5 Tips for Back to School Shopping  

Mini Wise Money requests to switch to Basis Tucson Primary. I was surprised because her friends at Sunrise Drive told Mini how much work and how little fun Basis is all about. I asked Mini, “are you sure, don’t you want to have more time to play or do artsy stuff? There’s more homework and fewer choices for after-school activities at Basis.”
With certainty, Mini replied, “kids at my school are not serious about learning; the teacher had to slow down to keep them in control. I want more challenges in math.”
So here we are, getting ready for a big transition. New school. Here are some things Mini and I learned about getting most for your money back to school.

1.       Make a list first. Don’t shop year round. Don’t shop for fun. Shop with a purpose.

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2.       De-clutter first. What are your chances in getting your kid to clean his/her room after coming home with all the new goodies? Mini happily cleaned up all of her drawers, closet, and dressers; we got bags and bags of wonderful clothes and shoes to share with our friends’ kids. She was cheerful when she cleaned her room, filled with the anticipation to acquire new clothes she likes for those thinned closet and drawers.IMG_4149

3.       There is a semi-annual sales at GAP and other clothing retail stores right before school starts. This year, Mini and I caught the tail end and got incredible deals (July 24th 2016 was the last day.) Our loot included 8 tops, and 4 bottoms all for the incredible price of $50.

4.       Great sales at shoe stores such as Aldo, 50% off nearly ½ of the shoes on display. The steep discounts as are as good as those given out on Black Fridays and after yearend holidays. Mini got 2 pairs of gorgeous shoes for 50-56% off. She realized how much more she could get if she buys at the right time. For $60, she got 2 incredible pair shoes, one dress shoes, one sandals, compared to her full price $72 Ann Taylor silver flip flops. Mini’s determined from now on to never purchase anything full price.IMG_4148

5.       School supply goes on sale before school starts, but the prices get even better right after school starts. So if you can hold off, don’t buy it at the end of summer vacation. Buy it a week or 2 after school starts. Mini was so happy with clothing/shoe trophies totaling $130 that she could care less about not having boxes of pencils/pens/paper on the 1st day of school. We have plenty of supply at home anyways. We will check with her teacher and find out exactly what she prefers, frequently teachers have specific request on school supplies quite different from the general school supply list sent out per grade.IMG_4150

 If you like this article, you might enjoy other DWM articles on Personal Finance, Investing, Retirement, Practice Management, & Lifestyle.

All articles by DWM are for informational purposes only and not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a professional accountant, financial adviser or lawyer, before making financial decisions.

5 Ways Bedside Manners are Key to Physician Wealth

 

  • Greater patient compliance.

It takes us 23 years of minimum training to be a doctor (shortest residency is 3 years.) However, we quickly realized that we could do our best as docs, but don’t get good results if patients don’t comply with our recommendations.

Good bedside manners increases patient compliance. As we partner with our patients, and work towards the common goal of their health and quality of life, patients fare much better.

  • Greater patient satisfaction.

As US healthcare move towards publicizing patient satisfaction and adjusting reimbursement for medical services based on patient scoring their doctors, bedside manners are a must to keep the door of hospitals and clinics open.

  • Better quality and quantifiable results of health outcome.

When physicians demonstrate confidence, integrity, and compassion, patients are more likely to bestow the sacred trust of their lives and health in the doctor’s hands.

Lifestyles changes are frequently the best intervention, medical treatment, yet the hardest, it behooves as doctors to become personal life coaches to our patients, to guide them and cheer them on as they work hard to maximize their health and quality of life.

  • Fewer lawsuits.

If everyone practice medicine the way Dr. Gregory House on popular TV series “House M.D.”, we would be sued out of our houses and homes.

While I have worked with bankers, brokers, salesman with zero beside manners, doctors are held with a nearly unattainable level of high professional expectations in terms our ability to empathize with the most difficult patients in spite of we ourselves are stressed and pressed in all fronts: physical, financial, to emotional.

But hey, we choose this, we could have easily become CEO’s of fortune 500 companies (given our work ethics and smarts), we choose to serve instead.

  • Happier and more effective physician.

While it takes energy to ward off negativity, it takes even more energy to project emotional toxicity. When a patient is difficult, rude, or unkind, the best thing do is to respond with amiability, politeness, and kindness. Stop the negative cycle with your wonderful bedside manners to all, to patients, colleagues, nurses, and everyone on the health care delivery team.

Reflecting negativity with positivity, darkness with light, hatred with love will ultimately make us happier ourselves.

As challenging or nearly inhumane it is to practice bedside manners when perhaps the world does not reciprocate, we have chosen this path to serve, so why not serve with love, rather than fear or hate?

Remember, most people who are not doctors or healthcare providers will never understand what’s demanded of us on a day to day, moment to moment basis, but we can support one another along this path of great resistance, this path that’s less traveled but so rewarding.

 If you like this article, you might enjoy other DWM articles on Personal Finance, Investing, Retirement, Practice Management, & Lifestyle.

All articles by DWM are for informational purposes only and not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a professional accountant, financial adviser or lawyer, before making financial decisions.

5 Reasons I Choose Time in, not Timing, the Market

1.       Not worth my time to time the market.
If a group of PhD economists who study and analyze companies all day long perform as well as a group of monkeys throwing darts in stock selection, why would I bother to study and select stock?
When I share with Mini Wise Money (8 year old) the concept of day trading, she said, “that’s too much work for no guarantee more money.” She hit it right on the nail! If an 8 year old can see that it’s not worth her time to time the market, select single stocks, why would a full time doctor with full and busy life try to trade base on his/her blurry crystal ball?

2.       Invest money passively.
Money is just money. It makes life easier to a certain degree. But money can’t buy everything. It especially can’t by time, company, love, happiness, or health.
Put your money on auto-pilot, KISS (keep it stupid simple), save your precious time for precious causes like your loved ones, new experiences/adventures, serving our country and the world.

3.       Invest time actively.
Why waste time checking the market and buy and sell according to a guess? Why not just buy and hold the entire stock market and let it work out over long haul and bring you 8% annualized return?
For most people who trade actively, they all admit that their average hardly ever beats the passive investment model of buying and holding low cost index funds.

4.       Discipline and patience win.
Research has shown those with discipline and patience do well with their investment. They don’t panic and sell when everyone else fearfully backs out of the market at sales prices. They continue to dollar cost average and faithfully put the same amount away at fixed interval of time (usually per paycheck). They also don’t frantically buy when the market is bullish and everyone is buying and bidding the price up and up.
When I focus on investing early, investing as much as possible, rather than trying to time the market in my fantasy. I am rewarded heavily over the long haul while saving my precious time for my loved ones and making myself a better person by continually learning and taking on new adventures.

5.       Turnover is vanity.
Just like I don’t enjoy keeping up with fashion in clothes or accessories. I find it silly to chase the wind in investment. The market is efficient, by the time ordinary people like myself hear of the great news of how I should buy, hold or sell a particular stock, it’s too late. The to-buy stocks are already too expensive; the to-sell stocks already too cheap for me to really benefit as an individual.
Hyperactivity and turnover is just busy work without guaranteed return. Not interested.

Do you value timing the market or time in the market? Why?

If you like this article, you might enjoy other DWM articles on Personal Finance, Investing, Retirement, Practice Management, & Lifestyle.

All articles by DWM are for informational purposes only and not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a professional accountant, financial adviser or lawyer, before making financial decisions.

5 Things Zootopia Taught Us about Money Success

I love the kids’ movie Zootopia. I laughed so hard and cried during that movie, frequently turning towards Mini Wise Money, sharing precious moments of inspiration and up-liftedness with her.

It’s incredible what we learn as kids from cartoon movies such as Zootopia actually provides the ground rules for great success, not just limited to finances, in adult life. Zootopia taught and reminded me 6 lessons.

  1. Anyone can be anything.

The essence of the American Dream. However, the monetary inequality with 95% of American wealth concentrated in the hands of 5% Americans has become a self-perpetuating vicious cycle.  So we got to wake us and believe in and act upon “anyone can be anything.”

Join the rich and become creators and leave the consuming poor crowd. Anyone can do this: stop consuming, start creating today.

  1. Try everything.

Mini Wise Money took her first pilot lesson recently, at the tender age of 8. After the initial “how can a kid like me fly a plane?” Mini enjoyed it immensely and talked about flying her parents and family all the world once she gets her license.

If you think it, try it. It’s incredible what a new yoga pose can inspire you to do off the yoga mat, in life.

  1. Our life goal is to make the world a better place.

When we make service our goal, better the world our motivation, money follows us. No need to chase after money. If you are successful and already a millionaire as a money chaser, trust me, you will be exponentially more successful if you chase after the ideals of the little bunny in Zootopia (I want to make the world a better place.)

  1. Don’t judge a book by its cover.

When Bunny Judy attributed the Zootopia animals reverting to salvage ways to “biology,” she lost sight of the most important principle to success, including financial success: “inclusion and collaboration.” Based on gene pool, we, regardless of color of our skin or cultural backgrounds, are less than 0.5% different from one another across than the entire human race.

We are different yet so much the same. Embrace everyone and learn from them. You will succeed sooner and be happier if you love rather than hate.

  1. Be the change ourselves.

Stop whining about what doesn’t work in our system. Take ownership, volunteer for more responsibilities, be the change you want to see.

 If you like this article, you might enjoy other DWM articles on Personal Finance, Investing, Retirement, Practice Management, & Lifestyle.

All articles by DWM are for informational purposes only and not intended as a substitute for professional advice. Please consult a professional accountant, financial adviser or lawyer, before making financial decisions.

4 Reasons More Banks Should Refinance PGY’s

1.       Doctors are the least likely to default on their loans. Low risk lending.
Doctors are an honest hard working bunch. The default rate of debt/liability of doctors is a fraction of that the average population. Low risk lending. This is proven by the success and mutually beneficial set up of physician mortgage. If Banks are willing to lend doctors upwards 1 million with 0% down and no PMI simply because they are doctors and dentists, why not make a win-win out of student loan refinancing.
Doctors of my era suffer from federal student loan at 6.8%, so if the private banks step up and offer a slightly lower rate, it will be win-win for the borrowing doctors and the private banks.

2.       Early branding.
Doctors are loyal customers. If you help them out with their high interest rate student loans, they will likely do other banking business with you in large ticket items such as large personal loans, professional business loans, and or mortgage, not to mention putting their massive retirement savings with your brokerage.

3.       Lucrative lending.
Guaranteed 4%or 5% return is pretty darn good in this turbulent global stock market. It’s quite lucrative to be able to borrow 0.25% from the feds and turn around and charge doctors 4% for refinancing their 7% federal student loans.

4.       Few competitors at the moment. Fortune favors the brave.
Right now, there are only banks, DRB and LinkCapitol refinancing PGY’s (residents and fellows.) How can the other banks just sit and watch theses 2 banks monopolize such a lucrative low risk market? DRB originally was offering variable rate at 1.9%, now charging as 4-5% variable. It’s getting so much business and so many eager PGY applications, that it’s increasing its lending costs drastically. If you are a competitor bank, would you want to get a share of this market too?

This is shout out to all you solid lenders such as SoFi with lots of funding and great banking services for attending physicians. Refinance (soon-to-be) attending doctors today, your business will profit and grow with the physicians’ paycheck and net worth. Don’t pass up this opportunity.
Make it win-win since so many PGY’s are agonizing over the high interest rate of their federal student loans during their long, arduous, low pay training years. Lend a helping hand now; banks, you will be rewarded generously by these loyal, honest borrowers.

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