The Doctors Economic Research Project is a specialized area of inquiry that evolved from a privately funded research project that was initiated in 1971 to study the economics of productive individuals’ lives. Early findings indicated unique deficiencies in doctors’ educations regarding personal and business financial structures. Lack of time available in medical and dental school curricula prevented effective understanding of fundamental principles of business management and personal financial management. These deficiencies in economic education prevented doctors from controlling their practices and their personal financial structures. This lack of control, in turn, contributed to stress related to uncertainties regarding basic business practices, personnel management, business cash flow, and allocations of capital and time. In addition, a lack of understanding of catastrophic loss and asset protection plans, qualified and non-qualified retirement plans, leverage, investment selection, and investment objectives contributed to significant inefficiencies in the conversion of doctors’ surplus earnings to savings.
As a result of this demonstrated need the research project initially asked one fundamental question of doctors: What do you need to KNOW to succeed financially? Doctors’ answers to this question led to the development of graphic planning models depicting the economic life cycle of doctors and the priority allocation of doctors’ earnings during their careers. These models provided the basis for the development of a unique economic education program for busy doctors. A second line of inquiry was developed based upon a frequent question from doctors who attended the economic education programs. The second question was: Would it be possible to quantify the planning models, planning principles, and planning rules of the economic education program in my personal financial circumstances?
A planning program was developed that quantified the economic education program’s unique planning concepts, planning models, planning principles, and planning rules in individual doctor’s circumstances. A personalized capital accumulation plan quantified financial independence, at the later of 15 years or age 65, based on individual doctors’ lifestyle costs. The plan considered existing earnings exceeding lifestyle costs, assets, and liabilities, and risk investment allocation percentages. Plan recommendations prevented losses of surplus earnings to unnecessary income taxes, prevented losses of savings to unnecessary risk investments, and illustrated existing and planning program progress toward financial independence. The capital accumulation planning program was then made available to doctors who participated in the Economics of Life education program and elected to become members of the Doctors Economic Research Association. Consultants were recruited and specially trained to implement the “Ideal Planning” recommendations that were included in Action Plans that were a component of the capital accumulation plans that were provided to thousands of doctors.
Many doctors who implemented the planning recommendations accumulated more savings than they needed, at the later of 15 years or age 65, to finance their lifestyle costs through their life expectancies. The success of the accumulation planning program led to the development of personalized capital distribution plans and endowment creation plans. A post-Great Recession iteration of the planning program, the New Economic Order Planning Program, began development in 2008 to develop a new generation of guaranteed outcome financial instruments that would meet doctors’ capital accumulation, capital distribution, and endowment creation requirements in a new economic environment of uncertainty and volatility. Proof of concept pilot projects were initiated in 2012 to validate and confirm the effectiveness of newly developed guaranteed outcome retirement plans, guaranteed life income financial instruments, and endowment creation and multiplication plans. After the successful completion of the pilot projects the New Economic Order Planning Program became available for use by doctors in 2024.