“Adrian, I never thought I’d have to budget for groceries,” said a new doctor at a recent meeting. He was a surgeon and I was surprised by his comment.
He shrugged, “I’ve spent so much time being a broke student, that even now, although I’m working my dream job, I worry about money —even grocery money!”
His words have been stuck in my head ever since.
In preparation for my upcoming 2nd book “Retire’ish”, many doctors have been kind enough to share some time with me, providing me incredibly valuable insights and thoughts they share with each other about their finances and investing.
This one line though, caught me off guard.
“Many of my colleagues felt that once they were staff, the days of having to watch their pennies were behind them,” he added.
Would you be surprised to read I’ve seen this concern just as much with longer-term doctors at the higher end of the income spectrum as well?
Wherever you land on your income, I’ve seen how financial concerns impact doctors. From feeling guilty about taking a vacation, “Shouldn’t I be saving the money instead?”, to unnecessarily delaying retirement, “If I keep working, I don’t have to worry about it.”.
I’ve thought a lot about what this young doctor told me.
Yes, the cost of living, especially groceries, has skyrocketed. Interest rates have come up from historic lows, further eating into your disposable income (or requiring more to be taken from your Prof Corp at very high tax rates!).
The solutions aren’t simple either. Because while those may be your symptoms, your own history can also be at play.
How Does Your History Affect Your Finances?
You may come from a background where you’re the first in your family to become a doctor, or you have an expectation to help pay for your parents. (Or both!)
You may have experienced lean years growing up, or maybe you didn’t get much support while you were in med school. You probably spent many years eating the cheapest foods you could find and you certainly weren’t going on any holidays.
Those financial habits are hard to break. And while you learned a ton of great stuff at med school —you probably didn’t learn how to properly create wealth once you were OUT of med school.
New doctors tend to either spend a lot of money quickly because of the feeling of financial freedom, OR they hang tightly onto their money just as they did in school.
But you don’t need to stay stuck feeling guilty. A couple of months ago, Dr. Paul Duffy was kind enough to share his top financial tip in my newsletter.
“My best advice to a new doc is to start retirement planning the day you start work. Don’t wait to make a plan, start early and make it part of your routine. It gives you a sense of security, knowing you’ve been proactive. The future version of you will thank you!”
I couldn’t agree more.
At every stage of your life, you need a personal financial plan that:
· provides a strategy for your debt repayment
· incorporates a good lifestyle that balances today with tomorrow
· has the risk management in place to ensure your goals will happen
· gives you security. Knowing how much you actually need to carve from your income, means you’ll stop second-guessing every purchase
New doctors tend to either spend a lot of money quickly because of the feeling of financial freedom,
OR they hang tightly onto their money just as they did in school.
The best time to plan was yesterday. The next best time is today. Tomorrow is reserved for keeping your plan on track (and thanking your today self!). Having a plan takes away stress vs adding to it. You know exactly where your money is and what you want to do with it.
And once you have the right plan for you?
You can ditch the guilt about going on a vacation or buying the expensive pineapple at the grocery store.
I think I just heard your sigh of relief!
Enjoyed this article? I’d love to hear from you! I’m always interested in hearing about the unique financial situations doctors have. Send me a note! And make sure to check out my Amazon bestseller, The Doctor’s Handbook: 5 principles of wealth you weren’t taught in med school.
