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

 

Michael Quan remains Financially Alert as he ponders the answer to a common question. He makes some strong arguments in I Love My Job: Should I Still Retire Early?

• Related: Love Your Job? Why You Should Still Pursue Financial Independence

 

The Frugal Physician doesn’t plan to retire anytime soon. She’s perfectly content with where she’s at (and that’s a great place to be)! How the FIRE Movement Helped Me Create My Ideal Life Before Reaching FI.

 

Does Passive Income MD‘s ideal life include moving away from sunny southern California? He says he’s contemplating it. Is Geoarbitrage a Good Idea?

• Bonus: Geographic Arbitrage: How Geoarbitrage Makes the Great Plains Great! [and no, I don’t believe the Drs. Kim will be moving to Sioux Falls.]

 

Moving to a lower cost of living area and or a lower tax state would certainly save the Kims a ton of money. But FI is not all about the money, as Joel with Budgets are Sexy explains. Bustin’ a Few Myths About the FIRE Movement.

 

It’s quite a stretch to say that everyone has got it wrong, but Dr. Cory S. Fawcett with Financial Success MD sees this error far too often. Everyone is Using the 4% Rule Wrong.

 

Are you paying off your debts all wrong? The Physician Philosopher shares 3 strategies to free yourself of debt’s burdens and which he prefers. How to Pay Off Debt: The 3 Methods Explained.

 

Jacob and Michelle of I Heart Budgets (which are sexy, in case you haven’t heard) are debt-free and roaming the country in an RV. They share with The FIoneers how they make it work with 3 kids. Could you Travel Full-Time with a Family?

 

On your debt-freedom journey, don’t forget to invest! Kevin from Just Start Investing dropped by to share how he got started, how he invests, his future plans, and a whole lot more. Christopher Guest Post: Just Start Investing.

 

 

An easy way to just start investing is by choosing target-date funds with an asset allocation that becomes more conservative as time goes on. They’re not perfect, but not a bad place to start, either. Early Retirement Now weighs the pros and cons. What’s wrong with Target Date Funds?

 

They’re not exactly the most sophisticated investments. Chris Mamula from Can I Retire Yet shows us How The “Experts” Invest Their Money.

 

Out of curiosity and borderline-necessity, I’ve become something of an expert in maximizing my QBI deduction. You may very well qualify, too. Here are 10 Things You Should Know About the 20% QBI Deduction (Section 199A).

 

A lot of “experts” tout the amazing advantages of “infinite banking.” Most of them are experts at overselling and underdelivering on a product that ain’t all it’s cracked up to be. The White Coat Investor explains. 7 Truths About Infinite Banking (Bank on Yourself).

 

The wealthy who prefer to sit on a lot of “dry powder” might benefit from the bank-on-yourself concept. If you’re at a point where 8-figure generational wealth is in your sights, you might actually have other valid uses for cash value life insurance. John and Sam of How to FIRE look beyond FI in Generational Wealth: 7 Ways To Build A Money Legacy.

 

Zero to Financial Freedom!

 

Kenji and Leti are a dual-physician couple that has moved beyond financial freedom, and they’ve gotten there quickly using real estate as their vehicle of choice.

If you haven’t yet discovered the incredible tax advantages of claiming Real Estate Professional Status (which does not involve a real estate license), it’s well worth your time to get a sneak peek at Zero to Freedom Through Cashflowing Rentals.

Join the waitlist, and you’ll get a free video series, live Q&A sessions with Drs Kenji & Leti, and access to their “pop-up” community. You’ll be under no obligation to enroll in their paid course BUT a discount of $300 will be offered to those on the waitlist, and to the waitlist only.

 

More About Zero to Freedom

 

 

Last Call for U-n-I Sex!

(disability insurance coverage)

 

Sorry, I can’t hear the term “unisex” without thinking of that exchange between Joey and Rachel on Friends. I may be dating myself with that reference, and that’s OK. I dated myself almost exclusively throughout high school and much of my 20s.

What I’m trying to say is that women typically pay higher rates for disability insurance unless they can get a unisex policy. The last company to offer such a rate is discontinuing it at the end of the year according to my friend Matt Wiggins at Pattern.

Specifically, he told me that “Principal is the last of the insurers that has widespread unisex rates for females and that is going away starting January 1, 2021.” Widespread unisex. His words, not mine.

What does this mean? This means if you are a female, now is the time to get a quote so that there’s still time to lock in the same rate that guys get with Principal (one of the big 6 companies offering true own occupation / own specialty disability insurance for physicians). You won’t be able to do so in 2021!

See what Pattern or any of our trusted independent insurance brokers can do for you before the calendar turns.

 

Safety First

 

If you are a physician, health care worker, or essential worker of any kind, thank you for the job you’re doing. I can imagine it’s more stressful now than it has ever been.

As the holidays approach, please do what you can to protect yourself and the ones you love, even if that means not seeing them until it’s safer to do so. With effective vaccines on the horizon, now is not the time to take unnecessary chances. Next year’s celebrations will be joyous, and much more so if no one is missing.

Again, thank you for what you do, and please, be safe.

 

 

Have a healthy week!

-Physician on FIRE