Further Progress in Health Care Reform does not bode well for Physicians

Well, last time I spoke about the real estate “craze” in the last 6 years that has now finally corrected itself.  I am not going to imply that we did not get “bitten” at all by this craze in the last 6 years.  Anyone who tells you that they were unscathed by it is, most likely, lying to you.  What I CAN tell you is that we were fortunate enough to hold off on some projects and limit our exposure.  Not eliminate completely, but limit it.  In that time, however, there has been an amazing learning curve which, I think, any physician is capable of mastering.  The world of construction and real estate development is multi faceted and never ceases to amaze me.  Financial analysis, marketing, strategic forecasting, land use design, and interior design, legal issues, banking relationships, investor relationships - - all of these and many more components seem to flow and interdigitate through one’s brain as one gets more comfortable with the profession.  Thankfully, my surgical career that involved planning, quick decision making, and outcome analysis was helpful.

Why is it, though, that most physicians are so busy in their medical practices (not necessarily in patient care, but more likely in running the business), that they hand over their financial matters to other professionals without regard to watching their own finances themselves, at least peripherally being involved?  Trust me, I am not against the value of financial advisors.  In fact, both of my brothers are Certified Financial Planners.  Yet they themselves are always perplexed at how disinterested clients are in their financial decision making.  That is, until we have the major correction like the past 12 months!!!  Then everyone is frustrated because they were “misled” by their financial advisor and ALL of the financial gurus in the industry. But that is an entirely different story.

So, the REAL health care crisis is how physicians need to prepare themselves for the ongoing and upcoming changes in the business of health care. Many physicians will not be accustomed to having the “employee” status with no real decision making and choices to be made.   We all know that the bureaucrats “changed the rules” from what they were back in the 90’s.  Let’s be smart and more efficient and work smarter, not harder!

After investing in real estate for the past 20 years and managing a real estate construction and development company for the past 10 of those years, I have searched for a way to integrate my passion for teaching (left over from my medical years) with the knowledge I have acquired in the business world.  I specifically aim to enlighten fellow physicians about how they can empower themselves and stabilize their financial security.  Would it not be fantastic for each and every one of us to be able to gradually “ease out” of the everyday grind of the current medical profession, knowing that they have invested intelligently and can rely on these investments as a stable source of income?  There might be no need to rely on the financial “gurus” who, by the way, were also unable  to forecast the current stock market and financial catastrophe. 

I feel that physicians have an urgent need to align themselves with a prudent financial plan, in which real estate is included, in order to weather the upcoming tumultuous days of healthcare reform.  Depending on each individual’s risk tolerance, this can include income producing rental properties bought now with an added benefit of a great potential for price appreciation in a carefully selected market.  It can also include more speculative, long term land banking that requires a more contrarian attitude in these times.  Or something in the middle?  And what about using your IRA to jump start your retirement savings?  I would like to show you how!