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
Is financial independence only for high-income earners? The question was posed on the What’s Up Next podcast to a diverse group of well-known content creators in the FI Space, including Jillian Johnsrud, Paula Pant, Carl Jensen, and the duo behind Millennial Revolution. Listen to their convo in Can Everyone Reach Financial Independence?
Could it help if you start out with debts? What if you’ve got both gambling debts and student loan debt? The FI Introvert explains Why I’m Thankful for Over $75,000 in Debt.
Others abhor debt, even mortgage debt. Can you be a successful real estate investor without it? Coach Carson says yes. The All-Cash Plan – Financial Independence in Real Estate Without Debt.
Joe Udo from Retire by 40, who was also recently on the What’s Up Next podcast, has been retired longer than most of us were aware early retirement was even possible. He looks back with gratitude. 7 Years After Early Retirement.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is my top pick for your first rewards card. Welcome bonus of 60,000 points worth at least $750 when used to book travel (after a $4,000 spend in 3 mo) and other great perks you can learn about here.
Retirement won’t cure all that ails you. Maybe you just need to cut back, as I have done, and this batch of four doctors featured by Crispy Doc who are now working less than full-time.
- Docs Who Cut Back #17: Dr. S
- Docs Who Cut Back #18: Errin Weisman, D.O.
- Docs Who Cut Back #19: By Well Design
- Docs Who Cut Back #20: Dr. Academic To Community
It was not until after I cut back that I went on my first medical mission trip. Could such an experience be a key to career longevity? The White Coat Investor explores this idea after helping out in Honduras. Humanitarian Medical Mission — A Cure For Burnout?
Do you know how much you’re saving each year? I say you should try to live on half (and save the rest). The Physician Philosopher has a set of guidelines to help you answer that question for yourself. How Much Money Should I Be Saving Each Year?
There’s a couple in Tennessee that listened to me, and they’re featured on Think Save Retire. High Income FI: This Sales Executive Earns Almost $400k a Year, and Saves Half.
You see, they’ve avoided that dreaded lifestyle inflation. The Poor Swiss guest posts on Think Save Retire, explaining How to Avoid High-Income Lifestyle Creep.
What do The Poor Swiss do with their money? As one of the most expensive places to live in the world, it’s best to invest wisely. Why Dollar Cost Averaging is Not as Good as You Think.
I am a fan of periodic investing, which is different than dollar cost averaging. I recently shared an update on my investment portfolio along with the latest statistics from this website. Six million pageviews and counting in the 2019 Q2 PoF Portfolio & Blog Performance Update.
I’ve published fewer Christopher Guest Posts lately, as they just don’t get the traffic of most other guest posts. And it’s really a shame, because they’re great! Like the latest from Jillian Johnsrud: Christopher Guest Post: Montana Money Adventures
If you are what you eat, I’m bratwurst, chicken wings, and fajitas today. Passive Income MD says You Are the Average of the Five Physicians You Spend the Most Time With. Are your colleagues helping you out or holding you back?
Prime Day is Coming
It’s Christmas in July as Amazon Prime Day(s) arrive tomorrow and Tuesday. You can get an additional 4% back on deeply discounted Alexa devices using the Rakuten (formerly eBates) plugin.
One Month ‘Til FIRE
By this date next month, I will be officially funemployed.
It’s going to be an interesting transition. I’ve gotten used to having money left over to invest every month. That won’t necessarily be the case anymore. From a mathematical standpoint, I know I don’t need to do that anymore, but from a psychological standpoint, I know I’ll miss it.
My original stated goals on this site were to leave my job when we had 40x to 50x our annual spending in accounts available to us in retirement. I later revisited and revised my investor policy statement to say that we’d be plenty comfortable with 33x.
The stock market has smiled upon us, and depending on what I use for a budget number, we’ve met or exceeded not only the revised goal, but also that original lofty goal number.
I’ve also been blessed with the good fortune of a blog that became a business, and even after donating half of the profits and paying taxes this year, we should have about enough leftover to support our anticipated annual budget.
If you’re saying I won’t really be retired, I would agree with you. Retired Not Retired is a term I’ve used in the past. I will continue to “work” online, generating income, but now it’s optional.
I’m not going to lie. I love doing this, but there are times when I’d rather take a break. For example, as I write this after dinner on Saturday, I’ve played both bags (cornhole) and croquet. There’s some bocce ball in my future and maybe some game involving two black cans and a frisbee. It’s probably too windy for badminton.
But the pull of the blog is keeping me inside a bit longer than I’d like to be. It is remarkable, though, to see how efficient I can be when I’ve got a goal in mind. I can spend hours online and accomplish next to nothing, or I can sit my butt down and focus on this stuff, and knock out The Sunday Best in about 90 minutes (assuming I’ve already curated the articles, which I do throughout the week).
I do think it will be easier to find that blog / life balance when I’m not playing catchup after a busy 7 or 14 days of clinical work. After an 0300 epidural Monday morning, my 550-mile drive over to join my family was not the most fun. To be honest, I haven’t completely recovered and my sleep pattern has been off ever since.
Like Roger said to Riggs time and time again, “I’m too old for this $h!t.”
My New Student Loan Widget
I’ve updated the Student Loan Resource Page with an easy to read, user-friendly widget that displays the latest rates and cash back offerings from our Student Loan Refinancing partners.
As always, if you use my link (and we are both credited), I will not only donate half of my resulting profit, but I will also donate $50 to a charity of your choice on your behalf (and send you proof).
If you’ve refinanced before, you may be able to refinance again now at an even lower rate. SoFi and Laurel Road offer resident refinancing with payments of $100 a month.
Student Loan Refinancing Disclosures
A Featured Financial Advisor
For those of you who would rather not DIY, I maintain a list of 10 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 Physician Family Financial Advisors.
Physician Family Financial Advisors Inc.
Physician Family Financial Advisors Vetting Application
Got kids? Physician moms and doctor dads are happiest when they are treating patients and raising children. That’s why Physician Family Financial Advisors helps busy doctors like you save time and taxes while you pay off student loans, buy a home and set aside all the money you will need for college and retirement. As fee-only financial planners for doctors, we charge a level monthly subscription fee that includes all the financial planning and investment advice you need without conflicts of interest. We are fiduciaries with more than 20 years experience serving families nationwide.
Fees:
Subscriptions from $165.00 per month
Includes Annual Checkups, unlimited meetings & online portal
Unlimited investment services without asset-based fees
No up front fee. Pay as you go. Cancel anytime.
Contact Info:
PhysicianFamily.com
Have an outstanding week!
-Physician on FIRE
Thanks for the link to my All-Cash Plan article.
I’m excited for you and the family to make the transition to funemployed! The flexibility we’ve had to travel and live a semi-nomadic lifestyle has been an enormous benefit for our family dynamic. Hope to meet up somewhere on the road!
Congratulations on all of your success.
I will enjoy vicariously as your adventure further unfolds.
Funemployment! That’s a great word! Mind if I use it on my blog PoF?
Anyway, congrats on only one month left! You must be super excited!
It is going to be an exciting transition to becoming retired and I really look forward to your posts on the actual process you are going through and the early years (as I am hoping to join you in a few years myself).
If I am not mistaken you will be the first physician blogger that has indeed retired early (40s) so your insight is really going to be helpful for a ton of us. Way to be a trailblazer and I do hope the grass is definitely greener on the other side.
It definitely is an adjustment not having all that money to invest every month-but at the same time, there’s a profound sense of relief that pervades your brain when you think about these things and how much life has changed. So very happy and excited for you!
When I pulled the trigger I found it invaluable to have a true budget to understand spending and the variability of monthly spending. Saving at several hundred K a year was easy, spending a different animal. I didn’t have a second “income” beside my portfolio so I really needed to convince myself this plane was going to fly and a true budget was the key to that understanding. When you quit, all of your risk which is assumed by your employer comes back to live at your house. Initially there was a flurry of spending as new systems like health care came online and we had a hurricane with some damage about 5 weeks in. After a few years things have settled down and the budget now is quite predictable including some months that are more expensive and some less. At first I checked it twice a week now I check it once a month after I pay the credit card bill. The plan worked exactly as advertised and required no re-jiggering. I have nothing against side gig income and whether that constitutes “retired”, I just needed to understand my particular risk profile and that’s how I managed it.
I think you are blessed to have something you enjoy (your blog) that does yank a little time from you, but you love the overall experience. Keeps things engaging and you can always take a break. I was reminded this week on my “retirement” side gig why I exited my former industry that provided our MoFIRE life now. What a great feeling that you don’t have to spend time doing something you don’t want to be doing! I think it’s okay though if you get wrapped up and extra hour or two here or there when it’s something you are passionate about. I’ve found that 80-100 hours a month is about the perfect amount of time for me to focus on the side gig.
You’re right — if I didn’t have something to work on, I would go stir-crazy pretty quickly.
I can’t help but wonder if I would actually leave medicine behind if I didn’t have this other thing to keep me busy. But I guess we’ll never know…
Cheers!
-PoF
One month left!! ? ?
Can’t wait to hear more about the transition and post FIRE ? life.