The Sunday Best (2/25/2018)

The Sunday Best is a collection of articles I’ve curated for your reading pleasure.

Expect most of the writing to be from recent weeks and consistent with the themes presented on this website: investing & taxes, financial independence, early retirement, and physician issues.

 

Presenting, this week’s Sunday Best:

 

“How do you measure yourself with other golfers?” “By height.” How do you measure your financial performance with other physicians? Dr. Networth shares 8 Ways to Grade How Well You are Doing Financially as a Physician.

 

You may improve your performance if you understand the connection between Mental Health and Personal Finance. The Fit Physician makes that connection and shares his Investing Manifesto, a version of an IPS.

 

Dave teaches people to eliminate debt with the debt snowball. J.D. Roth @ Get Rich Slowly helps you take the next step. Building a Wealth Snowball.

 

When building your snowball, Should You Invest in High-Dividend Stocks or Index Funds? The Wall Street Physician shares his thoughts. Regular readers know mine.

 

These five folks have rolled their snowballs to millionaire status and beyond! From ESI Money:

• Millionaire Interview #36
• Millionaire Interview #37
• Millionaire Interview #38
• Millionaire Interview #39
• Millionaire Interview #40

 

You’re not a millionaire (or on track to become one)? The White Coat Investor says you’ve got No Excuse. Everyone Should Be a Millionaire.

 

Some people, like Coach Carson, use Real Estate to make their millions. Where should you start? The Baby Steps to Your First Rental, Flip, or Wholesale Property (6 Case Studies)

 

How do investors monitor their millions, the asset allocation, investment fees, and more? I use Empower. Is it safe to use? Jim Wang of Wallet Hacks explains why it’s probably safer than logging in directly to your bank or brokerage. Is Empower Safe? Empower Security Explained.

 

Are you climbing uphill on a mountain of student loan debt with no hope of becoming a millionaire? Travis from Student Loan Planner has some thoughts on that. Is Financial Independence With Student Loans (Even Six-Figures of Debt) Possible?

 

What if you could have six-figures in student loan debt forgiven? It’s happening! The Biglaw Investor shares An Interview with a Person Who Received PSLF Forgiveness.

 

Real Estate Investing

 

Today, I had the pleasure of meeting some Hawaiian real estate investors at a Bigger Pockets meetup in Oahu organized by my new friend / surf instructor Doug Nordman from The Military Guide and fellow Minnesotan Brandon Turner of Bigger Pockets.

I’ve had some luck with real estate (see our $15,000 second home), but most of my experience has been less than stellar, having been an accidental landlord on a couple properties when we weren’t ready to sell for some odd (and kinda dumb) reason or another.

But I do see the value of real estate investing, and it was fun to mingle with people who are gobbling up rental properties, house hacking, house flipping, or earning money in other ways with real estate.

I also met an entrepreneur from St. Paul who’s got a device designed to reduce the transmission of infectious disease (and stop your kids from picking their noses). Speaking of kids, Ty from Get Rich Quick’ish showed up with his wife and four kids. I didn’t see any of them pick their noses (except Ty, of course).

Personally, although we own three properties, the only assets I would consider real estate investments I have are in Vanguard’s REIT index fund, and a handful of crowdfunded RE deals I’ve made to get my feet wet in the space.

In the not too distant future, we plan to build a home on our lakefront property, and part of that structure will be a separate apartment that can be used as a short-term or long-term rental.

We are frequent Airbnb guests, and we think we’d make great Airbnb hosts. We’ve been staying in short-term rentals for the last three weeks in Hawaii and most of our recent family getaways, and we’ve been taking notes.

 

See You in Park City?

 

Later this week, I’ll be trading one set of mountains for another, arriving on Thursday for The White Coat Investor’s Financial Literacy and Physician Wellness Conference.

I’m excited to finally meet in person a number of people that I’ve only known as online codenames and avatars before. If you’re among the 300 or so who reserved a spot, be sure to say Hello. I’ll be the guy looking too tan for winter with sun-bleached eyebrows. I look forward to meeting you!

 

 

Have a fantastic week!

-Physician on FIRE