My chat with Dr. Well-Thee: Hot financial tips for docs in 2022

I had a chance to interview my long-term mentor recently. The somewhat bristly septuagenarian refused to have her name used for this article but she was willing to talk, and talk she did! Never one to shy away from a strong opinion, Dr. Well-Thee as I will call her, made no apologies for her frequent and enlightening diatribes. Here are a few key excerpts: TJ: Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me today about finances! W-T: You know where to send my honorarium cheque. Ha! I know you’re always looking for some free advice, so I won’t hold my breath. TJ: Yes, you’ve given me great advice over the years and I always appreciate it. Let’s talk finances for all the Canadian physicians out there. What’s hot and what’s not in 2022. Bitcoin, blockchain, cannabis stocks. W-T: There’s your first mistake. Always looking for a sexy headline! The issue is not what’s glittery in 2022, but where things might be at in 2027, or 2032 or 2042 and beyond. Read: From cottage owner to landlord: 10 things to know before renting out your summer place TJ: Got it. But things seem to be happening so quickly these days. Surely you follow the news and some social media W-T: I follow the news religiously, avoid most social media at all costs and try to keep up with all current affairs but this has little to do with my financial decision making. First Lesson, if you are reading about the latest, greatest “hot tip” on social media, you are already too late to the party. TJ: But it’s so difficult to think long term these days. W-T: Yes, long term is a really tough place when we live in the day-to-day short term polarized and volatile word of unpredictable natural disasters, military invasions, pandemics and cataclysmic 9-11-like events occurring at a high enough frequency to make the future seem like a long way away. But that’s what financial planning is all about. Just like preventative medicine. It’s all about longevity with a good quality of life. TJ: OK, let’s dive right in. The devil’s in the detail. Talk to me about long-term debt. W-T: (a long pause with a heavy sigh). Carrying debt is a heavy load. Paying off debt sooner than later is never a bad idea. There is always an argument for putting money in investments that are consistently making more money than the interest on your loan, mortgage etc. Unfortunately, many of these investments hit “bumps” and don’t live up to their prospectus. The extreme strategies are not to actively invest until all debt is paid off versus not paying down any more than the bare minimum as long as investments rates are outperforming the interest rates. The middle ground seems to make good common sense, that is, a strategy to invest a set percentage of income while aggressively paying off debt at the same time. TJ: What did you do in your career? W-T: I had my student debts paid off in the first 18 months of my practice, never took out a car loan and always had my home mortgages fully paid in five to 10 years. I always hated paying lenders my hard-earned cash and making their CEO’s rich off my lack of discipline. Read: Live longer, retire longer TJ: OK, how about playing the stock market? Any advice? W-T: (laughing out loud) Playing the market is like having brittle diabetes. You need to be prepared to do a lot of checking each and every day and manage things aggressively. I’m not talking about day trading. I’m talking about doing your research meticulously, watching the numbers religiously and having a very fixed plan as to how things will be managed, that is, precisely when you will buy and sell. Numbers, no emotion. TJ: Buy low, sell high! W-T: (shaking her head) How clever you are. Buy low, sell high is a myth. There is always lower and there is always higher and timing the market perfectly is impossible. Regret and greed get in the way far too easily if you are not disciplined. Emotional decisions are generally bad financial decisions. We can swear on a stack of Merck Manuals that we will never, ever make a financial decision based on emotion, without rationale thought/reason/research. Sounds great until we read a scary news headline or listen too closely to the “sky is falling” chatter on social media and the jitters set in, we get twitchy and make a snap decision. Knee jerk reaction. (tapping on her knee) By the way, I’m still pretty good with a reflex hammer you know. TJ: I’m not sure that our newly minted physicians would know what a Merck Manual is…. W-T: (interrupting) Is that your takeaway from this? The death knell of medicine started with Dr. Google, the loss of my annual CPS blue bible and the COVID-influenced triumph of the virtual visit. TJ: I have become rather fond of the virtual visit, but we digress. Talk to me about the best ways for physicians to secure and retain wealth W-T: There is no surefire investment. Everything has an upside and a downside. The higher the “guaranteed” upside the lower the “this-will-never-happen” downside could be. The bigger they are, the harder they fall. So be patient. Try to appreciate the risk and reward of every investment you are making. Always try to diversify your investment portfolio. TJ: Sound advice, anything else? W-T: Don’t overspend. Live within your means. Save at least 10% of your income—first, off the top ALWAYS. That’s the “wealthy barber” principle which still applies today. Perhaps even more today. TJ: For those who might not be familiar, The Wealthy Barber was a book written by Canadian author David Chilton. Maybe you should write a financial book, The Wealthy Doctor and get your financial wisdom to a larger and paying audience. W-T: (eyes rolling) Hey, this interview and your Medical Post readership must be in the thousands, that’s good enough for me. I’ve got an MD degree, not an CFA or MBA. Most of my advice is just basic common sense. Read:A doctor’s guide to RESPs TJ:Don’t understate your knowledge, I think of you as a financial guru. By the way, with all your financial acumen, do you still have a financial planner? W-T: Of course I do. With all my medical knowledge I have a family doctor who I respect and trust. I also have a shrewd and experienced financial planner, always have, always will. TJ: Your final comment on financial advice? W-T: Always think big picture. In the end, it’s all about how well you will sleep at night. How much value does money add to your life? If you are making financial decisions that are affecting your mood, anxieties levels and threatening your health, then you really need to rethink about priorities and what is really important to you and your family. TJ: Do you sleep well at night? W-T: (big smile) Like a baby! Dr. Ted Jablonski is a singer-songwriter, emerging playwright and neophyte poet who has retired his family practice to focus on sexual medicine and transgender health in Southern Alberta. He now finds himself advising medical students at the Cumming School of Medicine and still on the front-line trenches leading the charge against the COVID pandemic.

My chat with Dr. Well-Thee: Hot financial tips for docs in 2022

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Ted Jablonski