As I sit here cleaning saliva from my ear, I begin to doubt the wisdom of teaching a first grader (however precocious) how to give a wet willie.
The Man in the Lime Green Suit
As an emergency medicine resident at UCLA, I was always intrigued by the Man in the Lime Green Suit (MLGS). A retired physician in his 80s, MLGS spent his days circulating among resident teaching conferences at several different academic hospitals, always elegantly appointed in the clothes that time forgot. There were endearing moments (the time he leaned over during a …
Docs in Finance Trading Cards
All Star Team MVPName:James DahleBlog: White Coat InvestorSpecialty: Emergency MedicineSuperpower: Major contributor to Bogleheads forum before it separated from Morningstar; mastermind of a growing entrepreneurial empire; prolific blogger; author; podcaster; annual WCI scholarshipsPleasure out of Proportion: Canyoneering and climbing, good gear, wakeboarding boatStats: worked through undergrad for total debt 8k; military scholarship for med school; millionaire by 37; blog income …
I Shall Call Him Mini-Me
Something exciting is happening in the world of physician financial independence blogs. A major disruption that might, in retrospect, be entrepreneurial genius. The White Coat Investor has formed an alliance with Physician on FIRE and purchased a stake (along with his business manager) in the latter’s website. Why does this matter? Why should you care? Why, in a cynical world …
Vanguard Financial Advisor Experience
A couple of months ago, I agreed to a phone call with my Personal Capital advisor. I’m a huge fan of their free software, which breaks down asset allocation, investment fees, and expenses. I had a list of questions ready for the advisor, and was excited to get some feedback on my asset allocation. I was very candid about being …
I’m Frugal, Not Cheap
I’m fortunate to work alongside one of my closest friends from residency. While we both live in the same seaside suburb of LA, he lives a spendier lifestyle than I do but often invites me to join him at the latest foodie restaurant, concert or cultural happening. He knows me well enough that when he witnesses my mental gears calculating …
FInding my Mojo
The second letter of the title above is deliberately capitalized to emphasize FI – as in Financial Independence. Since reducing my shift load, I was able to increase my participation not only in non-medical pursuits (pleasure out of proportion activities), but also in medical roles that are interesting (if unremunerative) to me. I got hooked on bioethics during a …
Tipping My Hat To The White Coat Investor
Financially oblivious physician stumbles into serendipitous contact with Financial Independence/Retire Early (FIRE) movement, binge reads related blogs, can’t wait to spread message of hope among the huddled physician masses yearning to be free via his own blog…only to realize a highly talented physician finance geek beat him to the punch. I’m speaking, of course, of Jim Dahle, who blogs as …
Breaking Up With Betterment
Betterment Likes Piña Coladas and Getting Caught in the RainIt was a whirlwind romance. When I first heard of Betterment, I was in the throes of my personal finance conversion experience. The robo-advisor appeared on wings of angels to offer a panacea: they’d worry about optimizing asset allocation for a fraction of my current cost (fees of .35% – .15% …
Used is the New Black
A few months ago, a friend dropped off a carload of third graders at my daughter’s birthday party and mentioned that he was going from our house to a “daddy date” with his high school freshman daughter to buy her a pair of jeans. Having just scored a nice pair of lightly used brand name jeans, I thought I’d share …