Revisiting the Year Where (Some) Things Went According to Plan

By Dr. Margaret Curtis, WCI Columnist

This time last year, I wrote about the year of personal and professional change my family had just gone through—a move, two new jobs, and two of three kids in new schools—and laid out some aspirations for the coming year. If 2023 was the year of change, 2024 was the year of settling in. I’m here to report that some goals were realized and some were laid aside for different or better ones. Some just didn’t happen. Life would be boring if it always went according to plan.

I am also here to say that we were and are incredibly fortunate. Our children are thriving, and we enjoy our work and love our community. So, here is the year-end column for 2024 and what might happen in 2025.

What Worked in 2024

I settled into my new role at a teaching hospital. After many years at rural community practices, I had to up my academic game, especially since they invented some new drugs (CFTR modulators) and some new diseases (ARFID) while I was away. I added some per diem hospitalist work with the support of colleagues and a bunch of CME. I’m teaching at the medical school. I went back to Alaska for two weeks of locums in July, and I’m starting to feel like I know the lay of the land. I gave two talks at WCICON, and I guest-hosted the podcast. If you listened to any of those, thank you.

My husband, Mike, continued as a part-time employed urologist and started his own practice: vasectomies only (for now), cash only with a sliding scale. He charges about half of the out-of-pocket cost of the tertiary care center. We have not made any T-shirts yet. He is going to Alaska with me in February to see if he can start an outpatient urology program to serve the remote populations there. He also made 30 gallons of maple syrup, ran the shot clock for the local women’s hockey team, and did a lot of deer hunting. No deer catching but lots of hunting.

This year, for the first time, we felt financially independent thanks to stock market gains and a one-time real estate sale. I don’t mean the kind of financial independence with a capital F and a capital I: we continue to work, save, and invest, and retirement is still a ways off for both of us. But we both work part-time now and feel we can spend time and money in ways we might not have considered in the past. Case in point: we don’t play the airline points game, but we got a Chase Sapphire Reserve credit card that gets us access to airport lounges for a $95 annual fee. I will never, ever go back to waiting with the masses.

We got a real, live accountant this year. Our taxes will be more complicated in 2024 because we started the business, and he is going to do our personal taxes as well. I’m glad I did our taxes in the past because I understand the whole process, and I don’t mind handing it over to him. Another first for us this year: a big Roth conversion of some of our retirement money. Here’s why:

Our taxable income will be lower this year than in the past, for a few reasons: 1) The money Mike earned doing vasectomies went back into the business; 2) We will get state and federal tax credits for the energy efficiency work on our house, totaling about $15,000; and 3) We made a few large charitable donations this year, around $53,000 (a deduction, not a credit). Of course, we don’t know exactly what our income will be in retirement or how taxes might change, but we do know for sure that this is the lowest our income has been in about 15 years and maybe the lowest we will have while we are both still working. Since most of our retirement money is pre-tax, not Roth, we are looking at paying a lot of taxes once we start withdrawing money. Doing a Roth conversion this year will give us a hedge against high tax rates in retirement.

We finalized an estate plan that includes a trust for each of us. In the past, our assets fell under the estate tax threshold, so we were content with just a will and a single trust. Now, we live in a state with a lower threshold, and we actually come in above that number.

We changed our asset allocation this year to reflect both our age and our financial status. Up until recently, our investments were roughly 60% in stocks and 40% in bonds. That’s pretty aggressive for two middle-aged people if you use the “100 minus your age in stocks” rule. There are two reasons for this: the first is that the stock market has been on such a tear for the past two years that the portion of our portfolio in stocks kept creeping up despite my best efforts. The second reason is that my best efforts really aren’t very good. “Rebalance portfolio” is on the financial calendar, but I do it when I think of it, which is not very often. This has worked out for us in a bull market. This makes me like an anti-vaccine parent whose kid hasn’t died of Haemophilus yet: lucky, but not smart.

We bought the small office building that houses my husband’s practice, so now our asset allocation is closer to 40% stocks/40% bonds/20% real estate. I will let you know how our portfolio looks in a year, which is probably when I will think to check it again.

I read Dr. Jim Dahle’s article on 529 plans and realized we could save money on our state taxes. Vermont offers a tax credit of 10% of the amount transferred or deposited in a Vermont state 529, up to a max of $500 per account, for each of the first three years the account is open. I briefly considered just transferring all three accounts all at once like a normal person, but instead, I’m going to transfer $5,000 from each account yearly for the next three years for a total tax savings of $4,500. It’s on the financial calendar.

We gave away our sidewalk sofa.

More information here:

You Should Invest Like a 50-Year-Old Woman

Living Our Lives in a Dual-Physician Income Household

What Fell by the Wayside in 2024

We didn’t buy a rental property. We went so far as to get an inspection done on a four-unit that checked out on paper, but it turned out to have major structural issues and we withdrew our offer. I consider the $1,000 we spent on the inspection an excellent investment—it saved us a huge headache. We might try again in the future, but for now, we are sinking our money into the small office building we bought and into our own house. We are doing a major energy overhaul of our house—solar, new insulation and windows, heat pumps—and it is costing closer to $500,000 than the $300,000 I predicted. This turn of events should surprise no one.

Once again, I did not write a book.

What Kept Us Humble in 2024

We lost our sweet old dog in June and our sweet old cat in July. Thank you, Dempsey and Juniper; we’ll see you on the other side. We were still mourning in August when a friend asked if we had room for the stray cat living in her garage. Of course we said yes, and we are so glad we did. Welcome Cleo. The day before Thanksgiving, our younger dog had to undergo a “stick-ectomy” to remove the piece of wood he got lodged under his tongue, a reminder that there is no such thing as a free dog.

This year, we celebrated my husband’s 62nd birthday. He was briefly depressed and then remembered that 62-year-olds get 5% off on Tuesdays at the grocery store across from his office, and all was right with the world again.

More information here:

Actual Money Fights We’ve Had (and How We Solved Them)

What Might Happen in 2025

I will continue to refine my role at work. I will formalize my hospitalist role and do some work for the child abuse program. My husband’s goal for his practice is eight vasectomies a month, which is enough to pay all expenses. Once he turns a profit, I will open a solo 401(k) for him, and we will qualify for the auto-contribution credit. We have expansionist visions for the building, too, but those are still too early to mention. Maybe next year I’ll have something to report.

I will establish a resident rotation in Alaska.

What Will Happen in 2025

I will enjoy the snug house; the new cat; and, above all, the thriving children. Life will never be boring.

If you had New Year’s resolutions, how did they turn out? Do you have any resolutions for 2025? Comment below.