Physician Wellness and Financial Literacy Conference (WCICON22) February 9-12, 2022
JW Marriott Phoenix, AZ
REGISTRATION IS OPEN!
We are super excited to announce the opening of registration for the 2022 Physician Wellness and Financial Literacy Conference (WCICON22). Registration opens on Sept. 14th at 7pm MDT. We don't know how quickly (or even whether) it will sell out, but I can tell you the last one of similar size two years ago was one-third sold out after 7 minutes and completely sold out after 23 hours.
The conference will be held at the luxurious JW Marriott Desert Ridge in sunny northeast Phoenix, Arizona on Feb. 9-12, 2022.
Once you register for the conference, you will be sent a link for our group hotel registration at the JW Marriott. We recommend you book your room immediately if you would like to stay on the property. In the reserved block from Wednesday through Saturday night, the room rate is $335 plus a $25/night resort fee, but there are only a limited number of rooms available. For those who want to stay off-property or for overflow when the JW Marriott sells out, we have secured group rates at nearby hotels, and we will include that information in the hotel email post-registration.
Our content committee has put an awesome lineup of speakers together and our conference director, Chrislyn, is really injecting wellness into the conference more than any prior conference with numerous after-hours activities. Let's start with the speaker line-up.
Speaker Line-up
We have three exceptional keynote speakers lined up for the conference, along with the two General Sessions where I'll be presenting.
William Bernstein, MD
Bill is well known to The White Coat Investor audience. He was last with us in 2018 in Park City, and he has agreed to return at a warmer venue! Bill is a neurologist turned investment guru and the author of multiple investing books, including the widely influential Four Pillars of Investing and If You Can. His knowledge of financial history is second to none and his ability to see through the viles of Wall Street makes him a fantastic addition to our lineup.
Michelle Singletary
Michelle is a nationally syndicated personal finance columnist, famous for her “The Color of Money” column. She is the author of three books, including The 21 Day Financial Fast and Spend Well, Live Rich. She has been a contributor to NPR, CNN, Oprah, The View, and more. She also founded a financial program at her church, and she volunteers teaching financial literacy in Maryland prisons.
James Lange, CPA, JD
Jim is an accountant, attorney, founder of a financial advisory firm, and author of multiple investing books, including Retire Secure, The Roth Revolution, and Beating the New Death Tax. He is the founder of The Roth IRA Institute and a widespread advocate of tax-protected investing strategies, including Roth conversions. He has also designed a well-thought-out estate planning strategy called the Cascading Beneficiaries Plan.
Other speakers include:
- James M. Dahle, MD — Founder of The White Coat Investor
- Leif Dahleen, MD — Founder of The Physician on FIRE
- Peter Kim, MD — Founder of Passive Income MD
- Anna McKeone, MD — Practicing Physician
- Brent Lacey, MD — Founder of The Scope of Practice
- Latifat Akintade, MD — Founder of Money Fit MD
- Lawrence B. Keller, CFP, CHFC, CLP — Insurance Expert
- Sarah Catherine Gutierrez, CFP — Financial Planner
- Stephen D. Pamatmat, MD — Practicing Physician
- Sandeep Basran, JD — Attorney
- Cory Fawcett, MD — Founder of Financial Success MD
- Brian Foley, MD, MBA — Founder of Wealthy Doc
- David Graham, MD — Physician and Financial Advisor
- Dewan Farhana, DO — Founder of Doctor Finances
- Jay Adkisson, Esq. — Asset Protection Attorney
- Nisha Mehta, MD — Founder of Physician Side Gigs
- Parameshwari Baladandapani, MD — Founder of Generational Wealth MD
- Barbara Hamilton, MD — Founder of Tired Superheroine
- Dawn Baker, MD — Founder of Practice Balance
- Dimitrios Tsatiris, MD — Practicing Physician
- Edward M. Smink, PhD, BCC, RN — Life Coach and Retired Nurse
- Jenny Christner, MD — Dean of Baylor School of Medicine
- Jeremy Toffle, MD — Founder of Imperfect Dad MD Podcast
- Joshua Liberman, MD — Practicing Physician
- Khalid Sheikh, MD, MBA — Practicing Physician
- Stephanie Benjamin, MD — Practicing Physician and Author
- Tracy Asamoah, MD — Practicing Physician
- Paul Merriman — Financial Advisor, Author, and Podcaster
- Katie Dahle — Co-Owner of The White Coat Investor
- Kate Louise Mangona, MD — Founder of Medicine, Marriage, and Money
- Sanghamitra Sadhu, MD — Founder of Physician Finance Basics
- Lara McElderry — Founder of Married to Doctors
- Altelisha Taylor, MD, MPH — Resident Physician
- Andrew Paulson, MAcc — Co-Founder of Student Loan Advice
- Brennan Boyd, MD — Resident Physician
- Chad Chubb, CFP, CSLP — Financial Planner
- Clint Gossage, CFA — Financial Planner
- Don Wenner — Real Estate Investor
- Elizabeth Aguirre, MD — Practicing Physician
- Fahd Ahmad, MD — Practicing Physician and Blogger
- Faryal Michaud, DO — Founder of Write Your Last Chapter Podcast
- Letizia Alto, MD — Co-Founder of Semi-Retired MD
- Mohammed Alo, DO — Practicing Physician and Writer
- Sabitha Setty, MD — Founder of The Unorthodox Doc
- Weili Gray, MD — Founder of Dare to Dream Physician
See All Speaker Profiles Here!
There will be three different tracks at the conference including:
Wellness
Talks include:
- Physician leaders, not the government, will fix the U.S. healthcare system
- The growing epidemic of infertility among physicians
- Will success make you happy? The answer may surprise you
- Making time for your family is your most important investment
- Three cultural taboos that caregivers experience that prevent self-care
- Embracing imperfection as a parent and physician
- and more!
Basic Financial
Talks include:
- The bumpy road to FI—finance for spenders
- Behavioral Finance 101: How 80% of your wealth-building strategy has nothing to do with math
- How to be a cash flow boss
- What every physician should know about disability and life insurance
- Exploring the tax-efficient waterfall
- Index fund investing
- Estate planning
- and more!
Advanced Financial
Talks include:
- How to evaluate private real estate investments
- Implementing systems for direct real estate investing
- Mini-MBA for physicians
- De-risking your portfolio: Your personal glidepath prior to retirement
- Asset protection for physicians: The reality
- Retirement spending: Strategies to live well off the money you've saved
- What every physician should know about taxes
- Growing into your role as breadwinner
- and more!
Spouse/Domestic Partner Track
This Friday afternoon event is designed to be attended by the attendee and their partner together. Talks include:
- Working together to achieve your financial goals—Jim and Katie Dahle
- Money and kids—Sanghamitra Sadhu, MD
- Married to doctors—Lara McElderry
- How to host the perfect financial date night—Kate Louise Mangona, MD
Wellness Activities
Who wants to sit in class all day at a wellness conference in Phoenix in February? None of us! So we're going to knock off by 4pm each day and enjoy the resort amenities. Afternoon and evening events include golf, a pickleball tournament, spa, hiking, bike rentals, sponsored dinners, and receptions. We're going to provide a catered lunch each day on the beautiful back lawn.
Swag Bags
As usual, we'll have the best swag bag you've ever had at a conference, including books from keynote speakers! For virtual conference attendees, these bags will be mailed to you. You must sign up before Dec. 1 to get a swag bag. (Sorry, it takes time to print and ship books.) You can still sign up for the conference until Jan. 3 (In-person) or until the conference concludes (Virtual), but you will not get a swag bag unless you sign up before December.
Free Online Course
After the conference, the content from the conference will be packaged into a high-quality online course. Live and standard virtual attendees will get this absolutely free. This frees up your time at the conference to network, have fun, decrease your burnout, and learn at your own pace. You can always listen to the talks you miss during your commute or workout once you get home.
Packages
Premium In-Person $2599 $2299 Until Oct. 19
New for this year and due to numerous requests, we will have a Premium In-person package. There will only be 100 of these available. This includes:
- The entire conference, both in-person events and virtual
- Opening reception
- Swag bag
- Eligibility for all wellness activities
- CFE22 Online Course lifetime access
- Up to 17 hours of CME/Dental CE Credit
- Book signings
- Reserved classroom-style seating up front in every class*
- Fast lane for lunch, snacks, and drinks*
- Premium reception with conference faculty on Feb. 10th*
- WCI Yeti Mug*
*Premium package only
Standard In-Person $1,999 $1,699 Until Oct. 19
This is our standard offering and the one we expect most people will purchase. It includes:
- The entire conference, both live events and virtual
- Opening reception
- Swag bag
- Eligibility for all wellness activities
- CFE22 Online Course lifetime access
- Lunch, snacks, and drinks each day
- Up to 17 hours of CME/Dental CE Credit
- Book signings
Spouse Package $749
This is the package available only to spouses and domestic partners of Premium In-Person and Standard In-Person package purchasers. It includes:
- Special Friday afternoon Spouse Track
- Opening reception
- Eligibility for all wellness activities
- Lunch, snacks, and drinks each day (Fast lane if attendee purchases Premium In-Person)
- Book signings
Standard Virtual Package $899
This package is for those who will be staying home for whatever reason. It includes:
- Virtual conference access
- Swag bag (we'll mail it if you sign up by Dec. 1)
- CFE22 Online Course Lifetime access
- Up to 17 hours of CME/Dental CE Credit
Virtual Live Only Package $499
This is a new package we are trying out this year due to popular demand. If you are looking for a student, resident, PA, military, or any other kind of discount, this is it. Here's what you get:
- Virtual conference access through Feb. 14, 2022
That's it. To keep the cost down, you won't have ongoing access/online course, CME credit, or a swag bag. But you can watch as much of it as you can as the conference is happening.
In-person registration closes on Jan. 3. After that point, only virtual registration will be permitted.
Early Bird Pricing
Early bird pricing will be available until Oct. 19 on the in-person packages only. We cannot guarantee (and, in fact, seriously doubt) that there will still be seats available for any of the live versions after Oct. 19. Early bird pricing is as follows:
- Premium in-person: $2,299
- Standard in-person: $1,699
- Spouse package: $749
Refund Policy
The fact that it is a hybrid conference does change the refund policy, so read carefully. We offer a 10-day, no-questions-asked, 100% money-back refund policy from the time you purchase any package. If you purchase within 10 days of the conference starting, you must cancel before Feb. 8 at midnight MT to qualify for that refund. Email [email protected] if you need to cancel.
After 10 days from the time of purchase, there is no refund whatsoever for the virtual packages. After 10 days have elapsed and until 14 days prior to the beginning of the conference (Jan. 25 at midnight MST), you may downgrade your in-person package to the standard virtual package and receive a refund of the price difference. After Jan. 25, there are no refunds for the live option.
COVID Policy
All live attendees and speakers are required to be fully vaccinated (a minimum of two doses of the Pfizer vaccine, two doses of the Moderna vaccine, or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine). There will be no religious or medical exemptions from this requirement. Having had COVID in the past does not exempt you from this requirement. At registration, you will need to certify that you are fully vaccinated or that you will be prior to attendance. If a booster shot becomes available to you between registration and the conference, we highly encourage you to get it to help keep yourself and others safe.
If you do not wish to get a vaccine or cannot obtain one, we are very sorry, but you cannot attend the live conference. Luckily, this year we have a hybrid conference so you can still participate virtually.
We will be following local (Maricopa County) public health mandates at the live conference. If a mask mandate is put into place, you will be required to wear a mask at the conference in accordance with that mandate. If you personally test positive for COVID within 10 days of the conference, you will not be allowed to attend and will be forced to downgrade to the standard virtual package with an accompanying partial refund. This will be the only exception to the 14-day notice requirement for the refund policy. An exposure to COVID by itself will NOT exempt you from the standard refund policy. If you have a concerning exposure, get tested.
If local public health authorities prevent us from holding an in-person conference, we will switch to an all-virtual format and refund the difference in price between the in-person package you purchased and the standard virtual package.
A Hybrid Event
Buoyed by our successful virtual conference in 2021, we decided to make this conference a hybrid event. We would love to host you in sunny Phoenix and meet you face to face. But if for whatever reason, you would prefer to enjoy this conference from the comfort of your own home, we will also have an excellent virtual option. If you don't sign up soon, that might be your only option. But it will still be awesome!
One of the best parts about a virtual conference is that we can stuff even more talks into it than will fit into the conference center rooms. So there will be some talks that are only available on the virtual platform. Don't worry: If you attend live, you will also have access to those talks to watch at your leisure—either at the conference, after your return home, or indefinitely.
CME/Dental CE Statements
At least 17 credits of AMA Category 1 CME and Dental CE will be available to conference attendees.
See More CME Information Here!
Join Us!
We're looking forward to getting the WCI Community back together in person this winter. Come join us in sunny Phoenix to cure your pandemic-induced burnout, finally get “this finance stuff” figured out, tweak your financial plan, meet online friends, and hobnob with your fellow doctor money nerds.
1) Any chance you’ll offer a student/resident discount?
2) Any chance there’ll be a paid livestream or online viewing option?
3) Physician on Fire is stepping out of the shadows.
4) Miss Bonnie has a last name.
The sessions seem solid. I’m excited.
I look forward to meeting you and many others in real life (out of the shadows).
See you there!
-PoF
Will you be wearing a smiley mask? 🙂
I think I’ve narrowed it down to the Scream mask, Guy Fawkes mask, and Burger King guy. Still taking suggestions, though.
We’ll see. I procrastinated a bit too long and am on the waitlist (I think). At the very least, I’ll see/hear you in the post-conference recording.
If you’re taking votes/input, I’d go with the Scream mask.
Ha, yes I do have a last name. I’m not as private since if you’re in the Facebook group my full name is there, Hope you can make it!
1) Considered it but in the end decided not to make the attending physicians subsidize anyone else who wanted to attend. I dislike paying the “doctor price” so I refuse to charge the “doctor price.” Will residents, PAs etc be priced out in many respects? Yes, but the major cost of attendance isn’t the registration fee. It’s the travel costs.
2) Yes, I don’t know if it will be live though.
3) Yup.
4) Yup.
I am also interested about recorded or online viewing options- i prefer recorded pay per view or so , if possible. Please make the recorded presentations available after conference! Thank you!
Not sure it is going to make any sort of financial sense to offer those options. Surprisingly expensive to make a high quality video recording of a conference. We’ll see how it goes. Certainly won’t be available in real time.
PayPal option does not link to the PayPal site. How do I pay you???
Same here – how do I pay?
You can send payment to [email protected] via your paypal account friends/family option. If you need an invoice email me and I will send you one. Or you can mail a check to the above PO Box. Hope that helps! Thanks, Cindy
Never mind, I saw it. Katherine, here are the instructions: if paying via PayPal, please send your payment to [email protected]. Please include full name and “Conference Registration Fee” in the Notes section. If wishing to pay via credit card but you do not have a PayPal account, email [email protected] and request an invoice.
We will get a PayPal button created to add to this page. For now if you have a PayPal account, just send the registration payment to [email protected]
You can send payment to [email protected] via your paypal account — friends/family option. If you need an invoice, email me and I will send you one. Or you can mail a check to the above PO Box. Hope that helps! Thanks, Cindy
Can you allow live web access or post recording paid access?
We are considering the second and will probably do that.
I would be interested in the paid access to recorded sessions as well.
As mentioned by Katherine, I registered but was given no link to pay via PayPal. Please advise. Many thanks!
For payment: Send via Paypal – use the email [email protected] – or send a physical check or ask for an invoice if you don’t have PayPal – email [email protected]
I had no issues with using PayPal and my credit card. I filled out the WCI form and then used the email address provided by white coat investor to pay for the conference on my PayPal account. It went through without any issues and I got payment confirmation from PayPal.
I’m looking forward to the conference.
Two issues.
1. I couldn’t use the PayPal option. I’m interested and have already booked my flight…
2. When calling double tree hotel, they had no record of this conference to give the discount as stated. I looked up on line got the same rate on priceline FYI.
Super excited to meet all these people. Especially Ms. Bonnie Koo.
We’ll call the hotel and make sure they know about their conference.
If you don’t have a paypal account, email cindy (at) whitecoatinvestor.com for an invoice you can pay with credit card, send a check, or get a paypal account. There are certainly plenty of people using the Paypal option successfully today.
The hotel says “use option zero to speak to the operator (front desk) to make the reservations.” Their “central reservation office” may not have record of it, but the hotel itself does.
At WCI. Thanks for f/u. We are good to go
When I called the hotel I asked about the Physician Wellness and Financial Literacy Conference, and when they said there was no such thing, I asked about the White Coat Investor Conference – they had that one.
They should have it down now. We just got off the phone with them.
My husband is not a physician but is very involved in our finances-and really doesmore than me-can he attend with me? We dont need more materials
Absolutely your husband can attend. However, we are not offering a spouse/partner discount to attend at this time so he would also need to pay the registration fee. The discount we would be able to offer would be small anyway as the swag bag materials are a relatively small percentage of the cost of the conference and the CME expenses are fixed. It costs us the same to offer CME to one person as to 300.
Question for WCI: will spouses be able to attend the reception, breakfasts, book signing, etc, without registering for the full conference? Or will they need to register as a full attendee?
We’ve thought about selling a “meal ticket” for spouses/partners that would allow that. Give us a few days to think about that.
Registered and happy to pay the full price! Meeting PoF in person would be HUGE!
Aren’t I going to see you at FinCon in October?
Hotel still having issues. Front desk had no idea what I was talking about. Transferred me to the “rooms coordinator” who …. isn’t there. Left a message, we’ll see if they call back.
Frustrating – just did this for our wedding and had the SAME issues with the hotel ….. and more …..
And called back … rate quoted was $349. I corrected them and they said “OK.”
????
Sorry for the hassle. You’d think with 100+ people calling them in the last 24 hours that they’d have it figured out by now.
If anyone DOESN’T get what they expect from the hotel (at least until it’s full) please let me know and we’ll get it fixed.
Hey WCI! Just registered for the conference! Tried to call the Double Tree and they told me they didn’t know about the conference. Just spoke to them (11:35 AM EST).
Did you talk to the national reservation line or the actual Double Tree at Park City front desk staff? If you stay on the line instead of hitting the number to make a reservation it’ll take you to the front desk. If they don’t know about it, let me know and I’ll call back up there.
I called the hotel directly and spoke with someone at the front desk who didn’t know anything and transferred me to the “groups coordinator.” The coordinator said she “didn’t know anything about our March 2018 schedule yet and to call back in a few days.”
fyi, I already booked a room and got the group discount so maybe you just talked to the wrong person.
Certainly possible! I’ll try back in a few hours.
We’ll keep addressing it with their staff.
Just called to reserve a room and they had no record of the conference. They had me book the room anyways and said to call back later to get the conference discount when they actually had record of it. Looks like there are still bugs to iron out.
Talked to the front desk and said others had been able to book it but he couldn’t figure it out. At least I have a room and it is only 5-6 dollars more a night. Looking forward to the conference.
That’s not acceptable. We will get you the conference rate on the room. Please send cindy (at) whitecoatinvestor.com an email with your name and the nights you’re staying and we’ll get it fixed.
I just got off the phone with the front desk staff again and they tell me “it’ll be no problem when people call in.”
I called the reservation line to reserve a room and they have not set up the group discount at this time and recommended to reserve a room but call back in the future to get the group discount applied. This was on 7/13/2017 at 7 p.m.
Grrrr……
I agree. Reserve the room and we’ll all jump the front desk staff during registration.
Congrats on the killer lineup; I’m also one who can’t come but would be interested in buying a DVD or podcast offer if it works out.
Would you be more interested in video or audio? What kind of a price would you expect something like that to be offered at?
I called again today to reserve a room and was able to use the group discount and the representative said that I got the last room that was available with the group discount code.
Interesting. Well, we’ve got some ways around that. I’ll see about enlarging the block of rooms. I mean, it’s not like the hotel is full of people coming skiing 9 months from now already.
I just called the hotel just now (7/15 3pm ). They did know about the conference, and they did have rooms available. It seems that the only option is for a room with a single king size bed. Is there any way to have an option for two queen beds so that I can bring my family or split a room with one of my colleagues who will be attending?
I don’t work at the front desk, but any room they have available should be reservable right now at the conference price. At a certain point, they may run out of two queen bed rooms, but I’d be surprised if they had already. I think the hotel has 168 beds and we’ve only reserved something like 60 of them so far (at least at the group rate) so there should be lots left still I believe. I’m skeptical they’re really out and would suggest calling back. But when they’re out, there’s nothing I can do about it.
Thanks. I called the hotel back a day later, spoke to a different person and was able to reserve a room with two queen beds!
I just called the hotel, waited for the operator. She had no idea what I was talking about in regards to the conference. She reserved a room for me but didn’t take my credit card number so I don’t know how that worked. Is there a specific person we should be talking to?
No, but it would be helpful to me to sort out these front desk issues if anyone having trouble with the front desk staff would get a name so I can report them to their boss so they can be fired for incompetence. I’d try calling back and talking to a different person on the next shift.
Amy, it is doubtful that you have a reservation without a credit card number. Do you have a Hilton Honors membership? If so, you can look it up to see if it is listed. See my comment a little further down the page.
7/15 at 4pm PDT. Called the main number, waited for the operator. Talked to Angie who knew of the conference as the “White Coat Investor” conference (which is how it is listed in the reservation profile). She had king and queen rooms available. $249. She took a credit card. Reservation shows in my Hilton Honors profile.
Thanks for the update – I also called later yesterday (7/15), spoke with Angie, she did know of the conference under WCI, knew the price per night at $249, and I was able to book a room with no problem (although she seemed a little annoyed at me…haha).
I hate to be a wet towel but will you be providing physician specific financial advice that I can start utilizing or just general advice such as avoid debt, set up back door Roths, spend less, save more concepts that my own financial advisor has already told me to do? I’m in my early 40s and sometimes feel that the advice given on the WCI blog is more geared toward the younger physicians who have time on their side to gain FI.
I would be very disappointed in my financial advisor if I was learning stuff from some random blogger on the internet that he didn’t know/hadn’t told me.
The more you know, the less you’ll get out of reading a book, following a blog, or attending a conference. There is no way for me to know if you will feel the conference is worth your time or money after it is complete. But if you do come, I’d love to meet you in person.
Spoke to Sarah in reservations and was told that the I can’t apply the group discount for the two queen room (from Feb. 27 to March 4) that I booked on July 13, 2017 until there was a cancellation. I told them that I would be happy to cancel my existing reservation for the king room with the same dates using the group code applied to open up a spot so I could get the group discount and the told me to contact Cindy R (phone number was an 801 area code that they gave me) about getting more blocks reserved with 2 queens.
We’ll work on the block thing. Busy working shifts and finalizing the registration.
will the audio-visual lectures be a part of the price if we go to the conference ? OR will we have to pay separately?
Thank you
Hmmm…hadn’t thought about that. It’ll probably be a separate charge.
Do you really think there will be a lot of people that would want both?
i think there will be a lot of demand for the audio visual, I would like both though if can get it but will likely get whichever is cheaper ..
By both do you mean the audio and the audiovisual or the conference and whatever is sold afterward?
both the audiovisual or whatever is sold AND conference : )
Conference AND audiovisual or what ever is sold 🙂
Not sure I could sell audiovisual for MORE than a conference admission. Seems like that pricepoint would be less costly.
Thank you for including women and minority speakers- something I always look for in any CME course!
will the audio-visual lectures be a part of the price if we go to the conference ? OR will we have to pay separately?
Thank you
I just attempted to get on the waiting list, but find that Google doc is “unfillable” (i.e., won’t take my name, email, etc.). Has it been suspended since the initial quota of registrants was met? Any other way to get on the waiting list?
Thanks!
Not sure what you mean unfillable? It seems to be working just fine for me. You sure you’re trying to type on top of the line and not under it? Have you tried a different browser/computer?
Got it to work with another browser. I am officially on the wait list – thanks.
FYI — the Doubletree is 100% booked. Both the conference rate rooms are gone as well as every other room. They did have a room free for Saturday night but that’s it.
I got a room at another hotel, but I also booked an AirBNB that seems quite nice for the same price as the hotel (across the street from it). I’ll figure out what to do later.
Yes, it filled up very quickly, just like the conference itself.
My husband and I would love to attend but unfortunately one of us has to stay home with the kids.
He’s 1099 Independent Contractor with no CME $. I’m W2 with $10k CME a year. Any CME money I don’t spend I get paid to me at the end of the year and will be responsible for taxes. We are in the 33% + 10% State tax bracket.
Help settle a disagreement we have. He thinks it’ makes more sense from a financial perspective to use the CME money for this conference. I think it makes no difference if we have him go and take the deduction then get my CME money in cash.
Is it the same thing?! (Guess we really do need to go to this conference.)
You get the CME money in cash if you don’t spend it? That’s interesting. Unusual even. But if that’s the way it is, that’s the way it is.
You’re both wrong by the way. It makes more sense for him to come. Here’s why. He gets to write off the whole trip as a business expense. You don’t pay income or payroll taxes on that money. If he takes that money as profit, then he pays not only income taxes, but both halves of Medicare tax on it.
If you use your CME money, then you don’t pay income or payroll taxes on it. It’s all pre-tax dollars you’re spending. But if you take the money as cash, you will only have to pay the employee half of Medicare tax on it. So, there’s a 1.45% difference. On $3K, that’s less than $50, so it shouldn’t decide anything, but if we’re going to have an argument, that’s the right answer.