How doctors think about financial independence is dead wrong

<p>"A rough career transition in 2019 followed by the pandemic highlighted how I was still financially tethered to my job — after 10 years of practicing as a subspecialty trained radiologist, saving, maxing out my retirement accounts, and investing in the stock market and in real estate. Looking around, I saw other physicians in a similar predicament. After years dedicated to rigorous training, we were still trapped by “golden handcuffs.” High income was not necessarily translating to high net worth or financial freedom.</p> <p>It didn’t seem fair or necessary. There had to be a smarter way to financial freedom — without having to live on a shoestring budget or work more shifts. I poured time and money into educating myself — really understood my financial independence numbers, learned the impact of asset allocation and taxes on my retirement nest egg, and put strategies and systems in place to optimize returns."</p> <p><a href="https://www.generationalwealthmd.com/site/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Param Baladandapani</a> is a radiologist and can be reached at <a href= "https://www.generationalwealthmd.com/" target="_blank" rel= "nofollow noopener">GenerationalwealthMD</a>.</p> <p>She shares her story and discusses her KevinMD article, "<a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2021/07/how-doctors-think-about-financial-independence-is-dead-wrong.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How doctors think about financial independence is dead wrong</a>." (<a href= "https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2021/07/how-doctors-think-about-financial-independence-is-dead-wrong.html">https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2021/07/how-doctors-think-about-financial-independence-is-dead-wrong.html</a>)</p>