Finance – Page 16 – Physician In Numbers

What Really Happens When You Try to Pay Off Your Mortgage

A blow-by-blow account. Mostly. With optional musical accompaniment.

Fees Always Matter

For the past several years, I have been reading posts exhorting me to look at fees in my investing accounts. I have been told that investment fees will cost me millions. That I’m leaving money on the table if I don’t fix this, ASAP.

Who Pays Your Bills When You Are Sick?

Sitting with my Dad in the hospital this spring, I was reminded of the importance of sharing your account information with your spouse. My Dad was very ill, then improving, but clearly not in any condition to manage his finances. (For several days he was repeating “2019” under his breath, to be ready for his orientation questions.)

This was a bit of a problem, as he pays most of the household bills out of his accounts. Thankfully, my mom has access to her own accounts and could pay the most pressing bills; and Dad got better soon.

Wednesday Wool-gathering 3

Four random thoughts that I am not quite ready to flesh out into their own posts.

Lunch Out is a Treat, Not an Expectation

Last week, we had a lunch fail. For the first time in many years, I went off to work without a lunch packed. To be honest, there might have been a packed lunch in the kitchen, but it didn’t make it into work with me.

Oh No! You Didn’t Save for College

If you read anything at all about money and college, you know that the cost of college is outpacing inflation, and that even the “cheap” public colleges and universities are no longer inexpensive.

Therefore, the smart thing to do is to put money aside as soon as a baby is born. Or maybe you should start saving while you’re pregnant. Heck, start your college stash as soon as you stop using birth control.

If you can’t save enough, you can tell your kid to get scholarships, or go to community college for a few years to save money, or enter into indentured servitude with student loans.

Monday Melange #2

Between work and a summer cold, I just am not up to writing a full blog post for Monday. I thought this would be a good time to link to a few posts by other people I found interesting.

Spending That Future Raise

At the beginning of this month, I sent in a check to my mortgage company that was going to cover the “outstanding principal amount” for my mortgage. This may not be my last check–the amount listed was not the payoff amount–but the fact remains that I should soon have a lot more money available in my monthly budget.

This is likely the last time I will get such a salary bump, and I want to be smart about how I use it. Though I wrote about this one month ago, I am still turning over in my mind all the possibilities for using this extra money. The amount is not insignificant: the payment towards principal (including an amount to “round it up”) and interest is 22% of my take-home salary each month.

Since I am still thinking about it, I thought it might help me to be very specific about what I could do with it. If there are any recent residency grads about to start their new attending jobs, with their new attending salaries, I am hoping that this may help them think through what they will do with their bigger income.

Five Financial Tips for Intern Year

I thought I would keep this short and sweet, for the busy med school grad.

5 Money Lessons from Dad

Things are very busy for me right now. My father is very sick with a mystery-illness (isn’t it always the case that nurses and doctors get the weirdest things?), so I am with my parents for now. I thought this was a good time to reflect on some of the many lessons my dad taught me over the years.