MtoM #78 - Oncologist Multimillionaire

This is the White Coat Investor podcast, Milestones to Millionaire. Celebrating stories of success along the journey to financial freedom.

This is Milestones to Millionaire podcast number 78. Radiation oncologist, multimillionaire. As a white coat, you have valuable knowledge. Various companies want that knowledge and they're willing to pay you for it. That's why we put together a list of recommendations for companies that pay you to take surveys. If you're looking for a profitable side gig for not too much effort, getting paid for surveys could be the perfect solution for you. You can make extra money, start a Solo 401 and use your medical knowledge to impact new products. One of the WCI columnists makes an extra $30,000 a year just doing these surveys. Sign up today and use a fraction of your downtime to make extra cash. Go to whitecoatinvestor.com mdsurveys you can do this, and the White Coat Investor can help. All right, we got a good interview today. Let's get right into it. We'll get our guest on the line. All right, our guest today on the Milestones to Millionaire podcast is Traci. Welcome to the podcast.

Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.

Tell us about your specialty and how far you are out of training.

So I'm an academic radiation oncologist and I'm 23 years out from training and I just retired from academic medicine to pursue some other passions. And I trained in Canada, so I'm dual board certified and a dual citizen.

Awesome. Well, you're in the Intermountain West. We just got done talking about offline and we're here celebrating the fact that you're financially independent. So congratulations on that. That's pretty exciting.

Thank you. Thank you.

So let's get into the details a little bit. Let's talk about what's your approximate net worth.

So I just added that up this morning and I was kind of surprised it's six and a half million, Surprised.

It'S low after after market events this year, or surprised that it's that high?

You'll hear more about the market endeavor. I never market until March, so it was great timing on my part. After educating myself, I was just. It's like you're pausing to jump into double Dutch and you just never do because you're so conservative and you just want the sure thing. So lucky to have had a really good income and. And I'm a good saver. But now I am in the market, so I got in at a pretty good time and I've got a ton of friends who are retired from the financial industry. And they're just helping me to educate me in addition to all the resources on the web, including your podcast and many others.

So now that you're. It sounds like you're kind of into relatively new investments. Tell us about how your net worth is divided up into what's in your house and cash and retirement accounts and so on.

Two and a half million in retirement, and that's all in. You know, as an academic radiation oncologist, I had three retirement plans that I maxed out when I started, but I did switch countries and started from ground zero. So that's 23 years of just earnings and. But having a 457, a 403B and a 401A that I maximally contributed to. And then the university matched 2 to 1 on the 401A, and it was in a very conservative investment. It's an annuity, but I don't have to annuitize. And so it's a guaranteed. It's now at 6%. So, yes, that's not beating inflation, but it certainly is more than enough for the last 20 plus years to keep me in good shape. Now that the buying power of money is obviously much reduced, I need to think about ways to take a little bit more risk. Ironically, I'm retirement and taking more risk, but that's okay. I'm doing it the opposite.

So $2,500,000 in retirement accounts, mostly invested, at least historically, pretty conservatively. And what makes up the rest of Your net worth?

$1,100,000 is now in a brokerage account, but only about half a million is invested right now. I'm just. I've got market orders, limit market orders for various ETFs and stocks, and then 2 million in cash. I know it's. I mean, it's making, you know, 0.8%. That's okay. @ least I'm not losing. And then I have 1.7 to 1.8 million in homes that are completely paid off.

Those are home. Those are investment properties or those are homes that you use?

No, these are just like I have a mountain home and I have a home in Lone Tree in the city. Yeah. So. And they're both townhome or condo, so there's no maintenance and minimal costs for me. So I really don't spend a lot of money month to month either. Other than bikes.

Everybody's got a vice.

Right.

That's a relatively healthy one, as long as you're not wrecking.

And you can never have Enough. I've got two more on order and yeah, you always need more bikes.

Yeah, everybody needs a quiver of bikes. That's right. You mentioned you were a good earner and a good saver. What was your range of income throughout your career?

So the range as a resident in Canada, so that was between 94 and 99. I don't think I made more than 30k. And then as a fellow at MD Anderson, that was about 50k as I recall. And. And then this salary ranged from 170 in 2000 up to close. I mean, it depended on the year end bonuses, but 500, sometimes over 500 in the latter years.

Okay, and this net worth is all from you. Did you get any big inheritances or have your parents pay for your schooling, or is this just all you?

It's pretty much all me. I was married, but we divorced in the mid 2000s after 20 years. And so he had a good income while I was with him. He was probably on the order of 100,000, which was really, really good. So with two of us and no kids, and we're Canadian, so we don't like debt in general. And me, I was more extreme just because of the way I was raised. But then after that, when I left and we settled up with the divorce, I kind of started over. But still really good income. And really I don't ever live beyond my means and I don't have to drive fancy cars necessarily, but now I want to because I can, so I do that.

Interesting. So how did you decide that you were financially independent?

I was thinking about that. So I decided in high school I was financially independent because I had three jobs. My dad, he was raised, he was a kid during the Great Depression, as was my mother. And he told me there were four siblings. And he told me that if I wanted to go to school, I was on my own. So from a very early age I knew I wanted to go to school. So I just, I did whatever. I mean, I was on every sports team and I worked three jobs and, you know, always figured that, you know, as long as you want it bad enough, you'll be able to do whatever you want. And he also instilled in me that he had confidence in me. Like he did say, even though you're a girl, you can do anything you want in the world. And I said, dad, I mean, despite, you know that you have to lose that latter phrase there. Regardless of whether what gender I am, I can still do whatever I want to do as long as I put my mind to it so having a father who had such faith in me because I lost my mother very young. She died of metastatic breast cancer in 86 when I was in my second year of military college. And she also said on her deathbed, I expect this is not an excuse to be a cop out. And I expect big things from you. And so it just made me even more independent in all aspects, not just financially. I always wanted to be self sufficient, which is a problem in relationships, I've learned. So it's really hard to, you know, it's easy to be a loving person that I am. But when you're so independent and you know you can fix your own car and fix your own bikes, that's a stretch. Fix my own bikes. I usually get help, but it's really hard to have, it's hard to have relationships when I'm that way. So I've done a lot of work and so now I'm much healthier in that regard.

So about how much do you spend in a given year these days?

So I was just adding this up, you know, month to month. I'd probably only spend about 3 to 4,000amonth.

Well, you're certainly financially independent with $6 million in assets, spending 4,000amonth. There's no doubt about that.

Yeah, so I'm about to spend more. Like I now I'm just really, you know, I realized that you can't take it with you and you know, I really did enjoy my job and I miss my residents, I miss the patients. But I think, you know, that we'll fill that with some other things. And I, yeah, I realized that I really need to or want to. I don't need to do anything, but I really want to, to spend more and maybe travel more and that kind of thing.

Now a lot of people talk about it being difficult after being good savers their whole career and that it's difficult to transition into spending that money. What are you doing to help yourself to maybe spend a little bit more money?

Well, I bought a mountain home and I actually bought two mountain homes. And then I just, I kind of open it. People were kind of worried about me because they're like, wow, you're spending money. But I always looked at it like that was an investment, if it was a mistake, that it wouldn't lose value. And I just, I'm very generous with other people. I always was like, I would spend on other people before I would ever spend on myself. I really, I always felt guilty, you know, with anything even, you know, as a kid. I would, and I had the money, it would be really hard for me to pull out a credit card because I was just like, oh, I don't deserve. You know, why am I so lucky to be able to buy this most expensive bike or whatever? So. But now I have gotten quite a bit of therapy to kind of help not only in relationships, but in this aspect of my life where I, you know, why do I need to suffer? I'm a really good delayed gratification. And now I realize, holy cow, you know, 56 tomorrow. And, you know, who knows? You know, I've got friends who have been killed on bicycles, and, you know, I may not be around, and I might as well savor and enjoy this. I've worked hard, and while I can treat other people, I should also be able to treat myself and feel that it's like, you know, I'm worth it.

All right, well, what advice do you have for someone who's a decade or two behind you would like to be financially independent in their mid-50s? What advice would you give them?

I would say live within your means. That's something that you preach. And, you know, it's really important to live like a resident. But although you do have to, you do have to treat yourself and not be just overly rigid. I would say pay off debt is a huge one. Like, pay definitely avoid credit card debt, and I believe all debt. But there are several schools of thought on that. That's just worked for me. I would also say become financially literate, and really, we're not taught in schools we don't know. I was afraid of the stock market. I just thought it was a big game of people, big talkers, and if it's too good to be true, it's too good to be true. And I found it so empowering to learn about the stock market and learn about these businesses and figure out their PE ratios and really, really try and understand that and so not be afraid of it. And many women are afraid of finances. Like, some of my best friends are. Like, they hire people. Really, just arm yourself with information and you can learn this. And no one cares about your money more than you. So I would say that. I would also say try to avoid keeping up with the Joneses. I think I was criticized as a. I had a junior surgeon join our group, and he saw me driving my Toyota Celica that was a bit beat up because I was hit by an uninsured motorist, and I didn't get it fixed. And as long as I could get the hatch open and put My bike in it. I was good. But he was thinking, you know, that I made a lot of money and I should buy a nicer car. And I'm like, wow, like really? Seriously, you're that bothered by me not having a nice car? Much time on your hand, buddy. But anyway. And I wouldn't. I mean, I never have been one to take the, you know, that. That road of competing with other others for financial things and, and then be a lifelong learner. Read the fine print. Even on closing documents. You'd be surprised how much money I've saved actually reading the fine print. I was about to sign on my first home and I was that girl who was reading every page. And then I was like, wait a minute, there's a prepayment penalty. I plan to have my house paid off in five years. Nope, back to the drawing board. I'm bailing on this. I don't want that. And so you know, you're so green, you don't know. No one tells you these things. But ask questions and really read what you're signing, especially when it comes to finances and maximize retirement, obviously. And any, any matches, I think 401k or 401a's or what have you that have a match is a really good plan to do that. Having said that, be aware. Read the fine print. What are the fees? And so many of my friends have lost so much money. They're like, oh, this has gained this and whatever. And I was like, what are the fees? Like, who are you paying and what are you paying? And then learning from my mistake. I'm really late to the market. And I realize, not that it matters, but perhaps I could leave a lot more to charity or whatever by having invested in the stock market sooner. So it's better late than never. I mean, I can't believe 56 years of age and never ever been in the stock market until March of this year because of fear. Right. And because of just being so conservative. And maybe that's a good. Maybe that was lucky. Maybe. But I think to just not be afraid of that and educate yourself and sometimes it does pay to take some risks and then finally trust but verify. Trust but verify. I mean, don't be too trusting. And I think you don't want to be a total skeptic, but I think I've tried to avoid big talkers, anyone who goes on and on and everything's too good to be true. It probably is. And it pays to just verify and ask a lot of questions. And you might be annoying a lot of people. But at the end of the day it doesn't matter as long as you do it in a nice way, I think you're okay.

Awesome. Well, congratulations on your success. I know your story will be inspiring to a lot of people. A lot of people maybe that didn't start investing until their 50s. People that find themselves being a natural saver and starting to accumulate some cash. I think they'll learn a lot of lessons from your advice. So congratulations to you and thank you for coming on the Milestones to Millionaire podcast to inspire others with your story of success.

Thanks so much Jim. Much appreciated.

So, lots of good lessons to learn there. One is that if you save enough, you really can save your way to financial independence. She clearly was not a big spender and as you can tell, even still today has a large percentage of her money in cash, which the last six months has been a great place to have your money compared to everything else. Given that, as I'm recording this, I think NFTs are down 90% and most crypto assets are down 60 to 75% and stocks are down 25% and bonds are down 10%. The point is, if you save enough money, you can overcome just about anything. It's interesting. I was talking to her offline afterward and she's going to be doing all kinds of interesting stuff. Doing a little bit of insurance company work and signing up with Doctors Without Borders and all kinds of interesting stuff to do in your retirement besides the practice you've been doing for your career so you don't have to stop working just because you're financially independent. There are still lots more that you can do. But even if you don't get to investing until later in life, it's not too late. You know, your 50s are not too late to learn how to invest. And as you can see, you know she was just getting started investing this year and before then everything was in super conservative investments. And so you know it's never too late. That's my point. As a white coat, you have valuable knowledge. Various companies want that knowledge and they're willing to pay you for it. That's why we put together a list of recommendations for companies that pay you to take surveys. If you're looking for a profitable side gig for not too much effort, getting paid for surveys could be the perfect solution for you. You can make extra money, start a Solo 401 and use your medical knowledge to impact new products. One of the WCI columnists makes an extra $30,000 a year just doing these surveys. Sign up today and use a fraction of your downtime to make extra cash, go to whitecoatinvestor.com mdsurveys you can do this and the White Coat Investor can help. If you'd like to come on the Milestones to Millionaire podcast, you can apply whitecoatinvestor.commilestones and we'd love to have you. Till then, keep your head up, shoulders back. You've got this and we can help. Bye Bye.

The hosts of the White Code Investor podcast are not licensed accountants, attorneys or financial advisors. This podcast is free entertainment and information only. It should not be considered professional or personalized financial advice. You should consult the appropriate professional for specific advice relating to your situation.