Financial Survey: Is your net worth keeping pace? - Our Financial Survey shows that it's moving ahead briskly, but doctors must step up their efforts to maintain the pace. - Medical Economics | Practi
Financial Survey: Is your net worth keeping pace?Our Financial Survey shows that it's moving ahead briskly, but doctors must step up their efforts to maintain the pace.
Publish date: Jun 17, 2005 By:Lawrence Farber Source: Medical Economics
Thanks in large part to the recent housing boom, doctors' median net worth has grown over the past four years—from $700,000
in 2000 to $821,000 in 2004, according to Medical Economics' latest Financial Survey.
Not surprisingly, doctors, like many Americans, are feeling more chipper about their financial outlook than they did in 2000—the
last time we took an in-depth looks at physicians' personal finances. That year the market was grim, and only 37 percent of
survey respondents said their situation seemed to be improving. In this year's survey, 51 percent think things are looking
up. Meanwhile, the proportion of those who think they're losing ground fell from 28 percent in 2000 to 18 percent this year.
How net worth stacks up
Median physicians family income from all sources is on the rise—up from $180,000 in 2000 to $200,000 in 2004. (By contrast,
after factoring in inflation, most American families saw their income decline slightly from 2000 to 2003, according to the
most recent statistics from the US Census Bureau.) About 80 percent of that physician family income came from the practice
last year, 5 percent from spouse's earnings (nearly nine out of 10 respondents are married), and the rest of it comes from
investment proceeds, interest, and other miscellaneous sources.
And, as it has been for many folks across the country, housing has been a bright spot for doctors. The typical physician's
home equity last year was around $300,000, a $100,000 jump since 2000. In fact, close to one in nine doctors reported that
their home's current market value equaled or exceeded $1 million.
Family income moves up
For details on how our survey was conducted. Read on to see how your net worth and its individual components stack up with
those of your colleagues across the country.
Some investors scored big With the S&P 500 up 10.9 percent last year, and almost 29 percent in 2003, many investors have seen their portfolios recover
from the battering they took at the beginning of the decade. More than three out of four doctors reported net investment gains
in 2004, while fewer than one in 10 suffered losses. Typical gains amounted to $30,000, but nearly a quarter of the winners
chalked up at least $100,000.
Is your home worth this much?
Almost nine in 10 physicians own stocks and stock mutual funds, with a median portfolio value of $200,000. That's the same
as in 2000. Close to 40 percent of doctors owned investment real estate (not including home, vacation home, or medical office)
in 2004, only a slight increase over 2000, and their holdings have appreciated. We'll detail doctors' investments in the July
22 issue.
