Tech Talk
Islam has rules that need to be taken into account when financial planning.
Smart Practice
Tech Talk
Antony Scholefield
Going by the book
FINANCE
THE Corporations Act, and the general law, requires financial planners to ensure their advice is in each client’ s best interests and that they prioritise the client’ s interests over the adviser’ s interests.
This means each client’ s unique circumstances must be considered when constructing financial plans. Muslim doctors present an interesting case. There is a lot that cannot be done. But there is a lot that can be done too.
Personal philosophies vary from doctor to doctor and usually reflect their ethnic and geographical backgrounds and religious beliefs.
When it comes to Islam and financial planning, there are at least four common characteristics that do not sit well:
• Debt and interest;
• Superannuation and other investments that breach ethical principles;
• Life insurance and income protection insurance; and
• Western-style traditional wills and estate planning. In the case of debt and interest, this is a difficult area given Australia’ s addiction to home ownership and home loan mortgages.
Other options are to rent or buy lower-cost homes using cash savings, typically in outer metropolitan or regional areas( which is not a bad idea because doctors’ incomes are usually higher in those areas). As a practical matter, this means many suburbs in Melbourne and Sydney are out of reach. There are alternatives to the traditional home loan mortgage.
One involves the capital provider sharing in the capital gain expected to accrue to the capital recipient. And another involves a‘ lease-toown’ transaction, where the property is leased for an agreed annual rent and, at the end of the( very long) lease, the owner transfers the property to the lessee. Superannuation and other forms of investing can also be problematic. Some Muslim
Islam has rules that need to be taken into account when financial planning.
TERRY McMASTER
doctors just avoid the issue. They do not pay super contributions despite the overwhelming tax incentives because of concerns about what comes next. That is, how will the super fund invest their benefits?
However, the better question to ask is how do you make sure the super fund invests in line with your religious beliefs and personal philosophies?
For example, the classic“ conservative” investment option emphasises fixed interest securities, which are inconsistent with Muslim beliefs. It’ s quite a restriction because
LIKE MEDICINE, FINANCIAL PLANNING WORKS BETTER WHEN THERE IS GENUINE UNDERSTANDING AND EMPATHY BETWEEN ADVISER AND CLIENT, OR DOCTOR AND PATIENT.
some funds will have as much 90 % of benefits invested in fixed interest and similar securities. Some alternatives include the following:
• A self-managed super fund investing into appropriate( and debt-free) investments, for example, a block of land expected to increase in value over time;
• The‘ ethical’ investment option available at many large retail funds and industry funds( we prefer industry funds because of their not-for-profit status); or
• Crescent Super( Crescent Wealth), a large retail super fund specialising in Islamic investments for Muslim members( and non-
Muslim members interested in ethical investments). Life insurance is problematic, and I am truly worried for many of my uninsured Muslim doctors.
The view in Islam generally is, one should not engage in commercial transactions concerning things one does not own, such as one’ s life or health, and these matters are best left in God’ s hands.
My statements of advice play it safe by recording my concerns and standard secular recommendations and then stating that I understand my client has a religious and philosophical concern about risk insurances and therefore will not act on my advice.
Wills and estate planning are complex. Islamic law contemplates wills and sets out who will inherit, based on blood relationships and gender.
Succession has a male bias and favours sons, brothers and husbands, but also protects daughters, sisters and wives.
Often two-thirds of an estate is distributed under strict, set rules, and the remaining onethird is distributed more flexibly, in line with the will-maker’ s individual preferences.
Like medicine, financial planning works better when there is genuine understanding and empathy between adviser and client— or doctor and patient.
Sometimes the best advice can be a referral to a person who is better at a particular subspecialty.
Thankfully, medicine is a referral-based profession. All doctors recognise the inherent professionalism of a financial planner saying,“ I know someone who can help you more than I can”. That advice is truly in their best interests. ●
Mr McMaster is a solicitor and accountant in Melbourne, Victoria. The advice in this article is general. Readers should seek professional advice before making financial decisions.
Got a good‘ webside manner’?
IT may already seem like medicine is overflowing with sub-specialties and sub-sub-specialties, from urogynaecology to paediatric nephrology. Well, brace yourself. There’ s another on the way: medical virtualism.
According to doctors writing in the Journal of the American Medical Association, this will be a new subspecialty devoted to telehealth.
Medical virtualists will almost exclusively practise using videolink, or perhaps virtual reality.
It may sound like the pipe dream of a computer geek, but as the authors point out, critical care wasn’ t considered a specialty in the US until about 1980. Technology is a good source of new specialties, they say. Think about interventional radiology and robotic surgery.
So, what exactly would a medical virtualist do?
They would focus on conditions particularly well-suited to telehealth, such as minor ailments that just require advice, and managing chronic diseases, where patients need regular assessments but travelling to a clinic for every appointment would be burdensome.
The virtualist would be trained to monitor health indicators, such as blood pressure, remotely. They would also require a friendly“ webside manner”, say the authors.
Interestingly, the main type of medical virtualist they describe is comparable with a GP.
And they suggest that:“ Based on early experience in primary care... 30-50 % of visits could possibly be eligible for a virtual encounter. This could be amplified when coupled with home care and remote monitoring devices.”
Psychiatry could also move into the realm of virtual specialists, given that psychiatrists rely less on physical examinations.
Neurology is another specialty where the virtualist could take off— neurologists are already assessing CT scans remotely as part of mobile stroke units, the authors point out.
And what about surgical virtualists, who control robot surgery from hundreds of kilometres away? It may sound far-fetched, but it is on the horizon.
“ If advances in technology continue and if rigorous evidence demonstrates that this technology improves care and outcomes and reduces cost, medical virtualists could be involved in a substantial proportion of health care delivery for the next generation,” the authors conclude.
However, early adopters will need to work with the wider profession to set training standards and certification for medical virtualists, they advise. Coming soon: the Royal Australian College of Virtualists. JAMA 2017; online.
www. australiandoctor. com. au 15 December 2017 | Australian Doctor | 11