Recently, I caught up on the writing of a fellow physician finance blogger, Dr. Cory Fawcett at Financial Success MD.
Cory is a "repurposed" surgeon who reinvented his career after leaving medicine in his early 50s to become an author, coach and financial blogger. I admire him for forging this encore career.
When his youngest son had an unexpected window of free time during a career transition, Cory turned it into an opportunity to cross the US by bicycle with his son and brother-in-law.
Early financial independence gave Cory the ability to adapt his plans to his son's schedule with relative ease in order to take advantage of a rare opportunity that required time, money and vigor to pursue. This ain't a round of golf on a Wednesday.
By serendipity, the same day I read Cory's blog I ran into another doc in my area who had just returned from a week in a Mediterranean country with his family. He's a well-respected clinician who is personable and incredibly hard-working.
This doc's wife and adult children remained abroad while he returned to his clinic. He explained to me that he could not extend his stay with them based on his obligations to his practice.
Two docs, roughly the same age, both from single medical income households, with very different abilities to control their time. Same planet, but a different universe of choices available to them.
A better argument for financial literacy and independence would be tough to make.