It has been almost two years since I last wrote about the other physician financial blogs out there, and boy has the landscape changed! I thought it was time to write another post about them. When I wrote that article in 2016, I mentioned 16 blogs, including 4 written by non-physicians and one that was really a podcast. Of the remaining 11, 2 are now members of the WCI network, one's author has passed on (RIP Amanda), and three are currently inactive. In addition, 20 or so of those which have started since then are either inactive or have completely disappeared. That leaves us with 52 for my list today. Requirements to be on this list include blog posts addressing financial topics being regularly written by a physician including at least once in the last three months. I have listed them in order of their Alexa ranking at the end of June 2018. Alexa rankings are easily obtained and correlate reasonably well with blog traffic, but aren't perfect. So it's possible that a blog belongs a little higher or lower on this list than they are. Plus, web traffic is very fluid so the longer it's been since I published this, the less accurate it will be. An Alexa rank is basically a list of how popular a website is. So if my Alexa rank is 53,607, The White Coat Investor is the 53,607th most popular site in the world.
Thank you to all those who have started blogs to help physicians with their finances. You're helping us fulfill our mission to help those who wear the white coat get a “fair shake” on Wall Street. I made this list partly just to keep track of you all, but also because we're always looking for the next member of The White Coat Investor Network. However, I fear the 80+ blogs out there may be diluting the limited readership in this tiny niche so much that no more physician financial blogs will ever get big enough to join! Some of these blogs are written to a niche, within a niche, within a niche. Surely, there's something for you here somewhere.
The Big List of Active Physician Financial Bloggers
# 1 The White Coat Investor
Started May 2011, Alexa Rank 53,607 (9,556 in US)
Not the first, but definitely the biggest. Many of the other bloggers credit WCI as the inspiration to start their own.
# 2 Physician on FIRE
Started January 2016, Alexa Rank 126,370 (23,957 in US)
WCI might be head and shoulders above the rest, but PoF is an obvious second when it comes to reach. Most of you need no introduction to this blog focused on financial independence and early retirement for physicians.
# 3 Ben White
Started in 2007, Alexa Rank 157,779 (25,428 in US)
This ranking was a surprise to me. Ben has been blogging for a long time, although only a minority of the posts are financially related. Lately he's had a bit more of a focus on student loans (including a book on the topic).
# 4 Passive Income MD
Started July 2016, Alexa Rank 231,954 (43,159 in US)
The third member of the WCI network, PIMD blogs about passive income, real estate, and entrepreneurship. PoF and I are always impressed with his entrepreneurial mind.
# 5 The Happy Philosopher
Started June 2016, Alexa Rank 829,486 (205,262 in US)
More of a focus on philosophy and wellness, but also plenty of financial topics, this one is the highest ranking non-commercial blog on the list, although its author reserves the right to monetize it at any time!
# 6 Wall Street Physician
Started January 2017, Alexa Rank 840,585 (149,154 in US)
The highest-ranking of the “new guys” this one is written by a doc who used to work on Wall Street. Excellent treatment of investing topics.
# 7 Future Proof MD
Started January 2015, Alexa Rank 916,534 (203,935 in US)
I am in awe of what Bo Liu has been able to do as a resident. If you don't like my long-windedness, you'll love his brevity.
# 8 Life of a Med Student
Started July 2016, Alexa Rank 1,004,582 (179,410 in US)
# 9 Smart Money MD
Started March 2015, Alexa Rank 1,158,585 (205,525 in US)
Persistence pays off; this is another one of the survivors from the original list. Expect about 5 posts a month.
# 10 DiverseFI
Started December 2017, Alexa Rank 1,194,575 (236,040 in US)
Another impressive newcomer, this blogger is currently cranking out DAILY articles.
# 11 Senior Resident
Started January 2016, Alexa Rank 1,382,409
About 1/3 of the posts by “Sensei” are financially related.
# 12 Crispy Doc
Started September 2016, Alexa Rank 1,762,127 (327,017 in US)
“Crispy” refers to the first stage of burnout, but this doctor doesn't seem burnt out on blogging at all.
# 13 Doctor of Finance MD
Started February 2018, Alexa Rank 1,962,564 (294,392 in US)
This WCI regular made this comment the last time I made a list of physician financial blogs:
She apparently later changed her mind based on this later comment on the same post:
So be careful what you say! At any rate, this brand new blog is now the highest ranked physician financial blog written by a woman. There is a heavy focus on the issues faced around the time of retirement.
Update: Blog no longer exists as of August 2021
# 14 Sustainable Medicine
Started June 2015, Alexa Rank 1,969,274 (261,273 in US)
Originally called Urgent Care Career, the focus broadened when she left medicine after 7 years at age 39 in 2016. Less medicine, more finance and FI kind of material. Not sure either of the blog names make sense given the current focus. She may be rebranding as Medicine and Finance.
Update: Blog no longer exists as of August 2021
# 15 Rogue Dad MD
Started April 2017, Alexa Rank 2,028,102
Blogger on vacation
This WCI Conference panelist writes about an “alt-brown” perspective on life. He publishes occasional posts (and a real academic paper) on physician finance but is most famous for tweeting about his son's tooth fairy entrapment episode.
# 16 Life of FI MD
Started January 2018, Alexa Rank 2,146,300 (234,829 in US)
A pun on the Life of PI, this new blog is focused on financial independence.
Update: Blog no longer exists as of August 2021
# 17 Solo Building Blogs
Started July 2017, Alexa Rank 2,190,025
This blog might be new, but we've known the blogger since 2010. The original incarnation (IBallDoc) preceded WCI and was on this blog's original blogroll for years. It still focuses on starting your own practice.
# 18 Dads Dollars Debts
Started October 2016, Alexa Rank 2,309.099 (334,534 in US)
This WCI Conference panel member became particularly famous in the blogosphere when his house burned to the ground. Luckily, he escaped and blogs on.
Update: Blog no longer exists as of August 2021
# 19 The Physician Philosopher
Started November 2017, Alexa Rank 2,710,070
This newer blog is an up and comer. Don't confuse it with The Happy Philosopher. Far less philosophy and far more finance here.
# 20 Xrayvsn
Started April 2018, Alexa Rank 3,448,580 (432,194 in US)
Another up and comer, getting lots of traffic for a brand new blog.
# 21 Miss Bonnie MD
Started December 2016, Alexa Rank 3,475,611
One of the most well-known female physician financial bloggers, she also spoke at the WCI conference.
Update: Blog no longer exists as of August 2021
# 22 Nisha Mehta MD
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Started December 2017, Alexa Rank 3,493,427 (645,863 in US)
Another WCI conference speaker, she is perhaps best known as the founder of the Physician Side Gigs Facebook Group. The blog focuses on wellness, balance, and burnout with occasional forays into finance.
# 23 Side Hustle Scrubs
Started April 2018, Alexa Rank 3,689,271 (421,433 in US)
All about physician side jobs and non-traditional medical careers.
Update: Blog no longer exists as of August 2021
# 24 Prescription for Financial Success
Started March 2016, Alexa Rank 3,934,242 (608,275 in US)
Perhaps best known for his physician financial book series, this retired surgeon also blogs while RVing around the country.
Update: Blog no longer exists as of August 2021
# 25 Table for One Solitary Diner
Started February 2015, Alexa Rank 4,442,595
Most posts aren't financial, but “Frugalish Physician” is a Canadian woman who throws enough of them in to get on the list.
# 26 B. C. Krygowski
Started 3/17, Alexa Rank 4,754,312
Another one of the women on the list, she and her husband are both part-time docs.
# 27 Delayed Earner
Started June 2017, Alexa Rank 4,878,559
A new attending talks about his finances on the internet.
# 28 Doctored Money
Started April 2017, Alexa Rank, 4,890,856
I almost didn't include this one as one of the three bloggers is a financial advisor, but all three are docs so why not. Only 17 posts in 15 months, but technically active. There was a previous iteration (no Alexa data) started in 2014, but the posts were pretty sporadic. (1-6 posts/year)
# 29 Wealthy Doc
Started 2007, Alexa Rank 4,962,249
The first physician financial blog I'm aware of, as he moves into late career he admits “I'm not willing to work hard enough to do much more with this blog than I'm doing.” As you can tell from the rank, just being first doesn't necessarily get you high on the list! Still the content is great even if there isn't much promoting or monetizing going on.
# 30 Millionaire Doc
Started August 2017, Alexa Rank 5,026,885
This anonymous millionaire has a significant focus on syndicated real estate.
# 31 Doc of all Tradez
Started March 2017, Alexa Rank 5,228,771
One of the few bloggers who is also podcasting, he averages about a post a month on the “Surviving Surgery” blog.
# 32 Look for Zebras
Started Fall 2017, Alexa Rank 5,395,317
Another female blogger, this one seems to have a heavy focus on non-clinical jobs for docs.
# 33 The Loonie Doctor
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Started September 2017, Alexa Rank 5,447,479
Our second of three Canadian physician finance bloggers, this one is the most proud of it with a .ca URL and the word “Loonie” in the title (a Loonie is a $1 coin eh). He focuses on the aspects of finance unique to Canadians.
# 34 Pediatrician Finds Financial Independence
Started January 2018, Alexa Rank 5,482,996
With this new blog, the title says it all. Join this two doc couple as they work toward FI.
Update: Blog no longer exists as of August 2021
# 35 Dr. McFrugal
Started September 2017, Alexa Rank 5,778,063
Most physician financial blogs talk about frugality, but this one focuses on frugality and minimalism.
# 36 Dr. NetWorth
Started November 2017, Alexa Rank 6,176,345
In a battle with The Loonie Doctor to be the WCI of the Great White North, this Canadian blogger seems to be slowing down with the last post in mid-May.
# 37 Dads Making Cents
Started April 2018, Alexa Rank 6,314,642
Two dad authors of this one; Dr. Linus is an MD and Woodstock is a JD.
# 38 Dr. Scrilla
Started May 2018, Alexa Rank 6,927,593
This brand new blog is by a dramatically indebted new doc who wants to teach himself personal finance by blogging about it, or at least documenting his journey to financial success.
# 39 OB Doctor Mom
Started March 2017, Alexa Rank 7,119,056
This female doc left obstetrics at 37 and writes about early separation from medicine.
# 40 Financially Free MD
Started May 2017, Alexa Rank 7,478,059
Another one by a Canadian. Where are the Aussie, Kiwis, and Brit physician financial blogs?
# 41 Some Random Guy Online
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Started September 2016, Alexa Rank 8,036,111
He might portray himself as “some random guy” pursuing FI, but he's an emergency doc married to another doc. Ad-free for those who get turned off by the ones on this site.
Update: Blog no longer exists as of August 2021
# 42 PracticeBalance
Started October 2011, Alexa Rank 8,129,305
This part-time female physician and WCI Conference panel member has found the balance in her life with this early blog. The blog is also pretty balanced, with a relatively minor focus on finances.
# 43 Dr. Moneyblog
Started January 2018, Alexa Rank 8,666,113
The second female Canadian financial physician blogger on the list. No niche too small! This one is unabashedly anonymous and non-monetized.
Update: Blog no longer exists as of August 2021
# 44 The Vital Physician Executive
Started June 2016, Alexa Rank 8,920,110
The focus here is on helping doctors in management roles with a sprinkling of non-clinical career type topics.
# 45 My Curiosity Lab
Started May 2017, Alexa Rank 9,013,615
Another member of a two physician couple writing anonymously about whatever interests him. Thankfully one of those things is personal finance.
# 46 The First Habit
Started December 2016, Alexa Rank 9,197,093
One day his neighbor told him he started a blog and he thought “that sounds like a waste of time.” Now my next door neighbor is in on the act too. He blogs about finance, fitness, wisdom, and mostly, the importance of establishing good habits.
# 47 Foreign Born MD
Started October 2017, Alexa Rank 9,291,059
IMG issues, including finance, written by a female physician.
Update: Blog no longer exists as of August 2021
# 48Keeping Up With the Darkos
Started March 2015, Alexa Rank 10,785,886
Far better known for the podcast, the Darkos also blog from time to time. I like their treatment of marital issues surrounding finances.
# 49 Burnetts Ahoy
Started July 2014, No Alexa Data
Gold Level Scholarship Sponsor
A female FI doc who now sails and occasionally blogs, mostly about sailing but with occasional financial references. If you've dreamed of ditching it all for full on FIRE, this is probably worth your time.
# 50 Fifteen Minute Financial Fitness
Started, No Alexa Data
This one is still sitting on a temporary domain, but hopefully it'll stick around long enough to get its own domain.
Update: Blog no longer exists as of August 2021
I'm sure I've forgotten someone, and for that, I apologize. Please just post in the comments section and I'll either add you to this list or include you the next time we do this.
Honorable Mention
There are a few other blogs that really ought to be considered here. However, they don't qualify to be on “The Big List” for various reasons. Either they're really not blogging about finances or they're not a physician. But my audience isn't 100% physicians, so I thought these folks deserved a shout-out too.
KevinMD
Started 2004, Alexa Rank 61,047 (14,811 in US)
Kevin doesn't actually write about finances, but there was a finance section of the blog started in January 2015 which publishes stuff from many of the bloggers in the above list.
The Happy MD
Started Alexa Rank 490,723 (129,667 in US)
If there is anyone more fired up about burnout than The Happy Philosopher, it has to be The Happy MD. Some might criticize someone talking about overcoming burnout who doesn't actually practice anymore, but it's still a useful resource. The only reason it isn't on the “The Big List” is because it rarely hits financial topics, even if your financial situation might have enough to do with burnout that I included it as a major part at the Physician Wellness and Financial Literacy Conference. It helps that it is a lot easier to get CME for burnout talks than asset allocation talks.
Big Law Investor
Started June 2016, Alexa Rank 317,495 (52,787 in US)
Gold Level Scholarship Sponsor
Think WCI for lawyers.
Celebrating Financial Freedom
Started ~ 2013, Alexa Rank 408,992 (113,029 in US)
Dentist writing about budgeting and getting out of debt from a Christian perspective, although not necessarily writing to doctors exclusively.
Your Financial Pharmacist
Started November 2015, Alexa Rank 2,098,387 (378,178 in US)
WCI for pharmacists.
I am 1 Percent
Started March 2015, Alexa Rank 3,591,302
Not written by a health care professional, but it is aimed at high earners.
Doctors on Debt
Started July 2017, Alexa Rank 5,027,679 (520,934 in US)
Dentist and chiropractor couple write about getting out of debt
Financial Wellness DVM
Started April 2018, Alexa Rank 7,948,826
WCI for veterinarians. Hopefully it works out better than the last WCI for veterinarians.
Update: Blog no longer exists as of August 2021
Debt Wise Dentist
Started February 2018, Alexa Rank 9,012,391
Relatively new player, focused mostly on dentists and mostly on debt management. He is one member of a two-dentist couple. Nothing has been posted since May, so it may not be around long.
Freedom Founders
Started ?, Alexa Rank 9,841,369
Lots of marketing on this one, but there is both a blog and a podcast done by a dentist hitting financial topics. Heavy on real estate and “masterminds” and light on actionable tips unless you come to the seminars/masterminds.
That Frugal Pharmacist
Started March 2018, Alexa Rank 18,206,204
Another financial blog written by a pharmacist. Not sure which of the two is better. I suppose time will tell. There are a quarter million pharmacists in the country, so I suppose there is room for both.
Son of a Doctor
Started March 2016, No Alexa data
Gold Level Scholarship Sponsor
This one does have a physician author (along with her financial advisor husband) but I kept it off the big list because the doc doesn't do any of the financial writing.
Dr. J.'s Market Thoughts
Started October 2016, No Alexa data
Written by a dentist, this is like the anti-WCI financial blog. There's a free blog but he's really selling a $199 day trading newsletter.
Again, I'm sure I've forgotten someone. Leave a comment and we'll either update or get you next time.
Come and Gone
This is a section of blogs that have either disappeared completely or at least haven't been updated in the last 3 months. I decided to include this section for two reasons. First, at least for those that are still online, there is some good stuff out there worth reading. Second, I think it's a good demonstration of just how difficult it is to maintain even a hobby blog, much less be successful blogging professionally. In fact, even among those on the active list above, there are at most 5 making enough money to be worth the time being put into them. Good thing most physician financial bloggers don't seem to be in it for the big bucks. At any rate, these 23 blogs have come and gone, although there is potential for resurrection with a few of them.
Dr. Wise Money
Started March 2015, Amanda's stuff goes through May 2017
Amanda Liu, may she RIP, started this blog as an intern. I don't know who's posting now, but it's getting regular posts. They just have nothing to do with physician finances.
Productive Physician
Ran August 2016 to at least March 2018
Site was down when I went to do this post.
FIRE in the Netherlands
I found this one on the Rockstar Finance Directory under Physician Financial Blogs. The link didn't work and I couldn't find it on search engines. I'm sure it was lovely.
Frugal African
Also listed in the Rockstar Finance directory, but with a link that doesn't seem to be accessible.
Live Free MD
Started December 2016, went inactive in March 2018
Med School Financial
This was one of the ones on my list a couple years ago. The site seems to have been taken down.
Derivative Doctor
Started February 2017, no posts since July 2017
This one is still up, but only lasted 5 months. The tagline “active trading with a day job” makes me at least a little glad it never became popular among docs.
Miles Dividend MD
Started September 2013, last post December 2016
I'm a little worried about this one. The last post was about battling depression.
Debt Freedom Journey
Started in 2015, but inactive in 2016
No longer up, but this was the original WCI for veterinarians.
Doctor Money Blog
Started and ended on the same day in 2013
This one only ever had one post. It's still up though!
Miss Millenial MD
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Started September 2017, last post in January 2018
Just found this one while looking around. Not sure what it was really about as I can only get to a post or two. One was about real estate.
Physician Couple
Seemed promising, no longer up.
Choose Better Life
Started April 2016, Stopped posting June 2017
Lots of subjects, but a few posts on personal finance.
Negotiation MD
Started July 2016, Last post in February 2019
This is a doc trying to teach other docs to negotiate better. The blog seems to have been part of the marketing efforts.
Diagnosis Life
Site isn't currently up but may be merging with another blog soon, so maybe it'll be back. Not sure I have ever read this one. It is written by a doc but I'm not sure it is about finance.
The Boss MD
Started July 2017, last post September 2017
It only lasted 2 months, but it sure pumped out a lot of posts in that time period.
Another Second Opinion
Started August 2017, last post October 2017
Some bloggers worry about running out of stuff to write. This one apparently did. Another two-month wonder.
Stealth Wealth MD
Started July 2017, last post August 2017
You thought 2 months was a short life for a blog? How about 1? 4 great posts on this blog.
Doctor Money Blog
Started and ended on the same day in 2013
4 posts too long? This one only ever had one post. 5 years later it still exists though. Probably just a sign of free WordPress hosting.
Investing Doc
Started June 2016, Alexa Rank 2,197,667 (536,471 in US)
Blogged intermittently from June 2016 to January 2018. Would be # 18 on the list if it were active.
Physician REI
Started July 2017, Alexa Rank 5,697,791
I think there is a real estate focus here. Can't actually see the blog. Honestly, not even sure it's written by a doc.
The Military Physician
Started September 2017, Last Post February 2018, Alexa Rank 15,283,702
Still active on Twitter, but working on military approval to start blogging again.
Thrifty Surgeon
Started December 2017, Last Post March 2018.
Time for Money MD
Started December 2017, No Alexa Data
I thought this one was a one-month wonder and I was right. It was resurrected in June 2018 and stopped posting in July 2018.
A Good Life MD
Started in July 2017, Alexa Rank 4,258,395
Finance, wellness, happiness. There was lots of good stuff on this blog but it looks like it didn't make it past 2018.
This isn't even a complete list. I know there have been a few more that have come and gone, but it has been so long I don't know what they were called. Lots of them quit right after finding WCI.
Physician Financial Podcasts
There are more and more podcasts in this space all the time as well. These are listed in no particular order since there is no good way to see how many downloads a podcast (other than your own) has. These are active podcasts done by physicians that at least occasionally cover financial topics. There are other podcasts out there aimed at docs or their spouses, but these are all I know of that are actually done by docs.
The White Coat Investor
Started January 2017 kind of on a whim, we never expected this to be as big as it is. Although the website gets far more pageviews than the podcast gets downloads, our downloads are comparable to how many people read a newly published post or the monthly newsletter. Many doctors have been introduced to The White Coat Investor through the podcast and the majority of its listeners will never read this post. The podcast contains some awesome guest interviews, lots of questions from readers, and even a few rants.
Docs Outside the Box
Started April 2016, this is one impressive production by Nii Darko. Their blog might be small potatoes, but the podcast isn't. This concentrates on Ordinary Doctors Doing Extraordinary Things outside of medicine.
Hippocratic Hustle
Started April 2017, this one is done by Carrie Reynolds, with frequent “Friends Talk Finance” episodes where she brings on blogger Miss Bonnie MD. Anybody can listen to it, but all the guests are women.
The Wealth Formula
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Started in 2007 by Buck Joffrey, it focuses on real estate investing and entrepreneurship.
Doctors Unbound
Started in 2007, this regular podcast by David Draghinas is another nice production that frequently hits on financial topics.
Doc of All Tradez
Started in March 2017, there are only four episodes (last in February 2018) and they're less focused on finance than the blog is.
Some Thoughts On The Physician Financial Online Community
Whew! That was a lot of work to go through all that! It seems appropriate at this point to offer a few thoughts about physician financial online communities.
# 1 It's Growing
Obviously, the community is large and it is growing as doctors realize they need to learn this information as early as possible in their careers. It's definitely not growing as quickly as the number of blogs/podcasts that have been started in the last two years, which might explain why so few of them get very big.
# 2 “Me Too” Blogs Don't Do Very Well
Now, I'm not talking about blogs discussing sexual assault here, I'm talking about a blog that tries to be the next White Coat Investor or Physician on FIRE. If your new blog idea is to basically rewrite all of the WCI posts in your own words, you'd better be either a heck of a writer or one awesome promoter. How many popular Physician FI blogs can there really be? Yet if you niche down too far, there's nobody left to read but your mother. It's a tricky dilemma. If you want to start a successful blog in this niche you're going to need a unique perspective on something not currently being done very well and you're probably going to have to grow the pie by finding docs not currently reading financial blogs to read yours and then hoping they don't find another blog through yours that they like better. Possible niches? Docs approaching/in retirement (only one so far), a blog focusing on PAs/NP specific issues, British/Aussie/Kiwi physician financial blogs, and a blog focusing on PT/OT types all have potential.
# 3 Lots of Bloggers Run Out of Steam
Nobody reads your blog and certainly nobody pays you for blogging in the first year. At least half of the blogs that have come into this space have petered out before reaching that point. Before beginning a blog, honestly ask yourself before you begin if this is something you can and will do consistently, for two years, for free.
# 4 Hit the Forums
Few people realize this, but one of the reasons WCI was so successful is that I already had an online reputation BEFORE starting it. I'd been doing this for 6 years before starting the blog. I knew what questions doctors ask; I'd already answered them dozens of times. I was the 8th most prolific poster on the most popular investing forum on the planet and a handful of other financial forums. That not only gave me plenty of content ideas and readers who already liked my writing, but it also showed to me that I wasn't going to have any trouble keeping this up for years. If you are a forum regular and if you enjoy getting on the forums every day and writing long posts, you probably have what it takes to stick with blogging long enough to have some success.
# 5 Non-Monetized Blogs Generally Don't Grow
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I don't know what it is about trying to make money that motivates people to keep at it and do a better job, but if you look at the top 15 blogs on the list, 12 of them are at least trying to make money. People are people and they do what they are incentivized to do. I know I would have never kept at it long enough to be successful if I wasn't making something, and I certainly wouldn't be pouring the time and effort in that I am now for free. Some people are more selfless than me, but not very many.
# 6 Most Physician Financial Blogs Will Never Be Financially Successful
The barrier to entry in this business is very low ($50 and a couple of hours) but the barrier to financial success is very high, and getting higher all the time due to the dilution factor. The problem is that a physician writing a financial blog has the ability to make money at a very high rate at their day job. Average Joe American might be thrilled to have a blog that pays him $500 a month, even if he spends 30+ hours a month on it, but that's a terrible misuse of a physician's time. It's one thing if you are at $500 a month and you see it rapidly growing. It's entirely different if you've been stuck at $500/month for 5 years. Now, this is all fine if it's just a hobby for you, but if you're taking time away from your practice, family, and hobbies to do it, you might want to get paid eventually.
When I started, I went to where doctors were and tried to get them to read a financial blog. 7+ years later, how many doctors are left that don't currently read financial blogs but can be convinced to do so? Probably not very many. So your only tactic now may be to convince those that already read financial blogs to read your blog instead of or in addition to the ones they're reading now. Most of us will read two or three blogs, but none of us (except maybe PoF) will read 50+. So how many financially successful blogs will there be eventually in this space? Hard to say for sure, but it is certainly a single digit number and most of them probably already exist. So if you're a prospective physician financial blogger, make sure you're doing this because you really love doing it, and not for financial reasons.
What do you think? Are you surprised by how many physician financial blogs there currently are? Which are your favorites? Are you surprised how many have come and gone? Why do you think that is? Who have I forgotten? If you're a financial blogger, what kind of traffic and income are you seeing? Comment below!
Thanks for the mention!
Blogging really is a grind, but one that I have loved. I hope that my site grows with time and that the traffic continues to climb making it a financially feasible operation at some point. That said, I’ve found it to be beneficial in a lot of other ways outside of the monetary aspect.
I will say that I think people are often interested in different points of view on similar topics. As the pastor who married my wife and me said, “You can never hear true things enough.” Sometimes hearing the same principle (or a different one) taught in a new light can be helpful. And sometimes people simply relate to the story of others. All that to say, I think there remains room in this niche for new physician finance bloggers to grow.
I’ll keep hammering away at my financial independence as a tool to prevent and treat the burnout that is all to prevalent in today’s docs. Hopefully, some will learn how to get there quickly so that they can choose to practice medicine because they want to, and not because they have to.
TPP
All right. You’ve left the first comment on nearly everything I’ve written in the last month or two despite the fact that I publish at 12:30 am MST. Are you working nights or do you live in Hawaii? This one came in at 1:49 am.
Haha. I think I may be first for the past six months unless I was in second shift and sleeping 😉 Xrayvsn has beaten me to a few recently.
I wake up at 4-4:30am (east coast) early in the morning. I post before I leave for work and then check back after I am done with work.
TPP
Ahhh…between the time zone change and waking early, that pretty much explains it. I used to mostly see Alaskans and Hawaiians who were reading before bed. 9:30 pm Hawaiian and 10:30 pm Alaska.
You might guess that I am in bed by 9 most every night with the time I wake up. Maybe I should move to Hawaii and stay up later!
Nice list—now that I’ve been blogging for 18 months, I’ve seen the incredible growth in the number of physician finance blogs as well.
To give a data point correlating Alexa Rank with actual site stats, my blog had 24,529 hits last month, with slow but relatively steady growth. I don’t share my revenue numbers unless you’re WCI, but PoF and PIMD share their revenue to e-mail subscribers, and of course WCI shares his site revenue each January.
One of the non-monetary (which actually ends up being monetary) benefits of blogging is it forces you to learn aspects of personal finance and investing you don’t already know, or may not know well enough. Most physician finance bloggers will end up “earning” more from improving their own personal finances because they wrote, researched, and thought about topics for an article than they will from ads.
If you’re a current or prospective physician finance blogger, feel free to reach out to me or any of the other physician finance bloggers for tips or advice – it’s a very welcoming community.
-Wall Street Physician
Couldn’t agree more. We think and learn by talking and writing. Grappling with these ideas and putting words to paper is helping me understand not only the nitty-gritty of Financial Independence but also the social, emotional and interpersonal aspects of it. At times striving for financial freedom is lonely since almost no one you know is doing the same. I am more likely to be met with skepticism and a bit of derision rather than encouragement when I talk about these ideas in real life. Taking part in this community and contributing to it in a small way is motivating. As WCI says, money is motivating, but so is sharing, exploring, and learning 🙂
Thank you again WCI for including Pediatricianfindsfi on this list. Wall Street Physician is right, the financial independence and physician blogging communities are inviting and enthusiastic about sharing their expertise!
-Kpeds
Absolutely. When you go to manage your own finances, all you have to learn is the stuff that pertains to you. But once you start answering questions for others, you’ll need to learn 10 times more. And if you want to do it for money giving formal, personalized advice, you’ll need to learn 100 times more. This is something that a lot of financial professionals don’t realize. They look at some schmuck DIYer and think, that guys doesn’t know nearly as much as I do. But he doesn’t HAVE to. Who needs to know about student loans or mortgages or real estate investing if you’re debt free and invested entirely in index funds?
I also agree that unless you make it really big, the biggest benefit is the improvement in your own financial management.
Thank you for including me on the list.
As I have said before, every member of the white coat investor has been a huge inspiration in my personal life and the reason why I even attempted to start a blog even though people had asked me to for several years prior to starting this April.
I pretty much have made it no secret that my ultimate goal would be to join the other pillars of the white coat network. Looks like I have a long ways to go but it was nice to crack the top 20 of this list (and thank you for showing my Alexa ranking, I heard of this measurement but did not know how to find it on my own.
Well hopefully there is a chance to add a member to the wci network (remember a 4 legged table is far more stable than a 3 legged stool. Lol ?)
Again proud to be a member of this illustrious group and special shout out to PIMD whose blog post on starting a blog was the impetus for me
Woohoo, special mention, thanks! You seem to have PoF’s magical powers of being on every blog at the same time.
You got me PIMD, I really am one of the most high tech sophisticated bots out there.
You silly humans, thinking that a simple CAPTCHA is going to stop me and my brethren?
It was just a matter of time when we realized that there was no actual confirmatory step performed to verify indeed they we were not human when we checked the “are you human box? ” (and seriously did you guys think we couldn’t figure out which pictures contained street signs? MrRoboto23 and I had a chuckle over that simple countermeasure.
I miss Miles Dividend. Sure hope he’s doing OK.
Maybe one day I’ll get an honorable mention ?
Sorry Ryan. I specifically excluded all the blogs written by financial professionals. As you know, nearly every financial professional website has at least a blog with a few posts on it. A common marketing strategy I guess. Some are “real bloggers” and some aren’t, but it would have easily doubled or tripled this list if I had included them.
Not a problem! Just messin’ around. It’s not the typical advisor blog for marketing kinda deal but I understand the hard cut you need to make.
Hopefully the Financial Residency podcast is making a difference in the lives of young physicians, that’s my motivation for it.
WCI,
Thanks for doing the hard work of updating this list. As you noted, I’m not willing to do that kind of work. LOL. So true!
I agree: money is a motivator. I think the fact that I’m FI reduces my incentive to build a profitable business out of this. As you know this isn’t just “automatic passive income.” I enjoy the creative outlet and clarifying my thoughts and connecting with and helping other people. But I have “enough” money. Also, as you pointed out many times – I suck at marketing. So true, yet again.
At any rate, I’m glad to have survived in this field this long. I thought for sure I would be at the bottom of the list. I have a few cousins that must have started reading in addition to my Mom. LOL. I’m celebrating that I’m in the top 5 Million websites!
I’m not too familiar with Alexa but it is cool to see that. I’m currently getting about 30K page views per month. Hits are 60K -80K / mo but I think that is less meaningful. I make some money, but not much.
I have already started to read some of the listed blogs. Some I never heard of. Some I didn’t know went offline. Some I hope will come back (e.g. Live Free MD).
Interesting to compare your pageviews and WSP’s with the Alexa data. You guys demonstrate that Alexa doesn’t correlate perfectly with pageviews. You are slightly higher on pageviews, yet 25 spots down on the list as far as Alexa ranking. Oh well.
I’m curious what you mean by “hits.” I always equated “hits” with pageviews.
Month Unique visitors #visits Pages Hits
Jan 2018 12534 18966 38078 82436
Feb 2018 5790 11209 24761 72987
Mar 2018 9231 15386 33193 68654
Apr 2018 8340 13907 27622 58194
May 2018 8789 15582 33492 65368
Jun 2018 8129 14439 26367 51385
It beats me. I found this online at kb.webtrends.com
“Hit – A hit is any request to a web server. Each time a visitor downloads a page, clicks a hyperlink, views a graphic, or performs any other action on a website, a call is made to the web server. The web server records each of these requests in a log file. These requests are commonly known as “hits,” and the loading of a single web page can amount to many hits, due to all of the elements it contains.
Page View – A page view represents a hit to any file designated among the page file types. The most common examples are files ending in .html, .htm, .php, .asp, or .aspx.”
I see. I guess I just always equated them. Either way, I would have expected a higher Alexa rank given the amount of pageviews you’re having.
I appreciate the mention and the inspiration!
I see a huge opportunity for physicians in podcasting. There are podcasts launched and growing on niche medical topics or diseases, often by non-physicians.
As true medical experts, there is a huge need and opportunity for doctors to enter this space and be leaders
If anyone is interested, reach out to me. I’d be happy to help.
If nothing else, there are fewer physician financial podcasts than physician financial blogs, but as you know, the barrier to entry is a little higher.
Wow, super surprised to have cracked the Top-10. Thanks for inclusion! Like you mentioned about the online presence before starting a blog… my advice is always “have 50,000 twitter followers” then start a blog – certainly the only reason I’ve made it!
It always makes me take a personal moment of reflection when remembering Dr. Wise Money. Her blog inspired me to think out of the box on student loan management in regards to credit cards. It is just so sad to think that someone with so much insight into finances, hard work, and inspirational spirit could be gone so soon. Its heart breaking to go back and read her story, may she RIP
A pleasant surprise to see my blog on this list! WCI has definitely been an inspiration, and I am honestly puzzled as to why I’m the only vet that seems to be blogging about personal finance. I’m pretty motivated, so I intend to stick around for a while!
Thanks Jim. It’s nice to be in the top 20. Keeping motivated is definitely the hardest part of blogging. I have 20 ideas started but have yet to find time and energy to finish them. Still I continue to churn out at least 1 post a week which is down from when I started and could write 3.
Lots of good sites here and will go check some out.
Great to be included in this list of excellent bloggers, even if almost at the bottom! So impressed with all those cranking out posts regularly and it’s been a great learning experience.
thanks for listing physician advocates md,
We aren’t really a “come and gone” Too many people found the name confusing thinking we were lawyers so we rebranded under https://negotiationmd.com/ and are still actively blogging
Hope we can get a reconsideration
As you can imagine, it’s tough keeping track of what’s going on with 100+ entities. That’s partly why I made the list- because I couldn’t keep track of them any more!
Thanks for the fantastic list and I’m looking forward to learning from some new docs.
I stopped posting last year when several family emergencies took priority for my time and because of concern that I couldn’t say what I really wanted and keep my day job.
Our family is doing well now, and I’m retiring from clinical practice in a few weeks (Thanks in large part to WCI and MMM. You guys rock!) so will likely resurrect the blog in some form. I’m super-excited for this new adventure!
Once I get my Alexa rank into 6-figures I’ll call myself a success and peace out of the blogosphere with nothing left to prove
Hi WCI,
Thanks for forging the path, updating the list, and sharing your perspectives on blogging. All of these have been helpful to me personally. Also, thanks for including me on the list! Physician finance in Canada is a smaller target audience, but I also think a bit of a rugged frontier still. I am not sure if I will ever monetize, but there has been such a vacuum of objective information specific to Canadian docs that I have definitely profited in terms of improving my own financial and investment strategies. Besides, if I ever did, it would be in Canadian Loonies anyway.
I was going to call my site the “76 Cents US Doctor”, but it wasn’t nearly as catchy and was less explicit about my mental status 😉
-LD
Well the one day I do not check the blog at 6AM. I went to my blog and wondered about the increased traffic. I thought maybe POF had included me in a Sunday best. HaHa. I am genuinely surprised that my little once per week blog ranked as high as it did. I am inspired to write some better posts. I have no idea how to check Alexa rankings. I follow the stats on unique visitors and page views. I think this blogging endeavor is fun and rewarding. It is forcing me to leave my box and learn a few new things. I am delighted to have made the list. Maybe in two years I will make another comment that contradicts this one. Ha
Ha ha. I was looking forward to you reading this post. I hadn’t connected those two comments of yours until I went back in preparation for this post and got a chuckle out of it.
When I made the second comment I had forgotten about the first one. Thanks again.
Thanks for posting this list. It gives a perspective to the upside and downside. I’m still amazed by how many physicians I meet that haven’t heard about WCI or other personal finance blogs.
I wonder if there is a way to create a dynamic list that automatically pulls in the Alexa ranking. Nothing better than making a bunch of type A Physicians compete over a number.
Especially when it is such a crummy number! If someone knows a better way other than emailing 100 people to find out their latest pageviews, I’m all ears.
Here you go … live(ish) rankings. I had to keep the live page separate because amazon limits how many requests you can make. It’s more fun to watch people compete over useless metrics
https://www.dadsmakingcents.com/physician-financial-blog-rankings/
Couldn’t get access to the document.
Newer blogger here so hope I don’t ever make the come and gone list!! I’m a pharmacist and the wife is an ER doc. We have 4 kids, so our blog is geared towards high income families! Been posting since May, so still in infancy stage.
Not that I am begging to be placed on the list. But, I think radsresident.com should have been placed on it as well. (My website for radiology residents, students, and associated radiologists has been increasing in popularity!) I do write financial articles occasionally (a few written in the past 3 months) and my Alexa rank is 1125570 and usa rank of 257795 as of the day that I am writing this response. I began my website in September, 2016
I ran one of the now defunct sites. It was fun initially. I naively thought I could carve out a niche that was unique and gain traffic. Never really happened. To be honest, my content wasn’t great either as I tried to do most of my writing on free moments on call. Had many opportunities to guest podcast or do a few other guest writing opportunities that would have required me to no longer be anonymous. Just couldn’t do it because some of the blog content was of a nature I wasn’t comfortable having my name attached (too personal).
Also hard to get excited about $0.32 of Google ad revenue when your day job pays $300/hr.
Much respect to you guys continuing to write great content.
That perspective is probably super helpful to someone thinking about starting up. Easy to start but that “six month itch” is a real barrier. I also agree that it is very difficult to go very far while remaining anonymous.
Hi WCI,
Wow, I’m definitely surprised that I am on the list. I guess I almost got relegated to the “Come and Gone” list.? Whew! 🙂 Thanks for acknowledging my blog’s existence!
Yes, no post since May, but still planning to blog. I have been guilty of being lazy on the blogging front, as I have been “busy” enjoying the sunny weather after a brutal winter that we just had. Blogging in the winter is definitely much easier, in my humble opinion! Hats off to all you physician bloggers who regularly churn out great content. Amazing!
Sorry to disappoint you, but no battle is scheduled for the WCI GWN title belt. Didn’t you know that we Canucks are friendly to one another, except when it comes to hockey? 🙂 I am rooting for my fellow blogger bud Looniedoc to be the WCI of the North. He is definitely smarter and better looking than me!
Thanks for all that you do WCI!
DN
Would you change your mind if you found out he was an Edmonton Oilers fan?
Hey DN and WCI,
I am relieved that you are continuing on DN. I am hitting summer hiatus also. Winter is plenty long to write, which is also much easier when the kids are in school. I keep trying to get ahead a few posts, but it just doesn’t happen. As far as I am concerned, I enjoy your writing and anything that you write about is something that I don’t need to. There is just so much ground to cover.
At the risk of deportation, I will confess that I enjoy playing hockey, but don’t actually follow the NHL anymore. Biathlon was my best sport. That is cross-country skiing coupled with precision shooting. I figure that it will be applicable again as my daughter approaches dating age. In terms of my good looks – I just have to say that Photoshop has probably become my favourite blogging skill 🙂
-LD
Don’t tell Rogue Dad MD that you do biathlon.
Interesting list, it does show that it is easy to start, but very difficult to make money at. It also takes a lot of work and knowledge. You must be very nice to give advertising to all your competitors.
Blogging is mostly collaborative. Those on this list who have asked for a lot of help know where I personally draw the line, but I look at it like this: People are going to do this whether I want them to or not, so I might as well enjoy the fact that they’re helping me accomplish my primary mission to give those who wear a white coat a fair shake on Wall Street.
Great list WCI and thanks for the mention. It’s feels great to be included in such an illustrious group of folks. Do you think “Choose FI” podcast deserves a mention since Jonathan Mendonsa is a pharmacist? Btw, I had no idea that Dr. Mo of Sustainable Medicine is female. With all her potty mouth cursing and such, I erroneously assumed she was male. Shame on me for making assumptions!
I enjoyed this post. Like all great performers, they make it look easy. Just watch the Olympic ice skaters. It is like that guy in math class in college. I study all semester long to get an A or A-, and some freshman comes in during my senior year with no study and finishes the test in 30 minutes and gets an A+. There is a relevant book entitled “Give and Take,” by Adam Grant. The WCI would fit in the category that Adam Grant talks about. He classifies people into three categories. The giver, the matcher, and the taker. The taker will use other people and not pay them back. The matcher obviously will repay a favor one for one. The giver comes in two varieties. The giver that gives and wants nothing in return (ever) gets burned out and depressed. But, the giver that gives and wants a little something in return (but not as much as a matcher) winds up being the most successful in society. This is the type of giver the WCI is. He gave on the forum for years, and then as the WCI for two years. But, the mission was always some margin. Now, look at the enterprise. Adam Grant made a whole study of this concept. I want the WCI to put on his white board concept diagram “the WCI IPO.” Go for a billion dollar enterprise and a public company. Better yet, capitalize your enterprise from funding by your users.
You’re not the first to suggest it, but I haven’t yet figured out what I’d do with the extra cash. Now if people could buy into the IPO with time…