Resident/Student Resources: Personal Finance

A Resident's Guide to Money
Effective Strategies on Debt, Investing, and Money Management

- Mark Reiter, MD MBA -
University of North Carolina Emergency Medicine

(updated December 2004)

Written for EM residents by an EM resident, this guide will offer you straight talk on a variety of strategies to help you take your financial future into your own hands. It is not written to give an exhaustive review, but rather to introduce you to these opportunities and to dispel many of the misconceptions that deter many from maximizing their money.

Sections include:

Student Debt and Salaries
Loans
Credit Cards
Mortgages
Tax Deducting Loan Interest
Roth IRA
Investing and Money Management
Investment Brokers

Excerpts:

...Most medical school financial aid offices will advise you to pay off your loans in the shortest possible amount of time. Do NOT listen to these misguided persons.

...Paying an annual fee on a credit card is worse than paying for scrubs.

...Opening and fully funding a Roth IRA is the most important financial move you can make as a resident.

...Despite the millions of pages published on investing (mostly crap), the subject is widely misunderstood and many potential investors are scared away.

...A common misconception is that cash, CDs, and bonds are safer than stocks in the long-run.

...Investment professionals have worked for years to convince most Americans that they can't be successful in the market if they go it alone, and they'll need to rely on high-priced investment advisors if they want a piece of the action. However, with the arrival of several new investment vehicles over the last decade, as well as the ease-of-use of most online brokerages, any reasonably intelligent resident can achieve a long-term rate of return similar to that of the S&P 500 with minimal work, no advanced knowledge, and no need for expensive help from investment advisors and traditional brokers.

...I'd recommend only using a well-known online broker, as some tiny firms may not be legitimate (you don't want to be funding some scam artist's coke habit).