Money Talk For ER Docs™

How many credit cards should you be carrying on your person? What expenses should be charged to what cards? How often should you get a new credit card and how does that impact your credit score? There's a lot that goes into choosing the right partners for your money. It's sort of like the operating system for your cash flow: all money flows through the accounts and cards you select.

We find ER Docs tend to have very different banking setups. That's why we felt today's episode would be a good way to help navigate the balancing act of credit card rewards, convenience, and practicality.

Before a pilot even takes off, the route to their destination is already mapped out. But just because this baseline is established, doesn't mean there won't be deviation along the way. Events like turbulence or maintenance can still occur outside the scope of the planned route. The fact that the plan exists allows pilots to pivot while understanding where they still need to get to. Without that plan, they'd quite literally be flying blind.

Unfortunately, we find a lot of ER Docs are flying blind when it comes to their finances. All the different income types, and even varying pay structures within each income type, can lead to uncertainty. It's this same uncertainty that leads to exhaustion and stress. That's why, we feel, having a framework to navigate from is so important. On today's episode, we'll discuss the best tool for managing an ER Doc's cash flow.

Disability insurance is arguably the most complex insurance to analyze, discuss, and overall understand. When we look at other insurance, such as life, flood, even to some degree auto, those insurances have pretty defined circumstances for which need to occur in order to pay out. But with DI, there is a wide range of disabilities that can occur, policy definitions that can be met, job duties that can or cannot be performed, and even riders that can be included or not included on the policy. It really takes a specialist to understand the intricacies of DI policies.

On top of these complexities, there's the human element of "a disability won't happen to me." Combine this with monthly premiums that come with these policies, it's no mystery why ER Docs may decide to cheap out or avoid purchasing a policy altogether. In this episode we'll address the common questions we get that will hopefully provide some clarity on the importance of obtaining proper disability insurance coverage.

It seems that people who historically have never been interested in politics have now become obsessed with politics over the past 5 or so years. In doing so, they let emotions seep into other areas of their lives. This couldn't be more relative when it comes to investing and the general outlook of the economy.

Coming off the midterm election, in this episode we'll discuss if there's any room for emotion when it comes to investing and whether or not there is correlation between the political party in power and market performance.

Most ER Docs are searching for ways to diversify their income. What's the number one method for achieving this that comes to mind? Rental properties. But so often are the financial realities of owning rentals overlooked. And most importantly: the methods for maximizing rental profitability never come to fruition.

In this episode, we'll give our point of view, having worked with hundreds of ER Docs owning hundreds of rental properties, to communicate how rental properties tend to actually play out from a cash flow perspective, a tax perspective, and eventually a selling perspective.

When it comes to sports, everybody loves the big play. The game winning Hail Mary pass in football. Or, the knock-out punch in boxing. And when it comes to baseball: the walk-off home run. While these are entertaining for spectators, studies show that the majority of victories don't rely on these single big plays. Instead, they rely on many small victories over the course of a game or a season.

Why do I bring this up? Because a lot of parallels can be drawn from this and applied to the financial "career" of an ER Doc. Today's episode, we'll discuss the appeal of home run-type ventures and the risks involved in them as compared to staying the course.

The "4% Rule" is a personal finance industry standard. If you've never heard of it, it's a guideline for the rate at which you can pull from your retirement account and still have the account survive in retirement. A new study reveals the industry standard of 4% is overstated and could lead to millions of Americans running out of money in retirement if adhered to. A scary thought.

An even scarier thought is ER Docs have additional hurdles to overcome than the everyday American. So in this Halloween-themed episode, we'll discuss what those factors are and end with how to overcome them.

Your vehicle can be one of the most important, and most difficult, deductions to get right as a 1099 earner. Beyond the lease versus buy decision is another layer: the depreciation factor. With that comes a whole slew of considerations most tend to overlook. What car to buy? When to drive it over another vehicle? How often to drive? When is the right time to buy and place the vehicle in service? And of course, when is the right time to sell and what are the repercussions of that sale?

In this episode, we'll paint broad brushstrokes on Section 179 and bonus depreciation while also honing in on the potential for tax deductions available for ER Docs when purchasing a vehicle.

The average American has it much easier than ER Docs when it comes to health insurance. For one, they are probably employed by a company not only offering options to choose from, but also assisting in paying the premiums for those options. Whereas many ER Docs are 1099 earners on their own when it comes to making selections and footing 100% of the bill for coverage. Additionally, the average American will likely work until age 65 where they will be eligible for Medicare coverage. ER Docs, on the other hand, tend to retire before that meaning they have to yet again navigate the waters of obtaining health insurance on their own.

With health insurance being one of the most individualized aspects of financial planning, in this episode we get into various aspects you should be considering this upcoming open enrollment to ensure you're obtaining the right coverage.

On this special anniversary episode, we take a dive in the responses to our free Vitals™ survey. We get into savings rates, East Coast vs West Coast comparisons, average mortgage and student loan balances for ER Docs, and so much more.

This will be a fun one. Just remember, while data can be valuable, every individual's circumstances are different. Keep an open-mind and enjoy it for what it's worth!