Quote of the Week

“Something that everyone knows is not worth knowing.”

— Bernard Baruch

In This Edition

• A Lesson in “Taking Down the Big Ones”

• Truth Teller of the Week: Dr. Jim Dahle

• This Week’s Podcast: M1 Finance vs. Fidelity Baskets

• A Word from a Listener

From Paul

A Lesson in “Taking Down the Big Ones”

In the early ’80s I attended a gathering of salespeople who represented a firm that sold limited partnerships to wealthy people. I had a client who wanted my take on the firm, and I thought this private gathering would give me a better understanding of the firm and the people selling their products.

That particular day they were focusing on “How to take down the big ones!” The speaker was dressed in a white smock, stethoscope around his neck, carrying an elephant gun. The “big ones” were doctors. The message seemed to be they have lots of money, big egos, hate taxes, and little time to think about the details. I suspect you know the rest. Yes, they made it very clear how you can “take them down.”

When I received Jim Dahle’s promotional piece for his educational materials, I was drawn to the title: “24% of doctors in their 60s aren’t millionaires.”

11–12% haven’t even reached a net worth of $500,000.

From Jim Dahle’s educational piece for physicians.

Jim’s information is terrific. And what he addresses applies to almost any group of investors — not just doctors. The basic principles of personal finance, applied early and consistently, can mean the difference between decades of financial security and decades of stress.

This week I’m featuring Jim as our Truth Teller of the Week. His piece is below in his own words — and then come back for our final Boot Camp podcast of the 2026 series.

Truth Teller of the Week

Dr. Jim Dahle, MD

Founder, The White Coat Investor

A practicing emergency physician, Jim built The White Coat Investor after realizing that doctors — despite their high incomes — are routinely taken advantage of by financial advisors who see them as targets rather than clients.

His mission is simple: give high-income professionals the financial literacy to protect themselves. Here’s an excerpt from his recent newsletter:

“You didn’t go into medicine for the money. But here’s what’s alarming: talk to doctors just 10 years ahead of you, and many will tell you they feel underpaid and financially stressed… despite earning physician-level salaries for decades.

The average physician earns $375,000 a year. Yet 24% of doctors in their 60s aren’t millionaires. 11–12% haven’t even reached a net worth of $500,000.

Here’s the truth nobody tells you early enough. You make some of the most significant financial decisions of your life really early in your career without the basic financial literacy you need to make them properly. You likely won’t receive a single class on personal finance, investing, or business during your entire medical education.

Physicians get a reputation for being bad with money, but the system sets you up that way.

“Learning the basics of personal finance is way easier than med school, and once you do, it becomes a superpower.”

Your high income alone will not automatically lead to financial success. You have to learn how to convert your high income into a high net worth. The habits put in place and the knowledge acquired early can enable you to get out of debt fast and build wealth quickly as an attending physician.

The most critical year in your financial life? That first year out of training, when the ‘big bucks’ start rolling in. The decisions you make then will either lock in decades of financial security or decades of stress. It’s not too late if you’re far out of training; the best time to make a change is today.

If you stay in medicine, earn an average physician income, and follow a reasonable investing strategy, retiring as a multimillionaire isn’t just a dream — it’s the expected outcome.”

The principles Jim teaches apply to almost any investor, not just physicians. If you’d like to receive pieces like this directly from Jim, sign up for his free monthly newsletter below.

Meet All Truth Tellers →

This Week’s Podcast — Boot Camp 10

Automating Your Portfolio: M1 Finance vs. Fidelity Basket Portfolios

In the final episode of the 2026 Boot Camp series, I sit down with Chris Pedersen and Daryl Bahls to tackle the last fork in the road every investor faces: how much of the day-to-day management should you hand off to a tool, to automate the process — and which tool is right for you?

Chris walks through how M1 Finance “pies” let buy-and-hold investors put their portfolios on autopilot — automated contributions, on-the-fly rebalancing, fractional shares, and one-button rebalancing — and explains the pre-configured Merriman portfolios.

Then I make the case for Fidelity’s Basket Portfolios as an alternative — the flat $4.99/month fee, the TFLO short-term Treasury workaround, and why Fidelity may fit investors already in the Fidelity ecosystem. We close with practical guidance on mixing and matching Sound Investing portfolios, the question everyone’s asking (“how long do I have to wait for small cap value?”), and a clear explanation of the move from AVUS to AVLC.

Chapters

00:00 Intro
03:10 M1 Finance
13:45 Fidelity Baskets
24:27 Portfolio Combos
29:55 When to Change Allocations
42:44 AVLC vs. AVUS
45:15 Outro

Listen Now →

Watch on YouTube →

Helpful Links

• Sound Investing Portfolio Pies

• M1 Finance Pie Tutorial — Mobile App

• M1 Finance Pie Tutorial — Web Interface

A Word from a Listener

“Your work has had a major influence on how I think about long-term investing, diversification, and investor behavior.”

— E.T.

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Taking Down the Big Ones" — Paul on Doctors, Dollars, and Truth Tellers