5 tips that promote financial fitness for doctors

Investment in healthcare infrastructure is predicted to increase in the coming years, thereby contributing to the growth of the sector significantly. Moreover, the Indian healthcare industry is likely to experience a CAGR of 22.87% by 2020, reaching the Rs. 28 crore mark. This, combined with the lacking healthcare penetration in the country, presents a great opportunity for your practice. To ensure that you are able to capitalise on this growth, you need to be sharp and methodical with your clinic or hospital’s finances. In order to facilitate a profitable medical practice, take a look at 5 finance lessons that you must abide by.

1. Invest steadily and grow your practice

Simply saving is not enough. You must channel these savings into a balanced investment portfolio to earn greater returns over time. Park around 60% of your investment amount in stable instruments that offer assured returns such as fixed deposits or recurring deposits. However, it is vital to invest at least 40% in market-linked, high-risk instruments such as mutual funds and shares as they offer better returns. They key is to have a mixed investment folio that offers benefits of security as well as high growth. Develop a 3-, 5- and 10-year business plan, and devise an investment strategy to finance each stage.

2. Manage your loans before tackling everything else

To ensure that you maximise profits, focus on repaying your outstanding debts. Instead of letting these loans get out of hand, consolidate them with a Personal Loan for Doctors from Bajaj Finserv. With a quick sanction of up to Rs. 35 lakh, this loan has a nominal interest rate with approval in just a few minutes. Choosing such a loan will allow you to settle all existing dues in one go, and you will have to manage only one EMI each month. Besides, it will also boost your credit score and hold you in good stead if you need another loan in the future.

3. Invest in indemnity cover

As the number of lawsuits against doctors claiming malpractice and negligence are increasing, it is essential for medical professionals to invest in indemnity insurance. An indemnity plan covers you against legal and financial risks so if a case is filed against you, you don’t have to bear all the charges.

4. Have sufficient working capital

Ensuring that you have sufficient working capital will help you run your practice smoothly, and focus on patient care instead of stopgap solutions that act as a Band-Aid instead of a permanent fix.

An affordable Business Loan for Doctors up to Rs. 35 lakh will help you boost your practice’s working capital. You can avail the loan in a flexi format and borrow and prepay funds as and when there’s a need. What makes this special is that you need to pay interest only on what you use and repay your EMI in advance at no extra cost. This facility helps you to lower interest by up to 45%.

5. Contribute towards a retirement corpus

While you work towards your practice’s goals, you should also save for post-retirement alongside. This will ensure that when you retire, you don’t compromise your quality of life. Make long-term investments solely for your retirement and take care to invest in a mix of high-risk and low-risk instruments to create a balanced portfolio.

Doing this early in your career will allow you to retire early, should you wish to, and take on a managerial role once you establish your practice. However, not planning for retirement will restrict such flexibility, taking away the benefits you may associate with working for yourself.

So, be sure to keep these financial measures in mind to build a profitable business and an equally rewarding personal life.