The Financial Pulse is a comprehensive online financial literacy program with the goal of providing unbiased financial education to Resident Physicians.
The average Resident Doctor in Canada enters their training program with debt in the six-figure range. While the average resident salary is above the median income in Canada, medical trainees report a low level of financial literacy. Combined with the high levels of personal debt, a lack of financial literacy can lead to significant concerns around financial health amongst trainees.
Thanks to the financial support provided by the BC Ministry of Health, and in partnership with the Resident Doctors of BC, our team is able to provide financial education to Residents without the need for outside sponsors or industry influence.
Foundations
The Financial Pulse curriculum is designed to begin with our instructional video series, The Financial Pulse Foundations. The core curriculum consists of three Modules, with each Module containing upwards of six Lessons. Lessons are short six to ten minute videos that provide an overview of essential financial literacy topics.
Debt Characteristics
Repayment Characteristics
Note 1: This calculator assumes all payments occur on the first day of each month.
Note 2: This calculator adds your monthly interest payments into the line of credit’s principal each month. This is an example of compounding interest in action. This leads to an increased annual debt cost when compared to calculating costs based on initial principal alone. Most Canadian banks roll over your monthly interest payments into your Line of Credit’s principal, meaning the annual cost for most Line of Credits is calculated the way we calculate it here.
Calculations
Calculators
The Financial Pulse Calculators are a series of calculators users can interact with to help them apply the content they learnt in the Foundations to their own personal situation. From calculating the interest costs of your Line of Credit to a step-by-step budgeting process, the Calculators do the math of financial literacy for you.
Student Loan Consolidation
Case
Sam is an incoming R1 and is wondering whether it makes sense to consolidate her student loans onto her Line of Credit (LoC). Sam is graduating medical school with a total debt of $150,000. Of that $150,000 debt:
$70,000 is on her LoC (with an interest rate of Prime – 0.25% = 2.2%)
$80,000 are in student loans
Sam’s student loan debt is divided between provincial and federal loans, with $40,000 being in British Columbia Student Loans and $40,000 in Federal Student Loans. Should Sam pay off her student loan balances with her line of credit?
Pearls
The Financial Pulse Pearls take specific questions and dig deep to give residents a framework for approaching similar challenging problems in their own financial life. Each Pearl defines a challenging question, reviews the available evidence, walks you through a practical example, and concludes with an answer to the vexing question. Pearls will cover questions varying from specific tax rules to esoteric topics like how to best design your life for financial success.
Read MoreLive
This is a series of talks given by the Financial Pulse team to residents across the country. Our talks are high level summaries of the concepts and content you can find here on the Financial Pulse.