Before graduation
Understand your contract, benefits, disability insurance, student loans, and expected cash flow before the new income starts.
For residents, fellows, and new attending physicians
Everything you wish someone handed you before your first attending paycheck.
Practical guides, videos, checklists, and tools for the financial decisions that show up fast when training ends.
Start here
Your attending transition has a sequence.
First 90 days
Set up the basics correctly: withholding, emergency fund, retirement plan elections, insurance, and a realistic spending plan.
First attending year
Make bigger decisions with less panic: buying a home, refinancing loans, maxing retirement accounts, and avoiding lifestyle creep.
Articles
Guides for decisions that actually matter.
Student Loans
PSLF, refinancing, and the attending income jump
How to think through repayment when your income changes and every option seems to have a catch.
Read guideInsurance
Disability insurance before your health changes
Why timing matters, what own-occupation means, and where young physicians often get stuck.
Read guideHome Buying
Can you afford the attending house?
A practical way to think about mortgage payments, physician loans, taxes, insurance, and cash flow.
Read guideTaxes
Your W-4 may not survive moonlighting
Why withholding problems often show up after a big income year and how to catch them earlier.
Read guideVideos
Short explanations for complicated decisions.
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What to do with your first attending paycheck
8 min
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Term life insurance for physicians with young kids
6 min
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How to compare benefits at your first job
10 min
Tools
Calculators and checklists built for new attendings.
First Attending Budget Builder
Estimate take-home pay, savings goals, housing costs, loans, and lifestyle spending before the first paycheck arrives.
Student Loan Decision Tree
Compare PSLF, IDR, refinancing, and aggressive payoff based on income, employer type, and loan balance.
Insurance Coverage Checkup
Walk through life, disability, umbrella, malpractice, and benefits coverage gaps before they become expensive.
For residency and fellowship programs
Help trainees prepare for the financial decisions that come with becoming an attending.
Programs can share resources, invite a speaker, or use the playbook as a starting point for transition-to-practice education.
Common workshop topics
Student loans, contract basics, benefits, disability insurance, first attending cash flow, home buying, taxes, and lifestyle creep.
Ask about program resources
Who’s behind the playbook
Built by a financial planner who works with physicians.
I’m Zac Otwell, CFP®. I created The Attending Playbook to make the financial transition from training to attending life easier to navigate — especially the decisions around student loans, benefits, insurance, taxes, investing, and the first big jump in income.
The goal here is simple: practical education you can use before a financial decision becomes urgent.
More about ZacGet updates
New guides, tools, and videos as they’re published.
No spam. Just practical resources for the transition into practice.