Financial Heroes: WCI, the Godfather of Physician-Money-Blogger

WCI
WCI and DWM at his physician finance lecture at University of Arizona.

Since joining the FI (Financial Independence) community, every day I’m discovering more awesome blogs to learn from. So I decided to start a series of guest posts under the “Financial Hero Series.” I got the idea from PoF’s Christopher Guest Post. (PoF is full of great ideas; I like following his footsteps 🙂 You can check out my Christopher Guest post on PoF here.

This series features a whole bunch of amazing personal finance bloggers whom I admire and look up to. Each hero will answer a set of questions from me and sometimes add their own Q&A. I’ll publish this series of posts once every few weeks.

Today, I’m honored and excited to spotlight White Coat Investor. WCI is the godfather of physician money bloggers. I remember asking him lots and lots of questions when I was a MS2, 3, 4, and PGY1. He walked me through numerous critical financial decisions. In general, I can’t agree with WCI more on money and medicine.

So here you go. I’m sure you will find lots of money, life, and medicine pearls from his responses to my questions below.

What do you do for a living?

I guess it really depends. I used to say I practice emergency medicine, but technically more income now comes in from the website than medicine, so I guess I blog for a living.

 

Why do you blog?

I’ve always enjoyed writing and teaching. After a multi-year personal finance and investing self-education process I realized that I knew more about it than the vast majority of other doctors, and that no one was teaching those who did not yet have this knowledge. It was an easy gap for me to see and easy for me to fill. At the time I was also very intrigued by the idea of a passive income, and the internet was the wild west of passive income with almost no barrier to entry. So I launched it as a business from the very beginning. It didn’t make much that first year, $930 (and I wrote it all off) but eventually I figured out a model to actually make some great money as traffic grew.

 

Why is your blog awesome?

The best part about it is the community that has developed around it as it gets passed around from one student to another, one resident to another, and one doctor to another. The comments section and the forum really facilitate interaction between readers and my habit of one guest post a week helps provide alternative voices to the blog. Another unique thing about the blog is the degree of openness I run it with. Not only do I reveal all of my financial conflicts of interest, but a long-term reader gets a very in-depth look into our personal finances, family, and marriage. The combination of valuable, needed information and a personal voice works wonders.

 

How many days left until you obtain financial independence?

I’m at that stage where my FI date is more determined by my spending than my portfolio. The less I spend the sooner I’m FI. At our current level of spending and earning, I think we’re about 4 years out, but that date has some dependence on future market performance.

 

Any sage advice on money and marriage?

One house, one spouse, one job. The largest expenses in life are related to those three. Seriously though, there is plenty to disagree about in marriage, why add finances to the list when it is so easy to get on the same page with that. Have a short money meeting each month of your marriage and you can essentially eliminate money-related conflict completely.

 

What are the top 10 things you’d tell your younger self?

1) You’ll care a lot more about your income and lifestyle in fifteen years than you do as an MS3.

2) Don’t buy that whole life insurance policy.

3) Financial advisors don’t have the same education and ethical commitment as doctors.

4) Residents (and med students) shouldn’t buy houses.

5) Deployments will bother you a lot more at 35 than 25.

6) Kids grow up fast.

7) Double check that the A/C works before you buy a car.

8) Assume most people become offended more easily than you, and act that way.

9) Lock your carabiners. Every time.

10) the most important part of evaluating a new job is the people you work with.

 

What is the #1 money mistakes you’ve made that want your readers to avoid?

Growing into their attending income too quickly.

 

What are the 3 most important money lessons you teach your kid(s)?

Money comes from work.

Debt is stealing from future you.

Owners make more.

 

What are the 5 smartest money moves you’ve made in your life?

Spend less than I earn.

Learn about personal finance and investing early in life.

Use retirement accounts.

Meet with my spouse monthly about finances.

Learn how to spend in a way that increases happiness.

 

What are 3 things you’d do if money is no object?

Go to space.

Do all travel on a private jet.

Hire someone to follow my kids around and make them pick up their stuff.

 

When did you first start contributing to your own Roth IRA?

Intern year

 

When did your child first contribute to his/her Roth IRA?

The youngest in her first year of life. Basically as soon as they have earned income they get the daddy match.

 

What does financial independence mean to you?

Less than it used to. It’s just a number really. If you actually like what you do and wouldn’t change your work habits if you were FI, that’s all it is. Too many people going for early FI hate their jobs. Better to create your ideal life now than do all you can to escape from your less than ideal life ASAP. Draw out what your ideal life looks like and try to mold your life into that model ASAP. For most of us, that will include some type of work. If you are going to retire early, you’d better have something to retire to. When I have something I enjoy doing more than work, I do it.

Thanks for the opportunity.

 

Jim

 

James M. Dahle, MD, FACEP

Founder and Editor

The White Coat Investor

http://whitecoatinvestor.com

 

Dear DWM, my Lover Loves a Soulless Trashy Someone Else

Dear DWM,

 

My heart is so broken; I don’t know where to start.

 

I love this man, the father of my child, the man who has had my heart for the last decade since we started chatting randomly at a college gym in our early 20’s.

 

He is amazing in so many ways: full of compassion for animals and the underdogs (in fact, he’s an under-dog and stray animal magnet), plays the piano like a virtuoso, has super human will power over his body (rowed for Ivy League in college at near Olympic level), incredibly smart, can learn anything as complex as neurosurgery from YouTube, dedicated father and partner, moved for us more than 10 times in the last decade, take care of all logistic and mechanical stuff in our family life.

 

The list goes on.

 

But as much as I love him singularly in ways different yet same from loving my child, he loves some else. What hurts the most is that this someone is soulless and trashy; she’s full of trash, someone else’s trash.

 

 

 

He loves dumpsters.

dumpster girldump

Since his Ivy League years, where he prides himself in finding a 1.5k brand new camera among other trophies in the dormitory dumpster, he has had this never ending, ever escalating affair with dumpster(s).

 

While I think he is my true love, the very first and last partner of my life; he has never place me or our kid above his love affair.

 

Our house is laden with trash from strangers. Our garage is packed full with someone else’s trashed belongings. Just when the living room floor cleared from moving stuff to a new storage we now pay $92/month, after an incredible day of my eyes feasting on the precious space… the void… the lack of suffocating clutter, 4 more cardboard boxes showed up.

 

Seeing my sullen face from working a 4th of 7 20-hour day, when I muttered “are you kidding me?” He said right away, “Anything we don’t use from these boxes, we send to goodwill. There is some good stuff in there, trust me.”

 

The hurt is becoming revolting; I want to vomit. I hold back the vomit of the meanest, bitchiest words about of torrent out of my mouth. I bit my tongue for the day when a house meeting my needs comes on the market.

 

I finally said to him calmly, “I love you, but we have irreconcilable differences. I would be content living in a 500 sf apartment with you, with the littlest belongings. Because wherever you and I and our kid are is home. But you want to be surrounded by stuff, lifeless, soulless trash from a stranger. You labor over them (moving, sorting, storing, and walking around them) and can’t be bothered with spending time with your ‘loved’ ones.’ This is not how I want to live.”

 

He responded by, “I totally understand how you feel. You have every right to feel this way. I will…. [Promises of actions spoken of but never taken in the past.]” We’ve been here before. We still have stuff from your first dumpster dive since our relationship started 10 years ago, after 10 moves, most people would have shed the trash from dumpster that they didn’t use for 10 years. One would think.

 

I can only take so many disappointments. Call me idealistic, I believe lovers should make each other better people. A partner should not drive the other into deep despair, shame, sense of powerlessness, and visceral feeling of wanting to vomit up foul, bitchy, curse words to express his/her feelings.

 

I’m tired of feeling like I’m less than his love affair, a soulless, loveless, trashy dumpster.

 

Just needed someone to listen, thank you DWM.

 

 

Sincerely yours,

Worth-more-than-dumpster.

 

Now exercise for you, substitute dumpster for another noun.

Does your lover or yourself love another “noun” more than the people we should love, cherish, and embrace in our lives?

What are your plans to change things so that we love and receive the love we deserve?

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.

The Truth about Money & Happiness by FinanceSuperhero

David launched FinanceSuperhero.com in March 2016. He is on a mission to Restore Order to the World of Finance. He would be honored if you would check out his blog (http://www.financesuperhero.com/) and follow FinanceSuperhero on Twitter (https://twitter.com/FinanceSuperhero).

[It is my great honor to feature FinanceSuperhero’s guest article today. When I first read his Overcome FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) in 7 Steps (thanks to PoF featuring this article in his Sunday Best Series), I was both relieved to have a diagnosis of my ailment (FOMO) and uplifted to receive wise guidance on how to overcome it 🙂 I’m sure you will find David’s writing as enlightening as I do. We have no financial relationship.]

 

The Truth about Money and Happiness

I will never forget the evening of June 17, 1994. I can vividly recall sitting on my living room floor, watching the action unfold. I was watching Game 5 of the NBA Finals between the Houston Rockets and New York Knicks when NBC interrupted the programming with a breaking news corner-cut in. A white Ford Bronco raced down the 405 freeway and was chased by a convoy of police vehicles. Oddly, as time passed, it became clearer that the chase wasn’t really much of a chase.

When I awoke the next morning, I asked my parents about how the chase ended. They told me that OJ Simpson had finally stopped running after two hours and gave himself up to LA police.

All of my memories of this experience came flooding back to me recently when I watched the recent ESPN series, O.J.: Made in America.

As I watched the five part mini-series, I observed that Simpson’s happiness came from all the wrong places: fame, possessions, people, even alcohol and drugs. After being mired in controversy, Simpson’s fall from the throne was predictable. Like many celebrities before and after him, O.J. became addicted to alcohol and drugs later in life when money, notoriety, and women ceased to provide the happiness he craved.

In my opinion, it was his preoccupation with seeking happiness in all of the wrong places that led to his ultimate arrest and imprisonment on kidnapping charges in 2008.

 

The Mindset of More

Most of us will never know what it is like to be a football star. We won’t experience the life of a film and television actor. In fact, few people, past or present, can claim to understand the life of Orenthal James Simpson. His nation-wide fame began at USC, where he played football and won the Heisman Trophy in 1968. It only escalated as Simpson moved on to the NFL and the big screen.

O.J. Simpson appeared to have it all. Yet, in his mind, he was never satisfied, trapped in a race and perpetually seeking more. In his mind, the widening gap between his expectations and reality lead to unhappiness and discontentment. In his mind, chasing happiness and hoping to find it in people, possessions, and fame was akin to running toward an end zone that would always remain a few yards out of his reach.

It was a losing proposition.

 

How to Live a Life of Simplicity Instead of Enslavement

Like O.J. Simpson, the average person is destined for an unfulfilling life the moment she chooses a life of enslavement to possessions. By perpetually seeking more, she is likely to live a far less satisfying life.

It is no secret that money provides varying degrees of security. When utilized properly, money can meet the physiological, safety, belonging, and even esteem needs proposed by Abraham Maslow in his 1943 paper, “A Theory of Human Motivation.” It can be leveraged to meet our most basic needs – food, shelter, clothing – as well as satisfy our vain ambitions – status, friendship, romantic relationships, employment, and socioeconomic status.

Yet, despite our human instincts which seek to convince us otherwise, there is not a linear relationship between money and happiness. Researchers have not yet established solid proof that money can or cannot buy happiness; in fact, a quick review of the research over the past ten years reveals that behavioral psychologists may be more divided on this issue than ever before.

Furthermore, it can be argued that possessions do not contribute to increased happiness. At a basic level, we value possessions based upon their utility. If we do not or cannot utilize our possessions, they cease to provide value or retain a maximum level of importance to us. For example, if I gifted you a pair of Wave Runners but established the conditional precedent mandating that they sit on blocks in your garage on a year-round basis, they would not increase your happiness. In fact, their presence might even lead to unhappiness every time you drive by the beach and lament their lack of utility.

 

Perhaps the link between money and happiness does not lie within how much money or how many possessions one possesses, but instead lies in purposefully managing the money and possessions which pass through his hands.

A UCLA study revealed that those people who would prefer having more time rather than more money also reported being happier. Respondents in the study frequently indicated that when life offered time/money “trade-offs,” more time led to greater happiness. Among the reasons cited for choosing time over money:

*Working 50 hr a week, with 2 hr of commuting a day, leaves only a few hours to spend time with my children and wife.

*I want to enjoy the pleasures of life and have artistic projects I want to complete.

*Because all I ever do is work. I just want to enjoy myself.

 

Seven Action Steps to Increase Your Happiness

In accordance with your values, strive to live a life of relative simplicity rather than enslavement to money and possessions by following these seven steps:

  1. Identify your values and spend accordingly. Spending money can make you happy when it aligns with your values.
  2. Give 10% of your income (gross or net is up to you) to a worthwhile charity, religious organization, or research fund each and every month. In doing so, you will gain emotional and psychological control over your money and practice good stewardship. The joy of giving money is unlike any other feeling, and it is often contagious!
  3. Wait 30 daysbefore making unnecessary purchases. Write down the desired purchase and reasons for making it, and if you still want the item after 30 days have passed, then make a decision which aligns with your values. A majority of the time you will discover you no longer want the item as badly as you once thought.
  4. Dream big, but do not allow your happiness to depend on the achievement of your dreams.I have made this mistake and paid dearly for it.
  5. Slow down, unplug, and cherish experiences with loved ones. Relationships are the real treasure in life.
  6. Do not allow the fear of missing outto influence your spending. Social media envy can easily incite jealousy and lead you to believe that more possessions or experiences will increase your happiness. Do not yield to those desires!
  7. Spend money on other people. Spending generously on others will make you happier than spending on yourself. After all, there is a reason that Warren Buffett is delighted by his own plan to give away 99 percent of his wealth.

 

In 2008, O.J. Simpson’s improbable run of good fortune came to an end. At his sentencing, Simpson offered an apology, telling District Judge Jackie Glass he was “sorry, somewhat confused, [and] apologetic. I just wanted my personal things. I was stupid. I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was doing anything illegal. I thought I was confronting friends. I thought I was retrieving my things. I didn’t mean to hurt anybody, and I didn’t mean to steal anything.”

These were the words of a man desperately clinging to the hope that once again, his charm and charisma could rescue him. In a moment of opportunity, Simpson squandered his chance to take responsibility for a lifetime of seeking happiness in all the wrong places and damaging countless lives in the process.

Denise Brown, the sister of Nicole Brown-Simpson, offered a much more succinct and sincere assessment of all that had transpired.

“It is very sad to think that an individual who had it all, an amazing career, beautiful wife and two precious children, has ended up like this. Allowing wealth, power and control to consume himself, he made a horrific choice on June 12, 1994, which has spiraled into where he is today,” she lamented.

May we all strive to develop a healthier attitude toward wealth and never allow money to control our happiness.

 

8 Ways to Reduce the Doctors Price Tag

1.       Attend the cheapest medical school you can get in.
Education is what you make of it. You have been a driven self-starter all your life to even survive as pre-med. Truly a good doc is a good doc, no need for high price to prove it.

2.       Anchor ourselves, find happiness from within.
As much as the society, your mother in law expects you to have a “doctor’s” lifestyle, you don’t need to internalize those flashy, unsustainable stereotypes. Know that happiness, health, and beauty all comes from within, nothing expensive on the outside will adorn or hide the lack thereof on the insides.

3.       Pick your poison.
Human nature, we have desires. Denying all desires 100% of the time makes life horrible. Granting our desires 100% of the time makes us dirt poor and unable to retire at 75. Find a balance, pick your poison and be content.

4.       Walk the talk.
Health translates into wealth exponentially.

Focus on your health, physical, psychological, spiritual, and financial health. How can you be health care provider if you are not health yourself? True our career demands so much from us that it’s challenging to be stay healthy, more so than any other career. But we like challenge, that’s why we choose medicine as a way to serve. So now, rise up the challenge and exemplify the health that you teach your patients to work towards.

5.       Stop working for money; get money working.
It’s never worth your time to work for money. $1000/hour? $10,000/hour? No amount of money is truly worth your time. So stop working for money.
Put your money to work Today, no matter how little. Put Time value of money on your side.

6.       Let money follow us.
Stop going for the highest bidder of your labor, your time, your most precious asset. You choose medicine because you wanted to serve. Don’t lose sight of that. Look around you, identify the needs in your community and see how you can fill that need. As you focus your mind and energy on serving others, money will follow you.

7.       Frugal living, wealthy vacation.
Choose a low cost of living city to call home. Day to day make healthy financial choices such as skipping the latte that’s bad for both your health and your wealth.

Your home, after your student loan, is likely your largest liability. I call homes liabilities because they constantly take money out of your pocket, while appreciating at deplorably low rates. Frugalize your daily expenses; once in a while, you have the option to enjoy a luxury vacation.

This is the reason why I choose to live in Tucson rather than California, even though many of my loved ones are there. For the 14 years I was in California, I neither had the time or the money to enjoy all that it has to offer. For the short 2 years in Tucson, I embrace the incredible nature and outdoors, while maximizing both my health and wealth.

8.       Splurge on A few things your heart desires, don’t buy everything it fancies.
I splurge on things I care about without blinking an eye. I also don’t buy new shoes until there are holes in the bottom (holes on the sides don’t affect functionality of the shoes.)

My 8 year old, Mini Wise Money, learns and practices this philosophy by saving 95% of all her income (gift money, and work for DWM LLC,) while sporting her $72 Ann Taylor silver flip-flops with pride (I don’t agree, but she said she rather buy one thing she really likes than 10 little cheap things she likes so-so. Can’t argue with that.)

The doctor’s price tag is exorbitant. Don’t buy into that. Know what makes you happy (hint, things purchasable with money usually don’t make you happy, at least, not for long.)

 Personal Finance, Investing, Retirement, Practice Management, & Lifestyle More articles like this on Physician’s Money Digest.

$1,100 for 45 Minutes of Your Time

broadcast

I have always worked really hard: 7 jobs in college ranging from MCAT tutor, college chemistry TA, nanny, to care-taker for the disabled.

Then, I worked 2 jobs in medical school while full time mommying + full time studying.

Radiology resident: which pays 60k (starting this 7/1/2016) for 80 hour week

  • Medical Student for 4 years: 50k tuition and fees per year to study/work 100hrs/week
    • –> NEGATIVE $9.6/hr, not counting the horrendous 7% student loan interest that starts day 1 of med school.

Today, I have 4 jobs:

  • Radiology resident: which pays 60k (starting this 7/1/2016) for 80 hour week
    • –> $15.6/hr
  • Blogger: which pays me nothing so far (after expenses)
    • –> $0/hr
  • USMLE tutor: which pays me generously per hour as I’m own boss & have extensive track record of success, but I intentionally have very few clients throughout the entire year.
    • –> $130-$388/hr
  • Mommy: MWM is my #1 sources of expenses after mortgage, but like I had told her. She’s worth more than all the treasures in the world combined.
    • –> negative $0-200/hr depending on the nature of the activity Mini is doing

time is more valuable than moeny

So it is truly nice to make some $ that takes little of my time:

After all, time is the only irreplaceable resource in my life. Time can earn money, but money can’t buy back time.

This post will detail step-by-step how I made money by churning cash flow in the circle of money.

Steps:

  1. Go to https://online.citi.com/US/JRS/pands/detail.do?ID=AOProductSelection&JFP_TOKEN=9ZIHOTGY and open the cheapest/free Citibank online account
  2. Choose to fund the bank account with a CREDIT CARD
  3. Print out the authorization form. Complete form and fax it.
  4. Online account opened 10/2. Form faxed 10/5. Citibank gets deposit on 10/7. BOA is charged on 10/8. Funds available to pay bills 10/16 in $10,000 maximum increment. All funds paid back to credit card 10/21.
  5. The entire cycle takes 14 business days, well within grace period of credit card cycle.
  6. Each additional $10,000 you are moving will add additional 1 day to the cycle.

Caveats:

  1. Call the credit card you plan to use and lower your CASH ADVANCE limit to the minimum. This is protective mechanism. This prohibits your credit card company from charging the transaction (your funding a new Citibank checking account with the credit card) as a cash advance. Cash advance usually has INSTANT interest in the magnitude of 20-30%. You will lose way more than you make if your credit card company charges this transaction as cash advance.
  2. By lowering your cash advance limit and requesting an amount higher than your cash advance limit, you make sure that your credit card company can only process your transaction as a PURCHASE (and give you cash back/point rewards) OR block the transaction. This prevents you from paying more interest to the credit card company than the rewards you get from them.
account opened
You get this page after you successfully open your new Citibank checking account online. Next step is fax in the authorization form indicating how much you want charge your credit card to fund your new Citibank account.
 10/20/2015 Expand transaction for Transaction date: 10/20/2015PMT FROM BILL PAYER SERVICE Type Payment -$10,000.00 $13,973.70
 10/20/2015 Expand transaction for Transaction date: 10/20/2015PMT FROM BILL PAYER SERVICE Type Payment -$10,000.00 $23,973.70
 10/20/2015 Expand transaction for Transaction date: 10/20/2015PMT FROM BILL PAYER SERVICE Type Payment -$7,168.00 $33,973.70
 10/17/2015 Expand transaction for Transaction date: 10/17/2015PMT FROM BILL PAYER SERVICE Type Payment -$10,000.00 $41,141.70
 10/14/2015 Expand transaction for Transaction date: 10/14/2015PAYMENT – THANK YOU Type Payment -$142.00 $51,141.70
 10/08/2015 Expand transaction for Transaction date: 10/08/2015CITIBANK ONLINE OFALLON MO Type Purchases $37,168.00 $51,283.70

The above BOA credit card activity demonstrates how money is used to pay off the very credit card it was drawn from. So at the end of this, all that was charged on the BOA credit card when funding the new Citibank account was paid off by the money deposited into the Citibank.

Circle of money:

Charge BOA credit card –> Fund Citibank new checking account –> Pay off BOA credit card

Each cycle: 1.1% of the money moved was made as purchase associated, tax free cash rewards

Each cycle: takes me <30 minutes of work to complete; generates $550

That’s how I made $1,100/hr of my time spent

The credit card authorization form you need to fill out in order to fund your new Citibank account with your credit card:

Credit card autho filled in

You can also watch this YouTube video @ Dr WiseMoney for an explanation on how to do this.

I hope you make some tax-free money too. Banks are getting smarter & closing this highly lucrative (for common people like you & me) opportunity by lowering the limit of how much you can fund  a new checking account with a credit card or simply prohibiting credit card funding all together. But Citi-BOA combo worked for me (I can no longer do it anymore, my name is probably banned from the fact that Citibank effectively paid me $2,500 last year without gaining anything from me).

Hope it works for you! Give yourself a little pat on the back for all the hard earned dollars you with your day job.

Update: as of 7/14/16, Citibank prohibited funding new bank accounts with credit cards. But if you like to try still, it does not hurt. I just know that personally I am not able to do the same, I’d imagine because Citibank noticed that I had multiple open and closed accounts with them.

However, there are other banks out there that allow you to fund a new banking account with credit cards with various limits. Here’s a list. 

But make sure you read all the fine prints and avoid landmines such as the transaction being processed by your credit card company as “cash advance” rather than purchases. Do your research before you jump. If you are cautious and avoid the landmines, you get rewarded pretty heavily. Not to mention, if you are in a pinch and need cash, this is great way to borrow 0% to negative interest cash for a little while (12-21 months depending on the 0% APR promotional period of a card.)

Share your brilliant money making tips below 😉

Personal Finance, Investing, Retirement, Practice Management, & Lifestyle More articles like this on Physician’s Money Digest.