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For many medical professionals, the roadblock to successful investing is just knowing HOW. Understanding what accounts to use, how to select funds, and what fees you are paying are the foundation to becoming a saavy investor - and future Millionaire in Medicine.
When you go to select your investments within your 401(k), other retirement account, or miscellaneous investments, how do you know what investments you're choosing? Remember, a 401(k) or Roth IRA is simply a tax designation for an investment. The tax treatment matters greatly, but so does what you choose to invest in within it.
HAVING A BASIC UNDERSTANDING OF YOUR INVESTMENT SELECTIONS WILL EMPOWER YOU TO MAKE BETTER CHOICES.
Let's review a few basic investments types:
1. ACTIVELY MANAGED MUTUAL FUNDS
- When you select a...
If your plan is to retire early, you need to make sure you don't have your numbers all wrong.
Retirement has nothing to do with age. I actually prefer the term work optional, as I think it more adequately describes the financial circumstances that create your ability to retire. When you are able to live off investments indefinitely, you are "work optional". At that time, you have the option to retire.
When you decide to quit earning an income and live off your investment portfolio, you're deciding to use a portion of it each year. So how much can you use without running out of money?
For those retiring at 65, the classic answer is 4% of your portfolio per year.
This means that having $1,000,000 invested will provide you only $40,000 per year to live off of. My suspicion is that this may be a lot less than you thought.
Most of the data behind this is relatively old, and there are plenty of critiques on the methodologies used. The pillar study used for this determination...
Roth IRAs are one of the best tax-favored accounts to use for retirement investing. Many have heard that high earners are out of luck when it comes to Roth IRAs! This is a money myth, and one I can't wait to bust.
Within a Roth IRA, you invest "after tax" dollars (meaning your contributions are not tax deductible). The contribution limits for this account are much lower than your employer accounts. After age 59 and 1/2, all of the funds in the account can be accessed TAX FREE. Yes, you read that right. Tax free. In addition, Roth IRAs have several other benefits:
I started my career picking up extra shifts to make my financial goals happen. I wanted to pay off my debt early and build wealth. I had $161K in student loan debt to contend with. My income felt like it wasn’t enough, so my solution was to work evenings, weekends, and my scheduled days off to make up the difference. I used that to pay off $161,000 in student loans in 16 months, but quickly realized the downfalls to that strategy.
While the “working extra shifts” strategy may work for short term financial goals, like paying off credit card debt, it’s not a viable long-term solution. It can lead to burnout, and if it ultimately reduces your career longevity it may reduce your long-term income.
The most underleveraged wealth hack is to negotiate more compensation for what you’re already doing, and then use the increased income to reduce debt & build assets.
Here’s a few pearls for the negotiation process itself:
One of the most undervalued aspects of wealth building is the understanding income "buckets". There are three primary income types you should be using on your journey to Millionaire in Medicine: active income, passive income, and portfolio income.
Active Income: The Starting Point
Active income is the money you earn through direct and immediate effort. This includes your salary, wages, and any income generated from your active participation in a business or job. For most healthcare professionals, this is your W2 salary or money earned from a 1099 gig. While active income is often the most reliable and consistent source of funds (especially in the initial years of any financial journey), it has its limitations - namely you have to work for it.
Thus, you're trading time for money.
To optimize active income, do the following:
a. Skill Development: Enhance your skills and expertise to become more valuable at your job. Whatever it is you do - be the best at it. This could lead to...
The easiest way to create a millionaire isn’t to become one yourself – it’s to invest for your kids and make them one.
Why? Compound interest + TIME is the magic formula. Kids have more time than you, meaning their ability to accrue wealth is significantly higher. Here's some sample numbers to give you an idea:
One way to do this is by utilizing various investment vehicles, such as UTMA accounts, 529 plans, Custodial Roth IRAs, and taxable brokerage accounts. These options provide unique advantages and opportunities for children to grow their wealth, learn valuable financial skills, and achieve long-term financial goals. Let’s break down account types and how you can use them.
UTMA (Uniform Transfers to Minors Act) accounts are a popular choice for parents and guardians who want to invest on behalf of their children. These accounts allow for the transfer of assets, such as stocks, bonds, and cash, to a minor, with an appointed...
The ultimate financial goal is to create total income replacement through investments. For the medical professional, this means you no longer have to work for income. Your stock/bond portfolio, investment real estate, etc generate enough income for you to live comfortably - indefinitely.
Inflation, the gradual increase in the prices of goods and services over time, will erode the purchasing power of our savings and investment portfolio. If you've been anywhere other than living under a rock for the last few years, you've noticed firsthand how inflation shapes your buying power.
Inflation has a profound impact on various investment vehicles, such as stocks, bonds, and real estate. Let's consider the potential consequences of inflation on each of these asset classes:
Index funds are designed to passively track, or "mirror", a group of stocks. Common examples include index funds that track the entire US stock market, or the S&P 500.
Passive investing sounds boring and slow. Turns out, the data doesn't support that conclusion. Index funds have been shown to outperform actively managed mutual funds over long periods of time - which is mostly driven by low fees. The additional benefit of diversification also means that your risk is generally lower than when investing in individual stocks.
Actively-managed mutual funds sound more aggressive & fancier, which makes us generally inclined to think they would be better. After all - isn't it true that you get what you pay for?
Investing is the one world in which this doesn't always hold true. Because actively-managed funds have a fund manager doing active trading in an attempt to beat...
Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are amazing investment products to create wealth with the most tax benefits possible.
If you're thinking you knew what an HSA was and are now completely confused, let me explain...
An HSA, in its most basic form, is intended for medical expenses. When you contribute money to this account, you reduce your taxable income for THAT YEAR. Thus, you save money on taxes immediately.
These are very different than Flexible Spending Accounts (FSAs), so don't get them confused.
Here is the full scoop:
1. MONEY ROLLS OVER EACH YEAR
-Unlike an FSA, the money rolls over if unused in that year. It's not a "use it or lose it" system.
2. CONTRIBUTIONS ARE PRE TAX
- Contributions are pre tax if you contribute through an employer. If you purchased your own plan, they are tax deductible.
3. GROWTH IS TAX FREE
- Probably the best feature!
4. MONEY CAN BE USED FOR MEDICAL EXPENSES AT ANY TIME, TAX FREE
- Just make...
Becoming a millionaire feels like a lofty goal. It may even feel like something that's impossible to accomplish.
I became a millionaire at 31. When someone references between a millionaire, they are most often referencing having a net worth of $1,000,000 or more.
What I want to talk about here is an entirely different question: Is having $1,000,000 invested enough to retire?
The short answer is, no - at least for most healthcare professionals earning a six figure salary.
The recipe for $1,000,000 invested is this: consistent savings rate + time + compound interest.
Let's assume you're a PA-C earning $110,000 per year. You start investing 15% of your gross salary at age 28, and continue this until retirement at 65. Here's what your portfolio looks like as you age:
This is a fundamental part of the equation, and one that's often poorly understood.
When you decide to quit earning an income...