Blog Posts

By John Fales

The financial demands on your life as a doctor will be unique in every stage of your career. From your education to residency, first years to a seasoned career, and career closure to retirement, a financial plan can guide you through a fulfilling career in medicine and help build your legacy.

Here are some questions we often hear from residents and new physicians:

By Michael J. Searcy

Are there financial decisions you need to be making or actions you need to be taking that you’ve put off because you don’t think you have time to make a decision? Consider this scenario…A man is told that due to his family’s health history, he needs to start having an annual physical earlier than normally suggested. He’s busy and knows his health needs attending to and he’s been feeling some discomfort, but doesn’t make time to speak with his insurance or find a doctor. When his wife asks if he’s scheduled his physical, he says “I haven’t made a decision yet.” However, as a medical professional, you realize he has made a decision. Putting off a decision or action does not mean that you haven’t made one. It just means that you’ve chosen your default option. In this case, the man has made a decision to avoid checking his current health status and possibly lose out on catching an issue early.

By Michael J. Searcy

According to the Medscape Physician Compensation Report for 2017, the top physician earners were orthopedists, plastic surgeons and cardiologists, earning an average of $446,333 per year. The lowest earners were pediatricians, endocrinologists and family physicians, earning an average of $210,333 per year. By many accounts, these salaries are high, but they don’t show the whole financial story of a physician. They don’t show that in 2016, the average salary for a resident was $56,500 and that many are in the resident stage for 6-8 years. They don’t show that 40% of residents have over $200,000 in medical school debt or that 41% of physicians in their early 40s are still trying to pay off their student loans. Physicians are not immune to debt; here are some questions about debt we frequently hear:

By Michael J. Searcy

As you navigate through the financial stages of your life as a physician, careful planning not only prepares you for each stage, but also helps you maximize your time in each and fulfill goals along the way. The work-life balance for a busy physician can become lopsided when your priorities are not defined. We often hear physician clients who enter retirement say, “I wish I would have spent more time focusing on the things I love along the way.” Consider these goals and action items that are important during the 5 typical financial stages of life:

By Michael J. Searcy

The average age of a first-year practicing physician in the U.S. is 31. This puts young physicians nearly 10 years behind their same-age peers when it comes to their number of earning years. Because young physicians can quickly go from very low pay during school and residency to very high amounts of pay, the first 10 years in practice are critical for building a solid financial foundation.