PHYSICIANS BEWARE: Traditional Financial Planning “Rules of Thumb”

Posted on February 3, 2023 by Dr. Marcinko

DOCTORS AND MEDICAL PROFESSIONALS BEWARE?

We ARE Different

By Dr. David E. Marcinko MBA CMP®

SPONSOR: http://www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.org

CMP logo

***

  • While financial planning rules of thumbs are useful to people as general guidelines, they may be too oversimplified in many situations, leading to underestimating or overestimating an individual’s needs. This may be especially true for physicians and many medical professionals. Rules of thumb do not account for specific circumstances or factors occurring at a particular time, or that could change over time, which should be considered for making sound financial decisions.
  • Great Health Industry Resignation: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2021/12/12/healthcare-industry-hit-with-the-great-resignation-retirement/

For example, in a tight job market, an emergency fund amounting to six months of household expenses does not consider the possibility of extended unemployment. I’ve always suggested 2-3 years for doctors. Venture capitalist lay-offs of physicians during the pandemic confirm this often criticized benchmark opinion of mine.

As another example, buying life insurance based on a multiple of income does not account for the specific needs of the surviving family, which include a mortgage, the need for college funding and an extended survivor income for a non-working spouse. Again a huge home mortgage, or several children or dependents, may be the financial bane of physician colleagues and life insurance.

CITE: https://www.r2library.com/Resource/Title/082610254

***

EXAMPLES: Old/New Rules

  • A home purchase should cost less than an amount equal to two and a half years of your annual income. I think physicians in practice for 3-5 years might go up to 3.5X annual income; ceteras paribus.
  • Save at least 10-15% of your take-home income for retirement. Seek to save 20% or more.
  • Have at least five times your gross salary in life insurance death benefit. Consider 10X this amount in term insurance if young, and/or with several children or other special circumstances.
  • Pay off your highest-interest credit cards first. Agreed.
  • The stock market has a long-term average return of 10%. Agreed, but appreciated risk adjusted rates of return..
  • You should have an emergency fund equal to six months’ worth of household expenses. Doctors should seek 2-3 years.
  • Your age represents the percentage of bonds you should have in your portfolio. Risk tolerance and assets may be more vital.
  • Your age subtracted from 100 represents the percentage of stocks you should have in your portfolio. Risk tolerance and assets may still be more vital.
  • A balanced portfolio is 60% stocks, 40% bonds. With historic low interest rates, cash may be a more flexible alternative than bonds; also avoid most bond mutual funds as they usually never mature.

There are also rules of thumb for determining how much net worth you will need to retire comfortably at a normal retirement age. Here is the calculation that Investopedia uses to determine your net worth:

Compensation in the Physician Specialties: Mostly Stable - NEJM CareerCenter Resources

RULES 72, 78 and 115: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2022/01/30/the-rules-of-72-78-and-115/

INVITATION: https://medicalexecutivepost.com/2021/05/08/invite-dr-marcinko-to-your-next-big-event/

***

COMMENTS ARE APPRECIATED

Thank You

Subscribe to the Medical Executive-Post

***

FINANCE: https://www.amazon.com/Comprehensive-Financial-Planning-Strategies-Advisors/dp/1482240289/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1418580820&sr=8-1&keywords=david+marcinko

***

Filed under: "Doctors Only", Accounting, Career Development, Ethics, Financial Planning, Glossary Terms, iMBA, Inc., Insurance Matters, LifeStyle, Op-Editorials, Portfolio Management, Recommended Books, Retirement and Benefits, Touring with Marcinko | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment »

What’s Your Net-Worth – Doctor?

Posted on September 19, 2014 by Dr. Marcinko

Join Our Mailing List 

How Would You Respond … if Asked?

By Rick Kahler MS CFP® http://www.KahlerFinancial.com

Rick Kahler CFPFinancial professionals like me think nothing of asking clients this question.

But, if the tables were turned, though, and clients or prospective clients asked the same question of us, how would we respond?

The “Talk”

Every now and then this issue comes up in conversations among financial planners. Some advisors think their net worth is none of their clients’ business, any more than doctors’ cholesterol levels are any business of their patients.

Others are concerned that a single number like net worth is incomplete information and can even be misleading. Knowing a financial professional has a net worth of, say, five million dollars doesn’t necessarily mean the person is trustworthy or a capable financial planner. Net worth tells prospective clients nothing about where the money came from. The planner may have inherited it, won the lottery, earned it through a business other than financial planning, earned it from commissions on poor investments, or even obtained it illegally.

Wither the “Number”

Nor does net worth reveal anything useful about the understanding of money or knowledge of financial planning. I’ve worked with plenty of multi-millionaires who were skilled at making money but were horrible money managers and inept at investing. Even more, there are many brilliant young planners who haven’t had the time to accumulate a large net worth.

I suspect that most clients who want to know about their planners’ net worth actually have several deeper questions in mind. Some may be asking if the professional actually follows his or her own advice. Imagine how troubling it might be to find out your financial planner doesn’t have a retirement plan, is a habitual over-spender, or hasn’t gotten around to making a will.

Other Reasons Why

Another reason for the question may be a concern whether the planner is financially stable and will be around in the future. During the Great Recession, many financial professionals saw their revenues fall by 30% to 40%. Some who did not have a business emergency reserve had to resort to laying off staff, cutting services, or in some cases closing their doors.

Still another concern may be whether the planner is familiar with a potential client’s particular financial issues. This is especially true of high net worth clients. They need to know a planner can relate to the complexities, responsibilities, and emotional challenges of managing wealth.

***

Net Worth MDs

***

The Questions

All of these are legitimate concerns. Knowing a financial planner’s net worth, however, doesn’t address those concerns. To discover whether a planner is a good fit for you, it would be more useful to ask questions like the following:

  • Do you follow the same advice you give clients? Give me some examples.
  • Do you have six months’ living expenses in an emergency account?
  • Do you invest your money in the same manner you will invest mine?
  • If I were to run a credit report on you, what would it tell me?
  • What are some of the things you have learned from your financial mistakes?
  • Tell me what your company has in place for emergency planning and succession planning.
  • Tell me why you can relate to someone with my net worth and the issues I am facing.

Assessment

If a planner is offended by these questions or dances around answering them, that may be a red flag. If a planner offers answers freely and transparently, you may have found someone who provides exceptional service. Planners who share some of their own financial information are clearly committed to building the trust that is so essential between planner and client.

As a prospective client, you may hesitate to ask these questions even though you want to know the answers. Don’t be shy; ask.

More:

Conclusion

Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:

Financial Planning MDs 2015TEXT BOOK

Comprehensive Financial Planning Strategies for Doctors and Advisors: Best Practices from Leading Consultants

Filed under: Financial Planning | Tagged: , , , | 1 Comment »

How Much Money Do You Make – Doctor?

Posted on June 26, 2014 by Dr. Marcinko

Join Our Mailing List

Ruminations on the Last Taboo!

By Rick Kahler MS CFP® http://www.KahlerFinancial.com

Rick Kahler CFP“How much money do you make?”

We don’t ask people, let alone doctors and medical professionals, that question; but we’d love to know the answer.

In this country, we’re fixated on a person’s annual income. That’s the primary measure we use to determine social status and define success.

Income Qualifier?

Income also is the qualifier for government welfare programs. It defines people as poor, middle class, or rich. And, of course, it determines how much of your income the government will take. The more you bring in, the higher the percentage of your earnings you will pay in federal, state, and local taxes.

Income as a Poor Indicator of Net Worth

While we project a lot of things onto someone’s income, most of what we project is untrue. Income is not the best indicator of a person’s wealth or net worth.

Examples:

Last year Dr. Brent’s tax return showed an adjusted gross income of $20,000. Dr. Bill’s was $2 million. Who is richer? Most people would say Bill. The US and state governments also would say Bill. Actually, Brent is far and away the wealthier of the two.

Why and How?

Consider these two real-life examples:

  • Dr. Bill lives in New York, New York, which has both high property taxes and a city income tax. Paying city, state, and federal income taxes, plus property taxes on his luxurious home, takes around half of his salary. With take-home pay of about $1 million, Bill spends $1.2 million a year on his mortgage payments, college and private school tuition, and his lifestyle. He overspends his net income by $200,000 a year. He owes more on his condo than it’s worth, and he has significant credit card debt. When you total his assets and liabilities, he has a negative net worth of $1 million. He has managed to hold everything together so far, but technically, Bill is bankrupt.

Jaguar XJ

  • Dr. Brent lives in Rapid City, South Dakota. He is retired, owns a modest home which is paid for, and lives on about $40,000 a year. He didn’t pay any income taxes last year, partly because some of his income is from tax-free municipal bonds and mostly because he wrote off a large investment loss which left him with $20,000 of adjusted gross income. Brent has no debt. His net worth is $5,000,000.

Steering Jaguar

The truth is that what people make tells us very little about whether they are rich or not. In these examples, judging from income alone, it would be easy to reach the inaccurate conclusion that Bill must be far wealthier than Brent. His lifestyle is certainly more lavish—which of course is part of the reason he isn’t wealthy.

Many people who have high incomes but are heavily in debt might have lifestyles lower than others who make significantly less but have no debt. It’s not uncommon that people with high incomes choose to live a lifestyle that is far below what they could afford. In fact, this is one of the best ways to build real wealth.

The Income Non-Indicator

Income is a poor indicator of whether someone is rich. Even more important, it’s a poor indicator of how they handle money. I once worked with a family with an annual income of around $5 million who had a net worth of minus $3.5 million. They may have looked like “millionaires,” but they were not.

On the other hand, I work with many clients who have annual incomes around $100,000 a year, spend $60,000 a year, and are worth $2 to $5 million.

Assessment

The bottom line is that wealth is defined by net worth, not income. A high income doesn’t equal wealth; it equals a better opportunity to build wealth. Not everyone is wise enough to take advantage of that opportunity.

More:

Conclusion

Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:

Product Details  Product Details

Product Details

Filed under: Financial Planning, Taxation | Tagged: , , , , | 3 Comments »

More on Doctors and Personal Net Worth

Posted on August 23, 2009 by Dr. Marcinko

Join Our Mailing List

Determinations Using Rules-of-Thumb

[By Staff Reporters]fp-book1

Once the value of all personal assets and liabilities is known, physician net worth can be determined with the following formula: Net worth – assets minus liabilities. Obviously, higher is better.

And, although eschewed in the past, rule-of-thumb determinations are making a comeback because of the recent financial implosion and stock market meltdown.

Benchmarks

In The Millionaire Next Door, Thomas H. Stanley, Ph.D., and William H. Danko gave the following benchmark for net worth accumulation. Although conservative for physicians of a past generation, it may again be more applicable in the future because of the current managed care environment and political turmoil.

Here is the guide: Multiple your age by your annual pre-tax income from all sources, except inheritances; and then divide by ten.

Example

As an HMO pediatrician, Dr. Curtis earned $60,000 last year. So, if she is 35, her net worth should be at least $210,000. How do you get to that point? In a word, consume less and save more. Stanley and Danko found that the typical millionaire set aside 15 percent of earned income annually and has enough invested to survive 10 years, at current income levels if he stopped working. If Dr. Curtis lost her job tomorrow, how long could she pay herself the same salary?

More:

Assessment 

In one non-medical but stark example of inattentiveness to net-worth, John McAfee, the entrepreneur who founded the antivirus software company that bears his name, is now worth about $4 million, down from a peak of more than $100 million, according to the New York Times.

Conclusion

Your thoughts and comments on this ME-P are appreciated. Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Medical Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com

OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:

DICTIONARIES: http://www.springerpub.com/Search/marcinko
PHYSICIANS: www.MedicalBusinessAdvisors.com
PRACTICES: www.BusinessofMedicalPractice.com
HOSPITALS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781466558731
CLINICS: http://www.crcpress.com/product/isbn/9781439879900
BLOG: www.MedicalExecutivePost.com
FINANCE: Financial Planning for Physicians and Advisors
INSURANCE: Risk Management and Insurance Strategies for Physicians and Advisors

Product Details  Product Details

Comprehensive Financial Planning Strategies for Doctors and Advisors: Best Practices from Leading Consultants and Certified Medical Planners(TM)

Filed under: "Doctors Only", Career Development, Financial Planning, Funding Basics, Investing, Recommended Books | Tagged: , , , , , , | 19 Comments »

%d bloggers like this: