Skip to content 
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!
When you invest in an individual stock, you’re hinging your hopes on the success of a single player. When you invest in VTSAX and the like, you’re betting on the success of the whole league. Accidentally Retired has transitioned from the former to the latter, and he explains why with numbers to back up his decision. Betting on a player. Betting on a team. Betting on a league.
The Darwinian Doctor has bet on a few players, and one of them has performed spectacularly. My Individual Stock Portfolio Revealed.
While the US Stock market has treated us well, the UK market has not been so kind to investors. The Monevator laments the returns from his home country while sharing a number of reads he’s found intriguing — much like we do here. Weekend reading: A tale of two markets – US versus UK shares.
Sure, retiring early has some risks. Just not nearly as many as retiring normally. If Retiring at 30 is Scary, then Retiring at 60 is Terrifying, according to Trip of a Lifestyle.
Dr. Cory S. Fawcett of Financial Success MD didn’t wait until he was 60 to retire. What made him pull the trigger early on his surgical career? How I Knew it was Time to Retire.
Rental income played a role in Cory’s decision, and Passive Income MD knows all about investment real estate. He’s not the only expert out there, though. He details the 10 Best Real Estate Investing Blogs for Doctors in 2021.
The Physician Philosopher, much to his chagrin, doesn’t carry disability insurance. Why he’s been singled out as uninsurable and his recommendations to avoid the same happening to you: When Should a Doctor Get Disability Insurance?
An adequately funded emergency fund is seen as insurance against financial hardship from unexpected costs. How necessary is it to have one? Karsten from Early Retirement Now does the math after 2020 and suggests an alternate plan. The Emergency Fund: It’s Still Useless!
He says you’re better off keeping the money invested. The same rationale is used to justify taking out a mortgage when you can afford to pay cash. I’ve personally used physician mortgages to buy one home and build another. The Doctor Loan: My Experiences Buying and Building with Physician Mortgage Loans.
Stacy Gallego has experience buying and selling all sorts of things, turning 50 cents into 100 grand. She shares her story with Making Sense of Cents. How I Made $100,000 Selling Used Items.
She’s not alone. Wealthy Nickel tells us about this Reselling Side Hustle: How John Sells $100K a Year.
Physicians may be in a position to start a more lucrative side hustle of their own. Carol Vercellino of Oak City Labs says that Health Tech is Booming: 4 Profitable Ways to Start a Tech Side Gig.
Taking the optimal approach to paying off your student loans can be quite profitable, too, and it won’t take nearly as much of your time as a side gig.
Check the latest refinancing rates (and cash back offers), which remain quite low-interest in the face of an economy that is heating up in a way that interest rates will almost have to rise sooner than later.
If the best approach is not clear, whether you’re considering PSLF (in which case you should NOT refinance) or not sure you’re in the right repayment plan, a flat-fee consult with one of our two trusted student loan consult partners might be the next step you need to take. Visit Student Loan Advice (a WCI Company) or Student Loan Planner to review your consult options.
How Leverage Smacked Me in the Face
I learned a painful lesson about leverage this week, and I have yet to fully recover. Once again, I hope you can learn from my mistakes.
I wasn’t over-leveraged in real estate. In fact, I’ve been debt-free in that department for some time.
Nor was it a triple-leveraged ETF or a speculative cryptocurrency play that got me.
No. It was the flippin’ hot tub cover.
Trying out our new hot tub Friday evening, I had the cover folded in half and lying on an outdoor cafe table next to the tub.
My wife called out from the bathroom window, and I couldn’t quite hear her with all the water being pumped through the tub’s jets that surrounded me, so I stood up and leaned in her direction, both hands planted firmly on the edge of the tub’s cover. And then…
Smack!
I managed to flip the cover from horizontal to vertical in a fraction of a second, taking it right in the mouth and nose as my neck snapped back.
So now my nose is a bit sore and off-colored, I’ve got a bit of a contusion on the inside of my upper lip, and a cover lift has been ordered. That’s my story of leverage gone wrong while surrounded by the liquidity of heated H2O inside my most recent “investment.”
In other news, Crypto Meltdown Turbocharged by Mix of Leverage and Liquidations.
Our Fix and Flip Hits the Market
As we sell our house and cabin, one of our passive real estate investments has also hit the market.
I’ll be detailing all of our real estate holdings in an upcoming blog post, but I thought I’d highlight this one since the home was just listed this week for a touch under $2 Million.
I only have a little bit of skin in this game. $106,880 of the $1.5 Million required to execute the project was raised via Republic Real Estate, and I pitched in about $2k.
This remodel marked the launch of Republic’s American Dreamhouse series, and a series of mini-episodes were released on Instagram to show the progress of the home as it was remodeled. A bit like something from HGTV where you can invest in the project before the show begins.
If it sells at or above asking price (as most homes do these days), after fees, I expect I’ll see a return of 30% or more in about a 7 or 8 month timeframe on this one, which is pretty fantastic since it was entirely passive for me.
Here’s a picture of the proposed home and an actual picture from its Zillow listing. The garage door is less fancy, but otherwise, they pretty much nailed it.
For transparency’s sake, I’ll mention that I receive no referral or advertising fees from Republic.co, but I have purchased a small sliver of equity in the company.
A Recommended Financial Advisor
For those of you who would rather not DIY, I maintain a short list of recommended financial advisors. Among the good guys and gals who work frequently with physicians, only the lowest cost, fee-only fiduciary advisors were invited to be on this short list. Among them is Integrity Wealth Solutions.
Integrity Wealth Solutions
Integrity Wealth Solutions Financial Advisor Vetting Application
Integrity Wealth Solutions approaches wealth management and financial planning differently. We’ve created a unique, tiered flat fee, asset management compensation structure designed with our client’s interests and success in mind. Our firm’s investment philosophy is centered on cost and tax efficient portfolio management, aimed to help the client retain more of their investment growth.
A cornerstone in Integrity Wealth Solutions’ financial planning process is the alignment of financial goals with insightful strategies that fit individual circumstances. We develop a holistic, customized, integrated financial plan that can evolve as the client’s needs grow and help clients maintain focus through the inevitable ups and downs of the market.
Fees:
Integrity Wealth Solutions flat quarterly fee for investment management typically ranges from $1,250 to $3,750, depending on assets under management. This flat fee also includes active comprehensive financial planning on an on-going basis.
Contact Info:
5251 S. Quebec St. Greenwood Village, CO 80111
303-716-5777
Have an outstanding week!
-Physician on FIRE
2 thoughts on “The Sunday Best (5/30/2021)”
How are you liking your hot tub?
I have been going back and forth with my better half about getting a pool with a hot tub versus a deluxe stand alone hot tub like you have. It seems to me that the stand alone hot tub (many more jets and features, faster heating time, less maintenance, less costs) makes more sense as we use the hot tub 95% of the time versus the pool anyway.
Thanks for what you do!
We’re hot tub people, and there’s no better way to unwind and connect with my wife than with a drink or 2 in the hot tub in the evening. Not a bad way to start the morning, either, like we did today (after our runs / workouts).
We’ve had a hot tub just about everywhere we’ve lived in our 14 years together. Well worth the “investment” IMHO & this one set us back less than $5k all in with purchase, delivery, install, etc…
Polypropylene tubs are about half the price of acrylic tubs — not quite as smooth and shiny as the acrylic shells, but they’ve gotten better in recent years. We got ours from Outlet Spa. The LifeSmart LS700DX, I believe.
Cheers!
-PoF