A Personal Look at Disability Insurance

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[Editor's Note: I came across a physician actually living off the proceeds of his disability insurance.  He was initially hesitant to share his story with you, but after promising a reasonable level of anonymity, he relented.  As you know, I have no financial relationship with Berkshire, but the guest writer obviously gets a paycheck from them each month.  Be kind in your comments and realize that requests for more details may be denied to preserve … Continue reading →

Return Of Premium Is Not A Free Lunch

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Many insurance companies and their agents will sometimes offer you a life, disability, or other insurance policy with a return of premium (ROP) rider.  The salesmanship really kicks in as they explain how wonderful it is.  “It’s like getting your insurance for free!” they say.  Well, there are precious few free lunches in the world, and this isn’t one of them. How It Works Consider a return of premium feature in a disability insurance policy.  … Continue reading →

Pre-Nups, Trusts, and Beneficiary Designations – Friday Q&A Series

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Q. I am single mid-forties female physician and am engaged to a man about a decade older with 2 adult children who want him to get me to sign a pre-nup.  I want to protect my assets too from them. My Fidelity advisor (I have been with Fidelity since my residency days for my Roth, Rollover and Individual IRAs) said that if I have my transfer on death (TOD) beneficiaries (my sister and a charity) … Continue reading →

Tax Deductions For Medical Professionals

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[Editor's Note:  This is a guest post from Jayson Mullin, a partner at a tax debt resolution company called Top Tax Defenders.  We have no financial relationship.] As with other professions, tax deductions for medical professionals must meet specific guidelines that have been set forth by the IRS. The deductions that you are allowed to take will depend on whether you are self-employed, an employee or both, and the expenses must be necessary for your … Continue reading →

The Right Way To Get Out Of A Real Estate Investment

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It is relatively straightforward to get out of an investment in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds.  You go onto your computer, make a few clicks, and voila, you’re out.  Depending on the type of account, there may be some tax consequences.  In a tax-free account like a Roth, an HSA, or a 529, there pretty much aren’t any.  Likewise in a tax-deferred account like a 401K or traditional IRA, although there may be some planning … Continue reading →

Implications of the Affordable Care Act on the Practice of Medicine

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[Editor's Note: This is a guest post from Bill Pacquin, who describes himself as a patient care advocate and the CEO of a healthcare publisher called Vertical Health which produces Spine Universe and Diabetic Lifestyle.  He supports the "creative destruction of our current healthcare system."  We have no financial relationship.] While surveys suggest that the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), or “Obamacare,” is generally unpopular among the American public, there is still uncertainty … Continue reading →

Live Like You’re Financially Independent

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Recent portfolio gains and a dramatic increase in this blog’s readership as of late combined with many discussions with financially independent people have caused me to reflect much more lately about how I live my life.  I’m not financially independent yet, but it’s becoming more and more clear that my plan to become so is going to work just fine.  Combining a nice, but reasonable, lifestyle with a high savings rate and a well-thought-out investing … Continue reading →

WCI Mentioned in Top 100 Finance Blogs

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We were mentioned in a recent “infographic” as one of the top 100 finance blogs to follow in 2013.  I thought there were probably a lot of other great blogs listed here that you might want to check out so I thought I’d share the list with you all.  They put me at #33, for whatever that’s worth.  Their methodology isn’t exactly clear (and I’d much rather see blogs ranked by quality of information, pageviews, … Continue reading →

The California “Private Retirement Plan”

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Jay D. Adkisson, JD

[Editor's Note:  I invited Jay D. Adkisson, JD, a well-known "asset protection" attorney and author of "Asset Protection: Concepts & Strategies" to write this guest post after a comment he made to a previous post about "Private Retirement Plans" as an asset protection strategy in California, which is one of the most toxic states for physicians due to low reimbursement, high cost of living, high tax rate, and high cost of malpractice in some of … Continue reading →