60 Days of the Prudent Plastic Surgeon!

As of today, it has been exactly 2 months since I began the Prudent Plastic Surgeon blog. 

The idea was simple. I believe that financial well-being is an integral but too often overlooked aspect of personal well-being, especially by physicians. A lack of financial well-being is a big contributor to physician burn out.

I feel qualified to make these claims because I experienced the big difference in my life, both professional and overall, once I dedicated myself to my financial education and set goals for my financial well-being.

I was able to start on this path through the help of others. My wife and my family, of course, played a huge role. But also, a wide net of people whom I had never met but had taken the time to describe their experiences and share their financial wisdom.

I’m indebted to these people… the White Coat Investor, Semi-Retired MD, the Physician on FIRE, the Physician Philosopher, Passive Income MD, Dr. Cory Fawcett, and many others.

One thing was missing, however. 

I had a bit of a tough time relating because these financial giants were already standing at the top of the mountain while I was just taking my first steps.

Their success proved to me that I could do it. The financial mistakes that they graciously shared would help keep me from tripping over the same hurdles.

Still, there was a disconnect as I looked for someone at the beginning of the journey with whom I could walk the path with.

My goal in starting the Prudent Plastic Surgeon is to do exactly that! 

A refresher of what TPPS stands for

I am your partner on the journey to financial well-being. We can and will learn from each other, help each other when we are down, and keep our heads on straight when it seems like we can’t lose.

I’ve shown you how I have dug myself a deep financial hole. I made mistake after mistake. I was embarrassed to admit that I knew nothing and intimidated to get started. 

I didn’t know the rules of the financial game and, because of this, I couldn’t get off the sidelines and play for fear of losing more. 

But then, the simple act of picking up a book began the journey that ended up right here!

Regardless of where you are now in your financial life, it’s never too early or too late to begin to make things better. 

Not only am I proof of that, but I will continue to share exactly how I have done it. I’m also looking for you to share your stories. That’s how we will all learn together, including and especially me!

My actual mission statement is:

To create authentic, honest, and genuine content regarding personal and financial well-being while documenting my journey to achieve it for the purpose of illustrating how others can also work to achieve this in their lives while learning from them as well.

What’s happened over these 2 months

Well…it’s been a lot of fun!

Over the first 2 months of TPPS, we’ve:

• Made 18 blog posts (including this one) on topics ranging from investing basics to my personal financial plane
• Had over 35,000 views
• Had over 24,000 visitors from 76 different countries (shout out to whoever visited from the Northern Mariana Islands!)
• Engaged in a lot of great commentary, sharing, and mutual learning in the Comments section of the blog

This is way more than I could have ever expected when I started. 

I am so grateful to everyone who has come and visited The Prudent Plastic Surgeon. 

It has been amazing and encouraging to engage with so many like-minded individuals with similar goals, successes, and challenges. Because of these shared experiences, we are able to make all of us better and more ready to continue up the mountain.

You are the driving force behind our journey towards and our ultimate achievement of financial well-being!

Remember, the goal is to bring as many of us that are on the journey to financial well-being together as possible. It doesn’t matter what stage you are at. 

Together we are always stronger. 

We can work together. We can guide each other. We can offer support. We can share opportunities. This is only possible because of all of you.

What’s next for TPPS

So, what does the future of the Prudent Plastic Surgeon hold?

First, I promise to continue on with our main mission. I am still in the beginning of this journey. Many of you will be ahead of me and some of you may be behind. Regardless, our shared experience will carry us forward. This is that forum. This is that community. 

I will continue to bring my experiences – ups, downs, and in betweens – to the table and hope that you do the same!

More to come about real estate

I realize that I have teased many times about being involved in and very excited about direct real estate investing in cash-flowing rental properties.

In fact, my wife and I are closing in less than a month on our first 2-unit investment property!

This is still very much a learning experience and I have to give a huge shout out to Semi-Retired MD for leading the way in this arena. We are finishing up their Zero to Freedom Through Cash-Flowing Rentals course and can’t recommend it enough.

With that being said, I intend to share a lot more about our personal experiences with this investment vehicle to help anyone else that is interested to get a start. 

Much more on real estate to come!

Individualized Coaching

Next, I am happy to announce that I will be offering a beta trial of coaching services!

This is a service for anyone, wherever you are on the path towards financial well-being, financial security, financial freedom or whatever you would like to call it.

If you are having trouble getting started, are stuck, or just need a partner along the way, I would love to help you!

The coaching would include general guidance for those getting started or more specifics for those further along, especially when it comes to equity and real estate investing. The content will be individualized to you!

This is a trial program so it would be FREE! However, I will be limiting it to the first 3 people who email me at [email protected]. 

So, if you are interested, shoot me an email and we’ll get things started soon! If things go well and there is interest, I will open it up more in the future.

What do you want to hear about?

Please email me if there is ever any topic that you would like me to talk about that I have neglected so far. 

I have a 3 page Word document full of future blog post topics that I am still going to get to. However, I want to make sure that I am writing about things that you want to hear and learn about.

So, let me know!

Interested in contributing to TPPS?

We would also like to open up TPPS for guest posts.

I have already brought on my brother-in-law to share his financial philosophy which was a very popular post.

I think it is very much in line with our mission to have others share their thoughts, experiences, failures, and successes regarding financial well-being to the blog.

You don’t have to be an expert (I’m certainly not!). You just have to be willing to make the community here even stronger by sharing your unique perspective.

If you are interested in writing a guest post, shoot me an email at [email protected]. Give me a short intro along with a few topics that you would be interested in writing about. They should be around 1200-1500 words and on topics relevant to this blog, our mission, and our audience. I will personally review every submission.

Alternative mediums

Lastly, I have toyed around with the idea of starting a podcast for TPPS. I know that many people, myself included, really enjoy this format of learning. It’s super portable, which I appreciate now that I have to drive to work rather than walk or take the subway.

The podcast would be a supplement to the blog and certainly not replace it. It would also be another forum for us to have guests and create more outlets for shared education and experience.

Let me know if this is something that you would be interested in me doing in the future.

Thank you!

Again, thank you all so much for making the Prudent Plastic Surgeon such a vibrant and engaging community in only its first couple of months!

You all are the reason for TPPS! I am so excited for the future of the TPPS blog, community, and whatever else develops!

What do you think? What’s your grade for the first 2 months of TPPS? Have we covered the right topics? What do you want to hear more about? How have our shared experiences helped you move towards financial independence? Let me know in the comments below!