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:
JimJim and I had a pleasant conversation going over this extreme makeover I’m undertaking from physician anesthesiologist to blogger on the JimJim Reinvention Revolution podcast. JJRR Ep39 Finding FIRE as a physician – Discovering new talents through blogging. Bonus: there’s a picture of me, my family, and a bunch of monkeys crawling all over us.
An emergency physician compares two workdays side by side. How does his main job compare to the side gig and which does he prefer? The answer from Side Hustle Scrubs surprised me. A Day in the Life.
From a day in the life of a doc to a year in the life of a blogger. From Winning at Personal Finance, A Year of Winning Personal Finance: 40+ Incredible Success Stories from many of your favorite personal finance bloggers.
We’ve decided to pay for a substantial portion of our kids’ college costs by building up six-figure 529 Plans for them. Not everyone can afford to do so and some who can afford it choose not to. Visit Rockstar Finance to see both sides of the debate from Finance Stoic and Pretty Minted in Money Match-Up: Should You Pay for Your Kids’ College Education?
Ryan Inman of Financial Residency invited The White Coat Investor over to help with another common financial question, resulting in The Golden Answer to “Should I Pay off Debt or Invest?”
Humanitarian work is one way to breathe life back into a career that starts to lose its luster. The Millionaire Doc explores a whole bunch of other ideas in Mid-career Crisis: How to Deal When Things Get Less Awesome.
Having transitioned from reading mostly mainstream media to reading lots of blog posts, I’ve found I get a lot more value and knowledge from the blogs. As Jonathan Clements says at The Humble Dollar, there’s a lot of Bad News out there on big sites.
The good news is you’re well on your way to becoming a millionaire if you’re not there already. I’m a millionaire, ESI Money is a millionaire, and so are these five folks. Check them out and learn from their stories.
- Millionaire Interview #76
- Millionaire Interview #77
- Millionaire Interview #78
- Millionaire Interview #79
- Millionaire Interview #80
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20+ Physicians at FinCon
If you’ve been following any of about two dozen physician financial bloggers on social media over the last few days, you know we’ve all been hanging out together in Orlando among another 2,000 or so attendees at the conference where money and media meet.
When Dr. Jim Dahle attended for the first time in 2012, he was quite likely the only doctor in the house. My first FinCon was last year in 2017 and there were a solid dozen or so docs there — a big change in just five years. This year, at FinCon18, there were about twice as many. How many will we see in Washington, D.C. next September?
Whatever the number is, I’m sure it will again be larger and I think that’s wonderful. We’re all doing what we can to connect with our colleagues from our own perspectives, helping them better understand how to manage their finances and hopefully improve their lives as a result. The more voices, the better.
I’ve had a great time getting to know the people behind these online voices, attending sessions to learn some new tips, and sharing the stage with a lot of people I have looked up to for years. I’m already excited for the next meeting, and if you’re a blogger, podcaster, or Youtuber, I hope to see you there!
Oh, and as was widely predicted, this site did not win Blog of the Year, but it was a great honor to be a finalist, and I was excited to see the crown placed upon my friend Tanja from Our Next Life. Of the ten finalists, three were FIRE blogs, including the grand champion. Strong work, Tanja and FIRE community!
Another Cruise?
Earlier in the week, we visited Key West and Havana, Cuba on a cruise as a group of about two dozen doctors, bloggers, and family members. We’ve never before traveled with such a large group of people we knew (or were getting to know) and it was super fun.
Havana was eye opening and educational. I learned, from the perspective of the Cuban government, the myriad ways in which the CIA has thwarted every attempt by supposed heroes Fidel Castro, Che Guavara, and others to make Cuba a prosperous nation of plenty.
The classic cars were, well… classic, the people were friendly, and we felt safe everywhere we went. That included a stop for lunch where we had Mojitos on Monday with Waffles on Wednesday at the original Sloppy Joes just one day after visiting the Key West bar of the same name which is famous for its Ernest Hemingway look-alike contest.
Based on feedback from the crew that joined us and those that wished they had in the Physicians on FIRE Facebook group, I think we may have to do something similar again.
Would you be interested in joining us on a future cruise?
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Have an outstanding week!
-Physician on FIRE
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I was supposed to go to FinCon London this year but unfortunately had to cancel last minute. I hear it’s well worth attending. Hopefully there’s next year!
Oh man, I had such a great time with you guys on the cruise and while at FinCon. Your family is just awesome! I definitely think that we need to plan a get together at the beginning of every FinCon, it was a great way to get to know some new folks before the conference. For sure, keep us posted!
It was certainly a pleasure meeting you. I admire your energy and dedication to the FIRE mission. Seeing you as a finalist on the Blog of the year award was inspirational and certainly deserved.
I look forward to collaborating more with you and the fantastic people in the FinDoc community.
To Side Scrubs: I have people coming to me in tears over their career yet are unwilling to do anything about it including learning more about themselves and the role they play in their dilemma. It doesn’t matter how much I try to coach such people as they are completely brainwashed. I don’t plan on giving up any time though since most people need to hear the message 12 times before they act.?
Thanks for the heads-up on the Bogleheads podcast. I’m always looking for a good listen on my commute. 🙂
Great Sunday Best as usual PoF! I’ve got to check out that post with Bogle!
Congrats on being a finalist, and for whatever it’s worth, sorry you didn’t win the grand prize.
Since all of you docs are rich, anyone want to send me some $ while I’m in med school lol? haha very informative article for the future!
We’d be down for a cruise. Let’s find a boat big enough for a chiropractic and medical seminar?
No seminaring allowed. Just cruisin’
We’ll keep you guys in mind for the next one!
-PoF
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Hey Pof:
Thanks for the shout out in your Sunday’s Best: Millionaire Interview #80
Also, it was great to meet you and the other docs at FinCon.
What a great organization and a special thanks to PT and his crew for all of the hard word they do to provide it to us.
I’d also be interested in a cruise as well.
Thanks to the generosity of the WCI I posted on jan/10 this year: “My journey: A wealth of opportunity “. That’s the real Cuba that I left and the one still is the same, and the sheer misery you live there( physical and moral) ,seems to escape the look of the tourists. The CIA is , of course, no responsable for the squalor, the cuban government is. Yes people are friendly, and you feel safe ( the safest country in the world,crime wise is probable North Korea) and the “classic cars”, first are kind Dr Frankestein : engine from toyota, transmission for nissan and other parts russian, and the mere existence is a necessity: for transportation. Still I hope you and your companions enjoy the trip. Lastly, these heroes mentioned were vulgar murderes , don’t even deserve a comment.
Agree with Luis. My patients who were born in Cuba or Venezuela are not big fans of the government. Next time, might I suggest not believing all the government propaganda from Cuba
I apologize if my sarcasm was not clear. The museum was, as the guidebook said, full of mucho propaganda.
Best,
-PoF
If you think Cuba is anti-American, you should hear what the North Koreans say!!
I have a couple of propaganda posters I bought at the DMZ on the North Korean side that would make your hair curl…
Though I agree with Luis, above. I’ve never felt safer in my life than in North Korea. One of the guys on our tour left his wallet in a restaurant. The next morning it was waiting for him at Reception in the hotel. Not a penny had been touched. (Still… having said that, I wouldn’t want to live there!!)
I loved your guest post, Dr. Acosta, and didn’t realize you had come from Cuba — it makes perfect sense to me now, though, and I see it came up in the comments about a week after I first read your inspiring article. From what we learned, pay has “skyrocketed” to $20 to $60 a month for public employees now. It’s incredible that such a society like this exists today just 90 miles off our shores.
I did enjoy my day there, and I took dozens of pictures — we walked all around old Havana, logging over 8 miles on the shoes on a hot, sunny day. I didn’t mean to glamorize those two — I added some italics and the word “supposed” to emphasize that everything I “learned” was from the perspective of a communist propaganda machine. I do know the CIA was active there in many ways, but some of the accusations were rather absurd.
Thank you for visiting and commenting, and I am sorry for not being more clear. I absolutely did not take what I saw and read in the old presidential palace at face value.
Best,
-PoF
I’m sorry for being hypersensitive, the thing is for most people politics is boring at best, for us has a real meaning: the word socialism/Communism give me hives. Yes the current salary of a medical doctor after completing residency is about $60. If you want to see the other face of Cuba come to Miami , serán bienvenidos.
So thankful you’ve been so generous with us all with what you’ve learned and your time in organizing that cruise—it was a spectacular time on the cruise and at FinCon. Can’t wait until next year as I throughly enjoyed meeting so many docs/their spouses with similar interests.
Had a great time hanging out with everyone, can’t wait for next year. Thanks for the shoutout for the podcast with WCI!
Thank you for the feature POF. It was such a pleasure to meet you and all the other physician bloggers and podcasters. Such a great group of people and I’m honored to be part of the community. Congrats again on your nomination for blog of the year. I think as the number of us grow, there should be a separate category – Best Doc blog/podcast of the year;)
Thanks for setting up the cruise, I enjoyed spending time with you and the others. I’m looking forward to many more of these opportunities for us all to hang out.
Now for a couple of rest weeks in Orlando with my wife as we approach our 30th anniversary.
Dr. Cory S. Fawcett
Prescription for Financial Success
To be honest with you, my answer surprised me too. I started exploring these side hustles hoping to learn more about alternative medical careers and ended up learning more about myself. Stockholm syndrome is no joke!
A huge part of why so many docs were a part of this year’s FinCon was because you’ve led our ranks with generosity and encouragement. Enjoyed meeting you and the family – understand much better why you want to prioritize more time at home.
Thanks for being quick to share what you’ve learned and pour what you’ve brought.
Fondly,
CD
I definitely regretted not going to FinCon this year. Would have been a great opportunity to meet a lot of people I looked up to, plus it looked like you guys really had a great time there. I am going to really make every effort to attend my first one next year so hopefully I can see everyone I missed from this one and hopefully more.
Sorry about not winning Blog of the Year but just to be nominated for a PLUTUS award at all is amazing and the fact that you were a finalist in the biggest category has got to carry a ton of weight (and well deserving).
Looks like the cruise prior to FinCon was a huge hit as well and hope it becomes a recurring thing that I might be able to attend as well.
Thank you for including me in this roundup PoF!
The cruise sounds like it was amazing. Please keep me posted for the next one!