Discuss Latest WCI Blog Post: 5 Things the White Coat Investor Gets Wrong

[G]

It's hard to lose when one has a big shovel.

Most docs have a big shovel and that even when one starts with huge debt, most can do quite well within a short period of time. It's when docs start in debt, buy nice shiny things, live in VHCOL, want multiple kids and send them to private school and want to FIRE -- that gets into a serious pickle. Math is math.

We mostly all acknowledge kids are the single most financial drain on high income earners. Most accept this and many a threads on optimizing the costs of these money pits. The guest writer should take a look at our forum dog threads perhaps!

Kind of hard to look at Turbotax as evil. As a purist, yes a free form would be better as Intuit does dance with the devil and lobbies complexity while selling the elixir to manage the issue, but really is Turbotax = Oxycontin and Intuit = Purdue? I would think H+R and others need to take that headliner way before Intuit. I'd think Intuit more like Tramadol and people suggesting hey; go use tyl #3 or tyl+whiskey+alleve.

SPIA - just probably the wrong audience. A lot of do-it-yourself index managing mentality - hard to counter argue to simply index and pull out to self-fund. For those comfortable with pensions and dividend mentalities, you'll find a much wider audience, but not right now. As we feel the impacts of SECURE, I'm sure SPIA interest will start to rise.

CRUTs - same as SPIA- SECURE management tool. Really the cousin -- DAF is widely supported as a management tool.


-A good read and tip of the hat to Jim to allow for this - most do not.

Minor observation, peripherally related. I've been kicking around the idea of a SPIA...I foresee a hard time selling assets for the purpose of spending. A one time purchase would give me an allowance....

[Shant]

I was thinking of transferring an annual amount to a spending account with the annual task of spending it all or giving it away.

[Anne]

The main thing I think Jim gets wrong is how easy it is to tailor your job to exactly what you want once you are FI. I think it is easier in the shift work specialties and when you are your own boss.

[Larry Ragman]

Minor observation, peripherally related. I've been kicking around the idea of a SPIA...I foresee a hard time selling assets for the purpose of spending. A one time purchase would give me an allowance....

Good to be self-aware, and a SPIA can be a good choice to set a floor for core spending. But I’d hate to be buying one in the current interest rate environment. They aren’t a very good deal at the moment.

[krusebear]

What he gets wrong is trying to have it both ways: promoting financial literacy and firing your advisor (good) and then also promoting advisors on the site (bad), promoting expensive courses (probably bad) and probably worst of all promoting sketchy dubious third party real estate courses (bad)

[jacoavlu]

What he gets wrong is trying to have it both ways: promoting financial literacy and firing your advisor (good) and then also promoting advisors on the site (bad), promoting expensive courses (probably bad) and probably worst of all promoting sketchy dubious third party real estate courses (bad)

so you think either advisors should not exist, or there is no such thing as a good advisor?

and if advisors are to be fired a $500 course that might get you there is a no no?

i kinda agree about the real estate stuff.

[Turf Doc]

i agree the real estate stuff seems the least useful to even the average reader here. I wonder if jim would pursue it in his personal portfolio if he wasn't "WCI" and was an average EM physician...

that said there's definitely a market between AUM advisors and nerdy forum users and i think his courses would be worth it if you didnt want to spend a lot of time online

[HikingDO]

Pets and children are expensive. Most have them before they really delve deeply into personal finance. You have to spend your money on something.

Exactly. I love this site, but sometimes it gets too obsessed with maxing out how much you can save without focusing enough on enjoying it along the way. You gotta spend your money on something, so either spend it, or your heirs and the government will one day.

[CM]

I don't think most Bogleheads or WCI readers would consider a single premium immediate annuity (SPIA). If you have managed your own index funds over decades why would you pay a large upfront premium to an insurance company for a low guaranteed return?

I'd consider a SPIA (or series of SPIAs) in my 80s when my wife is in her 70s (11 years younger). In other words, I'd consider it when the annual payout is likely to be greater than my working "safe-withdrawal-rate."

A SPIA gives a couple the benefit of mortality credits if you live a very long life, and if you die young you have no more financial concerns.

[CM]

Dogs are a luxury, but of the discretionary spending in my life, this might be the one that I would least want to do without.

Ditto.

Dogs are the best.

[Shant]

Exactly. I love this site, but sometimes it gets too obsessed with maxing out how much you can save without focusing enough on enjoying it along the way. You gotta spend your money on something, so either spend it, or your heirs and the government will one day.

So more wakeboat and netjets posts?

[HikingDO]

So more wakeboat and netjets posts?

Sure, why not? Balance in everything.

[Hatton]

i agree the real estate stuff seems the least useful to even the average reader here. I wonder if jim would pursue it in his personal portfolio if he wasn't "WCI" and was an average EM physician...

that said there's definitely a market between AUM advisors and nerdy forum users and i think his courses would be worth it if you didnt want to spend a lot of time online

Define nerdy forum users please.

[Lordosis]

The one job totally depends on the type of career you are in. Some places it makes sense to leverage one place off another other places it makes a lot more sense to build your patient base and live the good life.

Kids are expensive. And I think it's pretty common sense that the more you have the less you have to spend on yourself and on each individual child. However kids are somewhat of an insurance policy as well. If catastrophe strikes and your financial plan is in ruin hopefully you were nice to your kids! Definitely not plan ABC or d but I'm sure it is come into play frequently enough.

SPIAs are not really targeted for those of us who obsess over this stuff and try to optimize. They are usually the wrong move on paper. But that's because they are safer. You are treating risk for safety and reward goes down. The most likely place that I would see one of us using this product is if your spouse is not as into finances as you are and you want to set a floor of spending in case of your early demise.

The TurboTax thing is a real stretch. Encouraging people to do their own taxes even if it is using tax software is incredibly useful. If you understand the game you are better able to play the game.

[Turf Doc]

Define nerdy forum users please.

i'd say people who legitimately enjoy learning about finance and discussing it with others and spend time on forums doing so. So essentially all the regulars here, including you and me, and most notably WCI himself