Journal Club 1-30-20

Every other week, I hold a JOURNAL CLUB. After manually filtering through the millions of articles out there on the web, I present a few that impacted my life this month.

Here’s our Journal Club for the week, enjoy!

• By paying our future selves first, we are taking straight aim at financial success. This will help us prevent our biggest financial enemy – ourselves – from robbing the coffers. Here are 6 ways provided by The Physician Philosopher that you can make your financial lives more efficient through automation. By doing so, you’ll find it easier and easier to reach your financial goals.

• Dr. McFrugal's guest post about how minimalism can improve your financial situation will make you immediately want to go to your closet and donate everything you haven't worn in a year. Not only does practicing minimalism help you live a more free and organized life, it also forces you to prioritize what you truly find valuable moving forward.

• Smart Money M.D. explores the age-old concept, “time is money” by discussing where to draw the line between paying someone else to get things done, versus doing them yourself. Sure, cooking can be a chore, but we probably don't need to hire a private chef to cook our meals for us. On the flip side, paying for a plumber can be expensive, but should we trust ourselves to replace a toilet or the leaky pipe, when we have no experience in the matter? Probably not. Take a look at these three guiding tips for when it's appropriate to exchange money in order to save your time.

• We often speak of the idea of momentum positively. Gaining momentum is referenced in sporting events, productivity sessions, worldwide movements – the list goes on. What XRAYVSN discusses in this blog is the lesser talked about “negative momentum.” Negative momentum can create a huge tailspin of despair in your life if you're not careful. Particularly, if you're a newly graduating physician who has a debt of $200K – $300K, it can feel like too big of a hole to ever climb out of. Take a look at XRAYVSN's advice on how to combat negative momentum when it comes to debt.

• BRRRR, it's cold in here! Or is it? Actually it kind of feels like things are heating up…maybe even on FIRE. (See what I did there?) Semi-Retired M.D. discusses the ins and outs of BRRRR, which is a niche strategy that has been used by investors across the country to increase both their cashflow and net worth. It's also a proven path to financial freedom, according to Semi-Retired MD. Learn the ways and BRRRRing it on!

• Take a listen to this episode on The Stacking Benjamins Podcast about the FIRE movement being under fire on Twitter! The retirement-focused guest had a lot to say about the tweets that started the storm. Also, if you or anyone you know has student loans, Michael Bloch introduces an app called Pillar to help you pay back your student loans and save money, of which he is the Founder and CEO.

• The Physician's Guide to Doctoring and guest Travis Hornsby, founder of the Student Loan Planner, discuss how this tool can help physicians navigate complex student loan repayment decisions and the complexity of optimizing your student loan repayment strategy. The Student Loan Planner has consulted over half a billion in student debt. Take a listen – this tool could be a great resource for you!

A little bit of motivation below. Enjoy and have a great weekend!