How do urology residents manage personal finances?

Objectives. To examine personal financial management among residents to ans wer three research questions: do residents make reasonable financial choice s; why do some residents not save; and what steps can be taken to improve r esidents' personal financial decisions. Methods. Portions of the Federal Reserve Board's Survey of Consumer Finance s were modified and piloted to elicit demographic, expense, saving, and inc ome data. The final questionnaire was completed by 151 urology residents at 20 programs. Results. Comparing residents with the general population in the same age an d income categories, the median debt/household income ratio was 2.58 versus 0.64. Residents had greater educational debt, greater noneducational debt, and lower savings. Resident participation in retirement accounts was 100% at institutions with employer-matching 401k or 403b plans, 63% at instituti ons with nonmatching 401k or 403b plans, and 48% at institutions without re tirement plans for residents (P = 0.002). Fifty-nine percent of residents b udgeted expenses, 27% had cash balances below $1000, 51% had paid interest charges on credit cards within the previous year, and 12% maintained unpaid credit card balances greater than $10,000. The median resident income was $58,400. Conclusions. A significant minority of residents appear not to make reasona ble financial choices. Some residents save little because of a failure to b udget, indebtedness, high projected income growth, or insufficient attentio n to personal financial management. Residents save more when they are eligi ble for tax-deferred retirement plans, particularly when their institution matches their contributions. Many residents would benefit from instruction concerning prudent financial management. UROLOGY 57: 866-871, 2001. (C) 200 1, Elsevier Science Inc.