Book Recommendation for Destitute Doctor?

[Scanner]

Not me - I have a good friend who is a DO who has graduated and is now finishing a fellowship in nephrology. He confided in me today that he is very financially unstable.

Some things he has shared with me -

1. He snuck 2 beers in from 7-11 to a bar with friends because he didn't want to pay their prices. They threw him out.

2. He has shared with me that he was eating dog food at one point.

Anyway, he's a personality type that kind of enjoys strugglling so I beleive some of it is self-imposed and I wrote to him the other day:

Poverty does not equal purity.

Anyway, I wanted to send him the book that inspired me to investing - Kiplinger's Guide to Personal Finance - it was very fundamental - what's a mutual fund? what's an IRA? Debt sector investing. Equities.

But it's been long out of print.

Does anyone have a good fundamental book on wealth accumulation?

I'd rather steer away from "quasi-spiritual" stuff like "Think and Grow Rich" although they have their place and I am not dissing them.

I feel like he needs fundamentals - save 10%, asset allocation, home ownership, etc.

Thanks in advance.

[fairy74]

All Your Worth, very simple formula to follow...

[creditcardfree]

I just sent my nephew Standard and Poor's Guide to Understanding Personal Finance. The topics were as basic as how to write a check to as complex as buying and selling a home. Looks like they have a Retirement savings book as well.

[Aleta]

I agree that All Your Worth is a good basic place to see where you are in your finances. There are so many good books out there. I liked the Wealthy Barber as well. I also Joe Dominguez's Your Money or Your Life. I read Andrew Tobias - The Only Investment Guide You'll Ever Need. I'm presently reading Jane Bryant Quinn's Making the MOst of Your MOney.

Some of these books may be too much information for your friend, but I do think that All Your Worth is an easy read and so is The Wealthy Barber ( Told in story book form.)

All Your Worth took me out of my complacency about our finances.

[LuxLiving]

Oh geeeeeee -- tell him to stay out of the animal food aisle! How hard is it to find tuna on sale for 50 cents a can? Ramen at 6/7 for $1?

Why would someone do this? I'd have to agree with your suggestion that it was probably done (if it was actually done) more for the shock factor than this is all I can afford! GAHHHH!!! Right now Homeland in our area has dried beans and rice for 50 cents a bag. No need for someone to shop the dog food aisle!

Looks like you already have some great book tips, I was going to say Wealthy Barber too, but Aleta already beat me to it.

Maybe he was fishing for a dinner invite? Maybe a good pscyh exam referral???

Sorry, that doesn't sound too compassionate on my part but golly, these days there are foodbanks in nearly every church in most towns....

[Broken Arrow]

That's one strange doctor.

[Scanner]

Yeah, there were a bunch of us who grew up together, hung around, and he was our "shock" guy - he always did things to just shock people and get a cheap laugh. He went to DO school, one friend went to DDS school, I went to DC school, and the other went to medical school and is an anethesiologist at Fox Chase in Philly. One went entirely seperate and opened his own ISP (my best man in my wedding). He's probably done the best of all of us.

You ain't kidding he's strange.

I told him if needs cheap protein (I am an Atkins' devotee) that eggs he can get for 12 for $1.00.

Wealthy Barber.

Is that really basic?

Sounds a bit like "I'm a barber and got rich quasi-spiritual" type of book just on it's title.

The Standard and Poor's Book sound interesting.

[Scanner]

You know. . .maybe I am being a little too stringent. Maybe he needs to examine his financial picture from a spiritual/motivational perspective so he can be inspired to take control and build wealth.

I am more a "nuts and bolts" kind of guy but not everyone is hardwired like me or JimOhio and will want raw information.

[Aleta]

The wealthy barber is written in a story book form. It talks about different fiends with different needs and this barber (who is wealthy) is teaching them about finances and money.

What I liked about the book and what I took away from it that one size doesn't fit all. I have always thought that it was a given to own a home rather than rent. The book gives different reasons to do or not to do something. Renting is better for some people, although I would not have thought about it like that. So, for everyone out there, you have to know where and what you want so you can have a map to go by.

All in all, I think that it is an easy read and entertaining. I didn't want to put it down. It holds your interest.

[LuxLiving]

The S & P book is more of the nuts & bolts w/comic like pictures. BASIC Financial Education 101 - very solid information and not just lightweight stuff either. The Wealthy Barber isn't spiritual necessarily, but more thoughtful in style as say in comparison to the esoteric stylings of Richest Man in Babylon - which is the one that got me off my keaster!

Dif'rant strokes my friend! Another decent one is Mary Hunt's Debt Proof Living.

[baking23]

Um instead of eating dog food he could become vegitarian and eat tofu for a while, healthier possibly, especially with that wheat thing killing animals right now.

I personally like anything by Jean Chatsky, simple easy to read.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by Scanner

He went to DO school... and the other went to medical school

Hey, Scanner. You should know better. Allopathic (MD) schools and Osteopathic (DO) schools are BOTH medical schools. Whether a doctor is an MD or a DO, he is still a doctor with equal training, rights and privileges.

As for your nephrologist friend, I wonder how much of what you describe is self-induced. I think all the book recommendations so far are good ones. I don't think anyone mentioned Suze Orman, particularly "Young, Fabulous and Broke."

[fairy74]

Originally Posted by Broken Arrow

That's one strange doctor.

Agreed!

[Ima saver]

The wealthy barber is one of the first I read. very good and easy to understand. I also like Tobias' the only other investment guide you will ever need.

[Scanner]

DisneySteve,

Actually, I don't usually delineate the differences either between DO and MD but you have seem to brought it up in the past so that's the only reason I did (and to just illustrate the different paths/schools of my childhood group of friends). I actually don't know why the two just don't merge but that's another topic, another forum. . .

I like Suze's book on 7 Steps to Financial Freedom too. . .I may still have that laying around actually.

[asmom]

I know you said you didn't really want any "quasi-spiritual" stuff but I really must recommend " The Millionaire Next Door" for two reasons. One, it addresses physicians and their spending habits in particular in a couple of chapters so it might "speak" to your friend. And two, it's message for accumulating financial wealth and stability is very simple: spend less than you earn. Once he changes his mindset, then he will be ready for the more detailed how-to books. Just a thought.

[humandraydel]

I must agree with others - "The Millionaire Next Door" and "All Your Worth" are good books.

[disneysteve]

Originally Posted by asmom

I know you said you didn't really want any "quasi-spiritual" stuff but I really must recommend " The Millionaire Next Door" for two reasons. One, it addresses physicians and their spending habits in particular in a couple of chapters so it might "speak" to your friend. And two, it's message for accumulating financial wealth and stability is very simple: spend less than you earn.

I agree. How could I forget this one.

I think one trap that doctors and other high income professionals often fall into is thinking that because they earn a certain amount, they are expected to live a certain way. I'm a physician and have been in practice for nearly 14 years. I can honestly say that our lifestyle is not all that different today than it was when I first went into practice. The biggest difference is that we own our home, but we bought that within the first year and are still in the same home. No big changes since then. Back then, I was driving a 91 Camry. Today, I drive a 98 Camry. I wear a $100 Seiko watch that my parents bought me in 1988. Our daughter attends public school. We shop at yard sales, flea markets and thrift shops. We clip coupons and stay at budget accomodations when we travel. Is this the "typical" doctor lifestyle? Probably not. But we invest 20% or so of my income, my wife is able to be a SAHM and I'll be able to retire before I'm old and gray.

[fairy74]

Originally Posted by disneysteve

I

I think one trap that doctors and other high income professionals often fall into is thinking that because they earn a certain amount, they are expected to live a certain way. .

I could not agree more. I have no problem finding my purple 1993 Geo Storm when I attend CLE's it's the only non-BMW, Mercedes or Volvo SUV there!

[bigsaver]

Agree. I see physicians buy that new BMW and then complain they have no money. I have a now nearly 20 year old audi, runs great, paid $2k for it in med school, and now have absolutely no debt except for the medical school loan.