Social media is explosive and fast-paced. It’s also a breeding ground for misinformation. If you’re an ER doc who is maybe in a place where you’re looking for any opportunity to pivot out of EM, or simply looking for an alternative source of income, you may find yourself intrigued by an influencer’s unscrupulous financial advice.

On today’s episode, we’ll go over some of the common TikTok-esque financial trends clients have recently shared with us and give our words of caution on them.

There’s no question that most tax schemes blur the lines between fact and fiction. Every deduction can run afoul quickly, especially if abused. So much so that the IRS annually releases its own list to educate and inform the public about these schemes.

On today’s episode, we go over the “dirty dozen;” many of which target high-income earners, like ER docs, to ensure listeners are aware of the difference between tax scams and legitimate tax strategies.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is a psychology theory that details our motivations as humans. Within that model, things like food, water, and health are all vital. But so, too, are employment status and property – actually within the same tier as health and safety. That shouldn’t be a surprise; our ability to fund our survival goes hand-in-hand with surviving itself. Yet, it’s almost like our brains can’t wrap around the concept that we will not work at some point in the future, whether we care to or not. That means the planning we do with our money today serves as the replacement for the work we won’t be able to do in the future.

On today’s episode, we’ll remind listeners of the importance of making incremental progress toward financial goals and adhering to a plan.

Back-taxes are accompanied by repetitive, concerning, and somewhat threatening letters from the IRS and third-party collectors. It can be intimidating. And it should be. The IRS is no joke. That’s when tax resolution companies take advantage of your vulnerability and attempt to sell a miracle pill. The reality is: you only have so many options with the IRS and as an ER doc, it’s very unlikely anything but paying the balance back is going to be available to you.

So on today’s episode, we’ll discuss the over-promise and under-deliver nature of tax resolution companies and get transparent on what actual tax resolution looks like.

Each and every year, the single largest expense an ER doc pays is their taxes. This means a large percentage of our professional careers is spent staying on top of current tax legislation and strategizing around ways to legally reduce taxes for our clients. We’ve all grown accustomed to the current tax code and laws, but things do change, and inevitably will change, by the end of the 2025. 

On today’s episode, we discuss what changes will occur if nothing is done and what impacts those changes will have on high-income earning ER doctors.

We just discussed the three best financial decisions an ER doc can make, but what about the three worst? What’s interesting is poor decisions have disproportionally worse outcomes than good decisions when it comes to finances. That’s something really crucial to understand and highlights why we are so risk adverse when it comes to the best ways for ER docs to become successful.

On today’s episode, we’ll go over three specific decisions that every ER doc needs to avoid if they intend to reach financial independence.

When you think about it, we all make millions of financial decisions over the course of our lives. Is it the culmination of all of those financial decisions that results in your success or not? Possibly. But there is undoubtedly a mindset that we see common in all of the most financially successful ER docs that provides the framework for each and every financial decision they make. 

On today’s episode, we’ll discuss this framework and what we feel are the three biggest decisions that drive financial success for ER docs.

One thing about being in the field of personal finance is nobody will know everything. And the same is true for the field of emergency medicine. Yet, we do our best to acquire as much information as possible and pass that knowledge along.

On today’s episode, we’ll go over certain misnomers or confusions we often see when it comes to personal finance and leverage our 15+ years of knowledge to address them so you can be that much more prepared and equipped when it comes to your own finances.

Taxes are cumbersome and oftentimes painful (for most people). There are no two ways about it. But through proper planning throughout the year, plus a simple working knowledge of how the deadlines work, that combination really makes this responsibility manageable.

On today’s episode, we’ll reference IRS statistics on extensions for high-earning taxpayers and discuss how we feel every taxpayer should approach filing their returns.

ER docs tend to think of their income in shifts. We tend to think of it more from an after-tax perspective. In other words, we’re interested in how much ER docs get to keep, after taxes. So strategizing around that bottom line instead of simply working shifts can make a big difference not only on the perception of working, but also for wealth building.

On today’s episode, we’ll provide a simple breakdown and comparison between the two income types and the take-home they both receive off the same gross salary.