Are you wrestling with the need to balance your high earning potential as a doctor with massive, ongoing medical school debt?
The Primary Goal of Financial Planning for Doctors
As a doctor, you have committed your life to the noble goal of caring for and helping to cure others. When you went to medical school, it is likely that one of the last things you did before graduating was to swear an oath that reinforced this goal: a declaration to the world that you would “do no harm.”
While most US medical schools today do not quote the original text of the ancient Hippocratic Oath, some adapted version that emphasizes similar principles remains in wide use today, with the same focus on care, competence and ethical practice in the profession. For our purposes, we can think of no better crossover than this oath: the principles behind financial planning for doctors echo many of the same values we read in the text.
The Main Problem We Need to Solve
We also believe that what is likely to be your biggest frustration as a medical professional — having a high earning potential but being forced to channel most of your income to repaying medical school debt — could create a conflict between what you signed up for and where your focus is being dragged today.
That’s where we come in. At Iron Point Financial our job is to help you focus on what you do best, and to treat you as you aspire to treat your patients, by providing you with a long-term plan for your financial health and prosperity. We would be honored to act as your guide and ally in that process, which leads us to the two main reasons we have written this article:
- To highlight the parallels between holistic financial planning and core values in the medical profession; and
- To help you focus on what you care most about — helping others — by entrusting us to improve your financial wellbeing.
Up to this point, the complexities of modern life could have made managing your finances seem overwhelming or even impossible — far from the clear, values-based language of the Hippocratic Oath — but we believe that we can help you re-align with what is really important in a purposeful, practical way.
The Hippocratic Oath: A Foundation of Trust
In case you need a fresh reminder (perhaps it has been a while since you were at medical school), here is the full text of the Oath:
By all that I hold highest, I promise my patients competence, integrity, candor, personal commitment to their best interest, compassion, and absolute discretion, and confidentiality within the law.
I shall do by my patients as I would be done by; shall obtain consultation whenever I or they desire; shall include them to the extent they wish in all important decisions; and shall minimize suffering whenever a cure cannot be obtained, understanding that a dignified death is an important goal in everyone’s life.
I shall try to establish a friendly relationship with my patients and shall accept each one in a nonjudgmental manner, appreciating the validity and worth of different value systems and according to each person a full measure of human dignity.
I shall charge only for my professional services and shall not profit financially in any other way as a result of the advice and care I render my patients. I shall provide advice and encouragement for my patients in their efforts to sustain their own health.
I shall work with my profession to improve the quality of medical care and to improve the public health, but I shall not let any lesser public or professional consideration interfere with my primary commitment to provide the best and most appropriate care available to each of my patients.
To the extent that I live by these precepts, I shall be a worthy physician.
(Source: Bulger, R. A dialogue with Hippocrates and Griff T. Ross, M.D. In Bulger R, ed. In Search of the Modern Hippocrates. Iowa City: University of Iowa City Press; 1987:253.)
Summarizing Key Components of the Hippocratic Oath
There are a few elements of the Hippocratic Oath, which is all about upholding the highest standards of medical ethics, that we want to highlight today:
- Do No Harm: Ensuring that each of your actions benefit patients and avoid causing them unnecessary harm.
- Competence: Continuously learning and applying medical knowledge to provide the best care possible for each patient that walks through your doors.
- Confidentiality: Respecting patient privacy and maintaining trust, within the requirements of the law.
As we mentioned in the introduction, we do not think that these principles are just the foundation of good medical practice; we believe they can also be applied to financial planning, especially where that is provided by a fiduciary like us (someone with a legal duty to act in their client’s best financial interests).
To find out more about what being a ‘fiduciary’ means in the financial planning world, you can check out our dedicated article on that topic here.
The Role of a Financial Planner: Your Financial Hippocrates
Just as you have been entrusted with the health and well-being of your patients, financial planners like us aim to treat your financial health — including dealing with your medical school bills once and for all — as our main priority. Here are a few ways we think the role of a certified financial planner both mirrors the medical profession and could help to work through your financial problems…
1. “Do No Harm”: Protecting Your Financial Well-Being
In the same way that you are committed to “doing no harm” to your patients, financial planners like us are committed to protecting your financial future. This means helping you navigate common financial challenges in your profession, such as managing medical school debt, avoiding risky investments, and coming up with a savings plan for your retirement years.
A good financial planner will carefully assess your financial situation as it currently is, just as you would assess a patient’s health, to recommend the best course of action. In the case of fiduciaries like the advisors at Iron Point Financial, we will make sure that we are doing this by sitting down with you, listening to your unique life goals, and talking through your financial problems — just as you might do with a patient in your practice.
We’ll co-create a plan together that will serve you for years to come, and then we’ll dedicate time to execute it according to your wishes. As Greg Liszka (CFP®, RICP®), President and Advisor at IPF would say,
Here’s my job: my job is never to tell you you can’t do something (unless it’s so obviously unattainable); my job is to figure out how to make it happen for you. I’m not going to rain on your dreams.
I’m here to fix problems. When you ask, “How do I get ‘there’…?” I’ll lay out a plan for what we’re going to do — the chess pieces we need to move around on the board, so to speak. We’ll figure it out.
Your role protecting patients is something you require consent and partnership for — especially if there is any need for aftercare, rehab or adherence to a specific diet or medication — and by analogy we know that our job is to help your financial health prosper with a plan that requires your input and vision as much as our advice (though of course we will do all of the heavy lifting).
2. Competence: Expertise in Financial Health
In medicine, ongoing education is crucial to staying up-to-date with the latest treatments and technologies. Similarly, financial planners like us are here to act as your personal expert in the ever-evolving world of finance.
It’s our job to keep up with changes in tax laws, investment opportunities, and economic trends, so we can ensure that you receive the most accurate and beneficial advice for your situation. This competence is vital in crafting a personalized financial plan that will align with your unique needs and goals.
As Greg is keen to emphasize with all of IPF’s clients:
I would be a terrible nurse or doctor. I’d have no clue. That’s what they do — their specialty. So the same feeling I have when I hear them talk about medical stuff — “You want me to do WHAT, exactly? What on earth does THAT word mean?” — that’s now nurses feel when they come into my office, thinking, “I just need to save a couple dollars. I don’t know where to start…”
They’re busy doing their thing! They don’t have time. It takes a lot of work and effort to understand the financial industry. It’s constantly changing: the rules change, the tax laws change. Meanwhile, our clients have families, and jobs, and hobbies…
And you know what a lot of them say? “I’m more than happy to have Greg just help me get to the end. I’ve got a lot more confidence that he can get me there than I have about me getting me there on my own.”
The best financial planners have sat through years of financial exams, fought hard to get qualified with the governing bodies that matter, and built up years of experience serving clients from every walk of life. Obviously, the specialty is different, but we can imagine you have walked a similar path on your journey to becoming the excellent doctor you are today.
3. Confidentiality: Trust and Transparency
Just as patient confidentiality is a cornerstone of medical ethics, a financial planner who is also a qualified fiduciary must maintain the highest levels of trust and transparency. Your financial situation is deeply personal, and a fiduciary is required to handle your information with the utmost care, always putting your best interests first.
The trust this approach creates allows you to openly discuss your goals, concerns, and challenges (especially in relation to moving from medical school debt to long-term growth and profitability), and enables your planner to provide you with the best possible advice, in a way you can understand. As Greg is quick to admit:
“The industry I am in has its own language. It’s a bit like the law, which is written in Latin! There’s a whole different language in our world — a way of thinking — that the industry communicates, which boggles most people’s minds…
So there’s a definite desire for honest help — a desire to feel like you’re not being sold something. People want you to educate them to the extent they can trust you are capable — they want to know that you know what you’re doing.
And that’s exactly where working with a fiduciary makes all the difference:
“It’s all about communication. It’s about showing clients the math and providing different avenues to fulfill those needs. But at the end of the day., if the client gives an order, that’s it. People can make whatever decision they want.
It’s our job to educate people as to the consequences of their decisions, and then ultimately they are the boss. If they give an order, it has to be executed.”
If you choose to work with a fiduciary financial planner like us, then it’s important you understand what that relationship of trust will entail: confidential, high-level financial advice on our end, and committed, long-term, goal-based decisions on yours. While there are no true ‘silver bullets’ in the financial world (unless you happen to win the lottery), there are wiser choices financial advisors can lay out for you, which will require your buy-in to succeed.
The Financial Plan: Your Treatment Plan for Financial Health
Based on our limited grasp on the world of medicine, we understand that doctors like you create treatment plans tailored to each patient’s specific needs, and which take into account their history, symptoms, and goals. In a parallel way, financial planners create customized financial plans that can address both your immediate concerns and long-term objectives. This plan might include (but would not be limited to):
- (Medical School) Debt Management: Just as you address the root causes of a patient’s symptoms, a financial planner helps you tackle the sources of financial stress, such as student loans or credit card debt.
- Investment Strategy: Much like prescribing a course of treatment, a financial planner can develop an investment strategy that aligns with your risk tolerance, financial goals, and life values.
- Retirement Planning: Ensuring that you are prepared for the future is as crucial in finance as it is in medicine. A financial planner can help you build a robust retirement plan, so you don’t have to fuss over that part of your life in your later years.
Next Steps: Partnering for a Healthier Future
Just as you are committed to the health and well-being of your patients, financial planners like us are committed to your long-term financial health and success. By working together, we can create a solid, actionable financial plan that takes care of your needs and allows you to focus on what you do best: caring for others.
While it’s possible to “go it alone”, we have found that making the choice to work with a financial planner avoids the scenario where you continue to struggle with student loan debt and the frustrations that come with that — a place of disempowerment and disillusionment. We believe that, with the right financial plan, you can instead be intentional, practical and hopeful about the future, as it rests in trustworthy hands.
If that sounds like the kind of future you would be interested in, why not reach out to Iron Point Financial today to co-create a financial plan that serves your unique situation? Or, if you enjoyed this article but don’t quite feel ready to get in contact with an advisor just yet, why not sign up for regular email updates from our blog, so that you don’t miss any future posts?
Iron Point Financial is here to empower you to secure a brighter tomorrow. We operate physical offices in Grove City, PA and Greenville, PA.
We primarily serve residents of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Florida but we also have security registrations for 22 other states across the continental USA.
