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One of the most popular series in my blog is the “Doctor’s Bill, Can You Afford It?” posts where Johanna Fox Turner, of Fox & Company Wealth Management, and I analyze a viewers desired purchase and determine if it is financially sound, or not, to do so.

As a radiologist I often dictate studies and move on with very rare follow up from the ordering service (when it does happen it often makes my day to find out the impact my interpretation made).

So naturally I was curious, and thought my readers would be as well, on whether the submitter(s) followed the advice that Johanna and myself put out.

I therefore thought it would be nice to send out a questionnaire to those submitters who left a contact email (unfortunately not every submission disclosed an email address).

[For these particular submitters I would love to hear from you via my contact form and hopefully you can update us as well on your current state by using the same question format as below.]

For a refresher please check out the Original Doctor’s Bill Post.

Did you actually go through with spending on the item/experience you desired?

Yes, but a cheaper home at $2.7M

Did the analysis Johanna or Xrayvsn have any influence on your ultimate decision?

Yes.

We were leaning towards doing this anyway but it felt good to have 2 outside influences tell us that we weren’t crazy

What thing(s), if any, did Johanna get right about in her analysis? What things, if any, do you feel she got wrong?

It helped to see our projected retirement savings alongside such a big purchase.

Seeing that larger than anticipated number gave me the encouragement to go through with the purchase.

What thing(s), if any, did Xrayvsn get right about in his analysis? What things, if any, do you feel he got wrong?

I’m still pretty happy with my job.

I don’t know about working full time until 70 but, assuming my job satisfaction and reimbursement are roughly where they currently are, I certainly wouldn’t mind part time work until 70.  🙂

If you did go through with spending money on your desired item/experience, were there any unexpected expenses or unexpected benefits that were not covered in the submission or analysis?

Almost immediately after agreeing to a deal for the home, someone in my family suffered a significant illness.

It required me to take time off from work.

It required financial assistance (small) on my part.

My children also started private school since I made the submission.

My wife and I did decide on more children in that timeframe as well.

Any regrets with your decision to spend or not on your desired item/experience?

I’m happy that we spent the money because I think it will make my wife very happy.

Part of me is excited to move to such a grand home.

Part of me regrets the decision and wants to stay in my already paid for home and “upgrade” incrementally if needed (e.g. go from our $500K home to a $1M home instead of jumping to a $2.7M right away).

There’s certainly peer pressure as many of my colleagues are also purchasing similarly priced homes and our senior partners are purchasing even more expensive homes.

Seems like a treadmill that leads to more spending, definitely more stress, and not necessarily more happiness.

I’m hopeful this jump will represent a “forever” home and scratch the itch for any future upgrades.

I really appreciate you keeping us apprised of what happened since we last left you.

Life has a way of throwing us unexpected curve balls such as in the instance of your family illness.

It looks like you were financially able to withstand this and continue on your planned financial trajectory.

Best of luck!

If you would like to submit your own Doctor’s Bill request please fill out the submission form.

Note:

If you are in search of financial help, please consider enlisting the service of any of the sponsors of this blog who I feel are part of the “good guys and gals of finance.”

Even a steadfast DIY’er can sometimes gain benefit from the occasional professional input.