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Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: Today's guest is Dr. Adam Broussard, who is a Pediatric Anesthesiologist, based out of New Orleans. And he's going to talk to you about all of the different types of businesses that he's involved in from real estate, to syndications, to Bitcoin mining, and just, tonight's discussion is going to be really relaxed, and we're just going to talk about how physicians can have different interests. So Adam, welcome.
Dr. Adam J. Broussard, MD: Thanks, Chris. And glad to be here.
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: Yeah, I know we were talking before the show and we have a lot of very similar interests. So tell everybody, where you're from and how you got started and your MO for, sounds you have so many different interests.
Dr. Adam J. Broussard, MD: So I grew up in Louisiana, did med school residency here in New Orleans, then went off to Pittsburgh for fellowship and actually worked in Oklahoma for a few years and have been back in New Orleans for about three years now. We moved back after my oldest side was born, just to be a little bit closer to family. So kind of just a normal story. When I finished up residency and fellowship just trying to pay back student loans and live fairly reasonably, everything was kind of going in index funds and whatnot. And fall of 2019 started, I was on track to be paid off paying off my student loans in the summer of 2020. So I started kind of investigating what I was going to do with this large amount that I was putting toward my student loans at the time.
So I started kind of investigating some rentals and real estate at that point in time. I kind of started talking to my wife about it and got really excited about her being a real estate professional, she was less excited about that. Then we found out that we were pregnant with my second son, and she got even less excited about it. So then COVID and all that kind of stuff happens. So I started kind of looking for other things. Fall of 2020 I invested in my first syndication apartment syndication with another physician, and really when my second son was born, I had some time off and started kind of diving into other kind of personal development topics. I did a lot of reading. I had read the classic purple book Rich Dad Poor Dad way back when, but I read Cashflow Quadrant and a couple other finance and then other just kind of mindset books and stuff like that. So I got really deep into that, while I was on paternity leave. At that time, I actually decided to become a life coach, too. Yeah.
So I started life coach training in September of 2020, I started coaching other physicians. And I really saw a very common thread: majority of the clients I was coaching where other male physicians, and everyone had burnout. They felt they didn't have a good work life balance, which I kind of have issues with that concept or that statement. I think it's more of a work life rhythm. Different times call for different things. But the more I talk to people, the more I coach people, the more it comes up. So I said, I have two sons, I have a three year old and a one year old. And it was a lot of the same stuff that I was dealing with, I spent all this time at work. And then thankfully, as an anesthesiologist, I don't take a whole lot home as much as some of primary care, people that have to finish charting, and whatnot, when my shift is done, it's pretty much gone. Outside a couple of random phone calls. But you still think about it, you did the right thing, could you have avoided something, whatever. So I actually started looking for a physician to add to the group and see if there was anything that. And I found a big group on Facebook, and it just wasn't what I was looking for. Yeah, it wasn't focusing on those types of issues. So I created my own.
So I founded Dads Before Doctors. At the beginning of the year, kind of slowly. So it's just a group of male physicians that want to be dads before doctors. Just kind of as the title says that they want to be known as fathers before physicians and rather than physicians that are fathers. So right now, as it is, it started off, it's just kind of a Facebook group. And we'll talk about different things, kind of the established kind of the Six Pillars being wealth and legacy, your marriage, your parenting, your health and wellness, emotional well being, mindset, that kind of thing. So since then, I've started a podcast also. So we'll interview other people that I think would be beneficial to physician dads, mostly physicians, dads, but sometimes we'll have other guests that just might be helpful. So hopefully, in the future, that'll turn into something a little bit more formal, some type of mastermind group that weekends. Yeah, actually connect with each other and via in person at retreats, or zoom on online types of mastermind things and potentially retreats in the future.
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: You brought up a lot of interesting things, so really, you're describing the medical profession where we're having increasing stresses from all directions, and with the pandemic, that didn't help a lot. And so, a lot of doctors such as yourself, you're creating, trying to bring awareness and trying to bring people to different aspects. So one thing that I was really interested in was, you said you couldn't find the group that could support your needs. So you went out and created your own, which was a very proactive approach. So Dad's Before Doctors, that's going to be put in the show notes as well as the podcast and really you're now you're coaching physicians, which is a really wonderful thing to do. So, how does somebody, a physician listening to this, they're afraid of starting a blog or podcast or coaching, what is your advice to them?
Dr. Adam J. Broussard, MD: Just do it. It's been really rewarding. Honestly, I haven't put out a whole lot of episodes. But the first one I put out, literally, I had a phone call from a guy I graduated high school with, that I hadn't probably spoken to in 20 years, since we graduated high school. Just congratulating me, catching up, how awesome that was, how excited it was. And the things that people have shared in the group and reached out to other physicians that have the same common experience. And know what's going on, that's what one thing I think is a lot of the coaching clients really find helpful is they don't have to spend half the half their sessions with a non physician coach explaining what they're talking about, or explaining the dynamics of a hospital, and administration, or nursing or whatever. You just know what they're, they're talking from the beginning. So as much as I am actually a member of several other masterminds that are heavily real estate, slash entrepreneurs, and I get a lot out of that. Having that different perspective. But I think there's something to say, for having groups that can relate to you a little bit easier. I was actually on a call yesterday with one of them. And Jeff Woods and Dan Sullivan, were on it from The One Thing and Strategic Coach, and a lot of it was talking to me or these entrepreneurs and talking about, how their calendars set and how much of that was your zone of genius and whatnot. And well, I put people to sleep, I wake them up.
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: Yeah, yeah, that's so well said. You also mentioned that you invest in real estate, which is really popular among physicians. So tell the new listeners, why is physician real estate such a hot topic for doctors?
Dr. Adam J. Broussard, MD: Yeah, so like I said, we initially kind of looked into long term rentals. We said, kinda talked to my wife about real estate professionals. And if we were able to achieve that, there would have been some nice tax deductions that we could have written off against my W2 income. Because unfortunately, there's not an option for me to be strategic about changing how my income is, or being 1099 or anything like that. So when we, when we kind of took that off the table, we actually decided to invest into short term rentals, because you are able to take some of those write offs if you meet certain qualifications, that's a little bit easier to meet. If you have short term rentals that are less than seven day averages. And you've materially participated, so we actually bought our first short term rental last, we closed on it last November. And that was a pretty wild ride.
We contacted the real estate agent in Asheville, North Carolina. I think I sent her the email on Sunday. We had a phone conversation on Monday. She sent us a listing on Tuesday. And we did a FaceTime showing of it on Wednesday. We liked it. She brought a property manager over later that day, who also liked it. And we had a signed purchase agreement that Wednesday. So in the course of about 48 hours from the first time we contacted the real estate agent, we had a signed contract. So it doesn't always happen that way. We still are just that one right now. We're actively looking for another one if we end up doing some renovations. So we didn't really go completely live until Memorial Day weekend. But in the meantime, I have invested in some syndications. Both multifamily, hospitality invested in some private equity deals. So just try to build some of that cash flow to be able to, to live life a little bit more on my terms.
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: Yeah. Yeah, you mentioned, a lot of things are real estate, the cash flow, the appreciation. Your debt payment stays the same, but you're served, but - go ahead.
Dr. Adam J. Broussard, MD: That’s another good thing about the short term rentals is that you're able to do it as a second home loan. And so you get it as you get the interest rate as if it's a regular loan and not an investment loan. So I think our interest rates are 2.60. Something ridiculous, it's lower than my primary residence. But no, it is actually appreciated. We did a lot of work on it. But it's also just appreciated. And, I'm kind of hesitant to finance it, because I know it's gonna be a lot higher than that probably, if I refinance it out.
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: Yeah, what's the difference for the listeners between a real estate syndicate and direct active real estate which we're talking about?
Dr. Adam J. Broussard, MD: So with the short term rental we own it, our name is on title, we make all the decisions. All the way down, we pick the tile, we pick the furniture, everything, every last thing is on us. When things ran over, we had to put more than we allocated, then had initially planned in the renovations, that came out of the paycheck. With syndications you are what's called a limited partner. So the general partners have complete control over it, they make all the decisions, you essentially send your 50,000, or whatever, wire it over to them. And once you've done your due diligence, and you've decided that you want to invest with these people, and in this particular deal, or this fund, your job's done. So you just wait and till they deposit some money in your check, monthly, quarterly, yearly, whatever, whatever they've agreed upon, and then wait until they have deemed that it's time to refinance or sell the asset. Then you get to figure out what to do with the money when it comes in.
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: Nice. So, with real estate in the syndicates, you're investing with a group in a pool. It's not it's not as opposed to direct active. So it frees up your time and also gives you greater access to bigger deals. So in the prior, we were talking about, you're also invested in mining Bitcoin mining, if I heard that correctly. So until that's very, I'm also a big enthusiast in the DeFi-Crypto space just for technological innovation. So I'm sure a lot of people would be interested in hearing about that.
Dr. Adam J. Broussard, MD: Ah, yeah, so it's a private deal. I'm not really sure how much of it I can talk about. But yeah, it's a mining deal. It's a fairly large Bitcoin mine that they've continuously expanded. Sounds like they're positioned pretty well, and hopefully it will do well in the future, and we’ll do what they say.
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: Bitcoin has made headlines for the last couple years, it's everything from a bubble, to a Ponzi scheme to the next internet so and then I know mining has gotten a lot of criticism for the energy.
Dr. Adam J. Broussard, MD: But that's one thing about this group is that they do, from what I understand, they are fairly green, comparatively. And trying to do it with responsibility. And that was one thing I did appreciate about them. I don't know enough to make a long term bet with Bitcoin. And so I don't personally own any Bitcoin individually. But I felt that. They sell it as soon as it's mined. So it was more of a, I guess, a short term bet that it was going to stay reasonably high for a period of time. Hopefully, it goes up to what they say, well, the feet. Hopefully it does go to a million. I don't know. But yeah. Well, we'll see.
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: Yeah, that's interesting. Yeah. yeah, it's a very fascinating topic. For me, I've been just keeping track of innovations and I think recently, China, they banned all mining. So now, a lot of mining companies are coming, especially I know, one's moving down to Austin. And a lot of they're moving their facilities down into the United States, which is gonna be really interesting. It's just a fascinating field. It's there's good and bad players. But for the physicians, don't invest in something you don't understand, this is just a discussion.
Dr. Adam J. Broussard, MD: Yeah, I mean, I think it's definitely something exciting and I mean, with NFT's and real estate backed coins, and I think people are doing some really interesting stuff. It's something I need to learn a lot more about, but I've listened to some of the stuff about some of the real estate backed coins, that it's easier for you to get in and out of the syndications, because you just sell the coin that is related to it. So yeah, maybe in the future.
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: This has been a fascinating discussion and now we hope to have you on the podcast as a returning guest. One thing that's really stuck out to me is just your variety of interests. There's a couple you could do because it's really interesting to you. Some physicians are just trying to maintain a balanced lifestyle, some are trying to create side income so as to cut back on their hours so what drives you for all these different interests? Is it just curiosity, creativity, the ability to make extra side income?
Dr. Adam J. Broussard, MD: I think it's a little of everything. I've always been a big lifetime learner. I think, as physicians, we've always been, “okay now, what?”
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: Absolutely.
Dr. Adam J. Broussard, MD: So kinda like what I said in the beginning okay, I've almost done paying off student loans, which I haven't paid off yet. Actually, because my interest rates started going down so low, I think they're at point one 5% Right now, so I just stopped, I’m just paying minimum payments now. Yeah, so I'm gonna drag them off as long as I possibly can now Yeah. So I said, I was always focused on paying off student loans and doing whatever. So then I found something new to start learning about. So I took an active real estate class, I took a class on syndications, I took your class on Airbnbs, and I'm taking classes on buying small businesses. I just keep collecting classes. So I think it is a hunger for learning. A hunger for self improvement and that growth mindset.
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: Yes.
Dr. Adam J. Broussard, MD: And I know, it's cliche, but the five people you surround yourself with that'll probably be the average of your income, your weight, your dreams, everything, and just being really intentional about that, and who you choose to spend your time with. And even who you choose, down to how you spend your money. What restaurants and what businesses you choose to support. It can make a really big difference. And I think, in general, most physicians are kind of in that fixed mindset, that everything kind of comes easy to us. Yeah. And we always had to be the best and if you weren't the best, you weren't the highest achiever. When you have that discomfort, you have to be a learner again. And I think just embracing that uncomfortableness, and embracing that uneasiness branches out and does something different. And just because you were told to go to college, get a med school, get good grades, get in a good residency, then put your money in index funds for the next 35 years, and then you can retire.
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: it doesn't cut it anymore.
Dr. Adam J. Broussard, MD: Ask questions. I think a lot of people have that get into, even into the FIRE mindset community and stuff like that. it's all you kind of get back into that pre med, med school residency, Okay, I'm working toward this, this goal, and you forget to enjoy that 30 years of, of working when your kids are growing up, and you're young and with your spouse, and you can it's all for, “Whatever, I can FIRE, and then I'm gonna have a great life.” But yeah, if, who knows what's gonna happen during that time, if you're working 80 hours a week, and then doing locums, doing this, doing that, I mean, even if you get too heavily into; you go to work, then you go do real estate, then you do this, then you do that, that's something I kind of struggle with to trying to find that balance, or that. You don't want to be Okay, I've hit my number. And my wife doesn't talk to me anymore. My kids don't talk to me. I missed out on them growing up. Now they're teenagers. They have their own life, I haven't been part of their life. My wife has her own life, now you're financially free and retired, but you're all by yourself. What's the good of that?
So enjoy the journey trying to have some of that cash flow or something now, so you can enjoy the process, and maybe go half time maybe go .8, just so that you. It doesn't have to be all about retirement, maybe take a sabbatical, maybe do mini retirements in between jobs. When you switch jobs, take six months off.
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: You've mentioned so many things: freedom, time, financial, location, and emotions. So this was a fantastic conversation. If people want to get in touch with you, how can they get in your website or email? How can they follow you?
Dr. Adam J. Broussard, MD: So the website is dadsbeforedoctors.com. There's also a Facebook group by the same name.
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: Awesome. Well, thanks so much for being here. And you've dropped so many gems of wisdom.
Dr. Adam J. Broussard, MD: I appreciate it, Chris. Thank you.
Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD: Many thanks again for being here. If you’re new, you can find me online at Christopher H. Loo, MD-PhD, where I have links to other episodes or links to online resources that will support you on your financial literacy journey. I’ll see you there in on next week’s show. While I bring you thoroughly vetted information on this show regarding a variety of financial topics, I cannot promise you a one size fits all solution. This is why I caution you to continue to learn. Educate yourself and seek professional advice unique to your situation. If you want to talk to me, I welcome it. Please reach out via my website or email at Chris@drchrisloomdphd.com. I read and personally respond to all of my emails. Talk soon!
Editor's note: This transcript has been edited for brevity and clarity.