year. Not the worst habit, but it’s one I really don’t need. I know I’ll enjoy that Diet Dew a lot more if I “make it a treat” rather than let it be a routine.

I’m on month number six of doing 100 pushups and 100 pushups daily, and I’ve got a Duolingo streak of doing lessons for 349 straight days. I actually missed a couple of days, but the “streak freeze” feature kept my streak alive. If they had a streak freeze for taking a walk or run of at least a mile a day, I’d be on at least 6 months of that streak, but I missed two days this summer.

The last thing I’ve given up for most of the month is my better half. It’s a temporary thing that’s been in the works for the last six months or so. She’s several hours away being the nanny to an adorable newborn baby boy for one of our favorite readers who also happens to be her cousin and practically a sister.

It’s an incredible gift for my wife to be able to give, and she’s forming a great bond with the little guy. Thank goodness I no longer have a real job, or there’d be no way to make this happen.

My wife’s ephemeral absence makes me chef, chauffer, homeschool teacher, and everything else our boys need for about a three-week period. I chose the best time and the worst time to have no beers. 🍻

 

Have a spectacular week!

-Physician on FIRE