As a physician or medical professional, you may face several unique challenges: six-figures or more of student loan debt, delaying saving for retirement until your mid 30s, and when you are finally making money, the government takes half of it. What makes things more difficult, once you are saving, you aren’t really sure how to prioritize debt repayment, investing, and home ownership.
How do I know this? I’ve actually lived it while watching my wife go through 11 years of training to become a surgical oncologist. I remember opening her acceptance letter to medical school because she was too nervous to look. I remember the thrill and anxiety of Match Day. And the insane work weeks and trying to juggle a demanding job with family life and personal life.
I quickly realized how many challenges are thrown at young doctors, including having zero time to be able to work through financial problems. Those who had spoken to a so-called financial advisor were distrustful of the entire industry, because they had been pitched commissioned products that they didn’t need.
At the time, I was managing money for an ultra-high net worth family, and the one good thing about my wife never being home is that it gave me a lot of time to study. While she was practicing her surgical technique, I was learning the intricacies of finance accounting, and studied for my CPA, CFA charter and my CFP. OK, I would occasionally go play basketball too, but it was mostly studying.
Because everyone knew they could get it from me straight, I would often get financial questions from our physician friends when we went to social gatherings. I found myself helping them navigate student loan issues, track cash flow, understand insurance, and invest in a tax-efficient manner. After having several friends tell me I should be doing this as business, I left my job working for a billionaire to found CMG Financial Consulting. Now, 80% of my business is working with physicians and medical professionals. Most of these are served virtually using screen sharing, web conferencing and our client portal and appreciate that they don’t have to show up to a stuffy mahogany during their time off.