Unique financial complexities for physicians
You’re probably acutely aware of how you stand out from other professionals. For one, you not only spent years in medical school but you also invested an extended period in training before you started earning a “real salary” in a job with more “normal” hours. For another, the comparatively “normal” hours of a practicing physician to those of a resident or fellow aren’t all that normal compared to the non-medical world. And you likely started off your career with mountains of debt, while your peers in other professions were already years into saving for retirement and their earlier milestones.
Yes, physicians are high-income earners. But you’re also faced with sky-high taxes, in addition to paying down your debt, catching up on saving and making the right investments to get you on track quickly. You also have to consider additional expenses that many other professionals don’t have to worry about.
For instance, do you have all the right insurance in place? In addition to all the various life and healthcare insurances, you may need disability insurance, accident insurance, liability insurance, umbrella liability insurance and more. Naturally, there are different kinds of policies and values for each of these types of insurance—some better for certain individuals than others. Do you have the best combination, and are they all coordinated with your legal plans to best benefit yourself and your family?
In the bigger picture, there are many different strategies to drive down what you owe in taxes while building up what you have to save and invest. But each individual will benefit from a different combination of these strategies, and you need to have a deep understanding of tax law, financial markets and instruments, and the various other complexities involved to make the best decisions for you.
A need to look to the future and live in the present
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed at the prospect of closely analyzing all these aspects of your finances. You may be tempted to throw up your hands and just hope that things work out. Or you may become so worried about covering all your bases and planning for the future that you don’t feel you can enjoy where you are in life right now.
Neither of these positions is where you want to be. Stress and uncertainty should not be the names of the game when it comes to physician financial management.
This is where physician lifestyle planning comes into play.
When you work with a financial planning expert to map out your financial management holistically, you can take into consideration every unique component of who you are, what you want out of life now and down the road, and how you want to take care of your family. The aim of physician lifestyle planning is to give you a blueprint that allows you to enjoy your life now, confidently relaxing in the knowledge that your daily financial decisions are keeping you on the right path to achieve your personal milestones from now through retirement.
What does this look like? In the Prolific Process™, we not only pin down all the particulars about where your income comes and goes but also your long-term goals and your current priorities. For instance, are you saving to purchase your dream home or a vacation home? Do you have multiple children who will be attending college? Do you hope to one day launch your own business or foundation? Do you dream of a trip around the world after you retire? These sorts of personal milestones all require advance planning and careful decisions.
At the same time, what is important to you today? Do you want to send your children to private schools? Is it important for you to be a regular donor to specific charities or causes? Do you have a passion for supporting the arts? Are your international vacations what keep you going through the pressures of the rest of the year?
There can be room for both your ongoing lifestyle priorities and your long-term goals, but they have to be balanced strategically. In physician lifestyle planning, we work with you to simulate different lifestyle scenarios so you can see in concrete numbers what both your current and future circumstances would look like based on different financial decisions.
We put together a detailed playbook that encompasses every financial management aspect, from tax and wealth management to insurance, retirement and estate planning. You’re empowered to make the best financial decisions, knowing what impact they will have on your life.
It’s important, too, to realize that physician lifestyle planning is not a one-time occurrence but rather an ongoing process. We regularly review your plan throughout the year to ensure you are getting the best outcomes, and we make refinements accordingly. Your family, career and other circumstances also will evolve over time—and your lifestyle planning should evolve with them.
Ready to change your game? When you opt for physician lifestyle planning, you can live with confidence, knowing you’re doing just what you need to do for the outcomes you’re looking for.