Fixed income


Financial planning for the interventional radiologist


Fixed income is an IRQ column focusing on financial planning, featuring discussions with IRs and experts on how to keep your finances healthy.


On episode 7 of The Kinked Wire, Warren Krackov, MD, FSIR, speaks with Clint Gossage, CFP, of CMG Financial Consulting, about the unique financial circumstances that physicians find themselves in throughout their career. Listen at bit.ly/KWire-007.


Warren Krackov, MD, FSIR: Clint, thanks for being here, because many of us in health care don’t have a great grasp on personal financial planning. Do you notice that your services are different for doctors as compared to other professionals you might work with?


Clint Gossage, CFP: Definitely. What’s unique to financial planning for physicians is that most doctors have higher debt loads than the average person. Doctors have huge income fluctuations from one year to the next and begin saving later in life than most.


WK: I'd like to unpack the debt side of things. I had that situation and many of my colleagues do too. If you're right out of training, debt means more to you than if you're halfway or three-quarters of the way through your career. What do you tell folks to do with those large debts that they could be facing?


This episode was published on Feb. 24, 2020. It has been edited for flow.


CG: Don’t ignore them. I see the biggest amount of trouble when people say, “Okay, I'm going to stick my head in the sand and one day I'll make enough money and the debt will magically go away.” Then they wake up and realize, “Okay, the money is good, but after taxes and all of these new expenses that I have, it hasn’t magically made the loans disappear.” It’s worth understanding if loan forgiveness is a potential option or if you are in a situation where you may have to buckle down for a few years and instead focus on repayment and realize that to get out from under these loans, it's probably not the best idea to be buying another big house. The best idea is to have a plan of attack beforehand, and because once a person locks into some life-changing purchases it's much tougher to undo than to plan it all out from the beginning correctly.


20 IRQ | SUMMER 2021


WK: So in other words, you may not have to tell other professionals to hold back on their spending for a number of years, just because their debt profile is so different. Is that accurate?


CG: Yes. Also consider that other professionals are starting their practices much earlier in life. They start in their late 20s, so, the payback window begins much earlier and it's easier to tackle debt. By the time they are in their 30s, hopefully the debts are paid off. Well, doctors aren't like that. The average doctor is finishing their residency and fellowship in their 30s at that point and are just now able to start paying back loans. That can take until they’re in their 40s.


WK: My colleague Jaimin Shah, MD, had a great line which is, “Live like a resident during the first several years after training.”


CG: That’s great advice. It helps to save money the first few years out because it allows you to pay back student loans and catch up on saving. And if you've already put five years’ worth of savings away, it makes buying a house, a nicer car or even just putting more money into travel that much easier because you have money that is compounding in the background. And then you’re not relying solely on your salary for all money coming in.


WK: Along those lines, in the first few years after residency when you've got a lot of things in mind—starting a family, buying a house, saving for emergencies and retirement—you still have to service your debt. How do you recommend IRs do that?


CG: That is the most frequent question that I get. When you're finished with


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