Financial Health Assessment
Rufus and Catherine: Pain Management Household Scores 30 Out of 100
By Ryan Inman
Published · Updated
Pain managementEstablished · AttendingCouple, two children
Financial Health Assessment score
30 out of 100
Needs a workup
- Needs a workup 0 to 39
- Corrections 40 to 69
- Stable 70 to 84
- Healthy 85 to 100
The score grades the household on 20 measures across seven frameworks. Rufus and Catherine lands at 30, in the Needs a workup band, score 0 to 39.
Rufus is a pain management physician earning $344,000 a year before tax: $225,000 of W2 income, $85,800 of contract income, and about $33,600 from a second contract, with take home pay of $17,712 a month after taxes. Catherine is a physician who is currently a stay at home mother, with no income stated. The household has two small children. The assessment scores the household 30 out of 100, in the Needs a workup band.
The saving that does happen is stated plainly. Retirement saving runs at 14 percent of income: a SEP IRA at $2,000 a month plus a maxed 401k with a 6 percent match. The household sends $500 a month to 529 accounts for its two children, and states $575 a month left after expenses and contributions. Investable accounts total about $291,727 across five accounts, the largest a taxable account at $185,343.
The file's center is the money nobody can find. The caller states the household spends without thinking and does not budget, and the hosts put the unaccounted money at about $3,000 to $3,500 of the $17,712 monthly take home pay. There are no estate documents and no guardian stated for two small children, the emergency fund amount is not stated, and health cover, the umbrella amount, and malpractice are all not stated.
$344,000
Pre tax income · one earner working today
$113,000
Student loan · at 2.857 percent
$3,000 to $3,500
Per month the hosts could not account for
About $759,000
Total stated debt · about 2.2 times income
39
Score with the three traced fixes · Needs a workup band
The short version
- The score: 30 out of 100, in the Needs a workup band. The Decision Filter earns the full 4 of 4 and life cover the full 4, while the Transition framework earns 0 of 10.
- The hosts could not account for about $3,000 to $3,500 of the $17,712 monthly take home pay. The leak box and the named lanes box both earn 0, on the caller's own statement that the household spends without thinking and does not budget.
- Retirement saving runs at a stated 14 percent of income, a SEP IRA at $2,000 a month plus a maxed 401k, with $500 a month to 529 accounts for two children.
- Total stated debt is about $759,000, about 2.2 times the $344,000 income: a $113,000 student loan and a condominium mortgage of about $646,000 on the later stated figure.
- Three traced fixes move the score 9 points to a 39: estate documents with a guardian, named lanes for the dollars, and the leak brought under the partial line. A score of 39 stays in the Needs a workup band.
$344,000 in, and $3,000 to $3,500 a month walks out unnamed.
What They Did Right
A high income file with the retirement habit already running. This is the machinery already running.
- A maxed 401k and a funded SEP IRA Retirement saving stated at 14 percent of income across two account types, $2,000 a month to the SEP IRA plus the maxed 401k with a 6 percent match.
- Term life bought at full size $2,000,000 of individual term for 30 years at about $1,500 a year, in force. The life box earns the full 4.
- 529 accounts funded for both children $500 a month flows to college savings for the household's two children, beside the retirement flows.
- Five goals, stated The household named five goals for the record. The Decision Filter earns the full 4. The goals are not the missing piece.
- $291,727 already invested Five accounts stated with balances, the largest a taxable account at $185,343, built while one spouse is at home.
The Score: 30 out of 100
The Financial Health Assessment grades a household across the same seven frameworks and lands the total in a band. Rufus and Catherine scores 30, in the Needs a workup band. This household is scored on the attending rubric, on the established fork of the Transition framework.
20
Measures graded
7
Frameworks
30
Rufus and Catherine's score
The 3 Bucket Framework earns 3 of 20. Milestones earn 0, because the milestone net cannot be determined from what the intake states. The emergency fund earns 0, because its amount and months are not stated. Named lanes earn 0, on the caller's own statement: the household spends without thinking and does not budget. Goals funded earns 3, with dollars flowing to retirement and the 529 accounts while other stated goals are not funded.
The Physician Wealth Equation earns 7 of 14. The Debt Anchor earns 5: total stated debt of about $759,000, the $113,000 student loan plus the condominium balance of about $646,000, against $344,000 of income is about 2.2 times, inside the established partial band past the 2.0 full line. Stretch saving earns 2: a stated savings rate of 14 percent sits between the 12 percent partial line and the 25 percent full line.
The Protection Stack earns 6 of 22. Health earns 0, because cover is not stated. Disability earns 2, cover present with its individual own occupation status not stated. Life earns the full 4, on the $2,000,000 individual term policy in force. Umbrella earns 0, because the amount is not stated, so adequacy cannot be checked. Malpractice earns 0, not stated. Estate documents earn 0, because none exist and no guardian is stated for two small children.
The Transition framework, on the established fork, earns 0 of 10. Education debt finished earns 0: $113,000 of student loans stand outstanding with no deliberate forgiveness plan being executed. No lingering consumer or vehicle debt earns 0: the status of that debt is not stated, so the box cannot grade it as clear.
The Tax Ladder earns 2 of 8, at 2 and 0: pre tax SEP and 401k accounts are used and a Roth account is held, with no bracket reason stated, and the bracket and two deliberate tax moves are not stated. The Decision Filter earns the full 4 of 4 on five stated goals.
The Lifestyle Guardrails earn 8 of 22: the Savings Floor at 6 on the stated 14 percent rate, the leak at 0 with about $3,000 to $3,500 a month unaccounted on the hosts' count, and wealth first automation at 2, on regular SEP and 401k flows with automation and pay first order not stated.
| Framework | What it covers | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 02 3 Bucket Framework | Milestones 0, emergency fund 0 (amount not stated), named lanes 0 (no budget, stated), goals funded 3 | 3 of 20 |
| 03 Physician Wealth Equation | Debt anchor 5 at about 2.2 times income, stretch saving 2 at a stated 14 percent | 7 of 14 |
| 04 Protection Stack | Health 0 (not stated), disability 2, life 4, umbrella 0 (amount not stated), malpractice 0, estate documents 0 | 6 of 22 |
| 05 Transition | Education debt finished 0, loans outstanding with no forgiveness plan. No lingering debt 0, status not stated | 0 of 10 |
| 06 Tax Ladder | Roth against pre tax 2, bracket plus moves 0 | 2 of 8 |
| 07 Decision Filter | Goals written 4, five goals stated | 4 of 4 |
| 08 Lifestyle Guardrails | Savings floor 6 at a stated 14 percent, the leak 0, wealth first automation 2 | 8 of 22 |
| Total | Needs a workup band | 30 out of 100 |
Read the shape, not just the total. The stated system saves 14 percent, funds two 529 accounts, and holds $291,727 of investments, and the same file states that the household spends without thinking, keeps no budget, and cannot account for about $3,000 to $3,500 a month. The traced fixes all sit in that gap: lanes, leak, and documents. Nothing in the prescription asks this household to earn more. It asks the household to name where the money already goes.
The Prescription
Three traced fixes, and the open items behind them.
- Complete the estate documents, including a guardian. This is the Protection Stack, and it gains 4 points, moving estate documents from 0 to 4. A will naming a guardian for the household's two small children, a power of attorney, and a healthcare directive, as the hosts directed on the episode.
- Put the dollars in named lanes. This is the 3 Bucket Framework, and it gains 2 points, moving named lanes from 0 to 2. Adopt the tracking and budgeting the hosts prescribed, so most dollars sit in named lanes instead of moving unnamed.
- Bring the unaccounted money under the partial line. This is the Lifestyle Guardrails, and it gains 3 points, moving the leak from 0 to 3. The same tracking prescription, carried through until the unaccounted share of the month falls under the rubric's partial threshold.
- State the unstated lines. Health cover, the umbrella amount, malpractice, and the emergency fund amount are all not stated, and consumer and vehicle debt status is not stated. Stating them is what lets the next reading grade them. No point gain is traced for this item.
Run the three traced fixes and the arithmetic is 30 plus 9, a score of 39. The gains are 4 for estate documents with a guardian, 2 for named lanes, and 3 for the leak brought under the partial line. A score of 39 out of 100 keeps the household in the Needs a workup band.
What This Case Teaches
Spending without a system is a score, not a style. This household earns $344,000, saves a stated 14 percent, funds college accounts, and holds nearly $300,000 of investments, and it lands at 30, because the same file states that the spending has no lanes and that $3,000 to $3,500 a month cannot be accounted for. The rubric grades the system a household runs, and an unnamed system grades at zero however good the intentions inside it are.
Name the lanes before raising the rate.
The second lesson is the price of an unstated amount. An umbrella policy is present and grades 0, because the amount is not stated, so the fit cannot be checked. An emergency fund exists as two bank accounts and grades 0, because no amount is stated. Presence without a figure is a sentence the rubric cannot grade, and this file has two of them.
Behind the score
The Household
Rufus is a pain management physician with three income lines: W2 pay of $225,000, contract income of $85,800, and about $33,600 from a second contract, $344,000 before tax in all, and $17,712 a month of take home pay after taxes, SEP IRA, 401k, and write offs. Catherine is a physician who is currently a stay at home mother. No income is stated for her. The household has two small children.
Investable accounts total about $291,727: a taxable account at $185,343, a SEP IRA at $65,587, a traditional IRA at $16,645, a 401k at $14,152, and Catherine's Roth account at $10,000. The caller states that several investment allocations are unknown to him. Two bank accounts are held for emergency funds and bills. Their amounts are not stated, so emergency fund months cannot be calculated from the record.
The accounts hold $291,727. The month still leaks.
Retirement saving is stated at 14 percent of income: the SEP IRA takes $2,000 a month and the 401k is maxed with a 6 percent match. The 529 accounts for the two children take $500 a month. After expenses and contributions, the caller states $575 a month left. Against that tidy picture, the caller also states the household spends without thinking and does not budget, and the hosts identify about $3,000 to $3,500 a month that the stated figures cannot account for.
Debt runs on two lines. The student loan is $113,000 at 2.857 percent, at $896 a month, and it is not on PSLF. The condominium was bought for $845,000 with 20 percent down, a loan of $676,000 at 3.75 percent. The remaining balance is stated inconsistently in the caller's statement, first as $676,000 and later as about $646,000, and this page runs on the later figure, as the record's trace does. Mortgage plus maintenance runs $5,048 a month. Credit card, vehicle, and other consumer debt are not stated.
Protection is one strong box and a ring of unstated ones. Term life of $2,000,000 for 30 years is in force at about $1,500 a year, the full box. Disability cover is present at $4,285 a year, with its individual own occupation status not stated. Umbrella cover is present, and the amount is not stated, so adequacy cannot be checked. Health cover and malpractice are not stated. There are no estate planning documents, and no guardian is stated for the household's two small children.
| Household fact | Where it stands |
|---|---|
| Careers | Pain management physician. Physician spouse currently a stay at home mother |
| Household income | $344,000 pre tax (W2 $225,000, contract $85,800, second contract about $33,600). Take home $17,712 a month |
| Family | Couple, two small children |
| Student loans | $113,000 at 2.857 percent, $896 a month, not PSLF |
| Mortgage | Condominium bought for $845,000 with 20 percent down. Loan $676,000 at 3.75 percent. Balance stated as $676,000 and later about $646,000 (later figure used). Mortgage plus maintenance $5,048 a month |
| Other debt | Credit card, vehicle, and other consumer debt not stated |
| Emergency fund | Amount not stated. Two bank accounts held for emergency funds and bills, so months cannot be calculated |
| Saving | Stated at 14 percent of income: SEP IRA $2,000 a month plus maxed 401k with 6 percent match. 529 accounts $500 a month. $575 a month stated left after expenses and contributions |
| Balances | Investable about $291,727: taxable $185,343. SEP IRA $65,587. Traditional IRA $16,645. 401k $14,152. Roth $10,000 |
| Disability | Present at $4,285 a year. Individual own occupation status not stated |
| Life insurance | $2,000,000 for 30 years at about $1,500 a year, individual term in force |
| Umbrella | Present. Amount not stated, so adequacy cannot be checked |
| Estate documents | None. No guardian stated for two small children |
| Goals | Five stated goals |
The Two Frameworks Behind the Score
The score grades 20 measures across seven frameworks. Two of them carry this case: the Lifestyle Guardrails, which score 8 of 22 with the leak at zero, and the Protection Stack, which scores 6 of 22 with one full box and the rest partial or unstated.
Framework one
The Lifestyle Guardrails
The Guardrails grade whether today's lifestyle leaves room for the plan: the savings floor, the leak, and whether wealth is paid first. The floor is stated and partial. The leak is the file.
- The savings floor Partial
- Retirement saving is stated at 14 percent of income, a SEP IRA at $2,000 a month plus a maxed 401k. The box earns 6 of 12, between the 10 percent partial line and the 20 percent full line.
- The leak Missing
- The hosts identify about $3,000 to $3,500 a month of take home pay that the stated figures cannot account for, on the caller's own statement that the household spends without thinking. The box earns 0 of 6, and closing it is a traced fix.
- Wealth first automation Partial
- Regular SEP and 401k flows run every month, with automation and pay first order not stated. The box earns 2 of 4.
Framework two
The Protection Stack
The Protection Stack grades the coverage that keeps one bad month from ending the plan. Here one box is bought at full size and the rest of the stack is partial, unstated, or missing: 6 of 22.
- Life cover, in force Built
- Individual term of $2,000,000 for 30 years stands at about $1,500 a year. The box earns the full 4 of 4.
- Disability, present and ungraded in detail Partial
- Disability cover is present at $4,285 a year, with its individual own occupation status not stated. The box earns 2 of 4.
- Estate documents and the unstated lines Missing
- No documents exist and no guardian is stated for two small children. Health cover, the umbrella amount, and malpractice are not stated. Estate documents earn 0 of 4, and completing them with a guardian is a traced fix.
The $3,000 to $3,500 Nobody Can Find
The first look is the hosts' arithmetic: on the household's stated figures, the hosts could not account for about $3,000 to $3,500 a month. Money is going somewhere the statement does not name.
The household's statement names the cause: the household spends without thinking and does not budget. That sentence grades two boxes at zero. Named lanes earn 0, because no dollar in this file has a stated lane. The leak earns 0, because the unaccounted share sits far past the partial line of under 3 percent of monthly income.
Unnamed money is spent money.
The prescription the hosts gave is the plain one, and the record traces points to it twice. Put the dollars in named lanes and the lanes box moves from 0 to 2. Bring the unaccounted money under the partial threshold and the leak box moves from 0 to 3. Together the two moves are worth 5 of the 9 traced points in this file, more than the estate set, on a household that already saves 14 percent.
Nothing about the fix needs a raise, a refinance, or a new account. The $575 a month the caller states as left over and the $3,000 to $3,500 the hosts cannot find are the same household in the same month. Naming the lanes is how those two figures become one figure, and the score grades the naming.
Two Small Children and No Guardian
The second look is the empty box with names attached to it. The household has two small children. It has no estate planning documents: no will, no power of attorney, no healthcare directive. And no guardian is stated for the children anywhere in the record. The estate box earns 0 of 4, and the hosts' direction on the episode was to complete the documents including a guardian.
The life box is full: $2,000,000 of individual term for 30 years, in force, at about $1,500 a year. The disability box is partial at 2, cover present at $4,285 a year with its own occupation status not stated. The umbrella box grades 0 for a different reason: a policy is present and the amount is not stated, so the rubric cannot check the policy against the household's assets, and an unchecked policy grades as no policy.
Two small children, and no guardian named anywhere.
Health cover and malpractice are not stated at all, and the emergency fund amount is not stated, so three more boxes sit at zero for want of a sentence each. This file's Protection Stack is a story of bought cover, partial statements, and no estate documents at all, with two children's names waiting on the guardian line.
The traced gain is the full set: documents completed, guardian included, 4 points. It is the largest single gain in this file, and it costs signatures.
Milestones: Scored on What Is Stated
Inside the 3 Bucket Framework, the milestone checklist tracks the markers a household has already hit. This checklist earns 0 for Rufus and Catherine, because the intake never states a milestone list the net can be computed from. The box pays only for stated milestones.
The rest of the bucket picture: the emergency fund earns 0 because its amount is not stated, named lanes earn 0 on the caller's own statement that the household does not budget, and goals funded earns 3 of 6 on flows that fund retirement and the 529 accounts while other goals stand unfunded. The framework earns 3 of 20.
Questions this case answers
What score did Rufus and Catherine receive on the Financial Health Assessment?
Rufus and Catherine scored 30 out of 100, in the Needs a workup band. The Decision Filter earns the full 4 of 4 and life cover the full 4, while the Transition framework earns 0 of 10 and the Protection Stack 6 of 22.
Where does the missing $3,000 to $3,500 a month go?
The record does not say, and that is the finding. The caller states the household spends without thinking and does not budget, and the hosts identify about $3,000 to $3,500 of the $17,712 monthly take home pay that the stated figures cannot account for. The prescription is named lanes and tracking, which the record traces to 5 points across two boxes.
How large is the household's debt against its income?
Total stated debt is about $759,000: a $113,000 student loan plus a condominium balance of about $646,000 on the later of two inconsistent stated figures. Against $344,000 of income that is about 2.2 times, which earns the Debt Anchor partial credit at 5 of 10 on the established scale.
What do the fixes do to Rufus and Catherine's score?
Run the three traced fixes and the arithmetic is 30 plus 9, a score of 39. The gains are 4 for estate documents including a guardian for two small children, 2 for putting dollars in named lanes, and 3 for bringing the unaccounted money under the partial line. A score of 39 out of 100 keeps the household in the Needs a workup band.
Sources and Basis
This assessment is built from the household's own intake for the Financial Health Assessment and the episode assessment of it. Every figure on this page comes from that record, and the score is traced box by box under the locked attending rubric.
The attending rubric weights the seven frameworks at 20, 14, 22, 10, 8, 4, and 22, for a total of 100. The bands are Needs a workup from 0 to 39, Corrections from 40 to 69, Stable from 70 to 84, and Healthy from 85 to 100. Attendings are scored on the Transition fork by years since training: for established attendings, whether education debt is finished, and whether consumer or vehicle debt remains.