Financial Management

Estate planning is an important aspect of wealth management that should be addressed early in a physician’s career and reviewed and modified periodically as he or she ages.

In a previous column, we discussed several steps physicians should consider to shield their families’ finances during the COVID-19 crisis.

As practices begin to re-open and resume full activity across the United States, it is time to take a hard look at the financial impact of the COVID-19 shutdown and how practice owners can mitigate long-term effects.

“Am I getting the right financial advice? Is my financial professional doing what they should for the fee I am paying?” These are common questions that physician investors ask at any time. Today, during the COVID-19 crisis and the financial uncertainty that accompanies it, we believe these questions are even more critical. In fact, choosing who to trust to manage your wealth will be one of the most important financial decisions you will ever make, and these periods of uncertainty and volatility often validate this.

Rheumatology practices across the United States have reported significant decreases in patient visits and revenue as a result of COVID-19, losses which have contributed to staff furloughs and endangered the sustainability of some practices, according to survey data presented during a webinar hosted by United Rheumatology.

by Sanjeev Bhatia, MD, and David B. Mandell, JD, MB

The coronavirus pandemic is a new experience for everyone in the United States today. SARS, MERS and Ebola were rapidly contained, with no impact on the U.S. economy or our ophthalmology practices. None of us lived through the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic. So, we are all in uncharted territory.

With health care continuously in flux, physicians of all specialties have often wondered how to maintain their income and achieve financial goals while avoiding burnout. Although ancillary revenue streams have decreased and overhead costs have increased over the years, the single most powerful wealth creator in human history has remained constant: Compound interest.

In the first article of this three-part series on investing we discussed the potential pitfalls of going it alone; current evidence suggests that most physician investors will benefit from working with a professional. In the second article, we outlined the leading options for professional advice.

Choosing an investment advisor can be an extremely important decision for the long-term financial security of a physician.