Jeff Brown, MD

Did you know that the distance from your listing agent's office to the property you're selling can affect how long the property stays on the market? Did you know that where you live affects where you invest? Those factoids and more in this week's Take As Needed.

Financial writing often buries the pearls of wisdom under a pile of chaff. This week, columnist Jeff Brown, MD, winnows down the bluster to offer some essential financial truths.

With masses of Baby Boomers headed toward retirement, they and their adult children will soon face myriad legal and financial questions. As with most things, however, a little proactive preparation can go a long way.

The price of ICD-10 is, well, a lot. The wait for new patients to see a primary care doc - also a lot. Here are a handful of tips from the financial world that can help you manage your finances.

It's always been true that physicians need to have business knowledge, but it's even more essential in today's ever-shifting regulatory and economic environments. Here are 5 tools to help doctors stay afloat.

In the rush to find the best financial angle, we sometimes overlook simple opportunities for free money. That cash can add up over time.

Good advice is the hardest quantity to come by. Fortunately for doctors, many of the hard-won lessons from the business world translate directly into the practice of medicine.

The American people are among the most generous in the world. Yet that tendency, and our relative wealth, makes us easy targets for fraud, particularly fraudulent charities.

It turns out there's no shortage of financial humor. Columnist Jeff Brown shares some more of his favorite one-liners in this sequel to last week's humor column.

Humor is related to tension, and sometimes tragedy, so it would seem to be a natural for money issues.

Officially, inflation has stayed relatively low coming out of the Great Recession. But columnist Jeff Brown says in the real world, that number seems grossly out of touch.

We're told smart phones, electronic medical records, and cars with computers will improve our lives. However, columnist Jeff Brown says there's little evidence these technological advancements are actually making life easier.

One almost laughable example of a myth that permeates administrative types particularly is, "Once we have computerized medical practices, paper will disappear." See, you are smiling already.

The estate tax cut bill signed by President George W. Bush in 2009 is about to expire and a melee has started on all sides about what, if anything should be done about it. Columnist Jeff Brown says there's a common sense solution to the question.

Did you know the IRS won't call you on the phone demanding money? Did you know a coin stays in circulation 5 times longer than paper money? Those are just some of the odd factoids that exist in today's financial world.

People generally do not like surprises, especially related to money. That's because they are not usually positive. Here are a few examples of surprises, the knowledge of which may help your personal bottom line.

The CEO of Google offers a number of tips for building a better workplace. Among them: A great environment is a self-reinforcing one.

The list of the Best Companies to Work For provides physicians with a number of helpful tips to improve their work lives, and those of their employees and colleagues.

"Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if you don't." That's just one tidbit of financial wisdom in columnist Jeff Brown's latest column.

We all do a balancing act, when we think about it, between frustration and that elusive sense of security that would enable our sometime daydream.

You should not take any area of your business for granted. Conditions change, options change, and not doing a periodic review could easily cost you 6 figures over your career.

The numerical re-framing of our lives has yielded vast increases in knowledge and improved living conditions, but it is a mixed bag of results.

Important as the subject is, people are uncomfortable discussing estate planning ahead of time, to the inevitable detriment of all.

There are so many myths in finance, it's hard to know where to begin. How about this: 'Paper' money is a myth.

Why do we waste so much? For convenience, for emotional therapy, and to meet other's standards, just for a couple of major starters.

About once a year I gather the pearls and nuggets that have sifted downstream my way. I ponder, I collate, and then I pass along such as I think will be insightful and/or profitable. You know, it's the old "…better to light one candle than curse the darkness."

Medical patients sometimes hear what we say skeptically, but Americans in general will believe any darn thing.

The secret to success in anything is adequate preparation. Here are a few more tools to fend off the forces of evil who want to make your hotel stay too expensive and unpleasant.

As 2015 rolls around, columnist Jeff Brown shares thoughts on holiday excess, neglectful checkbook management, and unexpected energy consumption.

The brouhaha about cost, access, and quality arising from our chaotic jumble of healthcare institutions needs to be resolved. Meanwhile, docs can do a better job of helping our patients directly by investigating and using these new diagnostic tools available through the miracles that are the computer and the Internet.