Katarina “Kat” Astrup, M.S.P.A.S.’14, graduated from DMU’s physician assistant program with student debt, but that didn’t prevent her from experiencing “lifestyle creep” — the tendency of new graduates who suddenly have an income to prioritize material rewards over financial stability.
“Your expenses creep up. It’s so easy to say, ‘I’ve delayed gratification over the years’ or ‘I deserve a new house or a new car,’” she says. She and her husband, Brian, ate out often. She took on a car lease with substantial monthly payments. A financial advisor told them not to worry about paying off their student loans too quickly and to instead invest in expensive whole-life insurance, which was “not a good idea for a new graduate.”
By 2019, Astrup was experiencing symptoms of burnout as a family medicine PA. Around the same time, a co-worker’s spouse introduced her to “travel hacking,” the use of credit cards to earn points on airfare, hotels and other expenses. That led to her discovery of FIRE, or “financial independence, retire early.” And that inspired her to create a podcast, “PA the FI Way,” which launched Feb. 11, 2021.
“The bottom line is that financial independence is the point at which work becomes optional for you, as you no longer need to work to be able to cover your expenses,” she states on the podcast’s website. “To reach FI sooner, you’ll want to learn to cut costs, earn more throughout your working years and invest the difference to allow compounding interest to help you build wealth with time.
“Once you reach FI, you have achieved the ultimate form of freedom,” she adds.
The target audiences for the podcast, she says, are high school students, pre- and current physician assistant students and recent PA graduates. Still, anyone can benefit from its basic lessons: cut expenses and spend “intentionally” on what brings you joy, invest to earn interest and build wealth, and maximize your earnings if possible. Establishing these practices early can help individuals retire when they want, including before the traditional retirement age of 65, and reduce burnout.
“Once you gain control of your finances and cut back on expenses, you may be able to cut back on work,” says Astrup, who now practices three days a week in psychiatry via telehealth. She emphasizes that pursuing financial independence doesn’t have to mean leading a life of deprivation. She and her husband’s fathers died before the traditional retirement age, which taught the couple to enjoy what’s most important to them, including quality time with family and friends.
“For my husband and me, trying to achieve financial independence with the option to retire early if we chose to do so before traditional retirement age is a huge goal. However, it is absolutely vital to us that we enjoy our journey to FI,” she says.
Astrup emphasizes that while gaining control of one’s finances can seem intimidating, it’s doable, especially for individuals who’ve earned graduate degrees.
“Trying to achieve financial independence will take patience and persistence, but so did becoming a PA, so you got this,” she says in one podcast episode. “FI means freedom, flexibility and, ultimately, it’s fun. It’s the best-paying hobby you’ll ever have.”
PA the FI Way can be found on all major streaming platforms.
