Financial Clarity Blog

People assume that doctors are rich, because being a doctor is a considered prestigious job and most prestigious jobs pay good incomes. However, having a good income and being rich are two different things.

As a medical student, any extra cash you can bring in will go a long way. This week we will look at 11 side hustles for students who want to make money while in medical school.

It is tradition for us to publish a blog post about financial independence the week leading up to Independence Day, so we wanted to offer a guide on how to become financially independent this year. There are numerous ways to becoming financially independent. Similar to biking across the country, you have a lot of routes you can choose from. Would you like to get there fast (FIRE – Financial Independence, Retire Early)? Would you prefer slow and steady? Do you want to save a lot early and coast your way to the finish line? No wrong answer. To each their own.

As a new wave of interns & residents begin working at teaching hospitals across the country, we thought it would be a good idea to put together a guide to money in residency so you can get started on the right foot. The sooner you can establish good habits, the easier your path to financial freedom will be (possibly even fatFIRE).

Some people may judge their financial success based on how big their house is or how many nice cars they have. Of course, I want you to have those things, but if you owe money on them all, it’s all smoke and mirrors. What do you own? What do you owe? What’s leftover? Use that as a benchmark of your financial success.

For our readers who are still in training, you may be seeing another gift from Uncle Sam-soon. Or maybe you already have! These are crazy times, economically and personally. But even in crazy times, good things can happen. What do we do if those good things come in the form of “extra” money? A stimulus check, a bonus you didn’t think you would qualify for, or maybe even an unexpected inheritance. Do you pay down debt? Do you spend it? Do you save?

With a fresh new wave of stimulus money hitting people’s bank accounts this week, many residents & fellows (and med students, for that matter) will be receiving their $1,400 stimulus checks. Today we thought it would be a good idea to lay out some things to do with your stimulus check while in residency.

The first step to achieving financial independence is to define what financial independence means to you. It's going to be different for everyone. How do you want your life to look? What do you want to do for work if you could choose? What would you like to do in your free time? How much free time do you want to have?

I’m really good at contradicting myself and making sense (in my head) while doing it. For example, I am a big advocate of setting goals and creating a plan to achieve those goals. The simple process of creating a goal and an action plan to achieve it can help you accomplish a lot. I’m not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions because they are usually a half-hearted self-improvement “goal” that we bail on by February. For example, every year, I tell myself I will swear less, say more positive things, and less negative things. I don’t make much progress.

When it comes to debt, there are both financial and psychological factors at play. The financial ramifications of paying interest ultimately exacerbate the total cost of a purchase. The fixed cost that comes with a monthly debt payment limits your ability to do other things with your money.