Stuck in a job you can't afford to leave? Build a Courage Fund.

Asking for part-time, Fridays off, or a way out is hard when you can't afford to hear no. Stanley Liu, a cardiologist and financial planner, calls the answer a Courage Fund: cash set aside not for emergencies but for offense. He explains how it differs from an emergency fund, how many months you need, why a non-compete raises the number, and why your employer never has to know it exists.

⏱️ Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:19 Planning software assumes you work 9 to 5 for 30 years
1:42 When an oak tree totals your minivan
2:59 The difference is intent, not the account
3:41 Asking for Fridays off when they might say no
4:48 Your employer knows your mortgage, not your savings
6:02 Why stepping off the moving walkway feels so risky
7:12 When burnout moves this fund to the top of the list
8:54 Count the months you could live on zero income
9:25 Why a big non-compete means a bigger fund
10:06 He saved 12 months to ride out an 18-month non-compete
10:33 Why doctors assume grinding it out is the only option
11:55 Physician wellness never asks what's in your bank account
14:38 The first question to ask isn't about money
16:38 Take home messages

About this episode:
Stanley Liu, a cardiologist, financial planner, and founder of DocEmpowered, returns with a concept traditional financial planning does not have. Planning software assumes you work 9 to 5 for 30 years and then stop, which is not the career many clinicians want. His answer is the Courage Fund, a short-term cash reserve held in the same kind of account as an emergency fund but built for offense. He shows how it strengthens a negotiation for part-time work or a day off, and why it stays private. Your employer may know about your mortgage and your non-compete, but not your accounts. He sizes it in months of expenses and explains why a big non-compete or few local options call for more. His own was 12 months, saved to ride out an 18-month non-compete. He also names why physicians resist the idea: learned helplessness in unsustainable jobs, and a wellness conversation that never mentions money. His first step has nothing to do with math: name the gap between the career you have now and the one you want now.

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#PhysicianBurnout #PersonalFinance #EmergencyFund