Advertise on podcast: A Good Problem to Have

I sat down with Kyle Claussen, founder of Resolve, to talk through employed physician contracts. His team reviews thousands of them, and over 80% end up with changes. We cover: Why your contract often doesn't match what you heard in the interviewThe vague language that lets an employer change your schedule, call, or locationHow to negotiate without the fear of losing the offerWhether non-competes are still enforceable (they are)What actually happens if you break one This is part one - Next time, we get into private practice.

This week I'm joined by Dr. Sravan Panuganti, a private practice urologist I've known on social media for years, for a wide-ranging conversation. We get into the question of AUM versus fee-only advisors, whether his fellowship was actually worth the lost income, why he chose practice ownership over an employed role, and what he tells residents trying to figure out their next move. A lot of ground covered, and a lot of it applies no matter what specialty you're in.

(Part 4) A lot of new attendings skip own-occupation disability insurance because of the price tag. In this episode, I explain why that's a mistake you don't want to make. This isn't optional risk management, it's what protects your income if you're ever unable to do your specific job. I cover the five companies that offer real own-occupation policies, why you need an independent agent who can access all of them, and what to know if you're still in training and might qualify for a guaranteed standard issue policy before you go through full underwriting.

Before you refinance or pick a payoff plan, you need to think through your career path, especially if public service loan forgiveness is a possibility, your tax filing status, your mental relationship with debt, and how any of this fits into your broader cash flow. These four pieces are more connected than most people realize, and getting them wrong can cost you options you can't get back.

This time, I'm talking about the written financial plan, why so many people avoid making one, and why that avoidance can cost you. A plan starts with your values, not your numbers: what you want your life to look like, what matters to you, who you're building this for. It sounds like a lot, but you don't have to tackle it all at once. You just have to start. And that's what this episode is all about.

In this episode, I talk about the first mistake I see new attendings make: getting stuck on one extreme of spending. Some overspend the moment the new paycheck hits, buying the house, the car, the lifestyle before they've stopped to think it through. Others go the opposite direction and freeze, unable to spend on anything because the scarcity mindset from training hasn't caught up with reality yet. Both are common, and both can hurt you. I walk through why the real fix isn't "spend more" or "spend less," it's building a cash flow plan so your spending and saving decisions are intentional instead of reactive.

Physician mortgages can be a great tool for doctors, but they aren't automatically the best option just because you're a physician. In this episode, I walk through five things to watch out for, from lenders who don't really understand physician loans to getting too focused on the lowest rate. If you're thinking about buying a home as a physician, there are some important questions you should ask before you sign anything.

If you’re trying to pay off a credit card but still using it for everyday expenses, it can feel like you're failing when the balance goes up. You need to account for the old debt AND the new spending. This episode explains exactly how I approach it.

In this episode, I walk through why paying off high interest debt is often the smartest first move, even if it doesn't feel as exciting as investing. Wealth isn't built by doing everything at once. It's built by making good decisions in the right order.

In this episode, I walk through why a taxable investment account can become one of the most valuable tools for building long-term wealth and creating flexibility in retirement. We cover how to invest tax-efficiently, common mistakes to avoid, why automatic rebalancing can create unnecessary taxes, and when strategies like direct indexing may start to make sense.

In this episode, I explain how guaranteed physician salaries work, why they're often temporary, and what happens when your compensation shifts to production. We talk about work RVUs, lifestyle inflation, and why buying a home, financing a car, or making other major financial commitments too early can create unnecessary stress down the road.

In this episode, I share a common theme from several recent conversations with physicians facing major life transitions. Some of those changes were exciting. Others were unexpected. But they all had one thing in common: the feeling that a carefully built financial plan suddenly needed to be rewritten. You work hard to build a solid plan, so what happens when life changes and that plan no longer fits?

Buying a new construction home can come with some attractive incentives. Lower interest rates, closing cost credits, upgrades, and other perks can make the builder's preferred lender seem like the obvious choice. But are you actually getting the best deal?

In this episode, I sit down with interventional radiologist Dr. Shamit Desai to discuss one of the most confusing parts of a physician's career: compensation. We cover RVUs, guaranteed salaries, productivity-based pay, contract negotiations, and why understanding your value matters long before you sign your first employment agreement.

We explore how high-income physicians often approach tax planning, why many doctors end up paying significantly more in taxes than other professionals with similar incomes, and the opportunities that can come from understanding the rules of the tax code. If you've ever wondered whether you're leaving opportunities on the table, this episode is worth a listen.