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

 

Tax Day, like the start of major league baseball, is running a few months late this year. Unlike the baseball season, though, there is no question that your taxes will be due. Have you ever considered the advantages of living in a state where income taxes aren’t levied? You Be Three provides an overview of the States Without Income Tax: Is There a Benefit to Moving? 

 

You don’t have to move anywhere to be able to deduct 20% of your qualified business income, but you do need to understand how to qualify. Stephen L. Nelson of Evergreen Small Business elaborates. Physician 199A Deductions Can Work (if You Know Rules).

 

With the delay of Tax Day from mid-April to July 15th, you’ve also got an extra three months to make your 2019 backdoor Roth IRA contributions if you haven’t already. Here’s how: Backdoor Roth IRA 2020: A Step by Step Guide with Vanguard.

 

Might as well take advantage of every break the government gives you. The same is true of your employer — never turn down a boost to your retirement savings. They can really add up as Jim of Route to Retire has discovered. How I Got Over $181,000 of Free Money for Retirement.

 

 

Pre-COVID, the Darwinian Doctor and his family were burning through about $340,000 a year. Where did it all go and what has changed in recent months? How the Pandemic Changed Our Spending.

 

If you find that you’re spending too much and not saving as much as you’d like, you may be a consumer addict. The Physician Philosopher describes Consumer Addiction and 5 Ways to Beat It.

 

Mortgage Debt Versus Student Loan Debt: Which is Better to Have? Trick question. It’s neither! But Nchum Felicita of The College Monk attempts to answer the question about “good debts”, anyway.

 

If you are carrying debt, your asset allocation is not what you think it is. I pointed this out in a guest post about student loans, and the FI Physician confirms my suspicions. Debt is Like a Negative Bond: Leverage and Risk.

 

If the Bogleheads are wrong, I don’t want to be right. The White Coat Investor has noticed some echo chamber qualities and group think rearing its ugly head, though. Top 10 Things Bogleheads Get Wrong.

 

Why did the stock market bounce back so quickly as the pandemic rages on? Why was my over-full-price cash offer on a lake home not good enough? Because, as Clint from Above the Canopy reminds us, The Economy is Not the Stock Market. Or the housing market, I might add.

 

Putting together The Sunday Best every week could be considered one example of Work After Trying Early Retirement (WATER). Stop Ironing Shirts no longer sports a pressed collar, but is he missing his former work life? Do I Want Or Need W.A.T.E.R?

 

Last but not least, another batch of excellent millionaire interviews from ESI Money.

• Millionaire Interview #176
• Millionaire Interview #177
• Millionaire Interview #178
• Millionaire Interview #179
• Millionaire Interview #180

 

 

Not So Fast

 

It’s getting hot out there!

A while back, I got into the bad habit of posting my runs here for all to see, and doing so made me want to run faster and faster because I was displaying my times for the world to see. That’s no way to train.

A reader emailed me and told me to slow the eff down. He was right. Apparently, only 20% of my runs should be at my best pace, and up until recently, it was closer to 100%.

Slowing down was not difficult, though, because most of my runs these days are with my wife and kids, and our boys are 9 and 11 and have much shorter legs than me. We usually run at a 9:15 to 9:45 pace.

Yesterday, the chart had me running 5 miles by myself and it was hotter than Hades by 8:30, at least by northern Michigan standards. It was like 75 degrees and kind of sticky. It was a rough one.

I got my 5 miles in as a nice slow jog, had a very satisfying lunch, and joined our neighbors for a wonderfully relaxing day splitting time between the lake and a few pontoons. I had earned a not-so-fast Saturday.

 

A Discount on the WCI Courses

 

Independence Day is coming up soon, and the White Coat Investor would like you to become Financially Independent. To that end, he’s offering both a discount and a BOGO deal.

It’s not available yet, but starting July 6th, a week from tomorrow, both Fire Your Financial Advisor and Continuing Financial Education 2020 will be 10% off AND he’ll throw in the videos from WCICon18 as a free added bonus.

I’ll remind you again next week. And probably the week after. These courses change lives and also help feed our charitable mission.

 

A Featured Insurance Agent

 

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Have an outstanding week!

-Physician on FIRE