James M. Dahle – Don’t Buy More Insurance Than You Need

<p><strong>BIO: </strong>James M. Dahle, MD, is a practicing emergency physician who took an interest in personal finance and investing in residency after getting ripped off by every financial professional he came into contact with. He founded The White Coat Investor in 2011 to help fellow docs get a fair shake on Wall Street.</p><p><strong>STORY:</strong> James got sold a whole life insurance policy in medical school. He invested in it, thinking it would be a good option, only to realize seven years later that it was not. When he pulled out of the policy, he lost 33% of the premiums he had paid.</p><p><strong>LEARNING:</strong> You must understand anything you buy. Don’t buy more insurance than you need. Focus on one catastrophe-related insurance product that’s reasonable.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><blockquote class="ql-align-center"><strong>“Insurance is expensive, so don’t buy more than you need.”</strong></blockquote><blockquote class="ql-align-center">James M. Dahle</blockquote><p>&nbsp;</p><h2>Guest profile</h2><p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/company/white-coat-investor/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><strong>James M. Dahle</strong></a>, MD, is a practicing emergency physician who took an interest in personal finance and investing in residency after getting ripped off by every financial professional he came into contact with. He founded <a href="https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The White Coat Investor</a> in 2011 to help his fellow docs get a fair shake on Wall Street.</p><h2>Worst investment ever</h2><p>When James was a medical student with minimal income, a friend interning with a large mutual life insurance company convinced him to buy a whole life insurance policy.</p><p>Looking back, what James really needed as far as insurance went was a term life insurance policy. At that point, he was married with no kids, and his wife was designing her life around his financial future as a doctor. The insurance policy James invested in, partially as an investment,