White Coat Investor Podcast

What general market trends do we see during election seasons? What usually happens if a Republican president wins a second term? What usually happens if a Republican president were to lose to a Democrat? If the office were to change hands, what is the usual market trend during the lame duck period and also just after a new president takes office? More importantly what should you do with your portfolio based on these trends? We dive into this past market data in this episode, find some interesting trends, and give some warnings on what you should do. Spoiler: Please don't make any huge changes to your investing plan based on how the election is going, what is in the political news, even what is in the economic news. If you are finding our podcasts informative and helpful, check out our website! Since 2011 we have been working hard to provide valuable personal finance and investing information through thousands of blog posts written by an array of authors. You can find information on how to manage your student

Practicing evidence-based medicine is important to physicians, looking at data and changing our practice according to it. Our guest in this episode, Larry Swedroe, has been a proponent of evidence-based investing for a long-time. His teachings have affected me over the years and certainly affected my portfolio construction. In this interview we talk about the limited data set in finance in comparison to other more scientific fields and how much we can rely on that retrospective data going forward. We discuss portfolio construction, alternative asset classes, recommended strategies for spending down assets in retirement, and investment mistakes smart investors make. Are you a smart investor? Find out in today’s episode.  Did you know that the White Coat Investor not only has a podcast and a blog but several books that will help you on your way to financial independence. These books cover topics such as asset protection and minimizing your taxes to keep more of your hard earned money. They discuss plans for ins

What does it take to become a millionaire? Hear the experiences of seven millionaires in this episode talk about how they did it. You may recall we did our first episode with physician millionaires the start of 2020. People loved hearing from these successful doctors and what they did to win financially, but they wanted more women represented. So all seven guests today are female, 6 physicians and an engineer. We talk about similar stuff to what we did last episode, how they did it, their mindset, what their money is invested in, but also discuss what it is like as a woman to have a career as a higher earner and be able to build wealth. Did their gender hold them back in that pursuit or not? What were their keys to success? What advice do they have for those who are a decade or two behind them, wondering, “can I, as a woman, become a millionaire still? If you go and look at the data, it is a pretty small percentage of physicians in their 60s that have a net worth more than $5 million. It is awesome to have se

What changes when you make partner? When you become a partner, you go from being an employee to being an owner. So, there are lots of financial changes. See the full show notes here https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/classic-blog/ I'm a big fan of ownership and think generally becoming a partner is the right move for your career. There are more risks and hassle to being a partner but more rewards and profits as well. We discuss the advantages and responsibilities to becoming a partner in a practice including getting K-1s instead of W-2s, making quarterly estimated tax payments, writing off legitimate business expenses, paying for your own benefits and understanding retirement accounts available to you. In this episode listener questions are also answered about losing faith in long term market returns, being an accredited investor, value tilting your portfolio, what to do with your cash, tax gain harvesting, and the pro-rata rule. At some point in our financial lives, it will be time to buy a home. A physician

What is it like to practice medicine in Australia? Our guest in this episode walks us through the training and practicing of physicians in the land down under. We talk about what the medical system is like in Australia as well as how physicians are compensated. From time to time we bring doctors on the show from other countries, we've had a British physician and a doctor who trained in Venezuela on. It is fun to dive into the medical world of another country. Sometimes in the U.S. we get these almost blinders on and think we're the only country in the world. We don't really realize that there are a lot of lessons that could be learned from other countries, that we can really apply in our own lives to simplify both our medical system and our financial system. I think you will find this interview really interesting.  I estimate that 80% of doctors need, want, and should use a financial advisor and/or an investment manager. Some investment gurus such as Dr. William Bernstein think my estimate is way too low. At

Your financial planning after having a child with special needs will be different than you might have otherwise anticipated. In this episode we talk about 6 aspects of financial planning that are important to understand when you are in this situation. Your investing horizon is no longer your lifetime. It is now your child's lifetime. Government resources available to your child will affect your financial planning. You will need to look at your life, disability, and health insurance differently as a parent with a child with special needs. The benefits of an individual educational plan at school will help with the financial aspect of raising a child with special needs.  Some states provide better benefits to those living with disabilities, both while in school and as adults. This could play a part in the decision you make of where to live with your child. ABLE accounts and irrevocable trusts are also discussed.  For those not in this situation we also cover many listener questions in this episode, including con

I have been asked for several years if any doctors have received public service loan forgiveness. Public Service Loan Forgiveness first became available in 2007. Since it is a ten year program, the first eligible recipients would be in 2017 but for various reasons a lot of people aren't going to be eligible for it until 2021-2023. Mostly because the program was not very well known when it first came out, as the doctor will mention in this episode. But I am excited to bring two special guests on the podcast today. I have been waiting to have guests like this on for three years. In this episode I interview Mariko and Dan about their experience working through the PSLF program for ten years and their recent success of receiving forgiveness. We talk about their experience with the phone calls, documentation, and time they put into fixing all the mistakes made by their student loan servicers. They share tips for those following in their footsteps. If you are thinking about going for PSLF or are currently working t

When faced with making a decision you may find yourself with the inability to act due to overthinking the available alternatives and possible outcomes. This is commonly known as analysis paralysis. When you get analysis paralysis with finances, what often happens is you are so worried about making a mistake that you don't do anything at all. The more money you have, the worse this can be. When you don't make a choice to invest, you are making a choice. You're making a choice to invest in cash. If that is not the decision that you want to make, then you need to fix your paralysis. Leaving money sitting in an account earning close to nothing is not going to give you the same long term returns as investing in stocks, bonds, and real estate. Fixing analysis paralysis with your finances starts with having a written investment plan. We talk in more detail about that in this episode so you have a plan on what to do with your money. No more wading through dozens of books at the library, scrolling through hundreds of

In this episode we take a look at the financial life of a physician earning seven figures. I think it will be enlightening because you can compare and contrast your life and think about the things you can do better and the decisions and tradeoffs you've made over your career to be in a different place than our guest. I think there are a lot of lessons to learn from examining the finances of a financially successful physician. Tom and I discuss the role ownership of a practice has played in his financial success as well as employing other physicians and advance practice clinicians. We look at the decisions he has made about his payor mix and procedure mix. We talk about the role luck, talent, and hard work had on his success. Being a good negotiator has been important to his success. Of course when making this much money taxes are discussed and we can't ignore the real difference geographical arbitrage has on physician incomes.  With an income this high all of a sudden you can pay off your debts and reach most

Robinhood has been taking the investing world by storm the last few months. I thought it would be worth mentioning a few things about Robinhood on the podcast. Robinhood is just a brokerage account. It does have no commissions and allows you to buy fractional shares so it is convenient for people without a lot of money.  It has become a bit of a cultural phenomenon, particularly attracting young people who have never invested before. The problem is that it tends to inculcate people with a trader's mentality, making investing fun and exciting. Everything that good investing is not. There are dangers to Robinhood and this trader's mentality that I discuss in this episode to hopefully help you avoid the perils of day trading. I also answer reader and listener questions about the finances of starting your own practice, whether it make sense to invest in bonds in a taxable account when you have a mortgage, making estimated tax payments as a W2 employee with 1099 income, what to do with a 401k when you leave your e

Our guest this week is one of my favorite writers. Morgan Housel is a partner at The Collaborative Fund and a former columnist at The Motley Fool and The Wall Street Journal.  His passion for finance and investing come through in his writing. I am intensely jealous when I look at his writing because of his talent. He is insightful and easy to read.  He takes complex and important topics and makes them simple to understand. We really dive into behavioral finance topics in this episode. My favorite piece of his was called The Psychology of Money and was the base for his new book coming out September 8th. It is filled with so many pearls that it should be required reading for humans. I pull a few of those pearls out today and discuss them. We talk about some of "the flaws, biases, and causes of bad behavior" he has seen often when people deal with money. Listen to the episode and go pre-order his book. It will almost surely be a best seller and definitely on my recommended reading list.  Still not sure what to d

Asset location is something that is completely missed by a lot of otherwise pretty financially sophisticated people. So I do a deep dive into this topic in today's episode before answering listener questions. Asset location is basically that process of dividing up your investments into your various accounts. Each of them have different issues and are taxed in a different way. This has some bearing on how your investments perform and which investments should be going into which of these various types of accounts.  Unfortunately it is a rather complicated discussion. There are some rules of thumb, but very few absolutes. However if you get this right, it can be worth a million dollars or more. So it is worth looking at, but perhaps not obsessing over. We go over six principles of asset location that you should be aware of in this episode as well as some basic tips that you should follow if you are trying to invest tax efficiently. Listener questions that we discuss today include the new charitable deduction tha

This is part 2 of the lively debate between Rick Ferri and Paul Merriman where we continue the discussion on the pros and cons of factor investing. See part 1 here https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/rick-ferri-versus-paul-merriman-on-factor-investing-podcast-169/ They both are just a wealth of information and experience, plus their humility makes it all the more impressive in how much you can learn from them. It is fun to have a little bit of back and forth between them as they talk to each other about how they really feel about tilting your portfolio. We also delve into the 40 pages of questions that you sent into ask these men, talking about investing in gold, what to do about low bond returns, preferred stocks, and what they would do differently in their investing career if they could go back and do it again. If you’re looking to Boost Returns, Lower Taxes & Build Wealth, join the WCI monthly Real Estate Opportunities list for tips and strategies to maximize your real estate returns and for introduction

This episode we have Rick Ferri and Paul Merriman on the WCI podcast at the same time for a lively debate on the pros and cons of factor investing. These are two opinion leaders who have affected the investing views of literally millions of investors. When I told you I was bringing them on the show I received 40 pages of questions to ask them about asset classes, changing your asset allocation, small cap value and other factor investments as well as total market investing. We talk about the historical performance of these investments. We really delve into the details of factor investing and whether it is right for you. This may be an interview you need to listen to more than once, there is so much to learn from these giants in the industry.  If you’re like most doctors, nobody taught you anything about personal finance or investing during your undergrad, professional school, or residency. And even though your family - and perhaps even your business - rely on you to be the Chief Financial Officer, you have nev

Should you pull money out of retirement accounts or skip investing in retirement accounts in order to invest in real estate? No. With this pandemic and change in physician incomes, many have been looking at other sources of income outside their medical practice.  I worry when someone is being told to pull money out of their retirement accounts before they need to spend it in retirement or before required to by the government. I think you need to be a little bit worried anytime someone is recommending against something that is so beneficial to you, like retirement accounts are for doctors.  But I totally understand that real estate investing is really attractive to people. It is a great asset class with a lot of benefits. I never invested in real estate, outside of retirement accounts, until I had maxed out my retirement accounts. I recommend you do the same. In this episode I discuss why with the tax benefits, estate planning benefits and asset protection benefits provided you in retirement account contributi

You need a budget. Even for a high income earner a budget is a necessary tool. The higher your income, the simpler your budget might be. But the potential for positive impact is so much higher with a higher income. You want to be extremely intentional with your money because it can be really powerful. In this episode I interview Jesse Mecham, the founder of You Need a Budget, We talk about the budgeting philosophy behind the software and the four rules of budgeting. Some people might say the budgeting is just common sense, but yet so many people don't seem to be able to figure it out without some kind of help from an app like YNAB. They think that budgeting means dieting and it doesn't. It just means planning. They think budgeting means restriction, about spending less. Jesse tells us budgeting means you should spend guilt less. Enjoy this interview with a successful entrepreneur. Hopefully you will be inspired to get a budget in place! Did you know that the White Coat Investor not only has a podcast and a bl

I love Vanguard. I think it is great to have a real mutual fund/brokerage company that is owned by the investors and run at cost. Their low costs and passive investing has done wonders for the investment industry. However, things are maybe not the same as they were years ago, as far as Vanguard and its competitors. Fidelity and Schwab are now competing with Vanguard on price by offering their index funds at a lower expense ratio. But is that a reason to move your assets away from Vanguard? I don't think so and I talk about why in this episode. But Vanguard has it's issues and I discuss those in this episode too. I think if they're not a little bit more careful, they may see that they really have serious competition for gathering assets.   Love what you hear on the podcast? Looking for more great White Coat Investor content? Head over to our YouTube channel where you can watch video recordings of our podcast, short snippets of financial tips explained succinctly by me and others, and deep dives into topics for

Direct primary care has been described as revolutionizing primary care in medicine. Our guest in this episode is Dr. Aimee Ostick, a direct primary care physician, https://healthandhealingdpc.com/dr-ostick, who describes DPC as the impossible made simple. We talk about what direct primary care medicine is, how to transition a typical primary care practice into a direct primary care practice, and she shares her experience starting and running a DPC practice. I don't know if DPC is quite a revolution yet, but it certainly is the way I would be running my practice if I were a primary care doctor. We discuss the advantages of this model both for the physician and the patient as well as the potential challenges of starting and continuing a DPC practice. I think this model can work for many specialties and would love to see medicine transition to this more transparent way of practicing. At some point in our financial lives, it will be time to buy a home. A physician mortgage can be a good vehicle for a young doctor

Maxing out your retirement accounts will make estate planning easier, give you better asset protection, you'll pay less in taxes, all while your investments grow. A tax protected retirement account provides all this for you, whether it is a tax deferred accounts like a 401(k)s or tax free accounts like Roth 401(k)s and Roth IRAs. Whichever one you choose to use, you are almost always better off than investing in a taxable account. We cover the downsides in this episode but they are not very big in comparison to the upsides of maxing out retirement accounts. These accounts are protected in case of bankruptcy. A 401(k) contribution gives you a tax break up front. You can rebalance within the account without a cost for buying and selling or a tax consequence.  And you will almost surely take that money out of the account at a lower tax rate than you put it in. It is important to understand that a tax deferred retirement account is your biggest tax break. I discuss the different types of retirement accounts in th

If you are not financial independent you need to have a disability insurance policy in place. About one out of every five doctors over the course of their career uses a long-term disability policy. If you don't protect your income, what really is protected? It is really foundational to your financial plan. You need to have a policy in place that will replace a large portion of your income if you get disabled so you can continue moving forward with your plan. If you get disabled and you can't actually earn your income, then all of that effort you put into your financial plan goes out the window. I have been collecting disability questions from you for several weeks. I brought Matt Wiggins from Pattern Insurance www.whitecoatinvestor.com/pattern on this episode to help answer questions and give some additional information as an insurance agent. In this episode we talk about the three D's of disability insurance - definitions, discounts, and deadlines, pregnancy and disability insurance, the top insurance compan