4 major financial and life management challenges physicians face and how to overcome or avoid them.
As a doctor who has worked in financial management with doctors of all kinds, I’m giving the economic realities here for doctors. However, it works the same for any entrepreneur focused on the growth of their business who in the process may miss the financial management necessary to create life and an affluent future.
THE CHALLENGES MANY HEALTH CARE PRACTITIONERS FACE: THE NEGATIVE
For chiropractors, recent financial research found their economic state totally untenable. The average salary of $70,000-$120,000 (The arc created by an average of associates and owners) is radically too low to afford a good lifestyle, raise a family, put together a college fund for kids, pay bills, and ever pay back student loans.
Doctors get into health care to help people. Unfortunately, to do so generally requires taking on large debt and staying very busy in their practices. The result has been that physicians have radically more issues with debt, challenges with their personal lives, and stress than those that have chosen other professions.
For MDs, a survey by physiciansfoundation.org of 12,000 doctors showed that only 6% described their morale as positive. Eighty-four percent said that their incomes were constant or decreasing. Most said they didn’t have enough time to spend with patients because of paperwork, and nearly half said they planned to reduce the number of patients they would see in the next three years or stop practicing altogether. In a survey of 2,218 physicians called, “A Tough Time for Physicians: 2012 Medical Practice & Attitude Report, more than one-third of the doctors planned to quit or retire in 10 years. It’s been well established that many DCs would sell or quit if they could as well.
THE POSITIVE
While the climate or playing field may have radically changed for doctors, the outlook is still extremely positive and has been very lucrative personally and professionally for the many who follow the right path. But you may need some help, but growth, financial increase, and affluence are available.
4 of the major financial and life management challenges physicians face and how to overcome or avoid them.
#1. SUBSTANTIAL STUDENT LOANS: The average physician finishes medical school at age 27, and may not really get started in practice, be finishing an associateship, or making any legitimate income until age 30 or older.1 Additionally, most doctors owe more than $150,000 in student debt and commonly more than $250,000.2 SOLUTION: The financial fact is, the sooner a doctor gets out of debt and starts investing, the better. With huge debt and a delayed income, doctors often start off way behind.
#2. THEY’RE BUSY AND FOCUSED ON BEING DOCTORS: A doctor is too busy to spend time monitoring their finances, fees to professionals, or investigating whether or not they have the right people managing their money. SOLUTION: As a result, they may see a decrease in performance that could have been avoided by at least making sure you’ve hired relevant, super-high quality personal financial services.
#3. UNCONVENTIONAL SHOTS AT WEALTH: Doctors generally make really great incomes. At some point, many end up feeling like they could be making a fortune somewhere else by leveraging that money. While that has been true for some, it’s not common. It’s well known that around 1 in 30 venture capital investments ever makes any money – and that is for people that have time to put into what they are doing. It’s likely more like 1 in a million for doctors. Unconventional investments are not normally a good decision for doctors not just because they are bad investments, but because they are businesses outside our skillset and experience, and once again not having time to work at or monitor this new investment. Get help getting into good, doctor investments with experts that do this all day, every day.
#4. LIVE A LESS-STRESSFUL, MORE FULFILLING LIFE: Doctors got into health care to help people and build a joyful life. Having to manage bills, investments, and business affairs on top of being a doctor is stressful and takes time from their family and focus away from work. As a result, even when doctors are successful professionally and economically, it can be unfulfilling personally and at home. SOLUTION: Build your business skills and economic team.
The solutions add up to getting help creating a budget, organizing, protecting, and watching over your overhead and investments. Gain back the time that doctors lose in their financial progress by bringing in help to stay on budget and make sound financial decisions literally every day so you can focus on saving lives.
Have fun saving the world
Dr. Ben
1“The Physician Workforce: Projections and Research into Current Issues Affecting Supply and Demand.” HHS. http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/
2“Medical Student Education: Debt, Costs, and Loan Repayment Fact Card.” AAMC. https://www.aamc.org/download/
