Tax planning in retirement doesn’t always get the same attention as tax planning during your working years, which is too bad because, for many people, there’s potential to lower your lifetime tax bill by tens or even hundreds of thousands of dollars through proactive planning. In this episode, we discuss the three key tax planning windows in retirement and share some tips and suggestions for what you can do during each window to minimize your retirement tax bill. From Roth IRA conversions to strategic withdrawals from your retirement accounts to qualified charitable distributions, and more. 

Resources & People Mentioned

• Download our guide: The Key Tax Planning Windows in Retirement
• Blog post: How to Save Taxes in Retirement

Connect With Trent and Andrew

• https://mdwmllc.com 
• Follow on LinkedIn
• Follow on Facebook

Subscribe to The Physician’s Guide To Financial Wellness on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast

Navigating the world of insurance as a physician can be challenging. While insurance is a key part of any comprehensive financial plan, it can be difficult to understand what you need and don’t need, especially since there’s no shortage of “financial advisors” happy to sell you policies. In this episode, we discuss the types of insurance physicians actually need, the purpose each serves, how to think about the “right” amount, and how to go about getting the best price. We also talk about how your insurance needs as a physician evolve throughout your career and in retirement, and where you might want to decrease (or increase) your coverage over time. 

 

Resources & People Mentioned

• Download our guide: The Toolkit for Optimizing Your Finances as an Employed Physician
• Blog post: Liability, Malpractice, and P&C Insurance
• Blog post: Life & Disability Insurance 
• Blog post: The Types of Insurance You Actually Need

Connect With Trent and Andrew

• https://mdwmllc.com 
• Follow on LinkedIn
• Follow on Facebook

Subscribe to The Physician’s Guide To Financial Wellness on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast

While successfully managing your finances is about more than just avoiding the big mistakes, if you can at least start there you’ll have a good foundation and will be moving in the right direction. In this episode, we discuss seven of the biggest mistakes that can trip up physicians when it comes to their finances. We explain each mistake, why it’s important, how it happens, and what can be done to avoid it. Hopefully, this episode will help you avoid some of the common pitfalls.

Resources & People Mentioned

• Toolkit for Optimizing Your Finances as an Employed Physician
• Podcast Episode #5 – The 80:20 Rule of Investing

Connect With Trent and Andrew

• https://mdwmllc.com
• Follow on LinkedIn
• Follow on Facebook

Subscribe to The Physician’s Guide To Financial Wellness on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast

One of the biggest changes when making the transition to retirement is giving up the steady paycheck from your employer. In retirement, the responsibility of replicating this paycheck shifts to you, but it can be difficult to understand how to use your investments and income sources (like Social Security) to create your retirement paycheck. In this episode, we explain the entire process, including understanding what will make up your paycheck, how to create it, checking whether your investment withdrawal rate is “safe,” and being smart with tax planning and strategically withdrawing from your accounts in order to minimize the amount that goes to the IRS.

Resources & People Mentioned

• How to Create a Paycheck in Retirement

Connect With Trent and Andrew

• https://mdwmllc.com
• Follow on LinkedIn
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Subscribe to The Physician’s Guide To Financial Wellness on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast

Many employed physicians earn side income from things like moonlighting, speaking, consulting, writing, and more. However, not everyone understands the financial planning opportunities this side income provides, particularly the chance to save on taxes while saving even more for retirement. In this episode, we explain how to make the most of your side income, including setting up a “business,” opening a retirement account, and maximizing available tax deductions.

Resources & People Mentioned

• Podcast Episode #5 – The 80:20 Rule of Investing 

Connect With Trent and Andrew

• https://mdwmllc.com
• Follow on LinkedIn
• Follow on Facebook

Subscribe to The Physician’s Guide To Financial Wellness on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcast

While the idea of becoming a 403b or 401k multimillionaire might seem like a hard-to-reach goal, it’s actually easier than you might think if you follow the right plan and stick with it over time. In this episode, we share four simple steps (or behaviors) that can help you reach 403b/401k multimillionaire status. We also discuss the thinking behind these and explain why they are so powerful.

Resources & People Mentioned

• Toolkit for Optimizing Your Finances as an Employed Physician

Connect With Trent and Andrew

• https://mdwmllc.com
• Follow on LinkedIn
• Follow on Facebook

Student loans are often the most significant planning item in the financial life of a younger physician. In this episode, we walk you through our process for putting together a student loan game plan. We discuss the difference between public and private loans, explain the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and its requirements, talk about some of the things to consider when deciding whether or not to go for loan forgiveness and provide guidance on how to tackle your loans.

Resources & People Mentioned

• Guide to establishing your student loan game plan
• Checklist for Public Service Loan Forgiveness

Connect With Trent and Andrew

• https://mdwmllc.com
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Regardless of whether you plan to retire at age 45 or age 65, there are some key questions that everyone should consider when thinking about retirement. Answering these questions will help you avoid mistakes and make the transition as smooth as possible. In this episode, we walk through our retirement checklist and discuss how to think about six of the most important areas of retirement planning, from tax planning to healthcare planning to Social Security planning, and more.

Resources & People Mentioned

• Downloadable retirement checklist

Connect With Trent and Andrew

• https://mdwmllc.com
• Follow on LinkedIn
• Follow on Facebook

When it comes to financial planning, one of the hardest things can be figuring out the best way to allocate your cash flow across different uses. Should you pay ahead on debt? Save and invest more for retirement? Put more toward another goal? In this episode, we talk about cash flow allocation and share tips and guidance for figuring out the right balance for you, one that helps you leverage your financial resources while also taking into account your unique situation. 

Resources & People Mentioned

• Blog post on how to allocate your cash flow

Connect With Trent and Andrew

• https://mdwmllc.com
• Follow on LinkedIn
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When thinking about retirement, or financial independence, it can be difficult to know whether you’re on track and what it takes to reach your goal. In this episode, we talk about using your investments to create a retirement “paycheck” once you’re no longer receiving a paycheck from your job, understanding how much you can safely withdraw from your investment portfolio each year, and figuring out how much you need to have saved up in your accounts in order to reach your financial independence goal.   

Resources & People Mentioned

• Download our guide: How to Create a Paycheck in Retirement
• Blog post: Pursuing financial independence
• Blog post: The math of financial independence
• Blog post: How to create a retirement paycheck

Connect With Trent and Andrew

• https://mdwmllc.com
• Follow on LinkedIn
• Follow on Facebook