One responsibility of your financial planner is consistent education. The financial world is ever-changing and therefore, each day presents new challenges and learning requirements.
As a financial planner, I am always looking for new opportunities to learn about what my clients are facing: their issues, their goals, what they think, the changes in their situation, etc.
My clients and I talk, a lot. During a routine conversation with a client, he advised me to read “The White Coat Investor” written by Dr. James M. Dahle, MD. Being a medical resident himself in the Orlando, FL area, he told me that a lot of his colleagues have read the book. I was really intrigued and finished the book almost right away.
The White Coat Investor is a high-yield manual that specifically deals with the financial issues facing medical students, residents, physicians, dentists, and similar high-income professionals. Doctors are highly-educated and extensively trained at making difficult diagnoses and performing life saving procedures. However, they receive little to no training in business, personal finance, investing, insurance, taxes, estate planning, and asset protection.


Why should you read this book If you are a doctor or a high-income earner in the US?
In my client’s opinion, this book enlightens the issues and financial questions a lot of doctors are facing in the US. The fact that this book was written by a doctor makes it highly credible and relevant. It’s not just for doctors though. Other high-income professionals will get a lot of out of this quick read.
The top three areas to focus on as a high-income earner are: your savings, your time management and your overall asset protection. These areas are described in-depth in the book and I found myself — a financial planner — in complete agreement with Dr. Dahle.
A key point from the book:
In order to become a financially successful (and a millionaire), you need to SAVE.
People often seek out a financial advisor with one burning question: what’s gonna make me rich? My answer is simple: YOU. The only — let me repeat — ONLY way to become financially successful is to save. Period.
If you are not willing to save accordingly to what you want to accomplish, you will never become financially successful. Period.
Young doctors begin to accumulate wealth in a short period of time, while at the same time working many hours. This doesn’t leave them much time to learn about how to manage and protect this new income.
If you are a young professional on your way to earning big, maybe it’s time to ask yourself if you personally have the time to dedicate to managing your own finances. Is that time worth the 1-2% fee an advisor typically charges? Could you use your limited time off spending time with your family or on other hobbies and interests that are important to you?

Should I manage my own money going forward or should I delegate my finances to a trusted financial professional?
A biased and, perhaps, wealthier advisor might tell you “Yes….”. I’m not as much of a salesman so I would tell you straight “it depends.”
In the book, Dr. Dahle points out that some doctors like to manage their own finances and they do not mind putting in the time to do so. They are okay with giving away several hours of their time during the week to make sure that their retirement accounts are performing well, that their account contributions match their retirement goals, that their tax exposure will remain as low as possible during their career and when they will retire. To these people, I say bravo. Money management is no small undertaking and I commend you for your dedication to your future.
However, if you find yourself valuing your limited time off as highly as I value mine, you may want to consider delegating. Time, after all, is a true challenger to money in terms of worth. As a limited resource, I know I personally treasure the time I have off to spend learning, adventuring, and spending time with people who make life worth living.
I would advise any high-income professionals seeking to manage their own money to start by reading this book. Dr. Dahle is spot on with his recommendations. If you are looking to have more information on our similar recommandations, see below.
Questions?
Send me an email and
I’ll be happy to answer!
How to manage my finances as a high-income professional?
The below content has been created just for illustration purposes and is not a recommendation. Each individual’s situation is different.
Read more about my Strategy
Get started on your path to building wealth. You are on track to become a very wealthy individual. You should be very proud of your success thus far. Make sure to surround yourself with professionals who recognize your hard work and are ready to support you throughout your career. They will also need to have your best interest in mind. Feel free to reach out to me at theo.desmulier@raymondjames.com or by phone (407) 478-0374 with any financial questions.