James Dahle - The White Coat Investors Guide for Students: How Medical and Dental Students Can Secure Their Financial Future (The White Coat Investor Series)

Way back in 1999 I enrolled as a student at The University of Utah School of Medicine. The years in medical school were four of the best years of my life. I thoroughly enjoyed nearly every minute of it. Life was good. I married my college girlfriend the month before classes began and our children were still half a decade away. We were living at the base of the Wasatch Mountains where I spent afternoons rock climbing, mountain biking, or skiing. I was finally studying something that would have a direct effect on what I was going to be doing for the rest of my life.

Compared to years of slogging through difficult subjects while competing with neurotic pre-meds for top grades, medical school felt downright casual. (Maybe a little too casual given my grade on the first gross anatomy test.) We were on an honors-pass-fail grading system and the only gunning going on was to be one of the first MS1s who could beat a team of MS2s on the foosball table. After attending a large high school and an even larger university, my class of 100 students actually provided an opportunity to get to know most of my classmates on an individual level.

From the first few weeks of medical school, I developed an intense admiration for my colleagues. Later in my career, I discovered that I loved to teach and help medical students in any way I could. One of the first things we did when The White Coat Investor became financially successful was to start the White Coat Investor Scholarship Program. It was our way of giving back. One reason I admire these students is their dedication and idealism. I had the opportunity to serve on the admissions committee as an MS4. Given the caliber of people applying to our school, I was shocked that there had been room for me!

I cringe every time I see a medical or dental student become a little more cynical. I hate seeing doctors advise pre-meds and even their own children to avoid medicine or dentistry. These are wonderful professions that still command respect, provide opportunities to help people on the worst days of their lives, and, eventually, provide a good standard of living. However, there is a serious, worsening problem in our medical and dental schools and it needs to be addressed.

The problem is that medical and dental students are making some of the most significant financial decisions of their lives without the basic financial literacy they need to make the decisions properly. For the most part, the schools themselves are not providing it. In fact, in some respects, the schools have a conflict of interest in providing it since they are at least part of the problem, but more on that later.

Consider the major decisions with financial consequences that are often made before you will complete your training:

• Whether and whom you marry
• Whether you stay married
• Whether you have children
• What profession you choose
• Where you go to school
• How you pay for that school
• How much money you borrow
• How you manage those loans
• Which specialty you choose
• Where you train for that specialty
• Whether you go into academics or private practice
• What area of the country you practice in
• Whether you are an employee or an owner of your job
• Whether or not you insure yourself and your family against the loss of your ability to practice medicine or even your own death
• How expensive of a house you live in
• What you drive
• How much you spend on your lifestyle including vacation and entertainment expectations

The most important year in a physicians financial life is that first year out of training when the big bucks (i.e. an attending physicians paychecks) start rolling in. Due to the critical importance of that year, a great deal of my writing and work at The White Coat Investor has been targeted at graduating residents and new attendings. Unfortunately, as the cost of education rises, many doctors are already in a massive hole by the time they reach that point. Time and time again I have heard doctors tell me I wish I would have learned this in school! or ask Where were you 10 years ago? or Why doesnt anybody teach this in dental school?

My first book, The White Coat Investor: A Doctors Guide to Personal Finance and Investing was designed as a general guide for doctors at any stage of training. My second book, The White Coat Investors Financial Boot Camp: A 12-Step High-Yield Guide to Bring Your Finances Up to Speed was aimed squarely at that target demographic of graduating residents and new attendings. This book, however, is aimed at youa medical or dental student. While the book will contain a small amount of information about managing finances as a resident and some general financial literacy information, the vast majority of it is designed to help you avoid the mistakes that your predecessors have made during school.

By reading and applying the lessons here, you will:

• Know whether or not your education was a good investment,
• Graduate from school with as little debt as possible,
• Know exactly how to manage those student loans,
• Quit feeling guilty about borrowing money to pay for school, and
• Be prepared to achieve the financial success you expected when you were accepted to school.

If you are like I was in medical school, you do not think too much about finances and are willing to practice your craft practically for free. You did not sign up to do this for the money and actually find it alarming to discover that many doctors 10 years ahead of you feel underpaid and stressed about money. I am convinced that a financially secure doctor is a better partner, spouse, parent, and clinician. Financially secure doctors spend more time at home and bring home less stress. They can provide the best care for their patients without having to worry about making payroll or their next student loan or mortgage payment. They have more patience with colleagues and coworkers. They can practice in a way that provides the best care without having to spend precious time and energy worrying about money.

If you are already a financial whiz, this book will provide you a few doctor-specific tips that help you optimize your efforts. If you are like most students and know little to nothing about personal finance and investing, spending a few hours with this book will likely be worth millions of dollars to you over the course of your life.

That money by itself is not necessarily valuable. After all, most of the time it will just look like numbers on a computer screen. However, if you use it properly, those account balances can purchase your freedomfreedom to create the life you most desire without regard to financial concerns.

You CAN do this. You are a smart person and a hard worker. It is time to stop worrying about your financial situation.

You CAN understand the basics of earning, saving, investing, spending, and giving money.

You CAN pay off your debts rapidly after school and build a secure financial future that allows you to focus on your family and patients and even buy a few luxuries along the way.

Lets get started!