From Saving to Investing: A Doctor's Path to Financial Freedom

I knew at the time that saving was what I needed to do moneywise Dr. Community has also helped me invest in yourself. It's one of the ultimate investments that you can make. Oftentimes people think oh can't I just get someone that I will get paid or I'll just give my money to invest for me and just give me my returns. I got involved in the pyramid scheme. I used to be very ashamed to say that. I also started investing in the S&P 500 that you mentioned. There's need for information like this. I've learned a lot. I've Learned more on ISA, the general.

Money rule that the 10 money wise rules.

Yes.

Once you nail this 10 you're going to be all right.

It would be interesting to just share.

It, be an example of someone who's read, follow the podcast, be part of the community and you're applying it do the work. What does it look like for a doctor to start their journey to financial freedom? I mean a money wife doctor would like to talk about how doctors and healthcare professionals can make smarter financial decisions, avoid costly mistakes and build their financial future without stress and unnecessary mistakes. Well for several episodes being mainly me and every now and then I bring a doctor, a business owner, a financial advisor. But today I want to bring in a real life money wise doctor subscriber and a doctor who actually practices what we preach. Yeah. So I've got a GP who has trained as a family physician GP in the UK and has started her financial journey to her to find her financial freedom. I want her to share her own experience. So today I've got in the studio video virtual Dr. Chigo Ono joining me. Welcome Chiga.

Thank you very much. Happy to be here. This is a knowledge gained so I'm happy to be here.

Oh that's great. That's brilliant. So yeah, you've been following them. I think you've been following our journey for a while with money wise doctor. You're one of our earlier subscribers. I don't know exactly when you subscribe but I remember you from in the initial contact we made was January when we had our ask me anything event that was over subscribed. Obviously it was meant for 50 and we had 253 subscribers for that event who showed up and I, I thought gosh, I thought I'll get 50 people here now I've got 253 people. I haven't made any plans for a moderate. I just thought well I can just manage it as before and I asked for a volunteer and then there's this lady that said, you know what, I'll do it. And that was it. So why, why did you volunteer?

I just thought to volunteer. It's a way of. You know, we always talk about networking when you're learning about financial education. So networking is very important.

Yes.

And one way to do it is through making yourself visible. And let's make myself visible on that day was to volunteer. And it. I also felt it would be something that I've never done before and I would learn on the job as well. So that was what I did that day.

That's very impressive. Obviously very smart. And it seems to have worked because suddenly now you're On Money Wise Doctor podcast. Got like over just 2,000 subscribers watching. Yeah. So well done. But beyond volunteering, apart from that day, obviously you saved the day because you were managing the questions and there were so many questions. I think we wanted to do it for 90 minutes, but we shut up to two and a half hours because people have so many questions around investing, mortgage, life insurance. I think some people were asking about real estate and in terms of investing second home and all of that, as well as NHS pension. But you, you're able to manage it from that area so far, but it didn't stop there. I know we've had a bit of a chat about your financial journey, but you did something that really, really impressed me and caught my attention. You offered to volunteer with Money Wise Doctor. I didn't. I didn't actually reach out to anyone for that. At that point, there were three or three of you indicated out of the blues, which made me like, you know what, maybe this thing we're doing is actually really helpful and you had to volunteer. But you were the one that actually sort of like, you sent your cv, you were ready to go and you, for the past six months, you've helped manage our community and all that. So what was that all about? Is this still the same networking thing?

Obviously the networking is there as well, but it's not beyond. It is about the knowledge. So on that day, I like to think of myself as someone that tries to use every opportunity that is available to learn about financial things, financial. So on that day I came in just curious, out of curiosity, to see, okay, let's see what we can get out of this. And I ended up volunteering and actually realized that beyond the blog articles that I've been reading from Moneywise doctor That you are actually a working knowledge of financial. So I was like, why stop there? I may as well go beyond just volunteering on today and see if there's any way I can contribute to the community while also gaining from the community as well.

Well. Wow. Very, very impressive. This actually inspired me to start thinking I was much younger. I mean, I'm a bit older now, but When I was 18, 19, I used to like to go volunteer for stuff. And part of how I got my first job in an NGO that was after medical school. I offered to volunteer and after the volunteer interview, they offered me a job that was paying me like almost triple my current job then. So volunteer is quite powerful. But you know, we get busy and your time, you start calculating your time hourly. Obviously a doctor, you're a GP now, your time is super valuable. You might think, oh, what? Why should I give out my time? Which is very valuable as a volunteer. But obviously you're thinking long term, you're thinking finances, you're thinking about networking and investing and all that. That leads me to a segue. You mentioned financial education several times now. Maybe like two or three times. As a doctor I used to. Oh, well, from experience I realized a doctors didn't really care too much about financial education. It's not something I thought so much in school. Yeah. So what made you to start going to that direction of financial education? Just sort of walk me through your journey of financial education, what it means to you, what you're doing to learn along those lines.

Okay. So I would say my first ever reading or knowledge of financial education was from the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad.

Oh.

When I was in secondary school, I was on holiday in my sister's house. So I was just looking for a book to read. Yes, my house. And I saw Rich that order. So I started reading it and I realized that the poor dad, he had the best intentions. Yeah, the poor dad was just resonating with everything that I had seen growing up. It was the advice the poor dad was giving that I was familiar with.

So.

And the rich dad was like something alien altogether. So it was the poor dad advice that resonated with me so well and I was familiar with. So that was what started raising my interest. Yeah, an interesting. In financial education. So. But at the time I didn't have. I wasn't working, I didn't have much to even put in practice what I had learned. But yeah, obviously anything you learn is always there. So it was. Yes, it was always there at the back of my mind. So fast forward through medical school and then doing my housemanship, we, we start. We had this pyramid scheme back then, my housemanship, which is like FY1 training here in the UK. So I got involved in the pyramid scheme. I used to be very ashamed to say that.

Can I jump in here? Obviously, obviously you mentioned pyramid scheme when you heard about pyramid scheme. Obviously. I'll ask you a bit more. Was it sold as a pyramid scheme or did they just say it's an investment? You know, everything is an investment.

Yes, well, sold as an investment, obviously, pyramid scheme. So it was sold as an investment. So it was only after I had gone in. Thankfully, I didn't lose much. And then I realized that, oh, it's a pyramid scheme. No, it's not the best thing to do going forward. So I learned from it and it kind of made me remember what I had learned as a younger child. So, yeah, I had to now start intentionally looking for materials to read.

To read.

Yes. Well, obviously at the time I wasn't concentrating more on investing, I was contracting more on saving that I had at the time. So. But I always knew I made the decision that once I'm at this stage where I'm able to start investing, these are the things that I need to do. And thankfully I took, I did what I said I was going to do. So it wasn't like one of those things you say you do and you don't. So.

Okay, that's impressive. One. It tells me something. Tells me one, you had an early exposure to financial education before you have started earning money, which is always very good, as in my case. Secondly, you tested something that wasn't quite investing and that was part of your school fees, that was part of your education. The amount of money lost. I'm sorry, I don't know if you tell us how much and name should we name and shame this program maybe depend on you. And they also tell me that you took steps to do what you said you do. Out of curiosity, was this. I don't think they can see you. Was this, was this pyramid scheme? What was it called? I mean, just in case someone is watching.

Okay.

The.

The name that at the time was Fast Track, but I soon realized that they had different names for different. It was still the same company, but they had different names.

Fast Track. I mean the name Fast Track. I mean, I have nothing against being on the Fast Track because he read that border. You must have come across Fast Track and Slow Track and that. That in y. But that was. I mean, it's not a good thing. But in a way that having that experience early, getting involved and then you know this is not the right way, that is a big investment. Into your future. Because imagine now as a gp, obviously you've got a bit more substantial income. If you got involved in something and then you found out it wasn't going all right, I lost money. You would have lost more. You have lost a substantial amount compared to. To back then. How long ago was this? How long was it? A while ago?

Yes, it's. I would say eight years ago.

It is a good. Yeah. And you mentioned with that poor that I've come across a lot of people that that book was an eye opener for me as well. At about 17, 18, that book suddenly opened my eyes and like you said, a lot of the role models around us were like, go to school, work hard, get. Become a doctor, get a PhD or do something and you'll be rich. And we, we find out we learned at that age that. And saw the world. This is not really how it works. So at what point in your career were you already in medical school or what point did you read that book and that shifted your thinking?

It was in secondary school actually. Yeah, I was on holiday, secondary school, just looking then. I used to read more than I, I do now. It's more like medical things that you consume. But then I was just eager to read anything and everything. So I saw reach that order in my sister's library at home and that was it.

Well that's, that's, that's actually a good chance in a pun. I think myself reading that book led me down. I've maybe I've read like 250 or 300 other books since then. In terms of business, finance, I love history, finance, economics, some are for entertainment, some are garbage, some are really good or read that part that was quite fundamental and if you read it as far back as secondary school, I think that's good. Impressive foundation. But I know people who read it who said, oh yeah, I can't really apply these things, it's not real and all that stuff. But now you know, it's different.

Yeah.

And you said you used to read quite a bit in the past but I know now that with our book club, which you've been part of and also been playing a gidron, I'll say you started reading again.

Oh yes, of course. So going back to my love. So it's one of the things that this community, money wise Dr. Community has also helped me with.

Yeah.

Came back to what I love doing apart from just reading medical things. Yes, going back to reading things that I think are important and I enjoy as well.

That's brilliant. I mean I remember now the last one, the first one we read was the Psychology of Money and they're currently reading one that seems a bit more. Some people have found a bit challenging to read. Is that food by randomness?

Yeah.

And we made to talk about it. Obviously, if you're listening, you want to be part of that book club. If you head over to moneywise, doctor.com subscribe, we might invite you. Basically, we don't want to keep it. We like to keep it small. So our subscribers, who are mostly engaged, every now and then we invite them to join the book club and you can reach out and say, I want to join the book club. Yeah. So back to you, Chigo. But you started from when you started working, you started saving. Obviously you are way ahead of most doctors at that point because you already knew that going to school, getting a job, working, becoming consultant or jps. You are now saving and all that is not enough. So you learned a few things from read that product, but you started with saving.

Yes.

What gave you the push to move from saving? Because we already know that saving is not enough.

Yeah.

Because of inflation, the money could get eroded. The value keeps dropping. So what gave you that final push to go from saving to start investing?

Okay. So it's a mix of the things that I had read and also real life experience as well. So obviously I had started growing my interest and curiosity in financial education. So I was following a lot of people on YouTube, information from YouTube and also reading some books as well. And I knew at the time that saving was what I needed to do because I didn't have enough for investment.

Yeah.

Project that I needed to get done. And I saw it as investing in my future because it's also an investment anyway. Because invest in yourself. It's one of the ultimate investments that you can make.

So absolutely, I believe in that. Yeah.

So I would say it was saving slash investment. But this investment wasn't myself. So. And also the push also came from real life experience. I came from the family where they. It's like a proper traditional farming African family where the father is a provider, the mother is the person that takes care of the home.

Yeah, yeah.

And growing up, my father was a very good provider. So we were good growing up. And towards the end of my secondary school and early university years, my father fell ill. And of course that affected the income and also ultimately affected our standard of living.

All right.

Most of what I was aware of or what I grew up knowing.

Yeah.

But I saw that I'm Nigerian.

Yeah. Just like me. Like me.

So, and my father was. So he. He made some investments as a business person, and when he got sick, he sadly passed eight years ago. But at the time when he was so sick that he couldn't work, I saw the value of investments because of the things that he had invested in, even though he couldn't actively work at the time. The things I invested in and the things that he did when he was actively working were now our backbone.

Wow.

Yes. So I realized it's not just about working, working, working and saving. There might come a time we don't pray for that, but we are. We want to be practical. There might come a time that you'll not be as active as you are now. So what do you have and for you? So that's why I also believe in investing. And. And I started pushing myself to even learn more and see ways to invest as well.

Wow, wow, wow. Thank you for taking us on that journey. And yeah, sorry to hear about your dad, but a lot of. A lot of insights from there. So he was actively working, he had income, but he was investing for the future. And when he unexpectedly became ill, you could, as a family, fall back on the investment returns. I suppose that's sort of the whole message. A lot of times when people are working, nobody thinks anything can go wrong. Because when you're active, you're 30, your 40s, or your even 20s, you think, well, I'm fine. Nobody expects anything. And that goes back to things like life insurance, income protection. Like, I remember last year I lost a dear friend and a colleague who was about the same age. Then he died at 36, a surgeon in London. He's also of Nigerian descent, and he died unexpectedly. And it sort of like took us all back to. He had dependents as well. Not from. Not. He wasn't married, but he had, like, family. It goes back to all this financial security, having financial protection in place, like life insurance, income, investment returns. Yeah. So, but that. That's really quite deep. I know, I know, like most people say something like, reach that for that, which is good. But when you see people who are consistent and they follow through and they start investing usually, or they start a business or they do what they do, a lot of times you go back, you see the why, and you see that that why is tied to the background, who they are. And. Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. Are you okay?

Yeah, I'm okay.

Okay. Yeah. All right. So I'm going to go into something a bit more technical now. Don't worry, I'm not going to into Stock analysis or anything like that. So yeah, you once shared that before you started investing, you were obviously aware of what you knew, you knew you needed to. You saved money, invested in yourself. And a lot of people talk about investing, they talk about S P500, they want to buy index fund. But it seems like you, you were SME 500. I've had someone say that SME 500, you are investing yourself first, building your education. And you once shared with me, you even at some point you attended like you, you did a course or program where you, you spent quite a bit of money. I think it was about. Was that a thousand dollars or so you spent.

Yes.

And you, you a junior doctor at that point?

Yes, I was.

How long have you been working in the UK at that point?

I was just working for a few months. The things I said I was going to do even if I moved to the uk. So my mind was.

Your mind was on it before I.

Became engineer doctor in the uk.

I mean you obviously, you went for this training to get more financial education and all that. And obviously when you move to the uk, start working, your bills go up, you have all these expenses, but you already committed that pathway. Looking back now, do you think that was a good use of money?

Oh, yes, definitely. Because sometimes we have so many things that we are exposed to by virtue of social media. So yeah, you also have the endless information online. Sometimes you just need someone to help consolidate those information that you have. And I think that's what I gained. Wow. I. It helped consolidate that information I already had and kind of streamline the. My financial knowledge and needs at the time then. So. And I think I. I also learned like the basic.

The fundamentals.

Yes. Build on them. Yeah, it helped.

Wow.

No regrets whatsoever.

That's. That's impressive. I mean, you're a member of our premium community now, which is also a paid community. And I find that most people who join the premium community, they've been following our blogs, they get all the information. We've got like over 60 blog posts now. We've got 200 videos, which is less than one year. We've got like 200 videos. When you count the shots and I'm like, all the information is out there. I still send a weekly newsletter. Why would anyone pay to have. Join the premium community, have the blog post. But I always realized that a lot of time. Is that streamlining you're talking about? Yeah, yeah. They haven't. Yeah. Because I, I still interview. Why did you book this? Why did you join Premium Community? And most people usually consultants, GPs, and quite a few junior doctors and other healthcare professionals. You always find out that there's new information. Sometimes you might find an area of deficiency. Maybe they are thinking about asset allocation or they're trying to be more tax efficient or whatever. But you always find out that most of the information they are not coming for that knowledge, just the knowledge they're coming for some sort of like only coaching. I don't like to, I'm not a coach per se. But maybe they're coming for someone to say, okay, this is, this is what I think, this is what I think. What do you think? Or maybe somebody has read about options and all that. I'm thinking, no, you don't need to think about options at this point in your investing journey because you don't even have an emergency fund that can last you six months. So why are you talking about options when you don't really know the basics? Like you're trying to start martial arts and you want to start fighting with black belt. Yeah. So that's insightful because sometimes I think about it from the point of knowledge and when you think about knowledge, you have the tendency, especially me, to try to give more information, more information. But sometimes people are not after more information. They need more license streamlining stuff.

Yeah.

What is good for me now? What can I do now? Right. Okay, that's a good one. That's impressive. Now I'm going to ask you, since you said it was valuable, what action did you take after you took those investment during that investment lesson? What did you start doing in terms of investing wise?

So I built my emergency fund and I also started investing in the S P500 that you mentioned.

Okay.

I did further research and I realized as a, as a beginner in investments and stocks, that that was likely the best option for me. And being a doctor, we might not always have the time to do the full analysis and follow the market as much as you might need to. So S&P 500 seemed like the good option at the time. So I started investing and I automated my investments like everyone. And so also building my knowledge more on investments and finances generally as well.

Yeah.

And obviously that's why I came across money wise doctor. You know, the algorithm once you're always looking at something if you're getting what you're looking at.

Thank you, algorithm. Yeah, I always think the algorithm doesn't, doesn't do any favors to me. And I feel like, okay, what my best, what the best thing I can do to write good stuff, write helpful stuff. Then people be compelled to share it. Because obviously if you write something useful, like one of our videos on how to claim back your taxes, the one on isa, it gets shared so many times that it gets that. Those many views. Yeah, but, but you've said some really useful nuggets that I want to pull out for the audience, if you're listening. One, you said you built your emergency fund before you started investing. Two, you obviously had ongoing financial education, which is how you came across money wise. Doctor. And then three, you said you decided to invest passively into a broad index fund. You choose S P500. We're not saying anyone should choose S&P500 or not, but for some reason I, I think it follows the market quite well. And four, which is really fantastic as well, for peace of mind, you automated it so you're not having to check like come back your blood pressure is not going up and down and your pulse is good. You set it automatically. I want us to break these things down because it's why I'm smiling, because these are part of what we've been teaching and I'm very proud to see that you did all of that. So let's go back to obviously, emergency fund. What do you mean? What is that? What do you mean by emergency fund?

So it's, you know what, if anything were to happen, you have up to three to six months of your expense. You know, expenses that one usually makes per month. That three to six months at least saved up in the event of an emergency where you're not working for some reason. So it gives you like the, the fallback. Yeah, it removes the unnecessary stress. Also our worries. So because you know that there's something there while you're trying to rearrange and prepare for the next move for yourself.

Wow.

Some people say the emergency fund can be likened to an FU fund.

It's a podcast. Okay, let's just keep it clean because we've got, we've got doctors and healthcare professionals. They're very professional. But it's an FU fund, basically. Yeah, it is a fun that. Well, if you call me for a job I don't like, I can just say, ah, I'm fine, I'm good. I can decide to walk away from a job. And you finish your GP training, you're not in a hurry, you're starting a job, obviously, but you've got that, you've got a bit of room yourself because you have a fall back. If you were financially wound up so tight, like a rope that could snap, you would need to pick up hospital shift, do this, do that. You really need to start work the next day. Yeah, but you had an emergency fund. I love that. I love that concept. So that means for you to have an emergency fund, basically, you need to know what your budget is.

Exactly, yes.

I've met people who don't really know what they're, what their outgoings is for a month, and they're like, I mean, it's just. It's just some laziness there. People are afraid to look in the mirror because you think so it is.

And that might be it. And another thing is, it's just not what we are used to, especially from the side of the, the country where we grew up. I don't think we are actually used to. Before I started reading, I had never thought of.