Personal Finance Primer for the Future Orthopaedic Surgeon: A Starting Point

Abstract. The level of financial literacy varies among orthopaedic trainees. Personal finance ideally should be taught before accepting student loans; however, when this has not happened, it is imperative that trainees start taking their personal finances seriously. Many trainees are faced with large amounts of student debt and struggle with how to manage a large salary increase in their first job. This can lead to poor financial decisions including insufficient savings. The authors provide a comprehensive viewpoint on personal finance for the orthopaedic trainee. In this article, we provide future orthopaedic surgeons with a framework for personal financial management as a starting point to understanding the financial concepts of budgeting, investment, debt management, mortgage, disability insurance, and life insurance.