Financial planning for physicians
Medicine asks for most of your twenties and a fair share of your thirties. By the time the income arrives, several of the decisions that determine what it does have already been made.
I work with physicians. That is the whole practice. Student loans and repayment options during training. The jump from resident pay to attending income, and the tax bill that arrives with it. Protection that has to be put in place young. Buying into a practice, and eventually leaving one.
It is a narrow focus on purpose. The same questions come up again and again in this profession, and having seen them play out many times is worth more than being broadly familiar with everything.
Residents and fellows, attendings in their first years of practice, and physicians a decade in who want the pieces seen as one picture rather than five separate problems.
How I Work
Most people arrive with one question and find out it is connected to four others. The loan question turns out to be a where-are-you-practicing question. The house question turns out to be a how-long-are-you-staying question. Untangling that is most of the job.
From there, our work tends to cover:
- Where things actually stand – A clear view of the current position and what you are trying to get it to do.
- Cash flow with intent – Income and assets pointed deliberately at short and long term goals rather than absorbed by default.
- Tradeoffs laid out – Conversations about the options, to help you make educated decisions.
- The whole picture – Strategies that can consider everything at once rather than one piece in isolation.
If You Are Still in Training
Still in residency or fellowship? That is a different conversation, and it starts here.
When You Own Part of the Practice
Ownership adds a second set of questions to an already complicated financial life. Entity structure, buy-sell agreements, what happens if a partner leaves, and eventually what happens when you do.
The practice and the household can be looked at together rather than handed to two people who never speak.
Experience and Background
I have been working in the financial industry since 1999. After college I earned an MBA and built a career advising individuals and families through complicated financial decisions, and over time that work concentrated almost entirely on physicians. I hold the CFP® certification, the CEPA designation, and an MBA.
Life Outside the Office
My wife Lisa and I have three children, and they are in three very different places right now. Isabella is building her own business, Noah is learning a trade, and Lane just started high school.
Much of how I think about planning comes from being a husband and father. Like most of the families I work with, I know the decisions that matter most are rarely only financial.