When I decided to transition from practicing medicine the traditional way to locums three and a half years ago, one thing I had to answer was: how am I going to make my money work for me? I wanted to know more about investments and wealth-building so I began my quest by talking to colleagues about it. Unfortunately I could not get any answers that were helpful to me. For some, financial advisors handled everything so they were not too involved where finances were concerned. For others, they DIY’d their finances. Not getting the answers I was seeking made me even more curious about investments and wealth.
I remembered hearing about the Dave Ramsey (American businessman and author) show on the radio so I sought out his show, discovered his podcast, and I was immediately drawn in. It turns out that personal finance is my kind of jam… who knew? I quickly learned of Ramsey’s books and I voraciously read them all. That podcast was like a gateway drug to other personal finance podcasts and blogs.
I started off with Ramsey’s book, The Total Money Makeover, and read it in less than 24 hours. Yes, you read that right. It transformed my life! I followed his baby steps and came up with a plan for debt payment and wealth-building. I even started teaching my friends what I learned.
Afterward, I read The White Coat Investor, which was eye-opening. Then, I went on to read almost every blog Ramsey has ever posted. His financial expertise encouraged my decision of investing in index funds and ETFs. In addition to Ramsey’s work, I read Clark Howard’s blog on Vanguard index fund investments and Fidelity, which are the way to go (P.S. due to lower fees at Vanguard, I decided to go with them).
When I left my nephrology job to do locums, I opened a solo 401K with Vanguard and transferred my previous 401K fund into IRAs at Vanguard. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made! Now I see my money sit and grow at minimal fees. And just in case you were wondering, I did explore robo advisors such as Betterment and Wealthfront, but they are not for me at this time.
I hope that you found this helpful and that you can apply something you have learned from my experience to your own journey. As I always remind my readers, self-experimentation is the key to opening up new possibilities in life. If something in this blog resonates with you, give it a try!
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