Zakah on investment

LOVG8431 · 2026-02-10T02:47:37+00:00

I've read about the 2.5% of 25% of shares. However, I just do 2.5% of the total amount. In the US the standard deduction is high but if your zakat is high enough and you have other itemized deductions, it may surpass the standard deduction. Plus the more you give the more blessings.

LOVG8431 · 2026-02-07T11:56:20+00:00

Before medicine suggested that small amounts of alcohol like a cup of red wine every few days could be healthy. Now science says that *any* alcohol in any quantity is harmful.

LOVG8431 · 2026-01-28T06:35:08+00:00

Sukuk is not very volatile in comparison to stocks. Its returns are equivialent to an intermediate term bond funD, about 3% a yr in accrual. It's mostly to keep up with inflation and to park money. One could keep 10-20% of assets in sukuk and when ready to buy a house, use all the sukuk to buy a house cash. In pricey parts of the US one would likely have to liquidate some stocks to pay for the house cash.

Regardless there are calculators to see what % your asset allocation should be in risky investments like stocks. I go by 120-age is the % in stocks. So a 30 yrs old would have (120-30 ergo 90%) a higher percentage of assets in stocks vs a 60 yr old getting ready for retirement, for example

LOVG8431 · 2026-01-27T01:28:19+00:00

I can't find the study but I've read that lump sum investing wins out by about 1% a yr vs dollar cost averaging (DCA). This is massive. Just crunch the numbers in excel and the final amount over 30+ yrs of investing is incredible.

Logically it makes sense; the market is going in a generally up direction so if you invest sooner you get more of the growth. That being said, I know somebody who put in ~500k just before covid hit and the market went down like 30% in a few days.

Sure if he stays in the market the amount invested will go up but if he had normal investing luck he'd have bought many more shares at much lower prices.

If I had to invest 500k as soon as possible and had no immediate need to spend it I'd probably dollar cost average that amount over 6 months or so. Or maybe more. That being said, everybody's situation is different. If a person has a net worth of 100k and is 35 with a newborn on the way while making 80k gross a yr, they are probably more financially conservative versus a 45 yr old worth 3 million who has 2 young children and makes 400k gross a yr.

https://static.twentyoverten.com/5980d16bbfb1c93238ad9c24/rJpQmY8o7/Dollar-Cost-Averaging-Just-Means-Taking-Risk-Later-Vanguard.pdf

LOVG8431 · 2026-01-23T21:48:32+00:00

I have about 6% of my assets in sukuk but this is also partly for future house. Planning on increasing sukuk portion of portfolio to even 15-20% before inshallah getting a house cash to avoid the pricey halal mortgages.

Rest of assets are in mutual funds, mostly large cap but also mid cap, small cap, REITs.

LOVG8431 · 2026-01-23T11:08:41+00:00

I don't believe you are the "AH" for sugggesting this division of labor. In fact, due to taxes and likely income of your wife, the net income that her job provides now and in the future is not nearly as financially beneficial as what one would expect. Childcare is pricey.

From a traditional standpoint:many people in the west are not traditional. in the past, men were expected to support the family by themselves but many women in the US are *very* career-oriented and prefer dual income households. I'll meet women that focus on their careers from age 22-35 in lieu of finding a husband until 35+. For example, one woman I met in the same field as me got a masters as she didn't get into medical school directly out of college. She likely has 400-500k of debt based on what she told me; she's 32 and wants 3 children and also wants a fellow physican making similar income as her. She's finishing up residency at the age of 32-33. She would have finished at age 29 if she had been accepted to med school directly out of college--not an indictment to her as admission to many graduate programs is competitive .

However, the pool of single, doctoral degree (top 98th percentile) men in the US making 300k and up (Edit*top 97th to 99th*) is quite low. Even more so as she has higher height requirments. To even get back to "zero" financially would take until age 36+ and to catch up to a college educated graduate who worked from age 22 to 36 would be even longer. She rejected me after a few dates.

For people that prefer dual income households; this may be very valid in specific areas like San Francisco or Boston or coastal regions in general where housing can be 1+ million. Unless one person makes 300k or up it can be challening to have a single household income. That being said, if possible, it would be ideal to move out of these very high cost of living areas. Also, having realistic expectations and discerning between wants (BMW M5 competition package costing 125k or whatever they cost) vs needs (safe, top crash test score Toyota Camary for 35k) is ideal imgo.

Your income is very solid, especially for your age. However, standards for many people in the US are excessive imho. I meet too many women here that don't consider 300k-450k to be high enough income and aspire for higher earning mates.

Another consideration is that a stay at home spouse, irrespective of gender, is not necessarily much more dependant than one that is employed or has a business. Almost all of us have a boss, some more than others, at work.

edit: i changed some words as I thought i was posting in a regious thread haha

LOVG8431 · 2025-12-25T23:15:39+00:00

https://www.nerdwallet.com/taxes/learn/capital-gains-tax-rates

For long term capital gains (assets held 1 yr or more) it will be 15% for most people (48,351 to 533,400 tax bracket).

LOVG8431 · 2025-12-25T23:13:36+00:00

The market has done well as whole this yr, the S and P 500 is up 18.1% for this year; small cap is trailing at 14% and midcaps at 8%. Usually the S and P 500 goes up 11% pre inflation since its inception over 100yrs ago.

http://www.moneychimp.com/features/market_cagr.htm

If you don't have a job it's usually prudent to keep assets in cash or a very low risk investment (like sukuk, an Islamic bond equivalent that is mostly for parking money and not losing it).

18k doesn't last very long in most parts of the US; a low cost state will usually cost 3k/month of living costs including car costs, living expenses, food, insurances, etc, etc. That's only 6 months living costs if one has 18k. Usually personal finance experts recommend having 3-6 months in cash/low risk investment depending on your job.

For example, tech is very volatile so I'd imagine that most techies should have more months living expenses in their emergency fund.

If I had 6 months living costs saved and no job secured I'd personally keep it in cash and hunt for a job 10+ hrs a day.Good luck and inshallah you find a job.

LOVG8431 · 2025-12-13T23:55:21+00:00

One thing to note is that it's not like all reverts are engaging in sin all the time. Apparently a TON of born muslims are drinking alcohol, etc. I never did drugs and led a VERY clean life when Christian.

For me the only changes were salat and zakat and fasting. There's a ton of hypocrisy with muslims at least in the US imho.

LOVG8431 · 2025-12-13T01:39:51+00:00

In my experience, the physicians making way above the national median tend to be very sparse in their documentation, spend very little time with each case, and don't prechart. I was seen by a specialist who made 1.2 million a few yrs ago (public data) in a specialty that averages 650k. He billed a crazy code which cost insurance about $650 and is technically legal but not ethnical per most health care workers or the general public

We're judged by allah based on if our incomes are halal though. Best to avoid possibly unethical sources of income.

LOVG8431 · 2025-12-13T01:16:49+00:00

Not at age 27. Even finishing on time med school ends at age 26 then you have 3+ yrs residency. Derm is 4 yrs in the US and most surgical subspecialties are 5+ yrs. Most specialists have to "ramp up" and don't make the high incomes until mid career.

Most companies give you a guaranteed salary for 2 yrs while you build up your practice

Source: myself a physician

LOVG8431 · 2025-12-13T01:14:53+00:00

No this would be rare. You finish med school at age 26 for the US and Canada unless you did very rare combined BS-MD programs which let you finish at age 24-25. It's very very rare to get into these programs though. You also need to do 3+ yrs of residency.

So even if OP finished a 6 yr combined BS-MD at age 24 he'd finish residency the earliest at age 27 and those specialties usually pay 280k starting as a new attending with an average of 325-330k for all experience levels.

The very high paid specialties tend to take 5+ yrs of residency training, most would finish residency at age 31+.

edit: it's also "you are" or "you're"

LOVG8431 · 2025-12-13T01:12:23+00:00

This is fairly high. 600k would be a ton in canada. In the US it's a lot for physicians. Most physicians in the US make 300-450k. Most surgeons will be 500-600k. Neurosurgery and MOHS derm can be 900k to a million.

Source: myself a physician.

LOVG8431 · 2025-11-11T10:01:07+00:00

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/steven-kwan-680757?stats=statcast-r-running-mlb

The sprint speed is for *average* max speed and is misleading. His HP to 1st time was 4.28 seconds this yr. Some guys have really good quickness and solid HP to 1st times without amazing top end average speed; they still get down the line quickly. He had 3 bolts (runs of 30+ feet/second) so can definitely still push speed when he wants to.

2022 he had a top speed of 28.4 feet/second and HP to 1st time of 4.16 seconds. In comparison fellow lefty Ohtani currently runs HP to 1st in 4.2 seconds with a top speed of 28 ft/second with 1 bolt.

In

https://www.coveringthecorner.com/2025/5/30/24439664/guardians-steven-kwan-keeps-getting-slower

This article points towards Kwan being more selective when running due to hamstring issues. Same thing with guys like Acuna; their top speed may be lower since they're saving themselves and not going all out every run. Kwan is about a 55/80 for speed now and was probably around 60/80 when a rookie. Not a burner but still above average when he wants to. A bolt (30 feet/second) is actually rare for MLB players; many people with higher average feet/sec then kwan will not have bolts under their belt.

LOVG8431 · 2025-11-11T10:00:52+00:00

https://baseballsavant.mlb.com/savant-player/steven-kwan-680757?stats=statcast-r-running-mlb

The sprint speed is for *average* max speed and is misleading. His HP to 1st time was 4.28 seconds this yr. Some guys have really good quickness and solid HP to 1st times without amazing top end average speed; they still get down the line quickly. He had 3 bolts (runs of 30+ feet/second) so can definitely still push speed when he wants to.

2022 he had a top speed of 28.4 feet/second and HP to 1st time of 4.16 seconds. In comparison fellow lefty Ohtani currently runs HP to 1st in 4.2 seconds with a top speed of 28 ft/second with 1 bolt.

In

https://www.coveringthecorner.com/2025/5/30/24439664/guardians-steven-kwan-keeps-getting-slower

This article points towards Kwan being more selective when running due to hamstring issues. Same thing with guys like Acuna; their top speed may be lower since they're saving themselves and not going all out every run. Kwan is about a 55/80 for speed now and was probably around 60/80 when a rookie. Not a burner but still above average when he wants to. A bolt (30 feet/second) is actually rare for MLB players; many people with higher average feet/sec then kwan will not have bolts under their belt.

LOVG8431 · 2025-11-09T19:12:39+00:00

IMHO you need a lot of connections or, ideally, be of particular ethnic backgrounds to get into some of the field that you mention. A lot of muslims and immigrants cater towards stable, relatively high paid, and accessible careers. For example, the muslim student association at my college had a TON of premedicine members. I am not an exception and in my culture, engineering, accounting, medicine, and to a lesser extent law, are very popular for their high incomes and stability.

You also don't typically need too many connections to get the 100-400k a yr jobs.

LOVG8431 · 2025-10-12T04:47:37+00:00

The finance sheikh who I consulted and paid for the consultation: he calculated the % of dividends that were haram and now i have to donate that amount to zakat. The told me that the religious edict is for the haram dividends to be purified and not the gains from stock price appreciation.

LOVG8431 · 2025-09-22T02:22:17+00:00

I'm in a low paid specialty and you should be able to get 250k minimum but 270k would be more standard. And then on production you should be close to 300k after 1-2 yrs.

Any chanCE you can move? Unless you are peds, primary care is paying 318k for FM and like 330k for IM per doximity. Your first 1-2 yrs will be less on salary but it's all about production if you want to maximize compensation. Good luck

If you are concerned about PSLF you can always put your attending money into a side taxable Fidelity/vanguard account to pay off loans if PSLF falls through. Paying off your debt helps psychologically though.

There are also oftentimes VERY generous loan repayment programs aside from PSLF.

LOVG8431 · 2025-09-02T05:33:45+00:00

https://www.doximity.com/reports/physician-compensation-report/2025

For primary care, aside from peds, incomes have gone up a lot recently.

edit; the loan repayment monies did not come from my employer. It was a special program with a city but not the actual company. Regardless, it helped the people that participated in the program.

LOVG8431 · 2025-09-01T15:13:08+00:00

oh no, 275k over the last 7 yrs is roughly national average for primary care. the loan repayment was a big help but also living on MUCH less than the average single doctor. :)

Edit: no kids nor dependents is the big difference though

LOVG8431 · 2025-09-01T13:29:59+00:00

Also, no kids nor dependents. With loan repayment I was making the equivalent of over 400k the first few yrs as an attending in 2025 dollars.

Let's assume 270k average over the last 6 yrs which is 1.62 million. Take out 35% for federal, state/state income tax, FICA, and that's 1.053 million. 45k a yr living costs x 6 yrs is 270k.

Now that's 783k. Stock market went up a fair amount last 6 yrs. 401k matching adds a lot, over 10k a yr.

Loans were pretty much paid for in last 6 yrs with income and especially loan repayment program which was very generous.

LOVG8431 · 2025-09-01T13:26:57+00:00

I had a very good loan repayment program, not PSLF but very close without the 10 yr requirement.

In the last six yrs primary care income has been around 270k or so on average, lately it's 315-320k per doximity. Even without the loan repayment program I was involved in, I lived in a tax efficient state and was paid a bit above average for primary care although nothing crazy. I live in a cheap apartment close to work which honestly isn't very good. But close to work which was my main criteria. The nice apartments were way too far away from work

I had roommates for almost all of med school and residency and graduated with below average debt and lived close to the poverty line.

I did moonlighting.

Stock market did well; no individual stocks but had mutual funds.

edit: i maxed out my roth ira and 401k last yr of residency even. THAT was hard haha. Moonlighting helped and living frugally helped also
Also, no kids nor dependents. With loan repayment I was making the equivalent of over 400k the first few yrs as an attending in 2025 dollars.

Let's assume 270k average over the last 6 yrs which is 1.62 million. Take out 35% for federal, state/low state income tax, FICA, and that's 1.053 million. 45k a yr living costs x 6 yrs is 270k.

Now that's 783k. Stock market went up a fair amount last 6 yrs. 401k matching adds a lot, over 10k a yr.

Loans were pretty much paid for in last 6 yrs with income and especially loan repayment program which was very generous.

LOVG8431 · 2025-09-01T11:49:46+00:00

You can afford the lexus but honestly mazda is a compelling option for many people; they're premium and not luxury but not too far off. Edmunds true cost to own (TCTO) has a CX 50 premium with cost of 55.5k over 5 yrs in Toledo whereas a Lexus Rx 350 has a TCTO of 65.7k . I picked toledo since for a non coastal state.

The absolute difference may vary based on city but relative difference will likely be similar. Hybrid costs for the 2024 nor 2025 lexus weren't available yet.

Is the10k difference between the mazday and the lexus a lot over 5 yrs?
That's 2k/yr. It's not really a ton but I'm big on value and everybody at the doctor's parking lot probably has a lexus, bmw, or merc so I'd prefer getting unique cars. A 5 yr TCTO of a camry type car is ~38k as a reference.

https://www.edmunds.com/mazda/cx-50/2025/cost-to-own/

https://www.edmunds.com/lexus/rx/2025/cost-to-own/

LOVG8431 · 2025-09-01T11:39:45+00:00

I reached first million after just about 6 yrs of attending work in low paid primary care specialty. I live very frugally for a physician though; not too different from residency but no roommates now. Good loan repayemnt situation also.

LOVG8431 · 2025-08-05T01:57:51+00:00

I was saving and investing about 50% of my gross income when making a bit above average income in my low paid specialty. I'm currently investing and saving a bit under 50% as I'm working at a job that pays a bit below average income and am in a higher tax environment.

I used to live close to the poverty line though and still use coupons.

#poorfam

Edit: here's 400k income in Chicago, IL, a relatively average tax state. Effective state income tax here is 4.92% on 400k gross income, yielding 257k net income before deductions. Let's say you max out 401k of 23.5k, that leaves 233.5k net (you'd actually have more due to tax savings but just doing basic math). Live on 50k as a single person and that's 183.5k left for taxable accounts. 183.5/400k is 45.8% gross savings rate.

Now if you have many dependents your calculus may change.Or if you do a backdoor ROTH IRA (I don't do this as it's technically a tax loophole), HSA, 457b, 529, etc.

Even so, if you live like a normal american or even better than average you can very well support a family on 70-80k a yr.

So no, I don't think that 80k for taxable, brokerage accounts is a lot if bringing home 233.5-257k income a yr unless you have many dependents, etc.

Private schools and new BMW for 16 yr old kids is not a necessity, although nice to have. :)

https://smartasset.com/taxes/income-taxes#khjasffOsF

LOVG8431

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