For an audio version of this post, please click on the speaker icon (top left).
If you missed Part I, please check it out here.
Thank you for returning Crispy Doc so that we can conclude this interview (and again, the hospital gown is meant to go the other way around!)
[I really am beginning to think that he knows this and is now just messing with me].
9. What inspired you to start a blog? Were there any surprises along the way? Do you have any advice to individuals who may be contemplating starting a blog of their own?
I’d felt like a passive observer to my financial story for most of my adult life.
Investing was too complex, I was too busy doing the noble work of saving lives, and I did not want to take the blame if our life savings went down the toilet.
A doctor and his/her money are easily parted.
I came up with every excuse to leave it to the “professionals” while I focused on what I knew best.
Burnout brought me to a crossroads: I did not want to work this hard in this unsustainable way that I’d normalized, lest I miss out on the wonderful life and people that were taking a back seat to my career.
This caused me to take a long, hard look at our finances with the goal of bailing as soon as we hit our number.
Suddenly I got it: mastering our finances was the key to taking back my life.
When you make that kind of discovery you want to shout it from the mountaintops.
As for surprises, I’ll divulge the moment I’m least proud of as cautionary tale for new bloggers.
I tried out several different voices before hitting my stride and finding something that rang true.
One experiment in that exploratory phase was my sole attempt at a rant.
In my case, I decided (unwisely) to pick on a podcast by the White Coat Investor that involved a guest who espoused market timing.
None other than WCI himself responded in the comments with a withering but entirely fact-based critique that promptly put me in my place.
I left up that post and WCI’s comment as a permanent reminder of something the ancient Greeks figured out millenia before I began to blog: hubris (self-importance) leads to nemesis (inevitable downfall).
My advice to would be bloggers is: just start!
Also, learn from my rookie mistake: in a universe of really smart and friendly bloggers, where collaboration trumps competition, you’ll do far better to pick friends and mentors than brawls.
It’s also a particularly lousy way to get on the radar of someone you look up to and admire.
10. What is the biggest non-medical accomplishment you have achieved to date?
Without a doubt that would be my family.
I married a woman out of my league, and my life has yet to recover from the upward trajectory it took thereafter.
My kids are the nerdy playmates I’ve been desperate to recruit in activities that most adults politely decline: flying kites, reading Calvin and Hobbes out loud together, building a homopolar motor on a lazy afternoon or creating art from polymer clay.
11. When did you develop an interest in personal finance and was there an event that brought personal finance to the forefront of your consciousness?
A New Yorker article on Mr. Money Mustache in February 2016 led me to his website, which I devoured in a matter of days.
After that, life would never be the same again.
It was my radioactive spider bite moment.
I started my blog in September 2016.
12. Complete the following sentence: I would consider the Crispy Doc website to be a success when I achieve….
A tipping point where doctors decide to manage their own portfolios and take full accountability for their finances.
This would empower us to reach financial freedom sooner and enable us to practice medicine on our terms: with fewer aggravations, more humanely.
I’m tired of feeling like every member of our profession is the weak wildebeest.
Let the financial industry stalk new prey by the watering hole for a change (lawyers, anyone?).
13. For a reader unfamiliar to your website, what are three posts you are most proud of that they can gain an insight about you and your philosophies?
14. Is there a book or books that has made a major impact in your financial well-being?
My “holy trinity” of physician finance books includes
- Bill Bernstein’s The Four Pillars of Investing
- The Bogleheads’ Guide to Investing
- Jim Dahle’s The White Coat Investor
15. Can you name 5 things that had the greatest financial impact on your life?
- Assuming complete responsibility for managing our portfolio.
- Creating and sticking to our Investor Policy Statement.
- Saving aggressively in the early years to front-load our retirement.
- Marrying a high-earning spouse who continues to work.
- Graduating without debt = a 5 to 7 year head start in building wealth.
16. Can you share with us a hidden talent that most people would be shocked to find out about you?
I can recite (with great conviction) the mini-rap sections of Cool It Now by The New Edition.
There was also a point in my care-free (arguably taste-free) youth where I owned every Def Leppard album.
Even the ones with absolutely no radio hits on them.
17. You get to pick one person who is dead and one person who is currently alive to answer any questions you may have. Who would you choose and why?
Dead: I’d interview Lincoln to get a sense of what it was like to preside during emancipation and the Civil War, and how he weighed moral and political calculations in his decisions.
Living: I’d interview the author Jonathan Saffron Foer, who writes devastating contemporary fiction that never fails to dazzle me as a reader and teach me something new about being a human being.
My lead in would be something along the lines of, “I liked the thing you did with the words that one time.”
18. Do you have an annual retirement spending goal that you are aiming for? A target net worth? What would be your exit strategy after achieving these goals.
If our annual spend is x, and I’d like to get to 30-33x to feel comfortable.
I’d like to transition to helping physicians take over their finances and manage their own portfolios via the “Teach Me To Fish” consulting service I’ve started.
It’s designed for folks who feel a bit too overwhelmed to act after reading a book or taking a course.
These are docs with the talent and motivation to take on a simple lazy portfolio as long as someone is there to walk them through the basics and be available to reassure them through the process.
The goal is to get someone started managing their finances, until they no longer need me and can ride without training wheels.
Success would be putting myself out of business by making the service obsolete.
19. What is your greatest fear, if any, you have in retirement, and are there any ways you are addressing that now?
My bogey man is everyone’s bogey man: health care costs.
I’m trying to control the variables I can: eat right, maintain fitness and deepen human connections.
All I can do for now is to save to self-insure against catastrophe.
Again thank you so much for your time answering these questions and being placed under the “X-ray beam.” I look forward to your continued posts and wish you much success.
If you are interested in checking out previous individuals that were brave enough to expose themselves to the beams of the X-ray, please check them out here.
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 of finance.”
Even a steadfast DIY’er can sometimes gain benefit from the occasional professional input.
If you find yourself enjoying this blog, please add to Xrayvsn’s superpowers by subscribing (your email will be kept private and you will get up to date emails regarding the latest posts and bonus material like my net worth spreadsheet template I created).
As my email subscriber list grows it validates my decision to start this blog and to continue to try and provide worthy content for your eyes.
Thank you
-Xrayvsn
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
This is filled with awesome advice.
I feel like a voyeur who was listening on a fireside chat of two folks who are smarter and more interesting than I.
Thanks for sharing.
Of note: Don’t be discouraged if you haven’t done or can’t do all of CD 5 tips on financial success. I managed only ONE of them (#3). With high earning and high saving, you can still end up okay. At least that worked for me.
LOL.
Not sure its as cozy as a fireside chat (I purposely keep the xray table as cold as possible just to add a little surprise factor). 🙂
I have been meaning to ask you Wealthy Doc if you would like to also be placed under the X-ray beam. Would love to share your story with everyone as well. 🙂
I would be honored to participate. As long as you properly shield my private parts from excessive exposure.
Deal! (I won’t make that mistake again like I did with Physician on FIRE)
I will start on a questionnaire for you and hopefully get it to you within the week.
Which begs the question, Xrayvsn, does the table temperature affect Throckmorton’s sign?
Just got off shift to see your comment, Wealthy Doc. I thought that was you at the peephole! Next time please just pull up a chair and join us.
And to clarify, the list of five items were those events had greatest impact (much of it was pure dumb luck rather than anything within my control) so the only takeaway message is that it’s better to be lucky than smart.
“You’ll do far better to pick friends and mentors than brawls.”
This is absolutely true in all aspects in life, not just blogging. It’s all about relationship building and growing together. And if I’m not mistaken, that’s how you got your colleagues on board with a better work-life balanced (and more humane) approach to work load scheduling.
Anyways, I’m proud to call all you guys my online friends. If every I run out of things to say/write and my well runs dry… I’ll be supporting you guys and being your biggest cheerleader!
That is really kind of you, I hope your well doesn’t run dry (that is the biggest fear of mine regarding blogging).
The feeling is mutual about online friendship and hope to rectify that and meet everyone in person (I’m at least going to FinCon 19 this year so hopefully can meet the majority of people I missed last year).
I likes my womans beautiful and my doctahs crispy and my coffee strong. Great interview with the ray-man also great WCI podcast. I can see little of my philosophy creep in at the end. It will be interesting to see what the end game of how much “advice” it takes to remove the training wheels. Your moving from bystander to force to be reckoned with.
CD is definitely a force to be reckoned with 🙂 Thanks for coming back for part II Gasem.
By the way, you are starting to be a prolific poster on your website similar to Doc G (actually if I’m not mistaken I believe sometimes you have multiple posts on the same day. Keep up the great work on your site 🙂
I think Xrayvsn knows how to tease out answers to the big questions, while keeping lead to shield all the right places. Vulnerable but not exposed.
That’s a talent, and I’m extremely grateful Xrayvsn invited me to his platform and gave me a chance to be part of his project.
Thanks for the kind words and big heart, Gasem.
I too had ‘High & Dry’ and ‘On Through The Night’ ?
High and Dry could at least claim the hit “Bringin’ On The Heartbreak.” On Through The Night was for the die-hards who still recall when Rick Allen (the drummer) had two arms.
Between us we’ve now accounted for the only two copies of the latter album ever purchased.
Makes me feel less alone in the world.
“… a passive observer to my financial story” — WOW, I felt that! Well said, Crispy Doc. Glad you (and I) decided to play the leading role before it was too late.
Also, Jonathan Safran Foer is a cool choice. I just saw that they’re releasing a documentary based on his work, “Eating Animals,” that will feat. Natalie Portman. May be worth a watch!
I’ll celebrate both of our victories in rising to the occasion, MFM! As for JSF, I’ve had that very book on my book shelf for over a year. I’m gradually moving to a majority plant and fish-based diet, but don’t want to read it until I’m ready to part ways with chicken for good. He’s sufficiently articulate and persuasive that I want to read it when I’m most receptive to his message. On a tangentially related note, JSF’s ex-wife, Nicole Krauss, wrote an amazing novel called “The History Of Love” (name is misleading, it’s a brilliant work of fiction) in… Read more »