The Sunday Best is a collection of articles I’ve curated from the furthest reaches of the internet for your reading pleasure.

Every week, I scan hundreds of headlines, read dozens of posts, and bring you the best of the best to save you time and mental energy.

Financial Independence (FI) is a primary focus, but it’s an awfully broad topic. I tend to approach FI and early retirement from a fatFIRE perspective and through the lens of a physician, so expect to see those biases in the selected articles.

Related topics that have become recurrent themes include early retirement, selective frugality, tax issues, travel, physician issues, and of course, investing.

For more great articles, take a peek at The Sunday Best Archives. Now let’s get to the best… The Sunday Best!

 

 

 

I got tired of real estate enthusiasts casually dismissing true ownership in public companies as owning pesky “paper assets,” so I decided to write something about it. You’ll find it on Dr. Tom Burns‘ real-estate-focused Rich Doctor website. Yes, Doctors Can Get Rich with “Paper Assets”.

 

Staying rich is important, too, and Accidentally Retired shows us How to keep your money, investments, and cryptocurrency secure; preventing hacking, phishing and other nefarious scams.

 

XRAYVSN‘s arranged marriage led to all sorts of fiascos, including the one-bedroom guest house on their property that cost $300,000 and took 3 years to build. Divide And Conquer: The Guest House Fiasco And How I Sold It On My Own.

 

I know he’s happy to have moved on from his ex and her guesthouse. And happiness is what it’s all about Ether to FI, now in the 5th year of his post-residency anesthesia career. Ether to FI: The Goal is Happiness, Not Perfection & Net Worth Update.

 

Gwen with Fiery Millennials also updates us on her progress to FI. She’s pushed her FIRE back — way back. My FIRE Evolution.

 

At 32, this Nurse Practitioner’s FIRE date is only about a year away. What will she do then? FIRE Starter 001: Locums NP Leans toward LeanFIRE in 2022.

 

If you’re just starting out on your FIRE journey, you might be juggling multiple debts. Life and My Finances has a free spreadsheet to help you sort it all out. The Best Debt Snowball Excel Template. (And It’s FREE!).

 

This physician with a net worth of $1.8 Million is adding a baby and a new career onto an already busy life as an anesthesiologist. How he’s attempting to navigate this busy time. FIRE Crossroads 001: Anesthesiologist with a 2nd Career & 1st Baby on the Way.

 

In this COVID economy with winning and losing industries and companies, one might expect the stock pickers to have an advantage over index funds. Mike Zaccardi with Humble Dollar checks the scorecard. Which do you suppose had the Epic Fail?

 

How does a younger physician balance his material wants with the desire to save? The Physician Philosopher, who has his sights set on a Porsche 981 Cayman S, explains. Personal Finance Masochism & Physician Self-Compassion.

 

Having two big incomes makes it easier to afford a sports car, but it also presents some unique challenges. The White Coat Investor talks about How Financial Planning Differs for Dual High-Income Couples.

 

Financial planning can also be challenging for one, especially if that one has just lost a partner. Joel at Budgets are Sexy gives detailed instructions in the event of a worst-case scenario. Dear Wife, Here’s How to FIRE If I Die Early.

• Note: The In Case of Emergency Binder was designed to help you do the same thing for your partner or heirs.

 

If estate planning is something you’ve put off, there are some simple steps you can take to get started. Attorny and financial planner Matt Carey shares 5 Essential Estate Planning Documents.

 

These 5 folks have millions of dollars to protect. How they got them, how they invest them, and more in the latest batch of ESI Money’s millionaire interviews.

• Millionaire Interview #251
• Millionaire Interview #252
• Millionaire Interview #253
• Millionaire Interview #254
• Millionaire Interview #255

 

A New, Lower Cost Donor Advised Fund

 

Late last year, the founder of Charityvest reached out to me to let me know he was planning on launching a donor advised fund (DAF) that would have significant advantages over the current DAF options, including Fidelity Charitable (my current preferred DAF), Vanguard Charitable, Schwab Charitable, community foundations, and others.

Now that fall is upon us, and Giving Tuesday is less than two months away, I revisited the CharityVest website to see what kind of progress they’ve made. I was happy with what I saw.

You can currently open a Basic DAF (no fees, no investments) and the Invested DAFwill be available in a matter of weeks (later this fall). You can join the waiting list right now to lock in 0% fees for all of 2022.

Here are the features you can expect:

• A CharityVest Basic DAF with no fees whatsoever (but no investment options)
• A Charitvest Invested DAF with low cost Vanguard ETFs available. Annual fee will be 0.45% on the first $500,000, 0.25% on the next $500,000, and 0.1% or 0.05% for balances beyond 7-figures and 8-figures.
• Option to invest in a core portfolio (Growth, Balance, Conservative options) at a 0.05% or 0.06% expense ratio
• Option to invest in an ESG portfolio (Growth, Balance, Conservative options) at a 0.11% expense ratio
• $20 minimum grants (as compared to $500 for Vanguard Charitable / $50 for Fidelity or Schwab)

I would expect most of you to be in the 45 basis points fee range, which is probably equal to or lower than the tax drag your investments see when held in a taxable brokerage account, and it’s 15 basis points lower than the fees charged by Vanguard, Fidelity, and Schwab.

Remember, if you join the waitlist, you’ll qualify for 0% fees next year! That could save me $2,000 to $3,000 if I move most of my current DAF balances to Charityvest.

 

Join the Charityvest Waitlist

 

Volunteers Needed for Giving Tuesday

 

As I’ve done in the past, I plan to donate $100 to charities chosen by 100 readers who leave recommendations in the comments when I publish that post. I’ll be doing the same for site sponsors.

The past couple of years, a reader has volunteered to donate some of his DAF money to charities recommended by readers who chimed in after the first 100 spots were taken. I’d love to see others do the same.

If you can pledge to donate $100 to at least 10 charities requested by readers (religious and political requests are not allowed), please contact me. Let’s see how many charities we, as a group, can support this year!

 

 

Waiting (for FDA Approval) is the Hardest Part

 

Last spring, I was convinced that we’d have a vaccine approved for school-aged kids before the school year started. If not, I figured we’d see a bunch of kids get sick, fill up pediatric hospitals, and spread COVID to their parents and others.

Well, here we are more than a month into the school year in many places, riding the crest of the Delta wave. We may be past the peak (fingers crossed), but I can’t help but wonder how much lower that peak would have been if our kids (and vaccine-hesitant adults) were vaccinated a month or two ago.

I am hopeful that we will be able to get our 10-year old (11 in a few days, actually) his first dose of Pfizer by the end of October or early November. We’ll definitely feel more comfortable traveling if that happens, and we’ve got a lot of tentative plans to do so!

 

A Book to Pair with Your Pumpkin Spice Latte

 

My 10-year old’s eyes lit up when I showed him my latest Amazon purchase: The Pumpkin Master by Mark Milbrath. At only 99 cents on Kindle for a short time, I didn’t hesitate to snag a digital copy.

This is the 3rd collection of spooky short stories released by the author. Pumpkin Spirits, his first volume, is also discounted at the moment for $2.99. The second collection on Halloween-themed stories, The Pumpkin Room, is also available at the same low price on Kindle.

If you’re a paperback kind of person, you can pick these up for about $10 apiece. If you’ve had a particularly good year, maybe pick up a pile of them for trick or treaters. You know those kids will get a ludicrous load of candy, anyway, and they could use a good book to enjoy while they munch of their “fun size” 100 Grands.

 

 

Have an outstanding week!

-Physician on FIRE