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!

Drs. Dahleen, Darko, Dewan, and David (a mix of first and last names, admittedly) got together for a 4-D discussion of a wide variety of financial topics with a focus on the younger physician. Our conversation was recorded for Docs Outside the Box Episode 238: Pay Off Student Loans or Buy Bitcoin? and can be found at Dr. Nii Darko’s site or your favorite podcast platform.

I also had the opportunity to chat with Drs. Melissa Cady and Kevin Cuccaro on The Changed Physician recently. You can listen to Episodes 123 and 124 via your preferred podcast app or watch us chat on Youtube. I had to relocate to my workshop for the best internet connection when we recorded, so the lighting on my end is crap, but the audio is excellent! I’ve since found a better solution. Check out our convo in Episode 123, Leif Dahleen, MD of Physician on FIRE & a recap discussion on Episode 124, Deep Dive Into “Physician on Fire” Chat with Dr Leif Dahleen.

Enough about me. Let’s hear from someone who retired at age 50 more than a decade ago. He shares his experience and wisdom gained in ten years of retirement at Can I Retire Yet. Catching Up with Darrow Kirkpatrick.

Dr. Jerome Enad, a military physician, retired just one year ago, and he’s found plenty to keep him busy, including some very part-time projects that pay him well. The Side Gigs of an Orthopedic Surgeon in His First Year of Retirement.

Dave from Accidental FIRE retired from full-time several years ago, and he also engages in some part-time paid endeavors. Is he wishing he had more money? Updating My Net Worth And Having Some Regrets, like not going all-in on Apple and Amazon two decades ago.

Plenty of physicians regret not taking Doximity up on their recent offer of $26 IPO shares with the stock now approaching $100 in value just weeks later. Physician Sense shares Financial Lessons from the Doximity IPO.

What lessons can be gleaned from investors with 9-figure and 10-figure Roth IRAs? My Money Blog takes a look at some Crazy Rich IRAs: From Peter Thiel to Ted Weschler.

I generally recommend leaving assets in a Roth IRA as long as possible and touching that money last, but there are exceptions to that rule. Strategies to make your money last longer while keeping taxes low: Retirement Spending: Which Accounts Come First?

I’ve intentionally allowed my investment portfolio to become more complex in recent years, but I can still appreciate The Majesty of Simplicity, as celebrated by The White Coat Investor.

The Financial  Panther is doing something both WCI and I have done, but I expect he’ll have a better outcome given the location and financials of his place (I’ve stayed there). Turning Our Primary Residence Into A Rental Property.

The Darwinian Doctor is spending 7 figures on a rental property, but he expects to get some of that back on his next tax return. Amazing Tax Deductions from Your Short Term Rental.

Carl from 1500 Days has found yet another way to profit handsomely from real estate, making massive improvements to the homes he’s moved into, and yes, I’ve stayed at one of them. He runs the numbers on each of them in How To Successfully Flip Homes For Fun And Profit!

Any time you pay for a service, you should be aware of conflicts of interest. Passive Income MD wonders if they play a role in the answer to this question. Why Don’t More Financial Advisors Talk About Real Estate?

Talking About Real Estate

I’m hanging out at Camp FI Midwest this weekend, and, not surprisingly, a number of attendees are all about real estate. More than a couple of them are FI based on their real estate investments alone.

I was an accidental landlord on a couple of homes that I’ve since sold, but in recent years, I’ve invested in passive opportunities that are performing quite well. Two of my largest investments are in funds with Origin Investments and with DLP (via a CityVest access fund).

Full disclosure: I do have advertising relationships with both of them, which I entered into after getting to know them and their products well enough to be comfortable investing with them. Also, both are for accredited investors, but I have other real estate investments that don’t have that status as a pre-requisite.

Having received distributions from both in the last two weeks, I updated my spreadsheet.

Origin Investments

Having been invested in the Origin IncomePlus fund for just over a year, I’m enjoying regular tax-neutral distributions of about 6% annually, divided into monthly installments. With a recent uptick in the unit value of my shares, I’ve seen an IRR of 15.6%.

This is better than anticipated, and there is an early redemption cost if I were to exit the fund after only a year. That penalty, ranging from 10% to 2.5% disappears fully after a 5-year investment, and I invested in this fund for the long haul.

DLP (Dream Live Prosper)

I’ve been invested in DLP‘s Lending Fund for nearly 2.5 years. This is a debt fund that lends to “operators” who typically purchase, improve, and resell homes. The fix-and-flip, if you will. Many of these operators were in attendance at the recent DLP Prosperity event I attended, and I appreciate the fact that DLP trusts and respects their investors and operators to the extent that they’re comfortable comingling the two.

After a late-August distribution, my IRR over the last 28 months is an annualized 9.7% for a 22.5% total return over that timeframe. Note that since this is a debt fund, it’s not particularly tax-efficient. At some point, I’ll likely invest more into the fund via my newly-funded self-directed Roth IRA.

Also, my returns would be a touch higher if I had invested directly with DLP. At the time, that required a $250,000 investment, but it has since been lowered to a $100,000 minimum.

If real estate is an asset class that interests you, there will be a plethora of free and not-so-free opportunities to learn more in the coming weeks, starting with PIMDCon (free registration) next weekend 9/10 to 9/12! A quick rundown of what’s coming up in the real estate world:

Passive Income MD

As I mentioned, PIMDCon, officially the Financial Freedom through Real Estate Virtual Conference, is just days away, and Dr. Peter Kim has lined up 20+ excellent speakers including both physicians and non-physicians real estate experts. Create your login and prepare to be inspired and educated next weekend!

Shortly thereafter, he’ll be offering the fall version of his signature course, Passive Real Estate Academy. In this, you’ll learn how to interpret and properly vet private real estate investment offerings, including syndications and real estate funds.

Coach Carson

“Coach” Chad Carson, a Camp FI alum and seasoned real estate investor with dozens upon dozens of doors, also has both free and paid offerings you can take advantage of.

He offers a complimentary 7-day Free Course on How to Get Started with Real Estate Investing, and that’s available right now.

Later this month, he’ll be opening up his signature course, Real Estate Deal School, for enrollment. He also has a number of specialized courses on niche topics that can be taken at any time. Chad’s a great teacher and I encourage you to check out what he’s got to offer. You can get a feel for his style on his Youtube channel.

Semi-Retired MD

Last but not least, the dynamic physician duo that is Leti Alto and Kenji Asakura will be opening up the hugely popular Zero to Freedom with Cashflowing Rentals course in a few short weeks.

They will share their path to “fast FIRE” and show you how it can be possible to deduct 100% of a physician income when investing as they do in real estate. It’s not the lowest-cost course out there, but if you can save six figures in income tax annually, the expense will clearly be well worth it.

Props to Camp FI

I’ll keep this short since I’m at Camp FI right now, and the point is to spend time with like-minded people and not holed up in your room typing away.

I will simply say that having attended four camps, I’m always impressed by the aspirations, accomplishments, and openness of the people who join me at these events. Some day when this pandemic is behind us, I’d love to organize events for physicians that have a similar feel to them.

A Recommended Financial Advisor

For those of you who would rather not DIY, I maintain a 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 Aptus Financial.

Aptus Financial

Aptus Financial Vetting Application

At Aptus, we have witnessed the incredible shift to Do-It-Yourself financial planning and investing by the physician community and have built a service to support people on varying points of the DIY continuum. We believe most people can DIY their finances, which not only mitigates fees but also instills a greater sense of control and leads to better decisions and outcomes.

Aptus starts with a comprehensive, guided planning process for most clients or a more limited review for experienced, confident DIYers who want to validate their current plan. Aptus has designed hundreds of financial plans for physicians and is well-versed in their unique planning needs, including student loan repayment strategies, cash flow prioritization, and risk management. Once a solid plan is in place, we teach our clients to invest on their own or offer the option to invest for them until they feel ready to take it on themselves. Either way, Aptus provides ongoing support and guidance.

Aptus’s pricing is designed to eliminate conflicts of interest and foster transparent, objective advice from planners who are highly educated, experienced and credentialed. For clients who would like to learn more about Aptus, we conduct free introductory calls.

Fees:

Initial Process

• Limited Review – $1,000 plus a recommended minimum of 12 months of AptusCare Limited or AptusCare ongoing planning support
• Comprehensive Plan – $3,000 plus a recommended minimum of 12 months of AptusCare ongoing planning support
• Enhanced Comprehensive Plan – $4,000 plus a recommended minimum of 12 months of AptusCare or Aptus Investment Management ongoing planning support

Continuum of Ongoing Support

• AptusCare Limited – $125 per month
• AptusCare – $250 per month
• Aptus Investment Management – $500 per month plus a 10 bps fiduciary fee

Introductory Call ~15 minutes, free

Contact Info:
2 Van Circle, Suite 4
Little Rock, Arkansas 72207
501.907.1993
info@aptusfinancial.com

Prospective clients should request to interview us by submitting our contact form.

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Have an outstanding week!

-Physician on FIRE