“Adrian – you’ve got two guilt-ridden clients on your hands! We always feel guilty when we spend money on something that’s not paying off our student loans. We’re so anxious about money that even though we’re both working now, it’s hard to see the big picture.” Francis said. She sighed and her shoulders slumped.
“We want to go on trips with our children, but when we do, we feel like we should have put that money against our debt, or into our RSPs. We just don’t get to enjoy our vacation as much as we should be.” John added.
I get it. It’s tough to go from being a conscientious saver to loosening up the reins a little.
Relationships with money can sometimes be very easy, or sometimes very difficult, often even in the same household. There are so many factors which influence you: from the lifestyle you had growing up; or comparing how others spend their money; or maybe having felt a cash-flow crunch yourself.
Your money shouldn’t make you feel guilty.
“How has your situation changed since you started practicing?” I asked them.
They thought about it for a moment, each wanting the other to start.
“Well, I guess the biggest thing we’ve done is to pay down our loans aggressively with our higher incomes. We also added in an extra trip each year.” John replied.
“I just wish we didn’t feel so guilty about taking it.” Francis added.
“You’re not alone…far from it.” I said.
“You had your thrifty money habits all through med school, and now, even with a higher income, old habits die hard. This is something many physicians struggle with.”
“They nodded.”Yep. That’s us!” said Francis.
“It also doesn’t help that the financial industry overly complicates your options. It’s why I like to simplify things for my clients. There are really only four places you can allocate your income.”
You can save it.
You can spend it.
You can pay it down.
You can protect it.
“First of all – we need to help you ditch the guilt. You need to have some fun with the money you’ve both worked so hard for.”
Big smiles on that one!
“If we can create a strategic plan for: how to repay your debt; add on a comfortable lifestyle that allows your vacations to be guilt-free; protects your income; and defines what you need to be saving – it’s not going to require all of your income.”
That caught their attention!
“First of all – we need to help you ditch the guilt.
You need to have some fun with the money you’ve both worked so hard for.”
“We’d actually have disposable income?” John laughed and slapped his leg.
You gotta love these two worry warts!
“Absolutely. Once we define what you need for the key parts of your plan, whatever other income you have can be allocated any way you want. You could work less, save more, pay down debt faster, spend even more…..or any combination of those completely guilt-free.”
“We’ve always avoided having a plan done because we were afraid they’d tell us we were doing wrong things with our money,” Francis said. “But you’re telling us we’ll actually be able to balance what we want to do NOW, with where we want to go….and still have financial freedom.”
“Exactly! It’s not about whether you CAN do something, it’s about you knowing the differences between one choice or another. That’s the great thing about having a plan. You define what you need, and the best choices for your extra income. We can absolutely make this work for you.”
“Bye-bye anxiety, hello guilt-free vacations – let’s do it!” John laughed.
Francis topped that with a “Hellooooooooooooooooooooo Paris!”
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.
