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Dr. Jim Dahle of White Coat Investor is an Emergency Medicine Physician who is also a popular financial blogger and podcaster. He takes podcast hosts J & Gwen step by step through what doctors should do financially at all phases in their careers, from undergraduate to medical school, to choosing their specialty and residency. Jim is financially independent but continues to work and blog because that is his purpose in life. He has become a millionaire through making smart financial decisions throughout his career.
You’ll love Jim’s advice.
We also chat about…
- Reducing medical school debt
- Public Student Loan Forgiveness Program
- Choosing your specialty
- The Military and evaluating the financial benefit
- Term life insurance – what is it and why do you need it
Enjoy this chat with Dr. Jim Dahle, and please subscribe to us in iTunes if you enjoyed it!
Show notes and links from today’s episode
- White Coat Investor – Jim’s blog
- White Coat Investor Podcast
- Ep. 46 with Physician on FIRE
- Reddit Public Student Loan Forgiveness
- Backdoor Roth IRA Tutorial
Key takeaways from our chat with Dr. Jim Dahle
1 – Live as cheaply as possible for as long as you can
He recommends that attending physicians continue to live on the lower salary of a resident for as long as they possible can.
Many doctors get the income boost and start making big financial mistakes with houses, cars, and other decisions.
Doctors can pursue financial independence like Jim if they make the prudent financial decisions.
Jim saved between 30-40% of his household income for years to hit that savings number.
At mid-life, doctors may want to transition to part-time and they can do that if they made the right decisions early on.
2 – Public student loan forgiveness is possible but not guaranteed
Jim recommends that physicians try to get rid of their student loans within 2-5 years of school.
Physicians working at a nonprofit for 10 years could technically qualify for loan forgiveness through the PSLFP.
2017 was the first year that the first set of loans from the public student loan forgiveness program were forgiven.
It’s not something that is guaranteed to be around forever and is dependent on the government.
There could be limits on the amount of loans that could be forgiven in future.
3 – Maximize your retirement accounts
A physician should save at least 25% of their income. If you want to pursue financial independence and possibly retire early, you need to be saving much more than that.
Jim recommends physicians take advantage of tax-advantaged retirement accounts.
He also recommends physicians look into term life insurance, disability insurance and liability insurance with an umbrella policy.
You need some of these insurances until you are financially independent (term life and disability).
You can buy as many years of insurance for the term life as it will take you to hit financial indpendence.
The other insurance policies such as an umbrella policy are recommendations for anyone not just doctors.
It could protect you in a situation where you are in a car accident and someone is injured for example.
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Camille A says
Excellent interview with Dr. Dahle! It was a pleasure to hear him articulate his plan for doctors – and other high income individuals – to position themselves with the choice of whether to continue working within 10-15 years of graduating from their professional program. I do wish more students understood the benefits derived from living below their means once their formal educations are finished. Although new graduates may not appreciate it immediately, they have the opportunity to pursue early retirement should they simply make a choice to steer away from “rewarding themselves” in every possible way that their newly increased salary permits.