"A rough career transition in 2019 followed by the pandemic highlighted how I was still financially tethered to my job — after 10 years of practicing as a subspecialty trained radiologist, saving, maxing out my retirement accounts, and investing in the stock market and in real estate. Looking around, I saw other physicians in a similar predicament. After years dedicated to rigorous training, we were still trapped by “golden handcuffs.” High income was not necessarily translating to high net worth or financial freedom.

It didn’t seem fair or necessary. There had to be a smarter way to financial freedom — without having to live on a shoestring budget or work more shifts. I poured time and money into educating myself — really understood my financial independence numbers, learned the impact of asset allocation and taxes on my retirement nest egg, and put strategies and systems in place to optimize returns."

Param Baladandapani is a radiologist and can be reached at GenerationalwealthMD.

She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "How doctors think about financial independence is dead wrong." (https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2021/07/how-doctors-think-about-financial-independence-is-dead-wrong.html)