Guess what? You're surrounded by rich doctors. You probably didn't even know it. You know why? Because doctors don't talk about that filthy lucre known as money. So while you're assuming that all the other doctors in your group, office building, and hospital are in the same position as you, you're wrong. Some of them are rich. There are 10 things they're not telling you, but which you probably need to know.
# 10 Rich Doctors Don't Care About Your Tesla
You know that Tesla you drive? It goes so fast. It's so environmentally responsible. It shows people that you're a doctor now, and a successful one at that. Guess what? The rich doctor across the hall doesn't care. She really doesn't. In fact, almost nobody does. You're buying things you don't need with money you don't have to impress people you don't like. Would you really want to hang out with someone impressed by your Tesla anyway?
# 9 They Don't Care What You Think About Their Beater
They don't care what you think about their spending choices either, whether it's their car, their house, their clothes, their vacations, their kids' schools, or their favorite restaurants. They're immune from keeping up with Dr. Jones.
# 8 They Never Owed as Much in Student Loans as You Still Do
You know that $300K student loan you're keeping under the bed? That rich doctor down the hall doesn't have that. She lived like a bum when she was a student, like a student when she was a resident, and like a resident for 2-5 years after residency. Her student loans were only 2/3 what yours were and she paid them off by Halloween after residency graduation by living like a resident.
# 7 They Don't Have Payments
It's not just the student loans. Those other docs don't have any payments. No student loan payments, no car payments, no credit card payments, no residency relocation loan payments, no timeshare payments, no ski condo payments, and not even a mortgage on their primary homes. There are lots of great mathematical arguments showing that you should drag out low-interest loans as long as you can, but most of those rich doctors stupidly paid them off early. Idiots. That lack of payments, however, did improve their cash flow and gave them the confidence they needed to take risks in their lives and their careers, and often times those risks paid off with higher incomes and better investment returns.

A few rich doctors in this group. They don't care about your Tesla either. A nice set of oars on the other hand…
# 6 They Have a Written Plan
Guess what else those dorks down the hall have? A written financial plan. Silly, huh? Some of them wrote it themselves after reading some books or taking a course, but lots of them met with a financial planner and some of them still do regularly. They could actually tell you where their money goes each month, about how much they have and will need for retirement and college, and what their investment returns have been. Weird huh?
# 5 They're Not Afraid to Take Ownership Risk
Rich people tend to own stuff, and that includes doctors. Owning stuff can be risky, whether that means a high stock allocation in your portfolio, owning a practice, owning a side business, or owning some rental real estate. But since they apply the same intelligence and hard work to ownership as they did to get into medical school, those risks generally pay off with more wealth.
# 4 They're Financially Literate
Not only does that rich doctor across the hall have a written financial plan, but she's also financially literate. She knows what a Roth IRA and a mutual fund are. She knows the difference between a savings rate, an expense ratio, and a safe withdrawal rate. She can calculate her investment return and the payments on a 15-year mortgage. She knows the going rate for financial advice and why a capitalization rate has nothing to do with a mid-cap stock. Do you? Would you like to? There are ways of learning this stuff almost effortlessly.
# 3 They Buy for Quality
If you went to their house, you might be surprised at some of the old furniture and sporting equipment they have. But when that stuff wears out and they replace it, they do so with top quality stuff. They want something that will last a long time. They have saved up for it and shopped for it and aren't afraid to spend money on it. They have plenty of money and are ready to enjoy it. But they're still going to wait until the old one wears out. They might be driving a 15-year-old Accord, but the next car will be a brand new Audi paid for with cash.
# 2 They Like Their Work More Than You Do
The doc down the hall likes her job more than you do too. How do you know that's true? Because she's there. She doesn't have to be, you know. She has enough money not to work at all. So if she didn't like it, she'd be off mountain biking, home with the kids, running a business, or pursuing a different career. Some people are surprised when they reach financial independence and find out they don't enjoy their work more. But guess what? They're not in clinic down the hall. They're somewhere else. The rich ones down the hall want to be there. But they don't put up with the crappy parts of the job. They can tell the administrator cracking the whip to shove it. They can pay someone else to work their night shifts or take their call. They no longer do procedures they don't enjoy. They've figured out how to eliminate most of the parts of their job that they don't like.
# 1 One House, One Spouse
Remember that rich doctor in the lounge that you would have never guessed is rich? He's been married for 25 years. To the same person. I know, right? He's also in the same house he bought when he moved to this town. It's been paid off for 18 years. No lake house or ski condo either. Maybe those decisions have something to do with his net worth. Or maybe it's just the X Factor.
What do you think? Why are some doctors richer than others? Is it genetics, environment, better decisions, sheer dumb luck or some combination of the above? Are you the rich doctor next door? Do you know any? Comment below!
The rich doctor across the hall does exist. Problem is most of us don’t know about it highlighting the money shaming post you did recently.
I admit that there are a lot of things I did wrong that did not follow your list (the biggest one was the expensive divorce I went through as well as delaying paying off my student loans until 17 years after graduation, and having multiple houses (plus I bought a Tesla (although I was able to pay for it in cash after reaching FI). But it is amazing what a high income salary can do if you focus it onto the right path. Once I did that (highlighted with a high savings rate of 60-70%) I not only was jogging on the path to wealth, I was in a full blown sprint.
I do concur that once you hit a certain level of wealth, your main job does become more tolerable (I was on the path to burnout a few years back and because of what I had done financially, I was able to stave it off by paying someone to cover me 1 day a week and reduce my clinical workload to a 4 day work week).
It’s a funny thing, financial independence. For some, it highlights the things that used to annoy them even more because they don’t have to stay. For others, it allows them the autonomy that they always wanted to practice the medicine they always wanted.
The rich doctor can also make some mistakes on this list and still make it. There is no need to be perfect. The rich doctor also knows what does and doesn’t actually make them happy. They’ve learned the art of contentment and finding the things that are worth spending money on, and what is not.
TPP
Great list. I have done most of the things on your list. Old habits are hard to break. I wait until I drop my iPhone and shatter the glass before I buy a new one. The big thing on your list is no payments. If you can’t pay cash then do not buy it. If I ever buy another house it will be with cash.
11. The rich doctor across the hall thinks in terms of net worth and not income.
Your #11 is subtle but powerful.
The doctor down the hall not only isn’t trying to keep up with the Jonses, she also knows what “enough” is! She has reigned in the hedonic adaptation that encourages us to want more and to not be happy with what we have. She knows that financial independence and the freedom that allows is the most valuable thing she can “buy.”
Thanks to being exposed to these ideas early on during residency we haven’t made any of the really big financial blunders. Our biggest financial mistake continues to be living in a big fancy city and always having apartments with sky high rents.
I’m one of those guys. I did everything noted in the post. I would add – really rich doctors don’t hang out with rich people. My closest friends have never broken the $100,000 income barrier. I hang with school teachers, pharmacists, residential real estate sales people, just normal upper middle class folks. There is not an iota of competition or jealousy amongst us. I live like they do. I retired at age 65 with a net worth in the low 8 figures and haven’t changed a thing. I do silently give lots to charity now.
Choose your friends wisely.
Diversifying your friends can be as critical to your bottom line as diversifying your investments.
Amen, brother.
Haha, so well said.
As a pharmacist, I can promise you that your pharmacist friends have definitely broken the $100,000 income barrier. But there isn’t the same stigma around pharmacists, which allows us to quite easily fly under the radar.
Your pharmacist friends are sandbagging their income/net worth, just like you. Especially, if they are in the same age group as you. The last 15 years or so of their career, they saw a tremendous increase in their salary. What a present for those that were able to save and continued living a lifestyle that was based on a lower income!
Hey DanSignal,
Thanks for sharing your post and I agree with it completely. I’m in my late 30’s in practice, married to a pharmacist with a 2 year old son and no student loan debt for the both of us (Thanks Dr. Dahle) There is so much wisdom all in your one post, I hope my net worth is half as yours (inflation adjusted) by the time I’m 65 with the same goal of giving silently to charity.)
I don’t know that I’m a silent charity giver, but I think I might become one given all the charity junk mail we get these days.
Great post! I definitely have to reign in my wants and desires sometimes … sometimes hard when the doctor around the corner is flitting around the world. Thankfully I don’t care too much about nice things ….
Define “too much”. 🙂
I agree with the comment above about the benefits of not hanging out other doctors. Most of my friends are normal, middle class folks, and it really helps keep life in proper perspective.
#5 about ownership risk can backfire. I work with a physician who made some large investments in both real estate and businesses, and she cannot retire (way past normal retirement age) despite many efforts because of various complications that have come up with these business ventures. I would not be surprised if retirement never happens for this person. There are definitely benefits to being an employee, especially if the pay and flexibility are good enough.
I personally would love to meet this Dr. I know very few, Dr.’s or otherwise, who are this wise with money. I ‘know’ an OB/Gyn who goes on vacation no less than 6 times per year with her family of 4. Another who has a housekeeper for his stay at home wife, and of course lawn service. Another who lives in a separate town from his family (so two households, twice the bills). I don’t understand the thought process of some medical professionals at all.
AJ
Keep in mind. It’s about the big rocks
Having a lawservice open up 3 hours of your week or a cleaning lady every 2 weeks scour the kitchen and bathrooms hardly “moves the needle”.
My stay at home wife has plenty on her plate to justify that expenditure.
It comes down to quality of life. I used to do my own lawn, but now that time spent would be ridiculous (for my schedule anyways). Barely have time to weed the small garden bed. Not just from work, but from life in general.
Would hate to rush home from a trip or not take the kids to the playground just to be able to mow the lawn before my next stretch at work.
Mind if I ask what “plenty on her plate” includes? I’m not trying to be a smarty pants by asking this, but I always wonder the vast amount of work that stay-at-home spouses do that justifies these sort of expenditures. It is completely possible to do it as a dual working couple, provided your house isn’t 5000+ sq ft and you don’t throw parties for 30+ people every week.
50 bucks once or twice a month is nothing to not have to deal with bathroom cleaning supplies etc.
she still spends plenty of time constantly picking up the house, laundry, dishes and usual household chores. Chasing very rambunctious kids around, packing lunches getting all meals together doing all grocery shopping, homework, bedtime, after school activities etc. My schedule makes it so when I’m on a long work stretch she is basically a single mom and everything to run the house falls to her. When I’m off I’d rather make up for lost time and go out to lunch with my wife than her or I worry about scrubbing down the shower tiles and toilets.
And in regard to lawn service, time and equipment makes the relatively low cost well worth it. I know women can cut lawn, but ours is a little too much for me to want her slaving over that in addition to everything else. Plus the inconvenience if we take summer vacation of needing to worry about it.
I think on physician salaries (or any high earner) which is what this site is geared to, those tiny expenditures to buy back quality time is well worth it. To question it is in a way “shaming” them.
I would ask, have you been a stay at home spouse? I think the difficulties of that job are highly underestimated and undervalued by some.
If you’re a dual income family, why would you bat an eye over such little cost at great convenience? Unless you really like burning the candle at both ends to make sure the toothpaste is out of the grout around the sink.
Not a SAHM— I’m a part-timer (35hr/wk), but with a 20/80 housework split, we get the housework/homework/shopping/cooking/activities/etc done. My husband works weird hours but he still pitches in. The key is to train your kids to contribute. 😉
Although at $50, I would jump on that. You must live in a LCOL area. 3x that where we live.
Yeh. Great area Cost wise
We have a Trustworthy lady who has been helping all local extended family here for 15 years even with them not being high earners.
If it were 3 times that we may think twice.
Lawn is only 800 for the whole year. I would rather work a half a day than mow 30 times. I still snowblow the driveway myself : that’s fun and it can be ignored for the day with the AWD vehicles
Trust me. I help out when I’m off so it’s not all on her. Just when I’m not off it’s not easy to divide much labor. The kids are finally getting to the point where chores and small allowance is starting to work.
He only two things we hire out are the deep cleaning and the lawn. All the other chores are on us. Heck, getting ready for the cleaning lady takes longer than her actually being here. Forces us to Clean up all the clutter so she can do her thing.
The poster just made it sound like those were extravagant splurges. It’s not like we have a Mrs doubtfire or a private cook or anything.
I like when the bloggers round here liken trading your precious comodidty of Time for money. When your looking at little expenditures that buy you back time for pennies on the dollar, it goes in the win column.
I agree. It would take me 2-3 hours a week to mow, edge, and blow off my 1 acre yard. Instead, I pay some guys $45 a week to do it for me. That’s like one trigger finger injection in clinic (ok, probably more like 2 with taxes), but well worth the expense to save me that kind of time on Saturday when I would rather be watching my kids play sports or doing something fun with the family in my limited time off.
35 hr/week described as part-time. Only in medicine.
Huh? I’m an engineer, not an MD.
My apologies. Only in medicine and other workaholic fields like engineering!
There isn’t supposed to be toothpaste in the grout around the sink?
Yes!! Stay @ home spouses are really busy when you have little kids. My wife just went back to work when we put our youngest in scbool, but taking care of a young child takes a ton of time. then if you have more kids, there’s lunches, laundry, meal planning and cooking, shopping, doctor’s appointments, it’s really a ton.
Agreed. My point is, working parents do these things too. Moot point any way, since $50 to clean a house is peanuts.
Just when they start school until they can drive.
What’s the schedule for school drop off and pickups?
Baseball, piano, gymnastics, football, basketball, soccer, cross country, volleyball, swimming, cub scouts, choir, band, drill team, theater, wrestling, OMG I don’t know how they do it. Of course, select and travel teams start in 6th grade. If you have two kids, how did my wife get them to different places at the same time?
Most business professionals work at least a 60 hr week if not more. Makes it difficult for working parents to be available since a long commute makes even a family dinner tough.
Once one can safely drive, it helps.
The time between 9 and 2 is free since the kids are in class.
Let’s not pretend that the backpacks contain books and homework that most kids in grade school and middle school don’t “magically” appear on their desk or kitchen table and are 100% completed with zero procrastination.
Sorry, my wife worked less after she went back to a job. How do you think she felt when I said “did you do anything today”? Being a mom is way undervalued. Thank you mom. You raised two great kids.
$50 or so for a house cleaner ?! Sorry cheapskate my mom has her own house cleaning business and had never charged that low especially for the big houses most professionals choose to live in. Thanks for the laugh
Yea, we definitely pay more than that.
Nice to meet you AJ.
I am like the doctor outlined. But I also take a lot of vacations, have a housecleaner and stay at home wife, and a lawn service. We can have it all. You don’t need to make a lot of sacrifices as a physician. You just need a solid financial plan and a high savings rate.
Exactly wealthy doc
We live below our means in many ways including the house we chose to make our long term plans in. . As a reward for being moderately frugal we get to take cleaning toilets off our to do list. Hiring those two services out makes nary a dent in our financial plans.
Ha ha. You just described me to a “T.” I am the doctor across the hall. Well, maybe with the exception of #2. I would say that rather then liking work more than you, I have the piece of mind of financial independence and know I could walk away at any time rather than feeling completely and indefinitely tied to my work just to survive financially.
Hilarious. Very nice satire.
What we really need is an open source for us local “rich” docs to get together and work together to continue bettering ourselves. I tend to see that those, as you describe above, like myself, tend to keep to themselves. Such is the taboo of money. However, I feel comfortable with my plan but I love to learn more and better myself – It is called KAIZEN.
It would be nice if there was a way to start local groups via your powerful web presence – like the ChooseFI guys.
Thanks for all that you do!…
…Actually, I got a letter this week from a patient I helped 5 months ago thanking me for what I did.
It made my week! Pay it forward….
Glad you enjoyed it. Not sure I’m big enough for local groups given that the Bogleheads forum (100X my size) can barely get 5-10 people together in a 1 Million metro area.
Meh. You’ve done better. Most of your points are great, but a couple smack of the exact problem from your last post…money shaming. I notice you mentioned the Tesla and the lake house, but didn’t mention the heli-skiing or the wake boat. If you can afford it and like it, who gives a crap? You wouldn’t want to hang out with someone impressed with a Tesla, and you aren’t a car guy. You are a wake boat guy. Are you ever impressed with a wake boat you see? Does that mean the owner of that wake boat shouldn’t want to know you?
Molar Mechanic makes very excellent points. He’s money shaming those who own a Tesla. Even if they are worth mid-7 figures and paid cash for it. . .
And POF has a “lake house.” And he’s the definition of the rich doctor next door.
And what’s wrong with hanging out with other doctors?
Completely agree. I don’t get why people in the FI community are so opinionated, particularly when it comes to cars and the like. If you don’t buy a 10 year old perfectly maintained Toyota or Honda (Honda has made some crap cars recently by the way), then you are treated like the devil. God forbid I spend 10k a year on a car I really enjoy while making 400k a year. I save about 200k a year.
If I don’t want to spend 10k on traveling to Europe or 40k on a wakeboat or 30k for kids’ private education, why can’t I spend 10k on a car a year, or 50k to buy that grand piano I always wanted? Hint: I can. But it is accepted and encouraged to money shame most “fun” expenses unless its travel, ski, or lake-related for some reason.
New idea: create a certain percentage of income that is play money. Idk what the right number is, but that amount of money you shouldn’t feel guilty over what YOU want to spend it on. A fancy Tesla, wake boat, vacation home, traveling, kids, freaking bitcoin for all I care. That is way more important than joining the “I drive a 20 year old car putting my family at risk while I make hundreds of thousands, but ignore my new lake house” crowd.
I like that idea. So….do you drive a Tesla?
Heck no. A Tesla is a $40k car with a $60k battery. They are horrendously unreliable, not to mention range restrictions etc. They are popular because people think it is “cool”, like getting the new iPhone every year which serves no useful purpose. I’m all for the mission but they aren’t there yet.
Personally I drive a VW GTI Autobahn. Not fancy, but super fun to drive. Dream car years from now is a Porsche 911 Turbo.
Well, matthew rupert liked it. Can’t please everyone with every post I guess.
I agree if you can afford it and you like it, who gives a crap. Not sure why you’re upset. Do you have a Tesla parked at your lake house or something?
Good points. If you’re not a car guy, then the cars are wasteful and extravagant. I’m basically FI, but continuing to strive for a much higher level of FI. I commute in a 2014.5 Toyota Camry. My other car is a Ferrari. Because I love it. The Toyota transports my body while the Ferrari transports my soul. I love it because I love it. I only drive it places where very few others even see it. Because it is for ME! I actually try to avoid others even seeing it, to avoid any possible scorn.
Great article and so true. My wife and I are working towards being “that” doctor down the hall. We are almost done paying off our primary residence that we plan on living in for the next 10-15 years minimum (I know, we are idiots lol). We destroyed student loans the first two years out of residency and paid off all our other debt while maxing out retirement accounts. We drive a used Honda and a Toyota. We don’t need a Tesla (although they are pretty cool). Once we are done paying off our primary mortgage, we will focus on significantly growing our net worth by investing in a taxable account (while continuing to maximize retirement accounts), and will hopefully get into the real estate game. Working as a team is key towards achieving FI.
I don’t think mentioning a Tesla as a bad choice and then mentioning going from an old Accord to a new Audi as okay really makes sense.
New Tesla model 3’s and CPO model S’s are right in the new Audi price range, plus you don’t pay for gas. Buying a new Audi after owning a 10 year old Accord just sounds like lifestyle creep to me, so the whole car comparison has me scratching my head. Maybe the author meant to describe a souped up Tesla paid for with a lease as a bad decision.
I’ve been reading WCI for years, and lately I think the articles are have been less informative. Maybe that’s because I’ve learned so much from the site already. I appreciate all the great articles and ideas, and I appreciate the point of this article, but it could use some further editing.
There really isn’t any inconsistency. I think what you and Molar Mechanic are missing is the delayed gratification aspect of the narrative. Young doc with $250K in debt should defer the Tesla purchase until debt paid off and has cash to buy it. Wealthy doc with eight figures can buy the Audi or ski boat with cash. Already rich; enjoying fruits of labor. Fine to hang out with docs on the same path, but docs with big hats and no cattle just represent temptation and bad habits. This post is right up there with Millionaire Next Door in distilled wisdom for building wealth. It is not written for you. It is written for the young doc who wants it all right now to try to show them the right path. (Is it shaming to teach ethics?)
But you have to live life a little bit. Don’t go on a 20k vacation while you’re in a ton of debt, but go on a nice vacation. You’ve earned it. You don’t live forever, and you’re only young once. Perhaps I have a different perspective as my mother was killed the second year out of training when I was young.
If by “live life a little bit” we agree to the context of your earlier post – occasional splurges within an overall wealth building plan – then absolutely yes. Personally I like the idea of buying experiences over buying things, but to each his own. My wife still teases me about the flea trap hotel we stayed in on the Left Bank of Paris on our first major trip when married, but we remember the trip fondly after all these years.
The only thing that matters, financially, for car ownership is the cost per mile. If a car has very pricey repair costs when used it can make it more expensive to operate than a new car that has a longer warranty with low insurance costs.
My 2.5 yr old used CPO luxury car (not a BMW nor Mercedes nor Audi) cost me 24k. However the operating cost over 5 yrs per Edmunds is similar to a new 35k Toyota Camry. A new version of my car only is 15% less to operate. I got it since it had the safety options I wanted while the new ones didn’t. There weren’t many new 2018 cars left when I shopped and I have a rare car.
Used cars don’t save you as much as people think per the aggregate data. Plus they break down more and docs have high opportunity cost in brining cars to dealership for repairs.
This is a good way to look at it. You just have to be comfortable with your decision. If you want a luxury item, do it. If you just want a vehicle then do what makes you comfortable. Having worked on my own cars to get me through college and residency, I have only bought NEW since then. But, I do the $15 oil change myself and replace what needs replacing. I do not do tires but every other repair on our 4 new cars (over 18 years). I was very cost conscious, but my dollar cost was basically the cost off the lot and the gas and small replacement parts. BTW, I learned how to do almost all of it via YouTube!
I respectfully disagree. A better way to calculate the cost-of-ownership is to actually add up the observed fixed costs, including insurance, maintenance, repairs, depreciation, financing. Add on the flexible costs including gas, tolls, parking.
My pre-retirement budget wants to know how much is the cost-of-ownership annually, whether it sits in the garage or not.
A luxury vehicle will cost up to $13k annually; a junker $3k, and my Honda CRV costs me $7k/ year.
A new car costs in depreciation; a junker costs in maintenance and repairs.
A
I guess I should limit my posts to one mention of a car to keep readers from getting confused.
I’ll talk to the editor about the editing, but there is definitely a law of diminishing returns when it comes to personal finance and investing. I’m sorry. Try reading the 57th book written by a financial advisor hoping to grow his practice of doctor clients if you want to really see the law of diminishing returns kick in.
Stealth wealth is the way to go! If you have a high income, there should be no reason to get into credit card or auto debt. And if you’re already in it, you have to make a few adjustments but your high income should allow you to get out of debt fairly quickly.
And then the rich doctor across the hall gets old and is too sick/tired/old to do anything with all the wealth she has accumulated.
I took a $20K vacation in Bora Bora in June. Why? Not necessarily because “I can afford it” (I can, subjectively) but because I want to experience things now and not when I am “rich”.
Moderation in all things.
https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/moderation-in-all-things/
Same here. My wife and I travel over seas every year. Sometimes associated with CME and sometimes just for fun. We’ve also taken family with us a few times. These trips are very expensive, in my mind, but I would not trade them for anything in the world. Travelling long distance is very hard on the body, even if you fly business, so I want to experience it now while I am young and not when I’m 80 and I will not care how much money I have if I cannot use it.
Hopefully, I will be this doctor one day…I’m already doing some of the things on this list. About the Tesla, it’s ok to have nice things if you pay for it in cash and it does not cause any financial difficulty in your world. Great post!
This is me THIS IS ME while my colleagues have Teslas and annuities (I kid you not) and private school and McMansions.
Suckas!
I have moved and owned several houses, otherwise, I fit this description perfectly.
Also, what is with the Teslas? Why do so many doctors have Teslas?
Maybe because they care about the environment, safety and ahh I don’t know they can afford it!! FI is about so much more than being frugal it’s about being responsible. You can’t take all that money with you when you die and hopefully your children are financially responsible enough to also achieve their own FI. So definitely eye rolling at some of the money shaming in this one…
If they really cared about the environment they’d use public transit if available and get a Nissan leaf or car with smaller battery pack. Recent studies indicate that EV’s are only environmentally friendly in major urban areas due to source of electricity.
A Toyota Corolla driving doc who car pools likely has a better car for environment.
A lot of Tesla docs have several cars too.
Tesla’s do well per IIHS safety data but are really just status symbols. I didn’t get a Tesla, audi, BMW, nor Mercedes to be low profile.
I was in somebody’s Tesla model X recently.
Passenger: “it reads speed limits and puts it on dashboard!”
Me: (in head) my alternative luxury car model does that too.
Tesla’s also are at level 2 (out of 5) for autonomous driving and their radar based autonomous driving is thought by most to be inferior to the competing Lidar solutions.
Worst reliability scores by true auto, JD power, and consumer reports too. And their repair shops are swamped. And burning through billions of dollars a quarter. But aside from that they’re the car company of the future. 🙂 And full tax rebate expiring 12/31 while it’ll be completely gone in 2019.
Only thing they have going for themselves is their aura. It’s similar to what Apple has.
Except Apple has hundreds of billions in the bank and makes dozes of billions in profit every quarter
Yup. That’s where the comparison starts and ends haha. Tesla has only a few months of cash before they ask for more dough. And at significantly worse rates.
Meanwhile, mercedes, Jaguar, and everybody else is coming out with luxury EV competition.
Fit and finish of Tesla is NOT at level of a luxury marque. Great performance but they aren’t track vehicles either due to brake fade, etc.
Really environmentally conscious people live super close to work, the grocery store, bike, etc
Regarding the ability of your kids being able to figure out FI.
1)It “used to be” the long hours and determination one could “work their way through college”. Long hours on summer jobs with part time in college.
Are your kids (or you) able to do that today?
2) Have you noticed that the large jets used for international travel only use selected airports in the USA and foreign destinations? You will notice, you always takeoff and land on the really long runways. The infrastructure is expensive so connecting flights use the smaller runways.
Education is the foundation and the glide path to FI is more longer now.
My point is that smarts and hard work alone won’t achieve FI, but today’s roadmap is different for our kids. Nothing wrong with providing the financial assistance in helping them launch their careers.
1) If you pick the school properly.
I agree that inherited money plays a larger role than it used to.
https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/forums/topic/tesla/
I don’t know. It’s fun though. I am, at the moment I type this, sitting next to a doctor who drives a Tesla. I just got done teasing him about it, but he loves it.
most docs are financially illiterate
WCI,
I love this post. There is so much that I am still learning about finance, but these points describe my lifestyle perfectly (except perhaps the ownership aspect, most of my money is in retirement accounts and taxable accounts). I love reading your posts because I realize that I am part of a community and not the only one doing the above.
Eliza
The best way to save is to get off the hedonic treadmill altogether. Stop viewing money as a resource to be used to buy happiness. It is just as wasteful to blow a lot on a fancy vacation as a fancy car.
For those who have not outgrown the need always to have something new and shiny, try focussing on things that are new to you but don’t cost money.
Instead of going to a different fancy restaurant add some sprouts to your salad at home.
Instead of skiing in the Alps, add a new element to your workout.
Instead of a tailor made suit, vary the mix of shirts and ties from your existing wardrobe.
You get the constant stream of stimulation from something new without wasting money.
You’ve clearly never been skiing in the Alps…
“You’ve clearly never been skiing in the Alps…”
Exactly my point. Never have, never will. Most importantly, never will pay for the privilege.
But I do vary my workout.
What would you consider an appropriate amount to spend on a car in terms of % of net worth?
I wouldn’t use a % of net worth for that item. If you don’t have much, I’d buy a $5-10K car with cash. If you are a millionaire on track to meet your financial goals, I’d buy whatever car you desire and can pay for with cash.
My husband and I definitely live this way. I think the main thing is to live below your “means”- not needing or giving into the latest and greatest. The vast majority of physician salaries cannot support unrestrained spending in all areas of life. i.e., you can’t get the best, biggest home, the latest most expensive cars, vacations, clothes, schools, toys, etc etc. It is very easy to get caught up in consumerism and tell yourself you’ve earned it, waited for it, etc. You need to have restraint somewhere and ideally in many realms. Continuing to exercise the “muscle” of restraint is wise! I think most physicians can afford to live a pleasant work life and if they don’t overdo, live a really pleasant retirement. It is a very peaceful life to know you can afford to manage almost any emergency that comes up, but you can’t just give in to needing the best or the most.
I’m hoping that #3 stays a secret weapon for me. I’ve always found spending money almost physically painful, even on a credit card, so I do everything I can to maximize the time before I need to repeat any purchase.
If I could just get my weakness for eating out and fine dining under control…I’d be set.
Good analysis of the doctor who usually has his financial act together. If we all moved a little more toward reasonable spending and away from using debt to get what we want, we would all have a better, happier, less stressed life. I know when I paid off my house, my stress level fell substantially. It made life a lot better. Of course when I retired from medicine, I had another significant drop in stress levels, but that is another story.
Thanks for giving docs a target to hit.
Dr. Cory S. Fawcett
Prescription for Financial Success