Life After Residency

Many things happen during our residencies – like learning medicine. Today, we also have a tremendous number of internet and computer resources available that were simply not available 25 years ago (computers were really not around 25 years ago; a concept I’m sure is strange to many residents today). The first thing you probably notice after residency is that all of your credit cards change color turning to gold. Many credit card companies will seek you out providing you with gold or platinum credit cards simply because as soon as you complete your residency, you move to a whole new financial bracket. I would caution you in accepting too many credit cards, as you will not be the first nor the last to find yourself in financial trouble within the first two years of graduating residency despite increasing your income tenfold.

Perhaps the most daunting issue leaving residency is learning about insurance. Indeed, while you are a resident and employed, you are covered by the hospital’s policy. Once leaving your residency, you are responsible for finding your own life insurance, health insurance and disability insurance, as well as for your family. I’m not going to try to explain the difference in the various insurance policies, because I’m not 100% sure I understand them myself. In fact, I’m not sure they can even be understood. Insurance issues are very complex. I would suggest getting a financial planner very early on to help you with insurance options. I would avoid using an insurance agent as your financial planner because his/her opinion will be skewed toward insurance based saving methodologies. Find an independent financial planner who can assist you, but has little financial gain other than his fees. This will afford you the opportunity to get objective advice in an area where truly sharks abound and danger is immediately present.