me
Most of the time I feel like I am running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Juggling being a dermatologist 4 days a week, mom to a toddler, fiancé and running this website (& podcasting !) can be challenging to say the least.
Wednesdays are my “day off” from seeing patients. I initially took Fridays off to have a 3 day weekend. But I found that with a new baby, traveling on the weekends stopped happening. I also found that many businesses and appointments I needed to do were difficult to schedule on Fridays either due to them closing early or being closed or Friday being so popular I could never get in. I also found that my patients wanted Friday appointments. I guess not too many dermatologists are open on Fridays.
So how do I spend my non-clinical week day? Here is how I spent it a few weeks ago.
6:30am Alarm goes off. I snooze too many times (Every Wednesday, my plan was to get up around 6am and do some writing for my blog before Jack wakes up. It has yet to happen.)
I finally get up around 7:30am. I make coffee.
I sit in front of my powerbook to see what I could work on writing wise by checking into Asana. I recently started using Asana to organize my whole life. Got this awesome tip from Travis of Student Loan Planner and Ryan Inman of Physician Wealth Services while I was at FinCon recently.
Jack starts cooing and babbling. He greets me standing in his crib. I change his diaper and bring him to dad who is still snoozing. They share some morning snuggles.
I make breakfast for Jack – 1 egg omelet with cheese, slices of oatmeal cake (from the Baby Lead Weaning Cookbook), sliced grapes and a cup of whole milk.
I skip breakfast as I do intermittent fasting most days.
8:45am I drop off Jack to daycare. His daycare is across the street – priceless.
I walk back home and half write a blog post, respond to some emails and comment on Facebook posts.
11:30am I head out to have lunch with Camilo of the Finance Twins. We met at FinCon and turns out we are both in Philadelphia. We chat about how we started our blogs and exchange ideas and tips for our budding businesses.
I uber back to my neighborhood for a 2:30pm dentist appointment. I get gently scolded for not flossing the back teeth. He suggests I use a waterpik.
I uber from the dentist to happy hour at Double Knot with a friend. In case you live in Philadelphia – this is the best happy hour deal in town.
I’m home by 6:30pm. Jack is eating dinner. Neither of us feel like cooking so it’s pizza night.
7:15pm Jack gets a bath. Then playtime with mom and dad. Bedtime for Jack is at 8pm.
Mom and dad time. I think I do some more work for the website but likely am just wasting time on Facebook.
Bedtime for me is around 10pm since I get up around 5:30am the next day and start seeing patients at 7am.
Hope you enjoyed this peak into a random day!]]>
Read More
Fire Your Financial Advisor course.
Part 1 covered the license designations an FA can and should have.
Part 2 covered how FAs should get paid.
Part 3 – What's the difference between a financial advisor and planner?
Part 4 – How to find and vet a financial advisor
Part 5 – I fired my financial advisor
Johanna and I separated after about two years of working together. Before I go into why, I thought I would first discuss why a financial blogger would hire one in the first place. I mean, if I am giving information shouldn't I know what I am doing and not need one?
Why I Hired a Financial Advisor
Curiosity … and blog research!
I noticed that the other finance blogs were mainly (perhaps all?) staunch DIY and anti-FA. Curiously, many also give advice about financial advisors yet have never worked with a true financial advisor or planner. So, I became curious and thought working with one would be great research for my blog and I may learn a thing or two!
Afraid to make any more big mistakes
I finished residency at age 38 with ~$200,000 in student loans and barely $1,000 in retirement accounts. That was a huge hill to climb. I could not afford to make any more big financial mistakes if I ever wanted to “retire”.
Combining finances
Things were getting serious with M. Although I felt pretty comfortable managing my own money, managing our money made me feel a bit uneasy as making mistakes would now affect two instead one.
What I Loved About Having a Financial Advisor
During the time that I worked with a financial advisor, I actually realized there were some great benefits. Here's what I loved:
Systematically going over our financial houses
The part of reviewing finances that takes the longest (at least for us) is gathering lots of important documents, scanning them, then uploading them into a secure website for them to review. These include all of our insurance policies, retirement plans, etc.
Our planner made sure we were adequately insured. Perhaps one of the most important things we accomplished was getting our estate plan done: wills, power of attorneys, and health care proxies. Too often this becomes a non-urgent to-do item that never gets done and then it is too late.
Advice (duh)
Johanna and her team had their work cut out for them. Their brand new clients get engaged then pregnant and then decide to move cities with new jobs. All of this happened within half a year!
I was unemployed for about 16 weeks during my maternity leave. Additionally, I was freaking out about not bringing in any money while I watched my checking account only go down. Lots of impulse shopping on amazon.com didn't help either. Perhaps it was all postpartum hormones but Johanna had to talk me down a few times. Having someone you trust say “you will be ok” is and was priceless.
The big picture
We discussed our goals and dreams. After all the information gathering, we received snazzy reports and graphs comparing different scenarios (renting vs. buying, etc). I also learned that we would and could reach financial independence a lot sooner than I thought.
Why I Fired My Financial Advisor
I guess you could say I am a true DIYer. Honestly, I love creating and updating spreadsheets with our numbers. I love crunching the numbers. And I am comfortable managing our money.
Our FA custodied some of our accounts and I did not like not being able to manage them myself. I suspect most people who hire FAs want to delegate these tasks. And perhaps lastly, I drank the FIRE Kool-Aid. We are currently optimizing and minimizing our expenses to reach FIRE. All of these factors combined meant that it was time for me to fire my financial advisor.
What Should You Do?
There are two schools of thought when it comes to money. Some people prefer to DIY their own finances. Other people choose to work with financial advisors.
There are so many variables to consider when choosing which path to take. If you do decide to work with an advisor, make sure you pick an advisor that you can trust. Working with a fee-only financial advisor is one way to ensure that your planner has your best interests in mind. Also, remember that your relationship with that advisor doesn't have to last forever.
What did you think? Were you surprised that I fired my financial advisor? Have you worked with a financial advisor? What worked and didn't work?
Read More
Having a baby and becoming a mom is stressful. There's no denying that. Planning for a maternity leave can be stressful, too. If you're expecting your first baby (or even a second or a third!), you might be wondering what a longer maternity leave looks like. Here's how I spent (and funded!) 16 weeks of maternity leave.
A Word About Stress
Everyone handles stress differently. No two births are the same. There are so many variables when it comes to maternity leaves.
For me, well, my leave was pretty stressful.
There was moving and almost dying along the way. At some point (OK, multiple points), I was overwhelmed and probably met criteria for postpartum anxiety. I spoke to a psychiatrist friend who pointed out that I pretty much experienced all the top life stressors except death of a loved one (and let's keep it that way!) within a 4 month period:
- New baby (especially the first one)
- Moving
- New Job
- Serious illness
She also pointed out that what's especially hard for new mothers is that no one is taking care of us. We are always taking care of baby (and spouse).
A Look at 16 Weeks of Maternity Leave
I feel lucky that my mother lives nearby enough and has been with us most weeks.
Breakfast of Champions – home cooked Korean food
So, I decided to give myself a pass on pretty much everything. For me, that meant a lot of stopping.
I stopped worrying about…
- Posting consistently on this blog.
- My new postpartum figure (well, kind of).
- Every single bit of what I was eating.
- Spending too much especially if it made my life easier during this time.
I am still trying to worry less about the not fully unpacked apartment.
Oh, and I finally figured out the biggest fallacy of “maternity leave” — nothing gets done despite not “going to work.”
Funding a Longer Maternity Leave
Throughout my leave, I was often asked how are we able to afford taking 16 weeks of mostly unpaid leave.
Let's back up and actually look at my leave. I took 16 weeks of leave, and it was only very partially paid. 6 weeks paid at my old base salary was all I got.
So how did we swing the full 16 weeks of maternity leave?
The answer is simple: We lived below our means, and we saved for it. Remember, you have about 9 months to save for maternity leave!
Let's go back to the idea of living below our means. In other words, we do not need our whole paycheck to get by. While I was pregnant, I stopped making extra payments to loans in favor of saving for this time.
Then, I had a cushion to pay for my maternity leave.
It definitely didn't feel good to watch my checking account balance only decrease during my leave, but seeing his face daily more than made up for it.
What are you looking at?
Final Thoughts on 16 Weeks of Maternity Leave
Isn't this what it's all about, Moms? I hope everyone about to have a baby can have the freedom to spend more than the typical 4-6 weeks of doctor maternity leave.
Look hard at your budget while your expecting, and see what you can do to save a bit extra. Even if you can't fund 16 weeks of leave, anything extra counts. You won't regret it.
What do you think of funding a longer leave? Comment below!]]>
Read More
View from my previous apartment in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, NY on Christmas Eve[/caption]
It's definitely easier to attain financial independence (FI) faster when you live in a LCOL (low cost of living) with a high income. Is it out the window when you live in a HCOL (high cost of living) – like Brooklyn, NYC (where I live) or the San Francisco Bay Area? Of course not. But some thing(s) need to give if you want to reach it in a reasonable amount of time. So, how are we able to put away > $80,000 a year towards FI, pay down loans aggressively, be able to afford child care in this expensive city AND still be able to enjoy life?
1. We keep housing costs as low as possible
This is probably the largest ticket item for those of us in a HCOL. A modern (meaning it includes a dishwasher and laundry in-unit) 2 bedroom apartment in a great part of Brooklyn will be a minimum of $4,000 for likely < 1,000 sq. ft. Manhattan? Try $5,000 and likely much more for any decent neighborhood. What about buying? Try $1 mill for a tiny 1 bedroom (again, if you're lucky) and upwards to $2 million+ for a 2+ bedroom apartment. That doesn't include the monthly maintenance fee. Want a parking spot? Extra.
“If you will live like no one else, later you can live like no one else.” – Dave Ramsey
I am not a huge fan of Dave Ramsey, but his basic mantras will serve most people very well. M and I live in a tiny apartment (730 sq ft). M owns this apartment and luckily bought in the early 2000s for a whopping down payment of < $20,000. No, there isn't a missing zero. It is a true two bedroom, one bathroom apartment. We have a dishwasher and our own laundry – which in NYC is a luxury. With the upcoming baby (and our bonus son that we have sporadically during the school year), many have told us that we have to upgrade. Nope. My brother and I attended high school living in a similar apartment (sharing a room). This won't be “forever” but we are doing our best to stay here until my student loans are paid off by end of 2020 or earlier. We will finish paying off M's car loan (I drive to work) in the next month or so leaving just the mortgage on his end. We street park (free). Our total housing costs (mortgage + taxes + condo fee) is ~5% of our 2017 annual gross income.
2. We chose a financially like-minded partner
Aka choose your spouse wisely. OK, so we didn't exactly do this on purpose, but sorta (at least on my end)? About 1-2 months into dating M, I asked him about his finances. Specifically, I asked him how much money he had in his retirement accounts and what debt(s) he had. I also knew that he wasn't a big spender. As things became more serious we discussed our shared financial goals for the present and future. We did this before we got engaged.
2. We make savings automatic
My 403(b) and 457(b), and his 403(b) contributions are automatically deducted from our paychecks. We never see the money. Since these are all pre-tax contributions, we don't really miss it vs. not doing this automatically and seeing if “we can afford to save.” We do our best to fund the Roth IRAs early in the year so we don't miss it and are not tempted to spend the money instead.
3. We (mostly) stick to a budget
I use YNAB to budget. I haven't added M's expenses yet but I am able to track our overall spending in eMoney (web based software we use with our FA). I've been using YNAB for over 2 years now. I was a spendaholic and this is my rehab.
4. We don't buy (much) stuff
We aren't minimalists, but we both agreed that stuff does not make us happy. We also don't have room for the stuff anyway (see above).
5. We have decided on the 1-2 things we really enjoy and don't hesitate to spend on it
Luckily, we both really enjoy eating out & cooking good food and traveling. Sure, we could nix all vacations and eat rice and beans until loans are paid off but it's important to enjoy life now too. We do try to meal plan for the week and we generally bring lunch to work. We budget for all of this.
[caption id="attachment_1137" align="aligncenter" width="402"]
Lots of wristbands to get into Panorama 2016[/caption]
Another thing we both really enjoy is attending live concerts of our favorite bands (mainly indie pop/rock/some electronic). Luckily, NYC is almost always a stop on anyone's tour. Not to mention home of some of the big summer festivals. Confession: I have not paid for a single concert since M & I met. One of the big perks of M's job is free (and VIP) access to almost any concert we want to go to. We attended Panorama last summer. In the past several months, we have seen the Shins, the xx, Sigur Ros, Frightened Rabbit, M83, Tame Impala, Sia, the 1975s, Mumford and Sons, and Flume to name a few.
Bottom line – we live well below our means.
How are you making it in a HCOL? Comment below.
]]> Read More
I was born in Seoul, South Korea and my family moved to the U.S. when I was 2 years old. My family never made much money – I guess a typical middle class income for a family of 4. I was always adept at making money. I just never knew the other part – saving. I remember having a lucrative lemonade stand in our middle class neighborhood in Edison, NJ as a 4th grader. The gig ended when the free ice from the neighbor's house got cut off.
Not too long after, I was selling stuff from a catalog to neighbors – but my mom made me refund all the money and I remember feeling ashamed that I was trying to make money.Fast forward to 8th grade – I got a gig babysitting a boy in the apartment complex (we had downsized from a house to an apartment, and we kept downsizing to smaller apartments at least 3 more times before I graduated high school. I assume this was due to less money coming in).
Once I was legally allowed to work (age 15?), I got a job shelving books at the local public library for $4.25 an hour. Then I got a second job working at the pharmacy for $6.25 an hour. Summers I worked almost full time and also worked at a book store. I don't think I spent much of the money but did the usual $20-40 ATM withdrawals to pay for going to the movies and eating out with friends.
I cashed out my savings at the end of high school (~$900) to purchase a laptop computer for college. I also worked during college as it was part of my financial aid package to Barnard. Due to generous financial aid I was able to attend on grants and loans. I got a coveted gig working at the computer lab which came complete with plenty of paid “study time” and a vanity email address – I was [email protected].
I was the weekly date night babysitter for a few affluent couples in NYC. It was an awesome job – I showed up around 6 or 7pm – the baby or kid was put to bed before they left. My job was mainly to make sure no one kidnapped the baby. I had food and cable TV (never had cable growing up). It was a good hourly rate plus a cab ride home.
During college I opened my first credit card. Thus started almost 20 years of bad credit card habits culminating in accumulating $20,000 of credit card debt by 2010. I had to enter into a debt repayment program to lower interest rates and get on a set monthly payment.
I graduated college in 1999 and started a job at Morgan Stanley. My salary was $52,000 + a guaranteed bonus. I do remember using the 401k plan which included profit sharing. I left after about 4 years and ended up withdrawing the 401k and paid penalties and taxes on it. I was living on unemployment for almost a year while I applied to medical school. I got involved with one of those pyramid marketing companies and lost/spent at least $10,000.
I entered medical school and received generous aid again – half tuition and subsidized loans. Ironically, it was cheaper to attend Columbia than my state school. My mom would drop off groceries and prepared Korean food every two weeks during medical school. Instead of saving the saved money not spent on groceries, I used it to have fun in NYC to blow off steam during med school. Credit card debt started racking up.
Intern year – finally making money again – $59,000. Living in a 3 bedroom apartment in Brooklyn with 2 other roommates. Rent was $850 a month. Life was good. Parents relinquished their 2003 Camry to me to drive to the hospital. Credit card debt really accumulated this year.
Intern year ends and I move to Costa Mesa, CA to begin a two year research stint at a salary of $33,000. 2 months in I panic because after paying rent ($1050), gas, monthly credit card bills, almost nothing was left. I start moonlighting in urgent care but didn't realize how much I needed to set aside for taxes. I get slammed with a $10,000 tax bill the next year.
I started dermatology residency in 2012 – now making $55,000 a year. Phew. I'm still moonlighting. I'm STILL living beyond my means.
Sometime around my last year of residency, I overhear some co-residents chatting about money. I don't recall what they were specifically talking about but it piqued my interest. They suggested I read the White Coat Investor. Everything changed from there.
I honestly have my life to thank them for. As I was definitely NOT on the way to financial freedom.
Read More
Get started on your journey to wealth by getting my FREE book- Defining Wealth for Women.
[convertkit form=7480157]