Financial Planning for Doctors

At Agili, we love working with our clients who are doctors. Acting as their Personal CFO, we free them to focus on their patients, medical practices and families. Since doctors begin their professional careers later than most, they often need to make up for lost time in retirement savings. Agili can help!

Investment Management Strategies for Doctors

We have been helping doctors plan for retirement for over 25 years. Some of our favorite retirement savings and investment management strategies for doctors are shared below.

  • Employer tax-deferred retirement accounts, like 401(k)s and 403(b)s for high income doctors. If your marginal federal tax bracket is 35% and your state is 5%, after-tax, saving a dollar costs you only sixty cents!
  • Health savings accounts (HSAs). Contributions are pre-tax, growth is tax deferred and distributions are tax free (if used for qualified medical expenses). Agili recommends making maximum HSA contributions and not using the account for medical expenses until retirement.
  • Backdoor Roth IRAs. High income doctors do not qualify to make Roth contributions. We suggest making non-deductible traditional IRA contributions and then converting to a Roth IRA.
  • Taxable brokerage accounts. A great way to build up taxable investments!
  • Alternative investments. Consider investing in an ambulatory surgical center (ASC) or purchasing a medical office building.
  • Cash balance plans. With their higher contribution limits, cash balance plans enable partners in medical practices and other doctors to amass more pre-tax dollars, thus accelerating retirement savings. Agili President Michael Joyce and Principal Jamie Malone discuss the benefits of cash balance plans and other alternative retirement strategies for doctors in this financial article.
  • 529 college savings accounts. Since few doctors will qualify for financial aid, saving for college through these federally tax-exempt savings vehicles is highly recommended. Agili’s Jamie Malone writes about 529 savings in this financial blog post.
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Wealth Management for Young Doctors

For young doctors who may be behind on retirement savings due to years of education and training, Agili makes the following financial planning recommendations and helps clients implement them!

  • We believe paying down medical school debt and saving for retirement do not need to be mutually exclusive – rather, both can be accomplished simultaneously.
  • Before investing for retirement, it is important to establish an emergency fund of at least three to six months of expenses.
  • It’s important to evaluate good debt vs. bad debt. Agili can help!
  • We help clients establish a plan for monthly automatic loan repayments, as well as automatic contributions to emergency fund savings and retirement accounts.
  • Many young doctors do not realize the amount they need to save to reach their retirement goal. Recent studies show that saving 15% of income for retirement is a good rule of thumb. But doctors who start saving later than most may need to save a higher percentage of income.
  • At Agili, we help doctors focus on their individual savings goals, time horizon for retirement and risk tolerances.
  • We advise doctors to purchase disability and life insurance in addition to that which is offered by their practice or hospital.
  • Young doctors should remember they always have the option to work with the financial advisor of their choice. By working with a fee-only RIA, like Agili, doctors can be confident in knowing they are being advised by a fiduciary who is held to the highest possible ethical standard – and that fee-only advisor will not receive commissions on the investment products they recommend.
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Agili’s Financial Resources for Doctors

Hear from Agili’s own, Jamie Malone, Certified Financial Planner Professional™, CPA in the video interview below. Jamie has a breadth of experience working with doctors to provide financial peace of mind with our personalized and holistic approach to retirement savings, student loan debt management, and budgeting for personal life goals. Jamie recently talked with Medical Economics about helping physicians save for retirement while paying off medical school loans.

Is focusing on debt repayment over saving for retirement a mistake?

Is there a good ratio to use between debt repayment and retirement investing?

Resources for Doctors

As financial experts advising doctors, we have shared our strategies for helping doctors build wealth in interviews, articles and blog posts. We invite you to read about how Agili helps doctors achieve their financial goals.

Find more financial tips and insights from Agili’s team of experts in our financial blog.

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