[BONUS] An 8 step plan to improve your finances

Bonus episode

Our podcast just passed 140,000 downloads and is regularly in the top 10 medical podcasts in the UK. Thanks to listners like you who have told your colleagues about us, together we are helping empower doctors to make better financial decisions and giving doctors the financial education that no one teaches us.

Download the ebook here

https://www.medicsmoney.co.uk/ebook/

There is NO WAY we could have done this without your support. To say thank you to all of you who've subscribed and told your colleagues about the podcast, we've recorded a bonus episode to help you make better financial decisions. We hope it will give you a simple formula to improve your finances.

Tip 1 – Calculate your net worth

Net worth is a useful metric to track your progress and in calculating it you will consider your current financial position. Remember,

£Net worth = £Total assets – £Total liabilities

If your net worth is a negative number, don’t panic. Both of us started with a significant negative net worth. Now you have calculated your net worth, think about how you can increase your assets and decrease your liabilities.

Tip 2 - Pay the right amount of tax

One way to decrease your total liabilities is to pay the correct amount of tax. This can be as simple as keeping an eye on your tax code and claiming tax rebates and as complex as starting a Ltd company for your private practice and investing in a Venture Capital Trust. As we’ve seen, doing nothing about tax will likely result in a significant overpayment of tax. You should also perform the basic annual checks on your NHS Pension to avoid incurring punitive tax charges.

Tip 3 - Protect your assets

As soon as possible, insure yourself against disaster. You need an emergency fund and unless you could afford to maintain your current lifestyle if you got sick and couldn’t work, you also need insurance. Protecting your assets can be as simple as buying life insurance and income protection and as complex as creating a will and trust for your assets should you die. Avoid the salespeople masquerading as advisers and use Medics’ Money to find an Independent Financial Adviser specialising in doctors to get the right policy for the right price.

Tip 4 - Spend less than you earn

Hopefully by now you understand why spending less than you earn is so vital. But you need to actually sit down and analyse your spending and set a budget. Don’t spend £139,000 on lunch at the hospital - it’s really not worth it. More details in the ebook https://www.medicsmoney.co.uk/ebook/

Tip 5 - Repay Bad debt

Bad debt is hindering your ability to build wealth and needs to be paid down as quickly as possible. You should not be investing before paying down bad debt. In contrast, good debt, if used correctly can significantly enhance your wealth.

Tip 6 - Invest for the future

In many ways by training as a doctor, dentist or other professional you’ve already made a great investment in your future. But unless you want to earn very penny of your wealth at the coalface of your chosen profession, you need to invest. Stop trading your time for money and make your money work for you. The earlier you start, the more you can benefit from compound interest. Investing is not hard and good investing is low maintenance, low cost and boring.

Tip 7 - Get the right advice for the right price

Given the way some elements of the financial advice industry operate, its right that you are wary about finding an adviser to help you. But unless your financial affairs are very simple, its likely at some stage of your career, you will benefit from the right advice for the right price. Armed with the knowledge you can interview and select the right advice for the right price, just as our proprietary algorithm does for thousands of doctors on Medics’ Money.

Tip 8 - Stay up to date

In the same way you keep your medical knowledge and skills up to date, the same is true for your financial knowledge and skills. Subscribe to our podcast and we will keep you up to date with all the latest financial news.