The Importance of Financial Literacy
As healthcare professionals, we know that knowledge is power. That's why it's so important to be financially literate. Financial literacy is the ability to understand and manage your money. It includes things like understanding your income and expenses, setting financial goals, and making sound financial decisions.
(Note: Some of the links in this article are affiliate links. However, this does not affect the price you pay for the product or service. I only recommend products or services that I believe in and that I think would be helpful to my readers.)
Why is Financial Literacy Important for Healthcare Professionals?
There are a number of reasons why financial literacy is important for healthcare professionals. First, as healthcare professionals, we typically have high incomes. This means that we have the potential to save and invest a lot of money. However, if we're not financially literate, we're more likely to make poor financial decisions that could jeopardize our financial future.
Second, healthcare professionals often have complex financial situations. We may have student loans, mortgages, investment accounts, and other financial assets. If we're not financially literate, it can be difficult to manage all of these different financial pieces.
Third, financial literacy can help us protect ourselves from financial predators. There are a number of people and organizations that prey on healthcare professionals. If we're not financially literate, we're more likely to fall victim to these predators.
Resources for Financial Literacy
There are a number of resources available to help healthcare professionals improve their financial literacy. Here are a few of the best:
● Podcasts:
○ The White Coat Investor – Dr. Jim Dahle, a practicing emergency physician and his team have a wide array of topics and information available
○ Financial Residency – Started by Ryan Inman, a physicians spouse and financial advisor who also wrote the book, Financial Residency: Create Your Own Financial Plan Without The Losing Hours or Sleepless Nights. The podcast is now hosted by Dr. Tammy Crouse, a physician and owner of Financial Residency since 2022.
○ Wealthy Mom MD – Bonnie Koo is a retired dermatologist turned master certified life coach with her podcast focused on the journey to wealth for women.
○ Physicians Financial Checkup – And continue to follow our podcast for more great information, resources and tips for your journey to financial freedom.
● Books:
○ The White Coat Investor - Great starting off book that includes financial issues from graduating with as little debt as possible, protecting your family and even what business structure you should consider.
○ The Millionaire Next Door – Identifies 7 common traits that show up again and again among those who have accumulated wealth.
○ Rich Dad Poor Dad – Published over 26 years ago this book still has some great lessons about saving and financial literacy that I love and is a great read or reread.
○ Physician Financial Checkup – A quick read developed over 15 years including chapters like Beginning With A Plan, the Elephant in the Room on debt, Investment Management, Protecting You, Your Family and Livelihood, Tax Management, Estate Management and Business Owner Concerns. It’s available for pre-order now!
● Tech Tools:
○ Mint – owned by Intuit, owners of TurboTax, CreditKarma, and QuickBooks you are probably familiar with them already. While they do a great job there is a lot of information available on mint if you know where to find it. You can track transactions, credit score, create budgets and goals, even invest. It can be a little overwhelming to get set up, but is a great added resource. Free to start, although you will receive ads. Mint Premium is $4.99 per month and only available to iOS users with some additional features and ad removal.
○ You Need a Budget – YNAB is a budgeting tool that gives every dollar you receive a job allowing you to set a goal and prioritize every dollar in income you receive. This is a simple and straight forward budgeting tool, although at $14.99 per month or $99 annually, unless you plan to use it, it may not be worth it.
○ Spreadsheet – If you prefer a little more straightforward, less glitzy tool, at Physicians Financial Checkup we developed a 12 month 50/30/20 budgeting excel or google sheet budget that you can get at no cost, simply email me and I’ll send it your way.
● Courses:
○ There are a number of financial literacy courses available and without personally evaluating each one, it’s tough to make a recommendation – but if you like a particular style or content, most of the before mentioned podcasters or coaches have a program and or recommendation of their own you could check out and see if it's right for you.
○ Coaching:
Similar to courses, there are a number of qualified financial literacy coaches – but at the Physicians Financial Checkup, we offer Financial Coaching for healthcare professionals who want SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic, and Timely) ways steps to put you on the journey to financial freedom today with a framework to focus on the foundational aspects like budgeting, debt strategies setting goals and working to achieve them.
These are just a few of the resources available to help healthcare professionals improve their financial literacy. By taking advantage of these resources, you can improve your financial knowledge and skills and reach your financial goals.
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