By Dr. Julie Alonso, WCI Columnist
Anyone who knows me knows that I am a big Disney fan. Last summer, much to my husband's chagrin, we went on a trip to Disney World AND a Disney Alaska Cruise (in fairness, the Disney World trip was for my daughter’s dance team to perform, so we would not have gone on both trips in one summer otherwise).
A hallmark of our times on Disney cruises is all the trivia you can play—Disney song lyrics trivia, Disney parks trivia, Disney quotes trivia, etc. And my family takes its Disney trivia knowledge seriously (or at least the kids and I do; not so much my husband). Leading up to the cruise, we quizzed each other on all things Disney in the hope of winning one of the many trivia events on board.
One of my favorite Disney lines comes from the movie Finding Nemo. When Nemo, a child clownfish who is lost in the ocean, meets Dory, a fish with short-term amnesia (cue the neurologists), she tries to encourage him when he is down and lost by telling him to “just keep swimming.” It’s better if you say it with a sing-song voice like Dory does!
It’s a phrase that's short and to the point, and I’ve adopted it as one of my life mantras. I even found a framed print (on sale, even better) of the saying that hangs in my house. It’s simple, yet effective, and it can be applied to so many situations. Just keep swimming really speaks to the determination to persevere despite life’s challenges. It encourages us to keep taking small steps forward, recover from setbacks, keep our eyes on our goals, and acknowledge the journey. There is an uplifting message of remaining positive, but there's also the opposite, that you have to sometimes trudge through life in hard times and just keep going.
This little mantra can also be easily applied to my approach to finances, and it especially aligns with many WCI principles.
Just Keep Saving
I’ve successfully adapted this catchphrase to my personal financial philosophy over the years. Just keep moving along, even if reaching your financial goals seems nebulous (like crossing the ocean for Nemo), murky (like the deep, dark ocean waters), or far off in the distance (like Nemo’s father, Marlin, searching for him). Just keep saving, even if the path has not always been smooth or clear. Just keep persisting through the setbacks. Focus on where you are in the journey right now and how you can keep pushing forward and building on your progress.
WCI generally recommends that high earners save at least 20% of their gross income in order to retire to a similar standard that they are accustomed to living. On the surface, it’s an easy calculation: total savings/total income x 100.
To do this, though, you first have to have some sense of your total annual earnings. If you (+/- a spouse or partner) just have one income stream each, this should not be hard to calculate. Total earnings can be harder to keep track of throughout the year when you and/or your spouse have multiple income streams or an income that fluctuates monthly or quarterly (based on productivity, bonuses, etc.). In these cases, you have to do your best to estimate based on prior years or other metrics. My spouse and I each have a primary job and multiple side jobs with varying incomes, so we need to keep track of each one. I keep an Excel spreadsheet with a tab for each year with our earnings, and another tab for savings. I track my telemedicine work, forensic work, disability evaluations, etc.
You also have to have a good grasp on how much you are saving in real time or at least by the end of the year—which can again be more difficult to track if you have multiple retirement accounts, investment accounts, savings accounts, etc. My spreadsheet is set up to add up our monthly and yearly savings, including the total amounts we put into our employer-sponsored 401(k)s, employer match, Backdoor Roth IRAs, individual 401(k)s, HSA, brokerage accounts, and CDs/savings accounts. All of this makes it pretty easy to see how much we “just keep saving” each year. It’s not exact since there are multiple variables, but it’s a good enough estimate of our savings percentage in relation to our income.
The other part of “just keep saving” is having a plan for automation. I’ve seen firsthand how putting an investment or savings habit on autopilot gives you the best chance of success while also making it easier to track over the course of the year (rather than investing random amounts throughout the year). It keeps your cash flow or discretionary money more predictable, too. Going back to my intern year in 2005-2006 (pre-WCI), I split my $41,000 income, with 20% going into my savings account and 80% going into my checking account after taxes. Setting these habits early, even before becoming an attending, helped solidify this mindset.
More information here:
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Just Keep Investing
Especially in times of turbulence, I think this philosophy holds true even more. Stick with your financial plan as a grounding force to keep propelling you ahead. Amid the ups and downs and even the big swings in the stock market, “just keep investing” within your means with a steady hand. Have a general philosophy of how you want to allocate your investments and how aggressive or conservative you want to be. I set up my taxable investment accounts to auto-invest a monthly set amount, and I have increased it annually.
The automatic setup serves multiple purposes, ensuring that I don’t forget to invest each month, that I don’t divert the money for some frivolous purchase, and that I don’t veer from my plan in the case of a sharp market downturn. It keeps me going even in times of uncertainty. I’m pretty risk-averse by nature, so it forces me to adhere to my plan even in the face of discomfort. It takes the emotion out of deciding in the moment.
Although I do check my account balances frequently, I can refrain from making any ill-timed decisions based on market conditions. For some people, it may be harder to control those impulses, or they might want to buy or sell by timing the market. For others, it may cause too much distress to see those balances go down or stomach wild fluctuations in investment returns. In those cases, it may be better to minimize compulsively checking one’s account balances and avoid the temptation of making a counterproductive decision that goes against your “just keep investing” plan.
For those who are not risk-takers like me, investing in the stock market—whether it’s mutual funds, individual stocks, or some other type of investment that is not a sure thing—brings with it unpredictability and potentially anxiety. Compared to the psychological and actual safety of something like a CD or high-yield savings account, there is no comparison in how much easier this can feel for some. I’ve had to strike a balance in knowing my temperament and creating a reasonable plan that pushes against my natural inclinations to take some risks. But I just keep investing.
Just Keep Paying
With big debts like student loans or a mortgage, the cost and timeline to pay these off can be intimidating and overwhelming. Coming out of school with a mountain of debt is no one’s idea of fun, and feeling overwhelmed and stressed is an understandable emotional reaction. Add on other kinds of consumer debt—like credit cards, car loans, business loans, etc.—and it just gets more complicated and stressful. There are different approaches to paying off debt, but generally having a plan and sticking to it is a key part of tackling it. Whether it’s paying off the highest interest rate loan, paying off the smallest debt, paying extra on your student loans or mortgage (or not, depending on your interest rate and philosophy), there are lots of ways to “just keep paying.”
Just keep paying by making one payment at a time and marking the milestones in whatever way is meaningful, no matter how big or small it may seem at the time. I was not as aggressive at paying off my student loans, given the historically low interest rates when I graduated (mine was 1.625% after discounts for making 48 months of payments on time and using auto-pay). Even though I was in no rush to pay them off, I still celebrated when I made that final payment with a nice dinner out with my family.
At this point, our only debt is our mortgage, but I’ve set goals and marked the occasions of getting it below certain balances. We’re about to hit a balance of less than $100,000 in a few months, another milestone I plan to celebrate!
Just Keep Going
Many obstacles can interfere with our financial progress. Some of them don't have anything to do with working, saving, or investing. Hurdles and stumbling blocks outside of your financial world—with things like divorce, family obligations, and disability—can all be very costly. We all have varying degrees of resilience in the face of stressors and varying amounts of trauma that we have experienced previously in our lives. Recognizing when you are under a major stressor and seeking out support will help to “just keep going.”
Whether it’s a personal or family illness, job loss, injury, or other major life challenge, give yourself the grace to take some time to adjust, seek out some help, and do whatever is needed to help the situation. Sometimes we are swimming against the current or even in the midst of a storm, but sometimes we are swimming along with the water buoying us and a school of friends at our side.
More information here:
Seeking Mental Health Support as a Doctor
Burnout Is Expensive: The Financial Case for Prioritizing Mental Health
Just Keep Swimming
Life can bring plenty of joy but also immense sorrow. Of course, money will not solve all problems or prevent all your sadness. But being financially secure can help you weather hard times much better, whether it be a job loss, illness, or other obstacle. In times of stress, sometimes all you have is to “do the next right thing” (what Disney movie is this line from?). It may mean taking a physical or mental break, rerouting your course, or even helping others in need. The “just keep swimming” concept can help guide us when we feel lost in the tasks of financial planning or the doldrums of life.
Spoiler alert: with Dory’s encouragement, Nemo followed the advice to “just keep swimming” and did not lose sight of his purpose, which helped him keep up his spirits along the way. Nemo’s father eventually finds him, leading to a happy reunion.
As for my family, we did not find success with our quest to win one of the Disney trivia events on our cruise (we came in second a few times). Our thus far elusive goal to walk away with a Mickey medallion (essentially a plastic status symbol that brings with it immense bragging rights throughout the rest of the cruise) has not come to fruition. But I suppose we will “just keep swimming” toward this goal, too. And it means we need to go on another Disney cruise (sorry, Josh).
What other ways can you just keep swimming? Could that philosophy work for your life? Are there other movies from which you take financial inspiration?
