Financial Planning for Incorporated Physicians

Common Physician Questions

The financial decisions doctors face are rarely isolated.

Incorporation, compensation, corporate cash, practice model, investing and retirement income all affect one another. We help you coordinate the tradeoffs with your accountant and other advisors.

Should I incorporate?

We help weigh timing, practice model, cash flow, tax deferral, administrative cost and whether incorporation fits your current stage of practice.

Salary, dividends, or both?

The right mix can affect RRSP room, CPP contributions, tax instalments, mortgage qualification, benefit planning and retirement flexibility.

How much cash should stay inside?

Doctors often need reserves for billing delays, tax instalments, staff, lease commitments, equipment, leave, vacation coverage and slower clinic ramp-up.

What is the practice model?

Locum, associate, contractor, partner, shareholder, salaried physician and overhead-sharing arrangements each create different planning issues.

Corporate investing

Retained earnings can become a long-term investment pool, but investment policy, RRSP/TFSA coordination and passive income rules need attention.

Retirement from practice

We map corporate withdrawals, RRSP/RRIF income, CPP/OAS timing, tax brackets, estate liquidity and the transition out of active practice.

Corporate Cash & Retained Earnings

Surplus cash needs a job before it becomes an investment portfolio.

For physicians, the corporation is not just a tax structure. It may also be the reserve account, investment vehicle, retirement bridge and estate-planning asset.

Before investing surplus cash, we help clarify the amount needed for operations, taxes, leave, debt, equipment and planned withdrawals. From there, the remaining capital can be coordinated with RRSPs, TFSAs, personal assets and long-term retirement income.

Billing delays and income variability
Tax instalments and GST/HST timing
Clinic overhead, staff payroll and lease commitments
Equipment purchases or financing
Parental leave, illness or vacation coverage
RRSP, TFSA, mortgage and corporate investment tradeoffs

Planning Scope

What physician planning can include.

Advice that fits around your professional life.

We do not sell investments or require assets to be transferred to us. Our role is to build and maintain the integrated plan, coordinate with your accountant where needed, and help you make decisions with clearer context.

Medical professional corporation planning Salary vs dividend illustration Corporate investment coordination Tax-aware withdrawal planning Retirement income from practice Estate and family wealth planning

Good Fit

You may be a fit if these questions are becoming harder to answer alone.

The best physician planning often happens before a major transition: incorporation, practice change, retained earnings build-up, family change, retirement, or sale/wind-down.

You have a medical professional corporation or are considering one
You are deciding between salary, dividends or a blended approach
You have retained earnings and are unsure how much to invest corporately
Your practice model or overhead arrangement is changing
You want advice-only planning, not investment product sales
You want your accountant, lawyer and planner working from one coordinated plan

Financial planning for physicians.