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The Complete Every Mistake In The Book Series:
“That’s great Xravsyn, way to start of your blog and win over potential readers.”
That was my initial thought when I came up with the title of my first true post.
Why would anyone want to lead off an introduction by highlighting his or her flaws? Everyone tries to put their best foot forward, whether in social settings or in business.
That first impression is lasting and sets the tone for subsequent interactions.
And therein lies the problem for how society perceives others based on what they outwardly show.
One of the all time classic books: The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America’s Wealthy highlights the fact that some of the most wealthy do not draw attention to themselves with the outer trappings most people think of when envisioning the rich. I highly recommend this book if you haven’t read it already as a starting point in your financial journey to independence.
It is easy to only tout one’s successes to the world but I think this devalues that success if one does not elaborate on the numerous failures before that success was achieved.
By only hearing of other’s successes and not failures, an individual places an unattainable standard on him or herself when trying to replicate it. The failures that are likely to come with any venture would be magnified if one only has successful attempts as a barometer to measure against. Depending on the character of that individual, this may lead to premature termination of any worthwhile endeavor before it gets off the ground.
“It’s how you deal with failure that determines how you achieve success”-David Feherty
Avoiding the risk of creating a tome as my first post I have decided to break this down into multiple posts (I did warn you I made a lot of mistakes), trying to keep it in chronological order.
Mistake #1: Not concerned with financial education throughout college, med school, residency, and early attending years.
Some of this fault lays with the educational system in the training of a doctor and the track you are supposed to take. Throughout my premedical years I followed the standard path of taking the basic requirements for gaining medical school entry, heavily on the sciences and not much else.
This continued throughout medical school and residency. There were no financial lecturers, there were no financial courses, and today’s helpful blogs such as White Coat Investor didn’t even exist (and before my Generation Z daughter can chime in, yes the internet had been invented).
Even as a medical student (this was before the credit crisis (I graduated in 1997)), credit companies and banks bent over backwards giving you vast amounts of credit which made it feel as if I actually drew that as a salary rather than digging deeper into debt.
I funded what I then considered a not too extravagant lifestyle (which in retrospect doing anything was extravagant if you were not earning money) by always applying for and getting the maximum student loans each year for medical school (I was very fortunate that my parents had provided funds to attend undergraduate at Johns Hopkins which I didn’t realize at the time, like I do now, what a blessing that was and what a financial burden it must have been for them).
In the era of easy balance transfers I would play credit card roulette, getting 0% APR introductory rates on cards and then transferring it to the next one in line when the promotional rate was about to expire.
I thought I found a way to cheat the system. In actuality, I was cheating myself, conditioning my behaviors and ingraining into my brain that credit/debt was acceptable.
Even though I still hadn’t made a single penny to my name I wanted to be a consumer.
Consumerism is an appropriate term, for one truly gets consumed financially if one gives into every desire.
I continued this lifestyle throughout medical school and at the end of four years (1997) I had accumulated a mind blowing $160,000 of principal debt just from medical school loans and probably another $15-20,000 of credit card debt.
Mistake #2: Why pay today when you can put it off for tomorrow?
My first real paying job started with my residency program. For the first time I officially was a doctor, with a newly minted MD after my name. Starting with my intern year I pulled in about $32,000 and that would incrementally increase to when I finished as a fellow (year seven) making somewhere around the high 40’s to low 50s.
With this money, I had my first opportunity to start paying back some of these loans. And did this young intern/resident/fellow choose to do this? Sadly the answer was no. Channeling my inner Wimpy from Popeye I chose to “Gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today.”
My rationale was I’m barely making money now as a resident and I’m putting in a lot of hours (this was before law mandated restriction on resident’s maximum hours) with numerous instances where I was putting 100+ hour work weeks . I deserve to spend this money and enjoy what little free time I had.
Future me would take care of this.
“Every time you borrow money, you’re robbing your future self.”-Nathan W. Morris
So with every loan I had to my name I tried to get a deferment (which was the lesser of two evils where at least interest does not accumulate) and the remainder I had to receive forbearance (where interest continues to accumulate during the nonpayment period). And accumulate that interest did.
Through the magic of compounding, my interest decided to turn itself into principal and that principal began to earn it’s own interest. It was the opposite of the Debt Snowball that Dave Ramsey speaks in Dave Ramsey’s Complete Guide To Money (another staple in my current financial library).
I was so clueless of the financial setback I was setting myself for that I truly don’t remember what the sum of these two mistakes was when I finally became an attending and started paying back the loans.
The total student debt was easily $350k and it wouldn’t shock me if this grossly underestimated the final bill when repayment started.
This financial anchor was eventually paid on May 22, 2014 (I was so proud of this accomplishment that I posted it on my Facebook page). What was so significant about this date was that it was exactly 17 years to the day that I graduated medical school and received an MD, and almost 22 years when I first became indentured to Sallie Mae, et all.
Estimated Hit to Net Worth:
This is a bit difficult to calculate as I don’t even remember what interest rates I was receiving for these loans, getting some as low as 4% and I know some approaching 9%. With compounded interest during forbearance and a 22 year payback, it would not shock me if the final cost for my education hit the $600k mark.
Superpower Take-home points:
- You will always have to pay the piper. What you put off today can substantially grow and cripple your financial future
- It is highly difficult to discharge student loans with normal bankruptcy proceedings.
- Don’t count on a presumed larger salary later to bail you out of financial obligations today.
- Even as a med student or resident, although it is highly LIKELY that you will make a large salary as an attending, you cannot predict the future. All it takes is an accident/disability that may hamper your future earning power tremendously
- It is never too early to learn about finances.
- We always are focused on establishing a career and dedicating our time and resources to it but take it a step beyond that. What is the point of a successful career? To make money to provide a desired lifestyle. The best way to get this is to learn about personal finance and avoid common pitfalls designed to separate you from your money
- The person who has the best interest in your financial success is YOU
So that’s it. My first official entry into the Blogosphere of personal finance. I hope I have piqued your interest and you continue to follow this blog and my journey to make some contributions to this niche.
The series, “I Made Every Mistake In The Book,” continues with Part II.
I appreciate any comments, thoughts, words of encouragement, and/or any critiques you may have. There is definitely a learning curve and hopefully these initial baby steps will graduate to running and eventually flying (keeping with the Xrayvsn theme)
(And don’t forget to subscribe to this blog to be always notified of new posts)
NOTE: The website XRAYVSN contains affiliate links and thus receives compensation whenever a purchase through these links is made (at no further cost to you). As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Although these proceeds help keep this site going they do not have any bearing on the reviews of any products I endorse which are from my own honest experiences. Thank you- XRAYVSN
I love all the colors.
I love your color scheme. Bravo for paying of your loans. You are psychologically free.
Thank you so much. Yeah it was a struggle but a massive weight lifted off my shoulders when the last loaned dollar was paid back 🙂 I appreciate the compliment on the color scheme. It’s a work in progress
@xrayvsn congratulations! Good luck with your new venture. I intend to visit often as long as you keep the blog informative and interesting.
I really appreciate it. I will hopefully try to keep the content interesting, there are quite a few I am very proud of coming down the line.
Thank you so much for the kinds words. I have definitely been passionate about this. In two weeks I wrote 27 posts total and poured a lot of my heart and soul in it. If you do find the content getting dull let me know. Always open to any suggestions. -Xrayvsn
Welcome to the world of Physician bloggers! I wish you success in this endeavor, and you’re free to define success in any way you choose. If a colorful display is the goal, you’ve already achieved it!
Cheers!
-PoF
Lol. Thank you so much. Means a ton coming from of the giants in the physician blog world. As a radiologist I’m a very visual person and I like colors. A deadly combination in the blogosphere. I hope you stick around and follow some of my upcoming posts (my financial mistakes series I believe is 5 posts total and I really do make a ton of mistakes). Got some other nice topics as well that I can’t wait to publish (that’s the main negative of writing so many posts ahead. I am impatient and want it all out at once… Read more »
Wow those are crazy colors! But its unique, so that’s great.
That is a mind blowing debt you had. Well done to eliminate that.
Thank you so much for the compliment. Hopefully the colors aren’t the only thing that makes my site unique. Lol. Yeah digging out of debt was a slow and steady progress. Being blessed with a high paying profession was a start but I am sure you, as well I, know people that despite having high incomes never take the steps to get rid of debt. I hope to give an example that you can make a ton of mistakes but still be able to overcome them especially with a physician salary.
Radiologist here as well almost 3 years out trying to get last 90k of 320k in student loans paid off. Enjoyed reading the post as well as the cool colors. My eyes like the dark background! Keep them coming.
Thanks so much Lee. It is funny, but now that you mention it I really think because I am acclimated to a dark work environment I subconsciously chose a dark palette. That just blew my mind and it was like a light bulb. Thanks for shining the light on a behavior pattern I didn’t recognize 🙂 Usually when I read other financial blogs when I am caught up reading radiology studies, there is a minute or two before my eyes adjust to the much brighter/whiter screen. Well that is very impressive that you have already reduced your student loan debt… Read more »
[…] for a while, XRAYVSN has joined the blogging scene and is starting out strong with a series called “I Have Pretty Much Made Every Mistake In The Book…” Hearing about and experiencing failure is one of the greatest ways to learn and I’m a big […]
Thank you so much for the mention in your post. Especially coming from one of what I consider the 3 giants in the physician financial blogosphere (Passive Income MD, Physician on Fire, and of course White Coat Investor) it is a huge honor (I already sent messages to my girlfriend and colleague (who also encouraged me to start a blog) about this momentous occasion of being recognized by your site. Thanks for making my day
[…] mistakes is often the first step toward rectifying them. Xrayvsn is a new blogger and his “I have pretty much made every mistake in the Book” series is a candid look at his missteps. See what he has learned from them and what you […]
I really appreciate the mention on your website. I like the premise of your blog Fifteen Minute Financial Fitness especially giving readers an assignment/actionable advice at end of each post.
Thanks for sharing!
You are more than welcome. I’m glad you found it useful. I think real life examples of people, physicians in particular, making mistakes might help others to avoid the same pitfalls. I wish I had this type of information available to me back then.
[…] of life taking unexpected detours, Xrayvsn shares some of his missteps in a 5 part series called I Have Pretty Much Made Every Mistake in the Book. Between changing residencies, getting swindled by an attending, buying a house as a resident and […]
Feel honored for the mention. Thank you (I did correct the comment in that it is a 5 part series (rather than 3 parts (2 more to go)
[…] From XRAYVSN … […]
Wow. Thank you so much for featuring me at your website! I am truly honored. I am a firm believer in the FIRE philosophy and am just thrilled that because of your website I will be exposed to readers I know I might not have been able to reach on my own. I know it will give this fledgling blog a huge boost and I am so appreciate of it. Just made my day
I love the humbleness. When we hear success stories, we think that’s great, but how does it help me. When you see someone make mistakes, it makes things more down to earth. There is a common ground in that hey I’ve made that mistake too and I can overcome it as well.
Thank you so much for stopping by and giving a very touching comment. Yeah when I first thought of doing a blog, I thought it was better to start out with my mistakes because that is exactly what shaped me into the person I am today. Plus I wanted to give an example that just because you do screw up (and believe me I did majorly) it’s not too late to make a turn around (early 40’s for me). This coming Tuesday will be the grand finale of my mistakes and I will give an accumulated overall financial hit (it… Read more »
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Some of us are stubborn and have to learn the hard way… Great post and hopefully an inspiration for those who will learn these lessons at a younger age.
Appreciate the kind words. Thankfully there is a greater access to quality information these days that give some of the younger crowd a fighting chance to avoid mistakes like mine
Many good points and take-away anchor phrases from this – a sobering reminder of the hidden costs of getting a good education and meaningful career.
Appreciate the kind words. Yes it was a time in my life where I had to learn from the school of hard knocks. It definitely shaped me to be where I am currently so it was not all bad.