Which Step Are You On?
The Money Workup: 12 quick questions about your money. Find your next move in The Doctor’s Money Protocol. About a minute, and no sign-up to see your step.
Question 1 of 12
Where are you in your career?
Do you have your own disability insurance?
A policy in your name that goes with you if you change jobs.
If someone depends on your income, do you have term life insurance?
A spouse, kids, or someone on a loan with you.
Do you have cash saved for your biggest deductible?
Health, auto, or home, whichever is highest.
Are you putting in enough to get your full employer match?
The money your job adds to your 401(k) or 403(b) when you put money in.
Is all your debt under about 7% interest?
Count credit cards, car loans, personal loans, and student loans. Leave out your mortgage. Going for PSLF? Leave those federal loans out too.
Do you have 3 to 6 months of your full spending in savings?
Everything you spend in a normal month, not just the must-pay bills.
Is your Roth IRA (or backdoor Roth) funded for this year?
And your HSA maxed, if your health plan has one.
Are you maxing out your retirement plan at work?
Your 401(k) or 403(b) limit is $24,500 in 2026. Plus a 457(b) if you have a safe one.
Do your big goals have a savings plan on autopilot?
The house, kids’ college, a practice buy-in, a sabbatical.
Does money go into a brokerage account (or other investments) every month?
Outside your retirement accounts. Real estate or your own practice count too.
Do your mortgage and low-rate loans have a payoff date?
A date you’re aiming for, not just when the loan ends on its own.
Your 10 steps
Work them top to bottom. Some overlap, and that’s fine. Just don’t jump far ahead while an early step is still open.
Protect income
- Step 1 Protect your income
- Step 2 Build a starter cash cushion
Build wealth
- Step 3 Grab the free money
- Step 4 Kill high-interest debt
- Step 5 Finish your emergency fund
- Step 6 Open the tax-free accounts
- Step 7 Max out your retirement plans at work
- Step 8 Save for the big stuff on purpose
Create freedom
- Step 9 Invest beyond your retirement accounts
- Step 10 Pay off the low-interest debt
Your plan
Only the steps you have left, in order.
A quick check, not financial advice for your situation. Your answers are saved without your name or email so I can see which steps doctors get stuck on. Privacy
How it works
The Doctor’s Money Protocol is ten money moves, in the right order. The Money Workup finds the first step you haven’t finished. That’s your step. Ignore the rest for now.
You get a step, not a score. The order matters more than the speed.
Why the order matters
Almost nobody taught doctors what to do with a big paycheck. So a lot of them end up doing good things in the wrong order. They max out a 401(k) while a credit card charges them 24%. They buy the house before they own any disability insurance.
Each move can make sense on its own. The order is what gets people hurt.
The 10 steps
- Protect your income. Disability and term life insurance.
- Build a starter cash cushion. Your biggest deductible.
- Grab the free money. The full employer match.
- Kill high-interest debt. Anything above about 7%.
- Finish your emergency fund. 3 to 6 months of what you spend.
- Open the tax-free accounts. Roth IRA (or backdoor Roth) and HSA.
- Max out your retirement plans at work. 401(k), 403(b), 457(b).
- Save for the big stuff on purpose. The house, college, practice buy-in.
- Invest beyond your retirement accounts. Brokerage account, real estate, your practice.
- Pay off the low-interest debt. Mortgage and low-rate loans.
Read the whole plan in The Doctor’s Money Protocol.
Take it again
Come back once a year, or after a big change: finishing training, a new job, a new baby. Your step will move.
This check is general education, not advice for your situation. Talk with a tax pro or advisor about your own plan. Dustin Karas is co-founder and CEO of Pattern, an independent insurance broker that is paid by insurance companies when clients buy a policy.