Day 6, April 8, Wickenburg, AZ to Scottsdale, AZ, 67 Miles (Follow daily video updates on my Facebook Page) After breakfast we loaded our car and drove to the spot we stopped riding yesterday, ten miles South of Wickenburg, to begin today’s ride into the Pheonix area. Our route took highway 74 for a mostly downhill ride. This was a very pleasant day with 20 miles of paved bicycle paths after entering the Pheonix suburbs.  We chose a spot in Scottsdale near the Desert Botanical Gardens to end our day’s trek. Carolyn picked us up and drove us to our hotel in the talking stick area of North ..read more

Day 0, April 1st Today we finished packing and loaded the back of our Waggoneer up to the level of the seat backs. The cooler went in the center back seat so the driver could see out the back window. We loaded the bikes on the bike rack and started on our adventure at about 11am. In the excitement of leaving, I forgot to shoot a video of our departure. We drove to Yreka, California and ate lunch at ARBYs. Then on to Stockton, California for dinner at the Olive Garden. After which I shot the trip’s first video.  Our next stop was a hotel at the Frazier Park turn off near the top of the Gr ..read more

(Follow my Facebook page for daily video updates as we ride across America.) On February 23rd I asked my son what activity he would like us to do together. He surprised me with the idea of riding our bicycles across America. He was about to have a window of opportunity that would begin April 1st. Once one is in the workforce, large blocks of free time to do an epic adventure do not come along very often, and he wanted to take advantage of the opportunity. He was changing his line of work and could put off starting his new job until after this adventure. For me, it meant fitting the ride betwe ..read more

(Remember to follow my Facebook Page to get my daily video updates on our cycling adventure across America. Starting next week my Thursday blog will be a weekly update on our ride. After we finish, I will go back to my normal posts.) It is unbelievable how often I find myself saying “I forgot to exercise today.” Although I planned to exercise, and it was on my to-do list, somehow the day ended without getting my exercise done. Why does this keep happening? What’s the use of arriving at retirement with enough money to do whatever we want, without the physical vibrancy to do anything? Make sure ..read more

It’s that time of year again. Over 30,000 medical residents are about to finish their training and start their first job. Many of them will make some big financial mistakes during their first year that will haunt them for years to come. I wrote The Doctors Guide to Starting Your Practice Right to help new attendings avoid some of those errors and get started on the right foot. One of the biggest errors many doctors make is to buy a house right after they leave residency. Society gives us a big push to own a house, after all it’s the American Dream. Then we have to deal with the false notion t ..read more

(Today’s guest post comes to you from David Rosenstrock, who is a certified financial planner with an MBA and the Founder of Wharton Wealth Planning, LLC.) Editor notes: As interest rates rise and certificates of deposit (CDs) have a reasonable interest rate again, (back to normal) many investors are flocking to buy them. But should the new interest rates cause anyone to change their investment allocations between stock/bond/cash? Today’s guest post provides some insight as to why one should or should not consider making changes. Have you made any changes? Many individual investors have ..read more

One of the reasons I retired from medicine at age 54 was so I would still be young enough and healthy enough to enjoy adventures and travel. Many people we see on our travels are simply too old and frail to fully enjoy their adventure and we didn’t want to miss out on having big adventures in life due to our age. Big adventures often necessitate a large time commitment away from home, which most working people do not have. There are, however, times during our working years that allow for a large chunk of time to be away from home, such as between jobs or when on a sabbatical. I recently wrote ..read more

Last summer I wrote an article including the benefits of paying off low interest loans titled, You Should Pay Off That 3% Home Mortgage. I was surprised that many people totally missed the main point of the article; we must not have tunnel vision when making decisions. Many of us make decisions using only one factor. When we do this, we often make the wrong decision for our circumstances. We need to consider all aspects and ramifications of a decision before coming to a conclusion. Isn’t that what informed consent is all about? In the case of my article, many people were stuck on this one fac ..read more

I recently gave two lectures at the White Coat Investor Physician Wellness and Financial Literacy Conference (WCICON24) in Orlando, Florida. This was the third time I have spoken at this conference. I feel that each year this conference is better than the prior year. My two highlights of the conference were: Stepping onto the elevator and having the lady in the elevator say “You’re Dr. Fawcett! My daughter came to this conference specifically to hear you speak.” Another person stopped me in the hall to say, “Thanks for all you do. I have all your books.” I can’t emphasize enough how moments l ..read more

This month marks seven years since I left the hospital as a working physician for the last time. That wonderful walk took place in Lebanon, Oregon, my final locum assignment, to the song 18 wheels and a dozen roses, by Kathy Mattea. At age 54, I wondered if we had enough passive income and retirement savings to meet our needs for the rest of our lives.  Today, I know the answer to the money question, and it’s better than I imagined. Here is a look into what transpired during my seventh year of retirement. My Psyche One of my biggest concerns about retiring was missing the operating room ..read more