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If you're a physician seeking a better way to receive financial advice or just gather financial planning information without an embedded sales pitch, this is for you! 

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Monday, January 29, 2024

Friday, September 1, 2023

As fiduciaries, our job is to listen and learn about your life. Until we understand our clients’ perspective, we have no advice to give.

Tuesday, August 15, 2023

A 529 plan is a college saving investment account with some tax advantages, which can vary by state. Contributions can be tax deductible against your state income tax (if any), and growth is tax deferred.

Friday, July 21, 2023

“Good habits will make time your ally. Bad habits will make time your enemy.”From Atomic Habits by James Clear Depending on your life goals and financial goals, saving money early might be beneficial if accumulating a...

Thursday, June 1, 2023

Use this chart to identify a few of the most common account types with a brief description about how they are taxed, how they can be used, and how they pass after death.

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Wednesday, May 24, 2023

Choosing the proper account type is a fundamental task in financial planning that shouldn’t be overlooked. If you can gather some basic knowledge on how each account works, and then pair that with your stated financial goals, you...

Thursday, March 9, 2023

SECURE Act 2.0 paved the way for unused 529 college saving plans to be rolled into Roth IRAs. While this headline looks groundbreaking, there are some fine details that make this ruling less impactful than it sounds.

Thursday, March 9, 2023

The basic rules of the Roth IRA haven’t changed too much from 2022 to 2023, but the contribution limits have been adjusted slightly.

Thursday, February 23, 2023

Late last year, the SECURE (Setting Every Community Up for Retirement Enhancement) Act 2.0 was enacted, which brought about changes in many retirement plans. The actual bill is over 4,000 pages in length, so while the bill is...

Friday, January 13, 2023

One of the more fundamental financial decisions a person makes is contributing to a retirement plan. In most hospital systems, the retirement plan options are 403(b)s (and 457 plans, although 457 plans technically are not retirement...

Friday, October 21, 2022

What you choose to do -- or not do -- passes directly to the next generation, for better or worse. 

Thursday, September 29, 2022

I feel like I downplay the importance of life insurance all too often, but the reality is that life insurance is an extremely important component to financial planning. Getting the insurance component correct can be the difference in a...

Monday, September 12, 2022

Many cities in the US require cars to commute to work, get kids to school, and go explore. A car is an essential tool in our lives, and I often get asked if it’s a better decision to buy a car or to lease one. Here are some...

Tuesday, August 23, 2022

Put the "Back to School" in your financial planning by getting back to the basics in your savings plan. Your savings plan can elevate your future with a little structure.

Friday, July 22, 2022

Have you ever read a news headline and immediately felt uneasy or even a sense of doom? Then after reading the article, the report barely fits with the headline! The headlines I see for financial markets are guilty of this tactic. It...

Tuesday, June 14, 2022

An easy, step-by-step infographic chart showing the steps needed to apply for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program.

Saturday, June 11, 2022

The steps for applying for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) can be intimidating. Please use this guide as way to utilize potential benefits available to certain student loan borrows.

Thursday, June 2, 2022

Selling your house is often an adrenaline rush of excitement, mixed with leaving behind the nest in which you’ve stored memories of friends and family. It’s such a weird mix of happy and sad. It’s such an emotional...

Monday, May 23, 2022

Why are student loans being forgiven through Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)? Can we trust the student loan forgiveness program? Here's a quick opinion on student loans and the economy.

Friday, May 13, 2022

W-2 income and 1099 income each have benefits and drawbacks. Here is summary of a few of the pros and cons of each for the financial planning of physicians making job, income, and investment decisions.

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Physician mortgages can be a great tool for physicians to purchase a home, but it's important to understand how a physician mortgage works.

Tuesday, April 12, 2022

Thursday, February 10, 2022

Monday, February 7, 2022

Aside from funding an HSA and paying health expenses on a tax-free basis, HSAs have some additional benefits. Any leftover funds in an HSA are carried over to the next year, and the funds stay invested until utilized.

Tuesday, February 1, 2022

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

Tuesday, January 18, 2022

Money is emotional, and many people don't fully understand their relationship with it. It's possible that mishandling money could be a sign of a deeper issue.

Tuesday, January 4, 2022

Make a new year resolution in 2022 to prioritize your financial plan. Here are a few tips to help!

Saturday, December 18, 2021

Wednesday, December 15, 2021

Monday, December 6, 2021

Backdoor Roth contributions are going away in 2022. What else is changing with Roth IRAs in 2022?

Friday, October 15, 2021

It’s time to be thinking about enrolling in benefits. For many companies, benefit enrollment begins in October or November, so now is a great time to look ahead at 2022. Benefits enrollment gives you a chance to review what did...

Monday, October 11, 2021

Once you have identified your budget and minimum amount of savings you need to put back each month, your bank account should continue to grow accordingly. The next step is to determine the account balance you need for your cash and...

Monday, October 4, 2021

Tuesday, September 28, 2021

Knowing your basic expenses is a critical component to financial planning. To a certain extent, a budget helps to keep expenses down; however, at certain levels of income, depending on monthly overhead, a budget can become somewhat...

Thursday, September 16, 2021

Understanding capital gains taxation is critical to success in financial planning. In its most basic form, capital gains tax is straightforward: where there is monetary gain realized, a tax is due. I think one of the more confusing...

Thursday, September 2, 2021

September is Life Insurance awareness month, so to be festive, here are a few quick observations on decision-making and life insurance. 1. The amount of life insurance is more important than the type of life insurance: There are...

Monday, July 19, 2021

Please share this with a resident physician! If you haven't already, you should consider applying for Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF)! Here's the application. Feel welcome to reach out for help! The PSLF program allows certain...

Monday, June 21, 2021

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

There are simple tasks you can do to practice some basic estate planning endeavors which can have a huge impact on your loved ones. One of the easiest and most fundamental tasks you can complete is to check your beneficiaries on your...

Monday, May 17, 2021

Time Value of Money is an important concept. Here is a brief description.

Friday, April 9, 2021

On the outside, mutual funds and Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) look quite similar. Both mutual funds and ETFs are basically prepackaged groupings of stocks, bonds, and/or possibly alternative investments. In fact, a mutual fund and an...

Monday, March 29, 2021

Thursday, March 11, 2021

Why is purchasing life insurance so confusing and complicated? For many, purchasing a life insurance policy is an important decision. It’s often the first step taken in estate planning, and it involves a complex thought process...

Monday, December 21, 2020

There’s not a perfect financial planning vehicle in existence. Salary deferral plans, like many retirement plans and 457 plans, carry pros and cons. Many hospital systems have a combination of 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans. The...

Wednesday, December 9, 2020

I’ve had several conversations with physician families who wanted to make sure their children’s needs came first in their financial planning considerations. This is the case so much that the desire to create a savings...

Wednesday, October 28, 2020

From online calculators to mortgage approval rates, there’s so much information published about how much you can spend on a house. With all this information available, I always get asked how much can someone spend on a new house....

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Friday, October 23, 2020

In medicine, evidence-based research is the standard by which the best care is achieved. Evidence-based information points to proof that something works in a given situation. When it comes to biological pathways, the human body often...

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Quite often, I get asked from physicians if they should max out their retirement programs through their respective hospital systems. With benefit elections right around the corner, it's a good question to be asking. Here's quick video...

Sunday, August 2, 2020

Without question, 2020 has been tumultuous to say the least. There is still unknown fallout from the covid-19 pandemic, and there’s a great movement demanding social justice. The stock market has seen unprecedented volatility,...

Thursday, July 2, 2020

For physicians specifically, a break from work, and having something to look forward to is an invaluable commodity. With covid-19 enforcing restrictions on both interstate and intrastate travel, the actual importance of physically...

Tuesday, June 23, 2020

In a topic that’s generally avoided at all costs by most people, my wife and I had a very deep discussion about our own end of life preferences a few weeks ago. For us, it’s never been uncomfortable to discuss this topic,...

Friday, May 15, 2020

It’s unreal how threatening germs can be; a single infection quickly escalates into a worldwide pandemic. Hospitals overflowed, economies halted, and markets cratered. We live in some crazy times. Stress continues to be a concern...

Thursday, April 2, 2020

With covid-19 well underway and impacting everything from the economy to everyday life, here are a few financial planning strategies during a crisis. 1.Understand your budget. During uncertain times, spending usually reverts to a...

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

At my chess club in college (how cool is that?), we played each player for about 30 minutes or so in a blitz-style (quick game) format, so it resulted in playing about 2 games in each 30-minute round. One time I got paired up with a...

Monday, February 3, 2020

In a young physician’s life, financially speaking, the single most important aspect to financial well-being has nothing to do with money; it has nothing to do with investments; it has nothing to do with budgeting and saving. I...

Friday, January 24, 2020

When it comes to doctors, having an emergency fund is nearly always a good idea. An emergency fund is a liquid – or accessible – reserve of money in the event a larger-than-normal sum of money is needed. Generally, these...

Thursday, December 12, 2019

In medical school, residency, and fellowship, there’s really no such thing as too much, financially speaking. It’s all a grind to pay bills, feed your family, and make it to work on time. After training, there’s a...

Thursday, November 21, 2019

With family and friends traveling to be together for the holidays, I think it’s important – at appropriate times – to understand what family members are doing with their money and estate planning. As the kids get...

Tuesday, November 5, 2019

While nearly everyone could benefit from a financial advisor, not everyone is able or willing to use one at certain times. Additionally, not everyone who uses a financial advisor would use him or her at the same capacity as others....

Monday, September 16, 2019

About a decade ago I had my first doctor client, and part of what they wanted to discuss was budgeting in order to save more. They just got new jobs and wanted some general planning for the sake of making good decisions. Software for...

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Medical residents and fellows have always been in an interesting situation. It's a kind of "stuck between a rock and a hard place" type of situation. Residents and fellows are embarking on the foothills of their career and obtaining...

Tuesday, September 3, 2019

Lately I’ve been introduced to clients with wildly unsuitable products and recommendations that have been implemented. It’s as if financial advice is solely intended to sell products, even if there is no need for products....

Thursday, August 22, 2019

Most of the individuals I work with are young physicians, so I ofetn guide people through their student loans. I’ve spent months trying to understand the government student loan repayment logic (depending on the loan servicer,...

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

We’ve been preparing for a beach vacation, and every detail had been arranged and crafted for a sun-soaked visit to the Gulf Ocean. That is, until Hurricane Barry rained us out. Not only would the hurricane/tropical storm flood...

Thursday, June 27, 2019

One of the biggest secrets in the world of insurance is an “Umbrella Insurance” policy. It’s a secret for three main reasons: Consumers aren’t actively educated about it because the insurance marketplace is so...

Monday, June 17, 2019

I’m the best man at my brother’s wedding; I’m excited for him, and I’m honored be the best man. But I am to give a speech. Public speaking isn’t an issue; it’s just that this is an important day. The...

Friday, May 31, 2019

Getting in shape is tough these days. Just finding time is often tough for me. Between meetings and deadlines, carting the kids to school and activities (almost every night there seems to be a different activity), making dinner, and...

Thursday, May 23, 2019

I was driving home the other day and I saw a turtle on the side of the road. It had made it all the way across the street, only to be stopped by a curb. The turtle obviously couldn't jump the curb, so even though it completely crossed...