Money Meets Medicine

Your $75K signing bonus might be a bug, not a feature. If there's a clawback, that money isn't really yours yet.

Dr. Jimmy Turner and Justin Harvey CFP tackle three listener questions: what to do with a physician signing bonus you might have to repay, what to do when a scholarship leaves your 529 overfunded, and whether leaving a W-2 job for 1099 work is worth it. Jimmy, who just made the W-2-to-1099 switch himself, gets candid about the workload nobody mentions.

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On the Money Meets Medicine podcast, Dr. Jimmy Turner and CPA Spencer Carroll of Gelt discuss why physicians should plan taxes before December 31 rather than focusing only on filing in spring, citing Turner’s unexpected $36,000 tax bill as a consequence of compliance-only CPA work. They explain year-round tax strategy, the value of Q4 projections to avoid penalties and surprises, and key year-end actions such as paying reasonable S-corp salary by 12/31, making employee solo 401(k) contributions by 12/31 (while some employer contributions and certain plan setups can occur by filing deadlines), HSA timing including the “last month” rule, tax-loss harvesting, managing income...

On this episode of the Money Meets Medicine podcast, hosts Dr. Jimmy Turner and Justin Harvey CFP discuss: 

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In this episode of Money Meets Medicine, hosts Dr. Jimmy Turner and Justin Harvey tackle three listener questions on personal finance for physicians. They discuss whether HSA-eligible plans make sense during high healthcare-usage periods like pregnancy, charitable giving strategies including donor advised funds and tax-efficient gifting of appreciated securities, and when physicians with significant net worth should consider stopping life and disability insurance premiums. The hosts emphasize personalized decision-making based on individual circumstances, consistently recommending listeners consult qualified financial professionals before making major financial decisions.

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On the Money Meets Medicine podcast, Dr. Jimmy Turner and Justin Harvey answer three listener questions. First, they discuss 457 plans and how to determine if you should be participating in yours, including the three questions to answer to figure it out in your situation. They alos discuss if doctors should have emergency funds and, if so, how large they should be. Finally, they chat about investing bonus money: invest it all in at once? Or let it trickle in through dollar-cost averaging (DCA)?

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In this episode of Money Meets Medicine, hosts Dr. Jimmy Turner and Certified Financial Planner (CFP) Justin Harvey tackle three listener questions from the Money Meets Medicine community.
1. Should residents pay extra on their student loans if they are in the new Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP)?
2. What are the financial considerations to make working part-time make sense? 
3. If you are a parent (or plan to be), should you pay for your kid's college education? If you do, how can you make that work given the new federal student loan borrowing limits?

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On the Money Meets Medicine podcast, Dr. Jimmy Turner and Justin Harvey discuss how common personal finance advice can be especially costly for physicians and outline six “bad advice” items. They warn that disability insurance company choice matters because applying with the wrong carrier can trigger denials that eliminate access to guaranteed standard issue policies; they also caution against waiting until late in training. They argue that saving 10–15% or just maxing a 401(k) is usually insufficient for doctors with delayed earnings and debt, suggesting higher savings rates based on retirement goals. They note student loan consolidation advice has changed under...

SpaceX priced at $135 a share, raised $75 billion, and hit an all-time high of $225 within days — then fell to $107. Dr. Jimmy Turner and Justin Harvey CFP break down how index funds actually decide what gets included in the index, why the S&P 500 said no to SpaceX while CRSP and the Russell 1000 said yes, and what that means for the total stock market index fund in your 401(k).

What you'll learn:

28% of physicians say they don't earn enough for what their family needs. The lowest-paid specialty still makes $266,000.

Medscape's 2026 physician compensation report surveyed roughly 6,000 doctors across 29+ specialties, and the numbers tell a stranger story than "doctors are underpaid." Average pay rose 3%, barely clearing inflation, and nine specialties were flat or down. Jimmy and Justin unpack what the data says about physician pay, negotiation, and the 40% side-gig statistic.

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Being able to know the difference between a good and a bad job offer as a physician in private practice involves knowing where the landmines and pitfalls are so that you can avoid them. In this episode, host Dr. Jimmy Turner interviews Michael Johnson, a physician contract attorney at Michael Johnson Legal. 

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Trump accounts — technically the 530A — went live July 4th, and Justin Harvey opened three for his own kids just to see how they work. These accounts are child-owned, they behave like a traditional IRA, and they come with rules most physicians haven't heard yet. 

Tag along with Jimmy Turner and Justin Harvey as they discuss where they actually belong in your savings hierarchy, and who should pass entirely.

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CPA Spencer Carroll joins the show to unpack tax strategy for physicians: why your income type matters more than your income, and where the real savings hide. Whether you're a W-2 employee, a 1099 locums doc, or a K-1 partner, the levers you can pull are wildly different.

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Dr. Jimmy Turner cut back to part-time at 35—and ended up on antidepressants. FIRE wasn't the escape hatch he expected.

FIRE—financial independence, retire early—promises an exit from burnout. But what happens when you finally get there and realize you don't know who you are without medicine? Jimmy and Justin make the case for FIWO (financial independence, work optional) instead.

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Disability Insurance: Every physician needs to get individual disability insurance while in training. Get a quote from Money Meets Medicine Disability Insurance, a company you can actually trust. Built by doctors, for do...

What if your first three years as an attending decide whether you work three days a week in your 40s—or six days into your 60s?

Dr. Jimmy Turner burned out early in his career—antidepressants, 1.3 FTE, the works—before discovering the fix: working less. He and Justin Harvey, CFP, break down Coast FIRE, your Wealth Accumulation Rate, and why the savings decisions you make right out of training set a trajectory you'll feel for decades.

What you'll learn:

Physicians earning $400K are living paycheck to paycheck—and an 18th-century psychology trap is why. 

Roughly 30% of doctors over 60 don't have $1M in net worth, even counting their home. Justin Harvey and Dr. Jimmy Turner unpack the behavioral-finance forces—the Diderot Effect, lifestyle creep, and leverage—that quietly erode physician wealth, and the simple framework that lets you spend guilt-free while still building real options.

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There are two ways to get your student loans forgiven — and the one nobody talks about could leave you with a six-figure tax bill.

Most physicians know PSLF. Far fewer understand taxable forgiveness — the IDR path that hands you a massive tax bill 20 years down the road. Jimmy and Justin break down a real listener question (anesthesiologist + dentist, $400K in loans at 7%) to show why "married filing separately" math isn't as clean as it looks, and why your repayment plan now hinges on a looming July 2026 deadline.

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One student loan decision in the next few weeks could cost — or save — a physician six figures.

On May 1, 2026, the Department of Education finalized the 134-page rule rewriting federal student loan repayment.  Dr. Jimmy Turner goes solo to break down what changed and the moves that protect six figures.

What you'll learn:

Becoming an accidental landlord could cost you a six-figure tax bill — or be the smartest move you make. You're finishing training, moving cities, and that house you bought a few years ago — the one with the enviably low mortgage — is suddenly a decision: sell it and pocket the equity, or rent it out and start building "passive income"? It sounds simple. It isn't. Dr. Jimmy Turner and Justin Harvey, CFP®, break down the real math behind renting vs. selling your home as a physician — and the IRS clock most people don't realize is already running.

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40% of doctors have a side gig — and most are one contract clause away from handing it to their employer. Forty percent of physicians now run a side gig — chart reviews, expert witness work, SaaS tools, real estate, content, consulting. But here's what nobody covered in residency: most are leaving money on the table at tax time, mixing business and personal finances into an unfixable mess, or unknowingly signing away their intellectual property in an employment contract they barely skimmed. In this episode of Money Meets Medicine, Dr. Jimmy Turner and CFP Justin Harvey unpack what physicians actually need to know...

The 12 to 24 months after residency set the trajectory for your entire financial life — and most physicians get it wrong. In this episode, Jimmy and Justin walk through the financial checklist every new attending needs: why you should start a taxable brokerage account immediately (not just max your retirement accounts), how to build a student loan plan before RAP and IBR rules shift, the backdoor Roth transition, vesting schedules that can cost you tens of thousands, and the lifestyle inflation trap that quietly delays financial independence. You can have anything you want — just not everything.

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There's a point in every physician's career where you can stop paying for disability insurance — and most doctors have no idea when that point arrives. In this episode, Dr. Jimmy Turner and Justin Harvey, CFP® break down the full physician insurance stack and tackle a question they've never covered in 270+ episodes: when (if ever) should you drop your disability and term life insurance policies?

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The biggest financial mistake high-earning physicians make isn't overspending — it's the exact opposite.

In this episode of the Money Meets Medicine podcast, Dr. Jimmy Turner and Justin Harvey, CFP® dive into one of the most overlooked challenges in physician personal finance: the super saver trap. While most financial advice for doctors focuses on avoiding lifestyle inflation, living like a resident, and preventing the Diderot Effect, Jimmy and Justin tackle the other side of the coin — what happens when financially literate physicians save too much and can't flip the switch to actually enjoy their wealth.

In this...

Dr. Jimmy Turner hosts a solo Money Meets Medicine mailbag addressing timely physician finance questions, emphasizing that trainees should secure disability insurance before finishing training because guaranteed standard issue (GSI) policies are only available during training and many doctors need them. He explains 2026 federal student-loan changes under OBBBA, advising residents planning aggressive payoff to avoid refinancing in training, exit the defunct SAVE plan, and consider the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) for its interest subsidy and flexibility. He warns fourth-year med students pursuing PSLF not to consolidate loans to skip the grace period, because a post–July 1, 2026 consolidation can eliminate IB...

On the Money Meets Medicine podcast, host Dr. Jimmy Turner and co-host Justin Harvey CFP discuss Jimmy's surprise $36,000 2025 tax bill after household income rose into the $500,000–$1,000,000 range, phasing out tax breaks like the child tax credit and qualified business deduction, and raising his effective rate from ~25% to 31%. 

They review contributors, such as using Roth 401(k)/403(b) contributions (increasing taxable income) and taking the standard deduction after front-loading charitable deductions via a donor-advised fund in 2024. They explain safe harbor concepts, note new tax changes from the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” (including SALT cap rising to $40,000 but phasing back to...

In this episode of the Money Meets Medicine podcast, Jimmy discusses how his daughter Grace just earned $120 from her first real babysitting gig — and it sparked a deep dive into the best ways to invest money for your kids. In this episode, Jimmy and Justin break down the major investment accounts available for children, including 529 plans, UGMA/UTMA accounts, custodial Roth IRAs, and the brand-new Trump accounts (plus who actually qualifies for the $1,000 seed money and the $250 Dell-funded option). 

They also share what's actually worked in their own families to teach kids about money — from the three-jar syste...

In this episode of Money Meets Medicine, Dr. Jimmy Turner and physician contract attorney Michael Johnson break down the personal finance side of physician compensation. From negative accrual contracts that treat your salary like a loan, to sign-on bonus clawback traps that can lock you into a bad job for years, they cover the financial landmines most doctors never see coming.

You'll learn why some doctors end up owing money back to their employer, how a collections-based pay model left one physician with a six-figure IRS bill, and the sneaky ways sign-on bonuses can limit your career...

In this episode, Jimmy and Justin break down the real numbers behind the buy vs. rent decision at every stage of the physician journey — from fourth-year med students who just matched, to residents weighing whether homeownership makes sense during a 3-4 year program, to new attendings figuring out how much house they can actually afford.

They cover Zillow's break-even data (hint: it takes about 4-5 years on average for buying to beat renting), why that number swings wildly by city (Cleveland is ~2 years, San Francisco is 15), the dangers of the "2-3x gross income" rule of thumb in...

Dr. Jimmy Turner sits down with Jess Bohorquez, creator of Points by J and wife of an OB-GYN physician, to talk about how medical families can use credit card points to travel more without spending more. Jess left a corporate tech career to build a business helping people maximize credit card rewards, and she's grown her Instagram following to over 200,000 in the process.

In this episode, Jimmy and Jess cover why transferring points out of your credit card's travel portal gets you dramatically more value, how to audit your existing cards to make sure you're actually using...

What if you're saving more than you need to — and burning out in the process? In this episode, Jimmy shares how sitting down and doing the math changed his entire career trajectory, going from 1.3 FTE and antidepressants to part-time at 40 with a $2.1M net worth. Jimmy and Justin break down new research from Bill Bengen on safe withdrawal rates (spoiler: it may be higher than 4%), how to figure out what you actually need to retire, and why your future expenses are probably lower than you think. Plus, Justin shares the advisor's perspective on conservative assumptions, spending flexibility, and the ri...

In this episode of "Money Meets Medicine," Dr. Jimmy Turner and physician contract attorney Michael Johnson break down physician compensation models, exploring the complexities beyond base salary and signing bonuses. They discuss work RVUs, volume expectations, bonus structures, and the impact of practice setting, geography, and payer mix on total compensation. The hosts share real-world examples, highlight common pitfalls in contract negotiations, and stress the importance of understanding data sources like MGMA. They also emphasize the critical need for disability insurance during training, offering practical advice for early-career physicians evaluating job offers.

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Should physicians trade their time for money — or is that equation fundamentally broken? In this episode, we unpack why so many doctors save too much for too long, sacrificing their best years to build a nest egg they struggle to spend. Drawing from Vicki Robin's Your Money or Your Life, Morgan Housel's Psychology of Money, and Bill Perkins' Die With Zero, we explore a healthier framework for thinking about time, money, and financial independence as a physician.

Jimmy also shares a major personal update — after nearly twenty years at Wake Forest, he's making a career change that trad...

In this episode of "Money Meets Medicine," hosts Justin Harvey and Dr. Jimmy Turner explore the FIRE (Financial Independence Retire Early) movement’s relevance for physicians. They discuss the psychological and practical challenges of pursuing FIRE, such as the importance of purpose beyond early retirement, the impact of extreme frugality on relationships, and the need to align financial goals with personal values. The hosts also highlight the critical role of disability insurance and stress viewing money as a tool for creating a meaningful, balanced life, rather than simply an escape from work.

Every doctor needs own-occupation disability in...

In this episode of the Money Meets Medicine podcast, hosts Dr. Jimmy Turner and Justin Harvey discuss how physicians, despite their intelligence, can make grave financial mistakes. They explore the importance of early disability insurance acquisition, share personal anecdotes of financial blunders, and emphasize the necessity of modesty and continuous learning in personal finance. The hosts highlight biases such as complexity bias, authority bias, and myopic loss aversion, which frequently lead to poor investing decisions. They advocate for the importance of having a written investment plan and understanding personal finance basics to avoid blindly trusting financial advisors. The episode...

Dr. Jimmy Turner and Michael Johnson, a physician contract attorney, break down the main types of physician employment: classic academic roles, future business ownership in private practice, and perpetual employment. They discuss the financial and professional implications of each, emphasizing the importance of contract negotiation, student loan strategies (especially PSLF), and understanding practice ownership agreements. Real-life examples highlight risks, benefits, and ethical considerations, equipping physicians with practical advice to align employment choices with their financial goals, values, and desired work-life balance. The episode stresses the need for careful planning and ongoing financial education for medical professionals.

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In this "Money Meets Medicine" episode, hosts Justin Harvey and Dr. Jimmy Turner discuss the most impactful financial strategies for physicians, drawing on Jimmy’s decade of experience post-training. They highlight the importance of saving 30% of gross income early, leveraging compound interest, and prioritizing high-yield actions like mortgage refinancing. The hosts debunk common myths, such as the overemphasis on backdoor Roth IRAs and real estate investing, and advocate for intentional, personalized financial planning. They also explore creating non-clinical income streams, empowering physicians to achieve financial independence and greater work-life balance.

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In this episode of Money Meets Medicine, Dr. Jimmy Turner and Justin Harvey explore the financial and emotional complexities of home buying for physicians after training. They discuss the trade-offs between purchasing move-in-ready homes versus fixer-uppers, managing renovation costs, and understanding return on investment. The hosts emphasize the importance of aligning home-buying decisions with personal values, long-term financial planning, and cash flow realities. They share practical strategies for financing renovations and highlight that homeownership is as much about emotional well-being and lifestyle fit as it is about financial calculations.

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In this episode of "Money Meets Medicine," Dr. Jimmy Turner and Justin Harvey CFP tackle the often awkward money conversations that arise during family gatherings, especially around the holidays. They share personal stories and professional advice on discussing topics like inheritance, financial support for aging parents, and estate planning. The hosts emphasize the importance of honest communication, setting boundaries, and involving financial advisors when needed. Listeners are encouraged to start these conversations early to prevent misunderstandings, protect relationships, and ensure smoother financial planning within families.

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In this kickoff episode of a multi-part series on physician contracts, Dr. Jimmy Turner and attorney Michael Johnson break down why understanding contract terms is crucial for physicians. They introduce the “contract trinity”—work obligations, compensation, and exit strategy—and discuss employer motivations, legal considerations, and common pitfalls like non-competes and clawbacks. Real-world examples highlight the risks of “standard” contracts and the importance of negotiation. The episode emphasizes that contract literacy is essential for career and financial well-being, setting the stage for deeper dives into contract topics in future episodes.

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In this episode of "Money Meets Medicine," Dr. Jimi Turner interviews Dr. Krystal Sodaitis, a physician, executive coach, and luxury cruise podcaster. They discuss the challenges and strengths of neurodivergent physicians, including how ADHD and dyslexia can impact financial decisions. Dr. Sodaitis shares strategies for managing impulsivity and highlights the importance of tailored financial planning. The conversation then shifts to luxury cruising, covering how to choose the right cruise, the benefits of travel agents, and what sets luxury cruises apart. The episode offers practical advice for both neurodivergent professionals and aspiring luxury travelers.

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In this episode of "Money Meets Medicine," Dr. Jimmy Turner shares his journey transitioning from nearly 20 years at Wake Forest to a private practice role at Iredell Memorial Hospital. He and host Justin Harvey discuss the professional, financial, and personal factors behind the move, including healthcare consolidation, contract negotiation, and work-life balance. Dr. Turner reflects on identity, adapting to new clinical environments, and the importance of maintaining professional relationships. The episode offers practical advice for physicians considering career changes, emphasizing thoughtful decision-making, self-advocacy, and aligning work with personal values.

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