.png)
Welcome to the latest episode of the Physician Cents Podcast, where we explore complex financial topics tailored specifically for physicians. Whether you're a medical student, resident, fellow, or attending physician, you're going to find valuable insights that can help you increase your financial IQ, further your financial journey, and improve your overall well-being. Hosted by Chad Chubb and Tyler Olson, let’s dive in!
Watch this episode instead (Don’t forget to subscribe 🙏):
Listen to this episode instead (Once you love it (we know you will 😉), please leave us a review):
Follow Us:
Join the Physician Cents Newsletter: Conversations helping graduating medical students to attending physicians build a strong financial foundation
🚨 Looking for help with Disability Insurance, Physician Banking, Student Loan Refinancing, Physician Mortgages, Contract Reviews, and more? Check out our "Best of the Best" sponsors page to find a list of the professionals Chad & Tyler team up with for their clients.
Residents and fellows hear the same message over and over: start investing early, or you'll fall behind. For physicians in training, that advice can create more guilt than progress.
We don't think most trainees need to obsess over retirement contributions before they have some cash on hand. When income is tight, schedules are brutal, and the next career jump is expensive, liquidity usually matters more.
The better question isn't "Should we invest right now?" It's "What's the smartest first move for this phase of training?"
We see this all the time. A resident or fellow looks around, sees friends in other industries with bigger paychecks and growing 401(k)s, then assumes they're behind. Add social media to the mix, where every money account seems to repeat "start early, compound now, don't miss a year," and it's easy to feel like you've already messed this up.
For physicians, that feeling usually misses the bigger picture. Training is long. Pay is modest. Time is scarce. Then one day the income picture changes fast.
A future cardiac surgeon with three or four years left in training might feel awful about having little or nothing invested yet. We get the emotion. We don't agree with the panic. That same physician may eventually have monthly paychecks north of $20,000. That's a much bigger wealth-building shovel than they have during residency, and it changes the math in a hurry.
Student loans don't automatically change that answer either. Long training often overlaps with nonprofit employment, and for some physicians that can keep Public Service Loan Forgiveness in the picture. We still need the full facts before making any assumptions, but the point stands: low savings during training does not mean low wealth later.
What matters most in this season is perspective. We want trainees to learn how investing works. We want them to understand a 403(b), a Roth option, a target-date fund, and what an employer match means. But learning and acting are not the same thing. You can build financial knowledge now without putting heavy pressure on yourself to produce a big account balance while you're still in training.
If we had to pick between two residents finishing training, one with $5,000 in a retirement account and almost no cash, and another with $5,000 in an emergency fund, we'd usually take the emergency fund. Not because investing is bad. Because cash solves the problems trainees are more likely to face right now.
That first stretch after training can get expensive fast. You may be moving to a new city, covering travel, waiting on a first attending paycheck, or handling licensing and credentialing costs. None of those bills care whether your money is in a 403(b).
A little accessible cash can help with things like:
This is why liquidity wins. It gives you options. It lowers stress. It lets you handle a bad week without turning to a credit card or pulling from an account that wasn't meant for short-term emergencies.
If you're worried about not having enough cash for an emergency, investing probably isn't the first move.
We'd also say the psychological side matters here. Knowing you have money available is comforting in a way that a small retirement balance usually isn't. If you've got $5,000 in a 403(b) but almost nothing in checking or savings, that won't feel great when the transmission dies or the move costs more than expected. On the other hand, if you've got a cash cushion, you can breathe a little. And for most physicians, that small retirement balance can be made up quickly once attending income arrives.
We don't love building a financial plan for trainees that ignores how hard training already is. Residency and fellowship ask a lot from people. The hours are long, the decisions are heavy, and the margin for error feels thin. When physician burnout has been sitting in the mid-40% to 50% range in recent years, we should be careful about adding one more source of pressure.
That's why we don't think every extra dollar during training has to be forced into a retirement account.
If paying a little more for an apartment close to the hospital saves time and preserves sleep, we're probably fine with that. If leasing a reliable car keeps you from dealing with breakdowns during a brutal rotation, that may be the better use of money. If convenience spending gives you back a small amount of sanity, we don't automatically label that a mistake.
This part gets missed in a lot of financial advice. During training, we want physicians to come out the other side with solid relationships, decent mental health, and confidence in the doctor they're becoming. That's worth more than squeezing out a tiny bit of extra compounding on a resident salary.
We're not saying ignore money. We're saying keep it in proportion.
A trainee's job is to learn medicine well, stay functional, and get to the next stage in one piece. That's the season. Time is still on your side. The future earning jump is still coming. You will have chances to "crank away" at retirement savings later, with much larger numbers and much less strain than you're dealing with now.
There is an important exception here: an employer match.
If your training program offers a 403(b) or similar plan with matching contributions, we want to look closely at that. Free money is still free money. A small contribution from your paycheck may be worth it, especially if you can do it without leaving yourself cash-poor.
But even here, we don't want to get sloppy. Match rules matter. Vesting schedules matter too. If you're near the end of training and the employer contributions won't fully vest before you leave, the benefit may be smaller than it first appears. That's not a reason to ignore the plan. It's a reason to read the fine print before assuming the match is a slam dunk.
We like the $1,000 cash benchmark because it's simple and practical. It isn't a full emergency fund, and it isn't meant to be. It's a starter buffer. Once that's in place, some trainees can handle a modest payroll contribution, maybe 3% into a Roth 403(b) if the budget supports it.
The other reason we like workplace plans is simplicity. Payroll does the work for you. The account is already there. The investment options are usually straightforward, and for busy physicians, a target-date fund is often good enough. We don't need a clever setup during residency. We need something simple that works and doesn't create more tasks.
A lot of trainees hear this idea: fund a Roth IRA, and if something goes wrong, you can always pull out your contributions. On paper, we get the appeal. Direct Roth IRA contributions are accessible. That's true. So it can feel like a hybrid move, part retirement account, part backup emergency fund.
We still don't love it as the core plan for most physicians in training.
The problem isn't the rule. The problem is behavior. Once we start treating a retirement account like a "maybe emergency fund," the whole thing gets fuzzy. Are we investing the money? Are we leaving it in cash? Are we using a money market fund because we might need it next month? Are we going to hesitate every time an unexpected bill pops up because that account was supposed to be for retirement?
That's too much mental clutter for a phase of life that already has enough of it.
We'd rather keep the jobs separate. Emergency money goes in a high-yield savings account. Retirement money goes into a workplace plan, often a Roth 403(b) if that's available and it fits the budget. Clean lines make good behavior easier.
This part matters. Even if you aren't saving much, or anything, into your 403(b) today, you can still learn how the plan works. Many hospitals offer retirement plan meetings, basic education sessions, or access to an advisor attached to the plan. You do not need to be maxing the account to show up and ask questions.
That's a great use of time during training. Learn what the fund options mean. Understand what a target-date fund is. Figure out the difference between traditional and Roth contributions. Review whether your employer offers a match, and if they do, when it vests.
That way, when your income jumps, you're not starting from zero. You already know the language. You already understand the account. You're not joining some special club. You're just getting familiar with tools you'll use later, when they matter a lot more.
For most physicians in residency or fellowship, the first job isn't building a big investment account. It's building stability. A cash buffer, lower financial stress, and a little breathing room matter more than forcing early contributions for the sake of saying you started.
If you have some cash saved and your program offers a worthwhile match, then sure, start small and keep it simple. If not, learn the system, protect your well-being, and wait for the bigger shovel that's coming. That's not falling behind. That's playing the season you're in.
The best of the best list is a paid sponsorship, but these are professionals/companies that Tyler and Chad collaborate with within their own practices or have been vetted to earn a spot on this list. By supporting our sponsors, it allows Chad & Tyler to dedicate more time to you and the Physician Cents community. If you ever have a question (or not a great experience, which we don’t expect!) about a sponsor, please let us know. We call it the “best of the best” for a reason, and we will maintain that standard for our listeners & viewers.
This information is for general purposes only. This information is not intended to be a substitute for specific professional financial, tax, or legal advice, as individual circumstances vary. Please see a financial professional, CPA, and/or an attorney in regards to your own individual situation.
Wealthkeel’s Advisory Services and Financial Planning offered through Vicus Capital, Inc., a Federally Registered Investment Advisor. WealthKeel LLC, 615 Channelside Drive, Suite 207, Tampa, FL 33602 -- 267.590.9533.
Olson Consulting LLC, Offering Advisory Services and Financial Planning, is a State-Registered Investment Advisor.
A podcast designed specifically for physicians, offering a breakdown of complex financial topics to help you develop your financial IQ, further your financial journey, and improve your well-being. Whether you're a medical student, resident, fellow, or attending physician, you're sure to learn something new that will benefit your journey.
.png)
Conversations helping graduating medical students to attending physicians build a strong financial foundation
