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Financial Planning for Physicians

Helping Physicians Achieve Financial Wellness

You Care for Patients – We Care for Your Financial Well-Being

Long hours, life-or-death decisions, mountains of paperwork – as a physician, your career leaves little time for managing the intricacies of your finances. After years of training, you’re finally earning a substantial income, but you may also have significant student loans and a complex financial picture to sort out. The good news? You don’t have to do it alone. We offer financial planning for physicians designed to simplify your life, optimize your wealth, and let you focus on what you do best: medicine.

Your Challenges

Doctors often face a perfect storm of financial complexity. You might relate to some of these scenarios:

Heavy Training Debt vs. High Income

Perhaps you graduated medical school with hundreds of thousands in debt. (On average, new doctors carry about $200,000 in med school debt.) Now you’re earning a strong income, but those loan payments – plus maybe a mortgage and practice expenses – are daunting. How do you balance paying debt, saving, and enjoying life?

Overwhelming Time Constraints

Your schedule is packed with patient care, hospital rounds, and continuing education. Finding time to research investments or review an insurance policy might feel impossible. You need a financial plan that more or less runs on autopilot, with a trusted advisor making adjustments for you.

High Tax Burden

A physician’s income can quickly put you in the top tax brackets. Without careful tax planning, you could be giving away a big chunk of your earnings. You might wonder about strategies like defined benefit plans, profit-sharing, or advanced charitable giving to reduce taxes while doing good.

Career Transitions and Contracts

Maybe you’re debating becoming a partner in a practice, or moving from employed physician to running your own clinic. Each path has financial implications – from buy-in costs to different benefits packages. It’s critical to evaluate options with long-term wealth in mind.

Protecting Your Family and Assets

Your ability to earn is one of your greatest assets. Have you protected it? Many doctors lack adequate disability insurance or umbrella liability coverage. And while you diligently care for patients, you might not have updated your own estate plan or set up college funds for your kids.

Our Solutions

From Residency to Retirement: Planning for Doctors

At Strategic Wealth Design, we act as the dedicated financial advocate for physicians and medical professionals. We understand the demands of your profession and have the expertise to address them. Here’s what we do for our physician clients:

Comprehensive Financial Checkup

We start with a thorough review of your financial health – just like a patient workup. We examine your cash flow, debts, investments, insurance, and goals. Maybe you’re an attending radiologist with a young family, or a surgeon running a private practice; we tailor our advice accordingly. This holistic diagnosis helps us prescribe the right financial strategies for you.

Debt & Cash Flow Management

For doctors with remaining student loans, we craft a payoff strategy that balances debt reduction with wealth building. We’ll advise if refinancing makes sense or if federal loan forgiveness programs (for those in non-profit hospitals) could apply. Meanwhile, we optimize your monthly cash flow: automating savings and creating a budget that accommodates your lifestyle (yes, you deserve some enjoyment after those residency years!) without sacrificing future goals.

Investment Strategy & Wealth Growth

We build and manage an investment portfolio suited to your goals and risk tolerance. Our approach emphasizes wealth management for doctors who may get a late start on investing due to lengthy training. We’ll make sure your money works hard, using tax-efficient strategies (like asset location between taxable and retirement accounts) to maximize after-tax growth. For physicians nearing retirement, we rebalance to protect what you’ve built and generate income you can count on.

Retirement Planning & Benefit Optimization

From 401(k)s or 403(b)s to 457 plans and profit-sharing, physicians often have multiple retirement savings options. We help you navigate them all. If you’re a practice owner or partner, we can design retirement plans (even cash balance pensions) to supercharge your savings and cut taxes. For employed physicians, we ensure you’re maximizing employer benefits and perhaps investing in outside vehicles (like Backdoor Roth IRAs) to supplement. Our aim is to secure your doctor retirement plan so you can maintain your lifestyle when you hang up the white coat.

Risk Management & Asset Protection

We perform an “insurance audit” for you. This includes making sure you have sufficient malpractice coverage (usually provided by your employer or practice, but we verify it’s adequate), strong disability insurance (to replace income if you can’t work), and life insurance to protect your family. We also discuss asset protection strategies if relevant (for instance, certain trusts or titling of assets that can shield personal wealth from any potential liability). Our goal is to let you practice with peace of mind, knowing your personal finances are safeguarded.

Life Transitions and Big Decisions

Throughout your career, we stand by you as a financial confidant. Ready to buy into a surgery center or start your own clinic? We’ll analyze the financial pros/cons. Considering early retirement or switching to part-time? We’ll model the impact on your plan. Unforeseen events like burnout, divorce, or relocation can happen – we help adjust your plan so you stay on track no matter what life throws your way.

Why Work With Strategic Wealth Design

Think of us as the “financial specialist” on your care team.

Just as a patient might see a cardiologist for expert guidance, you have a fiduciary financial advisor for physicians with us, providing expert, unbiased advice. We’ve helped doctors in various specialties nationwide. We understand the nuances of physician contracts, the ins-and-outs of PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness), and even how taking a fellowship or sabbatical might affect your finances. Most importantly, we respect your limited time and design our process to be physician-friendly: efficient meetings (often virtual if you prefer), clear action plans, and us handling the heavy lifting behind the scenes.

Prescription for Financial Wellness

You’ve worked hard to become a doctor and care for others. Now let’s take care of your financial life. With a solid plan in place, you can enjoy the rewards of your career without second-guessing money decisions. Schedule a Free Consultation today, and take the first step towards a healthier financial future. You manage your patients’ well-being; we’ll manage your wealth’s well-being.
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