##Financial Planning Can Help DIY Investors

By Dr. Ian Barbash, Guest Writer

I am an academic pulmonary and critical care physician, husband, and father to four young children. I am the sole income earner in our household of six, and I am the finance nerd. My personal finance journey began in 2021. That year, I discovered The White Coat Investor, took an online course, and fired our “financial advisor.” I became a DIY investor.

All of that helped my family and me during some of the scariest moments of my life.

The 2024-2025 influenza season was the worst since the 2009 H1N1 pandemic. Following a week working in the ICU in February 2025, caring for patients critically ill with influenza, I came down with the flu myself.It triggered my asthma, and I eventually got sick enough that I drove myself to a local hospital. After being treated in the ED, I was admitted and then quickly transferred to the ICU.I spent more than a week in the ICU,wich included some harrowing moments,and then was discharged home to continue my recovery. On high-dose steroids, I lost over 10 pounds of muscle, could not get up the stairs without a cane, and could not sleep. It was humbling and disorienting.

Nearly two months after my initial symptoms-with excellent medical and psychological care and physical rehabilitation-I returned to work.I had regained my strength and stamina, and I was excited to get back to the clinical job I loved. At home,I could again be the husband and father I wanted to be.

Throughout this journey of illness and recovery, I learned much about myself, my family, and my work. In the process, I confronted, in an immediate way, many of the concepts that pervade the physician personal finance space.

In the months leading up to my unexpected illness, my wife and I had a series of meetings with a fee-only financial planner. It was a different experience than we had previously with an insurance salesperson working as an advisor. For a low four-figure fee, our new planner offered a service that would validate and tweak the financial plan my family had in place. As I am the personal finance hobbyist in our household, this approach would help provide “Ian gets hit by a bus” insurance-peace of mind that my wife would have a detailed understanding of our financial life and an initial point of contact in the event I became incapacitated.

When we started meeting with the planner,we had no idea that we might get close to needing that peace of mind so soon.###Have an Emergency Fund

one suggestion our planner made was to increase the size of our emergency fund. As an “optimizer,” I had been keeping our cash lean, about a month’s worth of expenses. But in response to our planner’s suggestion, we started building up cash in our bank account and in a money market fund in our brokerage account-close to three months of expenses in total. Lying in an ICU bed, it gave me great solace to know that my family had immediate access to those liquid assets should the need arise. I felt particularly grateful, knowing many of my patients do not have

Employed Physicians and Downside Risk Protection

With limited forced outlays, I knew we had adaptability if we needed to make important changes in our family budget.

More data here:

• The Other Side of Hedonic Adaptation: When life Knocks You Down
• Financial Lessons Learned from a Doctor Turned Patient

The Value of Employment During Illness

There are many benefits to practice ownership, including professional autonomy and the ability to capture upside income. my experience does not discount that reality,and I am not arguing that one practice model is necessarily better than the other. But I gained a new thankfulness for the downside risk protection I enjoyed as an employed physician facing a significant illness.

Managing Clinical Absences

First, as a member of a large academic group, my employer could manage my absence from clinical services through a combination of our clinical backup schedule and the flexibility of a large group to absorb the shifts. had I been an owner of a small or solo practice-or, frankly, a small-business owner of any kind-the reality could have been significantly different. Maintaining patient access and covering clinical duties would have fallen directly on me, creating substantial stress and possibly impacting the practice’s financial stability.

Financial Security and Benefits

Second, my salary and benefits continued uninterrupted throughout my illness. This provided a crucial financial safety net during a time of immense personal and emotional strain. As a practice owner, income is directly tied to clinical productivity. An extended absence due to illness could quickly deplete savings and create significant financial hardship. Benefits like health insurance, disability coverage, and paid time off are often more robust and readily available in employed positions.

Reduced Administrative Burden

I was relieved of the administrative burdens associated with running a practice. Things like billing, coding, human resources, and regulatory compliance were handled by the larger organization. This allowed me to focus entirely on my health and recovery, rather than worrying about the day-to-day operations of a business. Practice owners, even with administrative staff, often retain ultimate responsibility for thes tasks.

Understanding Downside Risk

Downside risk refers to the potential for financial loss or negative consequences. For physicians, this can manifest in several ways:

• Loss of Income: Due to illness, disability, market changes, or practice mismanagement.
• Malpractice Claims: The cost of defending against and potentially paying malpractice settlements.
• Regulatory Changes: Unexpected changes in healthcare regulations that impact revenue.
• economic Downturns: Reduced patient volume during periods of economic instability.

Employed physicians often have a degree of protection against these risks,as the employing organization assumes some of the financial responsibility. Practice owners, though, bear the full weight of these potential downsides.

Key Takeaways

• Employment offers financial stability during illness, unlike practice ownership where income is tied to productivity.
• Large organizations can more easily cover clinical absences through backup schedules and staffing flexibility.
• Employed physicians typically have more complete benefits packages, including disability coverage.
• Practice owners assume full responsibility for administrative burdens and financial risks.
• Downside risk protection is a crucial consideration when choosing between employment and practice ownership.