his Week in Micro-Business — Week of May 18–23, 2026

The PEA-SimpliMD Digest: This Week in Micro-Business

The PEA-SimpliMD Digest: This Week in Micro-Business — Week of May 18–23, 2026

From Dr. Tod

I did not plan it this way, but when I look at what went out this week I think the three posts form something close to a complete wealth philosophy for physicians.

Monday started with the retirement math — the specific numbers behind why a solo 401(k) through your S-Corp outperforms a SEP IRA at physician income levels, and by how much. It is the kind of post that makes people pull out a calculator and feel the gap in their stomach a little. Wednesday pulled back from the numbers entirely and asked a harder question: what is all of this actually for? And Friday connected the two with the "How Millionaires Make Money" framework — the two-capital model that most physicians have never applied to their own financial picture.

Build it right. Put it somewhere it compounds. Know why you are doing it. That is the whole week in one sentence.

If any one of these posts resonated, I'd encourage you to read all three together. They were not written as a series but they read like one. Forward this digest to a colleague who needs the full picture. The physicians who build real wealth are usually the ones who got the framework early.

This Week's Quote

"You are rich in human capital and underbuilt in assets capital. The micro-corporation is not just the tax fix — it is the structural bridge between the two."

— Dr. Tod Stillson

Monday's Post

Monday — The Entrepreneur's Life

The Retirement Math Every 1099 Physician Needs to See

A physician who had just moved from practice ownership to 1099 work came to me with a simple question: where can she compare a solo 401(k) to a SEP IRA? When I looked at her situation, I realized she was about to leave $20,000 in tax savings on the table every year — and she didn't know it.

This post breaks down why. In 2026, the defined contribution limit sits at $72,000. To reach that ceiling inside a SEP IRA you need W-2 compensation of $288,000. Inside a solo 401(k), the same $72,000 is accessible at $190,000 in compensation — because the salary deferral component works differently. That $98,000 gap in required compensation translates directly into dollars you are either sheltering or surrendering every single year.

If you have any 1099 income and you are still defaulting to a SEP for simplicity's sake, Monday's post will cost you about five minutes to read and could change your retirement trajectory by six figures over a decade.

Wednesday's Post

Wednesday — Think Like an Owner-Entrepreneur

What If the Point Was Never the Money? Rethinking What You're Actually Building Toward

A few years ago I read Die With Zero by Bill Perkins and it changed how I thought about my Fridays. I started taking them back. My family calls them adventure days now — unstructured time with no agenda, no RVU targets, no inbox. That change cost me income on paper. What it returned was not measurable on a spreadsheet.

Wednesday's post makes the case that the micro-corporation is not just a tax tool — it is a time tool. When you own your professional structure, you can actually act on what you say matters to you: the trip you keep deferring, the schedule that bends around your family, the sabbatical that never seems like the right moment. The ownership model is what makes the Die With Zero philosophy executable rather than aspirational.

My wife and I keep an adventure list. We maintain a donor-advised fund. We intend to spend and give generously while we are here rather than optimize for what we leave behind. This post is about why that philosophy belongs at the center of your financial plan — not as a footnote after the spreadsheets are done.

Friday's Post

Friday — Micro-Business Tips for Clinicians (skip the MBA)

How Millionaires Actually Make Money — And What Most Physicians Get Wrong About It

A simple diagram has been circulating in physician communities that breaks down how wealthy people build and deploy money. It separates capital into two types — human capital and assets capital — and maps three ways to deploy cash flow: spend it, save it, invest it. The framework is not complicated. What is complicated is how badly most physicians are positioned against it.

Most of us have spent a decade building one of the most valuable human capital profiles in the workforce. Almost none of it has converted into assets capital. Friday's post explains why that gap exists structurally — not behaviorally — and what the micro-corporation does to close it. It also covers the active versus passive investing layer, why your PC is itself an active investment most physicians undervalue, and a case study of a radiologist who turned the diagnosis into a plan.

Read this one alongside Monday's retirement math post and the picture gets sharper fast.

Tool of the Week

Free eBook — PEA Explorer and above

Should I Create a Professional Micro-Corporation?

This week's posts covered the retirement math, the wealth framework, and the life philosophy underneath both. The common thread in all three is the micro-corporation — the structural foundation that makes each of those strategies possible. If you are still deciding whether the structure is right for your situation, this free guide walks through the specific criteria, the formation process, and how to assess whether the numbers work for you.

Free for PEA Explorer members and above at simplimd.com/PEAMembership.

Affiliate Highlight

Wealth Management — Earned Wealth

This was a wealth-heavy week. Retirement accounts, capital frameworks, investment strategy — all roads this week pointed toward the same practical need: a wealth manager who understands how physician income, business structure, and long-term investing connect.

I refer physicians to Earned Wealth Management when this need comes up. They specialize in physicians and know how your PC, your retirement accounts, and your investment portfolio need to function as one coordinated system — not three separate conversations with three separate advisors. Tell them SimpliMD sent you.

Free eBook This Week

Dare to Dream: A Goal-Setting Guide for Physician Entrepreneurs (free)

Wednesday's post was about knowing what you are building toward. This guide is the practical companion to that conversation — a goal-setting framework that treats your time and your money as connected resources and helps you map both financial and life-experience goals together. If the Die With Zero post landed for you, this is the right next step. Free for PEA Explorer members and above.

PEA Membership

The Physician Entrepreneur Academy is where physician entrepreneurs at every stage get the education, tools, and community to build their micro-corporation and their wealth with confidence. Three tiers, one community.

Explorer

$99/yr

Blog access, free eBooks, community. The right place to start.

Builder

$499/yr

Full resource library, templates, and tools for active micro-corp owners.

Pro

$999/yr

Everything in Builder plus premium courses and priority coaching access.

Join at simplimd.com/PEAMembership.

Until Next Week

Three posts. One through-line. Build the structure that lets you keep more of what you earn, put it somewhere it compounds, and stay clear on what it is actually for.

That is not a complicated philosophy. It is a rare one among physicians — because nobody in training ever taught you to think this way about your career and your money at the same time. That is the gap this community exists to close.

If this week's digest moved something for you, forward it to one physician who needs it. The conversation starts with one person deciding to think differently. Maybe that person is someone sitting in the call room next to you right now.

See you Monday.

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