Podcasts about dentistadvisors

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt, Jake, and Rabih break down key economic predictions for 2026 and highlight the possibility of a "new economy" marked by steady growth, stable interest rates, and consumer spending. They also talk about why home prices are unlikely to fall despite a challenging market for first-time buyers and examine shifting trends in cryptocurrency, including major outflows and Bitcoin's increasing separation from tech stocks. Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On the fourth episode of a 5-part tax series of the Dentist Money Show, Tom Whalen, CPA joins Matt to break down why proactive, year-round tax planning is one of the most powerful tools dentists have for reducing stress and maximizing wealth. They explain the difference between playing offense and defense with your taxes, highlighting the common mistakes that lead to surprise bills, cash flow issues, and missed opportunities. Tune in to understand the importance of mastering quarterly tax payments, and why integrating your advisor and CPA can help avoid conflicting guidance. If you missed the last three episodes of the tax series you can find them here and check out our 2025 year-end tax planning checklist for dentists for more guidance! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.  

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, we have a Thanksgiving panel with Matt, Will, Jake, Lauren, and Rabih to reflect on the holiday, share timely market updates, and break down the shifting costs of a classic Thanksgiving dinner. They highlight the evolving Black Friday trends, with more shoppers moving online, and discuss how the Federal Reserve decisions are influencing market volatility. Finally, each panelist shares what they are grateful for, emphasizing health, resilience, and personal growth through a challenging year. Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On this episode of The Dentist Money Show, Matt and Will break down how dentists can spot the warning signs before putting their money on the line and explain why clever sales pitches can make risky deals look appealing. They share how dentists can see past the hype by evaluating the real business model behind an investment and recognizing when excitement outweighs substance. This episode offers practical financial planning advice for dentists who want to protect their wealth, make informed investment choices, and build long-term financial confidence. Tune in to discover how to safeguard your money and peace of mind. Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

In our new TL;DR series episode, Jake reads his blog post where he explains that dividends are periodic payments made by companies to shareholders. He emphasizes that while dividends may feel like "free money," they're actually a return of the company's capital rather than pure profit, meaning your overall wealth may not increase simply by receiving them. Tune in to learn more about how dividends actually work. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt and Rabih talk about the recent spike in market volatility and discuss how rising umemployment could influence future interest rate cuts from the Federal Reserve. They also talk about a real-world DSO fraud case in Colorado and remind listeners to be cautious and evaluate corporate risk. Finally, they share important updates to retirement contribution limits for 2026 and explain how the catch-up contributions can be valuable. Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On this episode of The Dentist Money Show, Bryton Nield and Bob Spiel from Hiring Pros join Matt to unpack what it really means to hire with intention. They dive into why so many dentists struggle with hiring, how poor decisions can impact team culture and stress levels, and what steps practice owners can take to build a strong, cohesive team. They talk about how to define your ideal candidate and create a structured onboarding process. Tune in to learn how intentional hiring can transform your practice from the inside out. Check out Hiring Pros here! Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt, Sean, and Rabih break down the ripple effects of the recent government shutdown. They also talk about the proposed 50-year mortgage, a policy aimed at improving housing affordability but also raises questions about long-term financial consequences. And finally, they touch on the end of the penny's production, discussing whether it may soon become more valuable as a collectible. Tune in for the past week's financial headlines! Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On this episode of The Dentist Money Show, Carl Richards, CFP®, author of Your Money, joins Ryan to explore the emotional side of money and why even smart, successful people struggle to talk about it. They discuss how emotions influence financial decisions, why simplicity often beats complexity, and how understanding your values can lead to more meaningful money choices. Carl shares insights from his new book, "Your Money: Reimagining Wealth in 101 Simple Sketches," which uses simple sketches to inspire deeper human conversations about money. You can order Carl's new book here! If you would like to order in bulk, you can receive a 5% discount by using the code YourMoney5 at checkout here! Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

In our new TL;DR series episode, Will reads Lauren's article where she breaks down four key strategies to help dentists regain balance and confidence with their money: building a financial buffer, creating a personalized financial system, protecting long-term goals, and delegating to trusted professionals. This article highlights how intentional planning and smart delegation can reduce stress, prevent decision fatigue, and help dentists achieve lasting financial peace of mind. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt, Jake, and Rabih discuss the growing risks surrounding NVIDIA, exploring how financial engineering and shifting market sentiment may be influencing its stock value. They also take a closer look at dividends—clearing up common misconceptions about their true nature and explaining why they're not simply "free money" but rather a return of capital. Finally, they analyze dentistry current trends in hiring, patient flow, and overall economic confidence among dentists. Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On this episode of The Dentist Money Show, Matt and Christine explore one of the toughest parts of running a dental practice: hiring and managing associates. They discuss why many associateships fail to lead to ownership, the challenges that make partnerships tricky, and what dentists should consider before bringing on an associate. Tune in to learn how to navigate the challenges of hiring an associate. Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

In our new TL;DR series episode, Jake reads his blog post explaining that while making extra payments on your mortgage can reduce the total interest you pay and shorten the life of your loan, it's not always the best financial move. Tune in to learn whether you value the peace of mind that comes from eliminating debt or the long-term growth potential that comes from investing. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt and Rabih unpack how the Federal Reserve's recent decisions have affected Wall Street, the growing impact of the government shutdown on healthcare costs, and explore why Halloween spending is projected to hit record highs this year. Tune in to hear what these economic shifts mean for dentists. Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On this episode of The Dentist Money, Matt and Jake return for part two of the most common financial myths that often mislead dentists. From the illusion of "secret investments" to why focusing on your dental career—not chasing financial shortcuts—is key to building wealth, they break down what really drives long-term success. They also explore the downsides of DIY (do-it-yourself) financial management, and the peace of mind that comes from outsourcing to trusted financial professionals. Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt and Rabih unpack the latest economic developments—from rising inflation to shifting market sentiment. They break down the recent CPI report, the strong earnings season from S&P 500 companies, and growing concerns in the banking sector amid rising loan defaults. They also discuss how consumer confidence and spending are being shaped by “inflation fatigue,” and how even a single economic data point can move markets.  Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On this episode of The Dentist Money Show, Matt and Ryan break down what dentists need to know about retirement planning. They explore the different types of retirement accounts—from 401(k)s and simple IRAs to profit-sharing and defined benefit plans and explain how each fits into a broader financial strategy. Matt and Ryan also touch on the behavioral side of retirement planning, sharing why consistency and professional guidance are important to building wealth and avoiding costly mistakes. Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt and Rabih dive into the growing importance of rare earth metals and their geopolitical impact, exploring how China's dominance in mining and refining gives it a major advantage over the U.S. They also discuss how the government shutdown is disrupting industries and talk about the upcoming 401(k) contribution changes, and what these updates mean for financial planning. Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On this episode of the Dentist Money Show, Matt and Ryan discuss some of the most common financial myths that often mislead dentists. From misconceptions about the stock market and market timing to the belief that maxing out a 401k is enough for retirement. They break down why these myths persist and how they can undermine long-term financial health. Tune in to hear why strategies like diversification, maintaining liquidity, and following a disciplined investment plan are important for financial growth. Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

In this special edition, we are sharing a No BS Dental Growth podcast episode where Ryan joins Chris Pistorius from KickStart Dental Marketing to break down why many dentists retire later than average, the real math behind knowing how much you need to retire, and the biggest money myths holding dentists back. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt, Jake, and Rabih react to Japan's latest news and their stock market high and comment on economic changes that Japan still faces. They discuss the value of 401(k)s invested in the Mag 7 and debate whether it props up the stock market. Changing mindsets and surging housing prices impact the next generation and current ideals on the traditional home-ownership dream. Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On the third episode of a 5-part tax series of the Dentist Money Show, Tom Whalen, CPA joins Matt to explain how to choose the right entity structure for your dental practice. They discuss why understanding the implication of an S-Corp election is important, highlighting the most common mistakes dentists make—and how to avoid them. They review the critical role of tax allocation and how to pay yourself a reasonable wage. If you missed the last two episodes of the tax series you can find them here and check out our 2025 year-end tax planning checklist for dentists for more guidance! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt, Will, and Rabih explore China's unexpected market rebound and the government policies fueling it. They examine how artificial intelligence is transforming market growth and reshaping the economy, and they break down what the newly announced Trump Accounts could mean for saving and investing in the next generation. Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On this episode of The Dentist Money Show, Logan Ganoe, DDS, MS joins Ryan to talk about his remarkable journey through dentistry and life. From early career decisions and the challenges of dental school to navigating contracts, DSOs, and the path to oral surgery, Logan shares professional experiences that shaped him. He also opens up about the challenges he faced after a cancer diagnosis and obstacles of parenthood. Logan reflects on the power of resilience, the value of financial preparedness, and the importance of  prioritizing family and meaningful experiences over material success. Tune in to hear how Logan's journey demonstrates how life's toughest challenges can lead to meaningful growth. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

In our new TL;DR series episode, Taylor reads his article where he breaks down the biggest recent changes in student loan policy and how they affect dentists. He unpacks the phase-out of existing income-driven repayment plans and what the new options mean for your monthly payments and forgiveness timelines. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt, Taylor, and Rabih explore the potential effects of a government shutdown on financial markets, the surge in gold prices, and when it makes sense to refinance loans. They discuss why markets often stay steady during political uncertainty, highlight the shifting role of gold in today's economy, and why refinancing decisions should be based on overall cash flow and costs—not just lower interest rates. Learn more about the Dentist Money Launchpad Program, join the waitlist to learn everything you didn't learn about money in dental school through a series of live courses built exclusively for D4s and recent grads! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

What is the best way to finance a practice? How do you prevent lifestyle creep? How do you track debt payments? On this listener Q&R (Question and Response) episode of the Dentist Money Show, Matt and Ryan answer some financial questions posed by members of the Dentist Advisors' Facebook Discussion Group. Tune in for practical insights on financing options, strategies to keep spending in check, and tips for staying organized with debt so you can stay on track toward long-term financial freedom. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt, Jake, and Rabih discuss what the Federal Reserve's latest interest rate moves mean for inflation, unemployment, and the broader market. They also talk about how financial markets are reacting to new all-time highs, explore the perception of wealth in America, and highlight the gap between income expectations and reality. Do you have a question you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Visit DentistAdvisors.com/podcast to submit a question or topic. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On this episode of The Dentist Money Show, Ryan speaks with Melissa-Sue Methven, RDH, author, and advocate for mental health awareness in dentistry. Melissa shares her personal journey through grief, financial stress, and the pressures of running a practice after the loss of her husband to mental health. She offers insights on recognizing signs of distress, the importance of organization, and how self-care tools like breathwork can help dentists manage stress. Tune in to hear why open conversations, support systems, and finding your purpose are essential to overcoming the hidden struggles in dentistry. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

In our new TL;DR series episode, Jake reads his blog post where he breaks down the three key drivers of net worth growth: saving consistently, reducing debt, and asset growth. He explains why tracking your own progress matters more than comparing yourself to others and how discipline is the foundation of long-term wealth. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt and Rabih explore the potential impact of the Supreme Court on the economy and how policies can ripple through financial markets. They break down the hidden risks of holding too much cash in an investment portfolio and offer insights on why cash should be viewed as a risk factor. Finally, they talk about the shifting demographics within dentistry and the growing representation of women and greater diversity. Do you have a question you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Visit DentistAdvisors.com/podcast to submit a question or topic. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On this episode of The Dentist Money Show, Matt and Jake unpack the real cost of car ownership. From rising car payments to the hidden impact of depreciation, they explain how cars can quietly derail your budget and financial goals. They push back on the idea that success is measured by what you drive and offer practical rules of thumb to keep your budget in check. Tune in to learn how to align your spending with your values and drive your finances in the right direction. Read Jake's full blog post here! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Raising teens with financial wisdom (and boundaries) is no small task. Especially when we're trying to help our kids avoid the same disastrous mistakes we made! In this episode, I sit down with Ryan…friend, financial advisor, and father, to talk about some of the struggles (especially financial) that come with raising adult kids. We dive into:My kids college 529 savings account: What they are, how you get them, and how I helped my kids save for theirs.My two “keys” (ie rules) they must fulfill to access these accounts as adults.When and where I've let my kids struggle so that they can grow (and avoid the pitfalls I experienced).Why Marley is in Thailand on her humanitarian trip and how this connects to her financial and college future.What is a Roth IRA and how can we all start saving better for our kids' futures.Some of the hilarious and probably ridiculous (but hopefully effective) ways I'm teaching my kids to value money and real-life experiences.We talk about all things from finances to stuffing suitcases with mac & cheese and shampoo. It's part financial strategy, part parenting therapy… and all heart. Whether you're a single mom, a tired dad, or just trying to raise grounded kids, this one's for you.Watch the full episode on YouTube here or head to https://www.youtube.com/@RealHeidiPowell.Here are the key moments from the episode:0:00 Why Marley Is Headed to Thailand2:46 More About Marley's Humanitarian Trip10:51 How Much the Average Kid Costs to Raise18:31 Who the Heck is Ryan?22:01 The Best Financial Lesson My Dad Taught Me33:01 How I Blew All of My College Money38:41 What is a 529 College Savings Account45:01 Roth IRAs and How to Build Your Kids' to 5 Million Dollars!50:31 The TWO KEYS to My Kids' College Money56:11 Why I'm Letting My Kids Struggle1:10:46 How to Introduce Financial Literacy at Home1:28:11 Preparing Your Kids for Life Without You1:34:01 What to Do When Your College Kid Calls in Crisis1:45:21 Final Thoughts on Growth, Grace & Letting GoConnect with Heidi:
Website: https://heidipowell.net/  Email: podcast@heidipowell.net Instagram: @realheidipowellFacebook: Heidi PowellYouTube: @RealHeidiPowell
Train with Heidi on her Show Up App:  https://www.showupfit.app/ About Ryan:Ryan Isaac is a financial advisor and co-founder of Dentist Advisors. For the past 17 years, he's been helping dentists make sense of money and big life decisions. He also hosts the Dentist Money™ Show, the most widely listened-to financial podcast for dentists over the last decade, where he talks about everything from investing and taxes to the real-life challenges of running a business.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt, Taylor, and Rabih talk about the stability of current economic data to the transformative power of AI on productivity and jobs. They explore the complexities of lottery winnings, investment timing, and annuity choices. And finally, they give insights on what you can and can't control in money matters and explain how long-term strategies can help you navigate uncertainty and achieve financial peace of mind. Do you have a question you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Visit DentistAdvisors.com/podcast to submit a question or topic. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On this episode of The Dentist Money Show, Sara Stock from Stock Legal joins Ryan to discuss practical strategies for growing — and eventually exiting — a dental practice. Sara introduces the "crawl, walk, run" approach and how phantom equity can help test a partnership before committing to full ownership. They talk about why every purchase should start with a cost-benefit analysis and why smart exit planning can lead to a smoother, more profitable transition. You can view Sara Stock's full presentation here! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

In our new TL;DR series episode, Jake reads his article where he breaks down some essential steps dentists should take when preparing to sell their practice. From organizing financial statements and patient records to gathering staff documentation, lease agreements, and legal paperwork. He highlights how preparation not only streamlines the transition but also maximizes practice value. Tune in to learn how to set yourself up for a smooth and successful sale. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt, Will, and Rabih explore how political pressures may be shaping interest rate decisions. They also discuss Cracker Barrel's logo redesign and how it triggered a decline in its stock price—showing how influential branding and consumer sentiment can be. And finally, they touch on Taylor Swift's influence and her ability to sway consumer behavior and even market trends. Do you have a question you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Visit DentistAdvisors.com/podcast to submit a question or topic. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On this episode of The Dentist Money Show, Dr. Tony Schicktanz joins Matt to talk about his early years in dentistry—sharing candid stories of financial missteps, mounting debt, and the stress that comes with both. From tracking every dollar to negotiating stronger contracts, Tony shares tips to help new dentists avoid costly mistakes. Whether you're fresh out of dental school or in the first few years of your career, tune into this episode for actionable advice to build a successful dental career while keeping your finances in check. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt, Cody, and Rabih discuss the key takeaways from the Jackson Hole Symposium, including Jerome Powell's latest comments on the economy. They also explore how younger generations are redefining financial independence and retirement. And finally, they discuss the importance of setting clear financial goals, staying informed, and understanding the risks before diving into private investments. Do you have a question you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Visit DentistAdvisors.com/podcast to submit a question or topic. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On the second episode of a 5-part tax series of the Dentist Money Show, Tom Whalen, CPA joins Matt to unpack some of the most common misunderstandings in the world of tax planning for dentists. They explore the trade-offs that come with chasing deductions, the critical role of liquidity, and why long-term wealth building should take priority over short-term tax savings. They also highlight common mistakes dentists make—like ignoring cash flows or overemphasizing tax breaks—and why ongoing communication with your financial advisor is key. If you missed the first episode of this tax series, check it out here! Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

In our new TL;DR series episode, Taylor reads his article where he explores why so many people come home from vacation feeling more exhausted than when they left. From the rise of “vacation guilt” to the constant restraint of smartphones, modern travel often fails to deliver true rest. Taylor unpacks surprising stats on how often Americans vacation, why work still creeps in, and how to reclaim your time off so it's actually restorative. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt, Jake, and Rabih break down the state of government spending, budget deficits, and what they mean for the economy. They explore the potential risks of private equity entering 401(k) plans, and examine Bitcoin's surprising stability and growth as an asset class. Tune in for an update on the financial landscape and its implications. Do you have a question you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Visit DentistAdvisors.com/podcast to submit a question or topic. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On this episode of The Dentist Money Show, Matt and Lauren dive into the real reasons budgeting matters—especially for dentists. They explore how personal money experiences shape financial behavior, why so many people avoid looking at their spending, and how social media fuels unrealistic expectations. Tune in to learn some practical steps to track spending, simplify finances, and build a budget that reflects your priorities. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Derick Van Ness of Big Life Financial returns to the podcast to discuss with Kiera the new realities of the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill — and how dentists can capitalize on the impacts. They discuss bonus depreciation, research and development credits, and more. Further, there's an opportunity for DAT listeners at biglifefinancial.com/DAT, where you can learn if you're overpaying on your taxes and what new opportunities exist. Episode resources: Subscribe to The Dental A-Team podcast Schedule a Practice Assessment Leave us a review Transcript Kiera Dent (00:00) Hello, Dental A Team listeners. This is Kiera. And today I'm excited to welcome back a popular guest. He and I have chatted multiple times. We've gone around and around on different topics of how to help dentists build more wealth. So Derick, ⁓ with Big Life Financial, we talked about our research and development credits. Today we're going to be talking about this big, beautiful tax bill, how it's going to impact dentists, how it's going to impact building wealth. I do think it also impacts team members. So Derick, welcome back to the show. How are you today?   Derick Van Ness (00:29) I'm great, Kiera. I really appreciate you bringing me on the show again. It's always fun to talk.   Kiera Dent (00:34) Of course, we all know that I love wealth strategies. love ⁓ it takes time like you and I were talking about pre show. ⁓ I think it's something to educate ourselves on and to be around really smart people and to constantly be looking at different things like I know hot in the real estate world right now and with buying businesses and buying practices, the big beautiful tax bill is actually great for the bonus depreciation coming in. So just like educating ourselves and that's what I wanted today to be.   not getting high into politics. These are bills that are into place ⁓ and how to take advantage of them, how to maximize them. Derick, you work with a ton of dentists. So Derick, for those who don't know, you kind of give a little bit background on how you and I even got connected, how you got into dentistry, ⁓ how does Big Life Financial play into this. We have a lot of mutual clients together. So just kind of give people a background on who you are and how you got to the dental space.   Derick Van Ness (01:26) Absolutely, you know, I started out back in like 2010 2009 2010 helping small business owners with taxes and financial strategy I was working for another firm at the time and I had been a house flipper and if for those of you who remember 2008 wasn't so good if you're a house flipper, right and When that whole thing fell apart kind of fell in my head I took a lot of the skills that I had and a friend of mine hired me to help   Kiera Dent (01:46) It is not.   Derick Van Ness (01:55) small business owners with taxes and financial and business strategy. ⁓ Working with them, I had a chance to work with about 1,500 business owners over seven years. And then eventually went out and started doing my own thing because there were some different things that I wanted to do that they didn't offer. ⁓ essentially, in that time, I worked with a lot of dentists and a lot of doctors. ⁓ And so I kind of stayed in that arena, which led me to ⁓ meeting you, Kiera.   through Mark over at DSI and all the stuff that I'd done with him and then found you guys and just love what you guys do with helping people to build their teams. Cause I'm such a huge advocate of how important that is to have the right team to run your practice, right? Especially if you're going to have multiple practices, it just can't be about you. And so it was just kind of a natural fit. And like you said, you, you definitely love financial strategies. So.   We got into it, we talked about a bunch of different things, had a chance to work together. Like you said, have shared a lot of clients along the way, but it just seems like dentists have a lot of the problems that we solve, which is they pay a of taxes, they make good money, and most of them didn't get an MBA in college to understand how business and finances work. They've had to learn along the way. And so we see ourselves as part of that process of helping dentists become.   better business owners, better entrepreneurs, and honestly create freedom in their life instead of just having a business that runs them, because it's easy to have that happen in dentistry. So that's sort of how we got connected. I don't know, over the last, since whatever 2008, 2009 was, last 15 plus years, I've probably worked with somewhere between 2,000 and 2,500 business owners. I would say a good chunk of those have been dentists. So that's how we ended up together.   Kiera Dent (03:48) Yeah.   I love the journey. love hearing what you've done. I also agree on like building wealth. And I think going through dental school, working at the dental college, dentists are coming out with, you know, upwards of 500, 600, 700, $800,000 in debt somewhere up towards that upper million. Midwestern was a very expensive school. looking at that and then watching offices and I remember the first dentist that I worked with and we were partners. We, called her 2.5 because we were 2.5 million debt.   Derick Van Ness (04:03) Cheers.   Kiera Dent (04:18) was like, you better straighten that spine 2.5. Like we need that spine for a long time. But it was something where I realized like, that's a substantial amount of debt. One to walk out of school with two you buy a practice on top of that and then you want to try and like even remotely live your own personal life. It just felt like the odds are possibly stacked not in a dentist favor. I've had several dentists where this is the case where they're multimillion in debt, trying to get these practices off the ground. And so really coming up with   Derick Van Ness (04:43) Mm-hmm.   Kiera Dent (04:47) like yes, long-term, if they make it, awesome. Hopefully it will pay off for them. But what are maybe some strategies and tips that they can do now? I think like so many of us look at real estate and wish that we would have gotten in at the 2008 because now you're selling them out or even in 2020. And so it's like, what can people do now, even if they didn't maximize or we didn't buy practices back in the day when they were so cheap, they were pennies on the dollar. What things can we do now to maximize? I was even talking to this girl the other day.   And she's like, yeah, my baby was born on New Year's Eve. And I was like, wow, talk about a great tax write-off. And she's like, I didn't even know that that was a tax write-off. I didn't even know the benefits of things. And so I feel like just so many little pieces that could make us smarter business owners to, I'm here, I love living in the United States. I love paying taxes for the country that we get to live in. I love the opportunity that we have to be business owners. With that said, I also think it's smart for us to be very wise stewards over our money to figure out different strategies.   And no, it's not sexy. No, it's not fun. A lot of it is just like save, like invest, do the things you're supposed to do. And it's going to be part of what is it? Like the eighth wonder of the world of compound interest. Like there are other pieces, but Derick, like, let's talk about this big, beautiful tax bill. How does this work? How does this impact business owners? What are some of the benefits we can take care of? Now we're talking in 2025, things will change and shift as the landscape shifts, but knowing that's in place, what are some of the things dentists owners can do now?   to maximize that coming out.   Derick Van Ness (06:18) Yeah, you bring up a good point, Kiera. You know, it's not that this stuff happens overnight, but it is, it's systemic, right? You're doing it day in and day out. And tax is one of those things, whether you like it or not, you have to file them every year. And I'm not going to lie to you, that's part of what I like about being in the tax world is people have to do it every year. It's a pretty good business model that way, right?   Kiera Dent (06:30) Right.   I   was gonna say you've got the reoccurring opportunities because it has to happen every year just like dentists have profis every six months. I mean it's a great built-in business. mean kudos to you. I don't enjoy it but it is a necessary evil to be done.   Derick Van Ness (06:52) I totally get that. If you would have told me you're going to work in taxes even 15 years ago when I first got into it, I would have said absolutely not not interested. But what I can tell you is every dollar you make in taxes is the same as a new dollar you make in your business. Right. But you don't have to have employees and risk and additional insurance and additional equipment and all this other stuff. So it really is pure profit when you can reduce your taxes. So   even a small amount of tax strategy can go a very long way in increasing what you get in the bottom line, right? And if you could just take a lot of dentists across the country, they're in the 40 % tax bracket, maybe a little higher or lower depending on your state, but somewhere in that range, if you could even lower that by 10%, that's keeping an additional 10 % of your income. That's a lot of extra money for people to be able to save and put to work without having to go do more risk and...   buy a bigger building and do a build out and deal with more personalities in the office because all of those things are variables, right? So I see it as a pure profit machine if you get it right. And so I've chosen to think it that way because I spend so much time in it, but it really does come down to just keeping a lot more of the money you make. And it's a very potent way to do it because honestly, with 10 to 15 hours a year, so think of that as like one hour a month.   you can really add a lot to the bottom line of what you get to keep. In some cases, we can cut taxes almost in half for high, high income earners. So it's a pretty big deal.   Kiera Dent (08:25) Well, and as you said that I think it's a big deal for today because yes to have that back to you is great. But like we talked about compounding, compounding until you've experienced compounding seems like not real. Just like I think when like you have bought your first house and it's like, how am I ever supposed to do this and make money on it until you bought your first practice? A lot of those things I think feel ⁓ arbitrary, they feel false. And then once you get into the compounding world and you're like, my gosh, like   we're making money without having to do anything. It's like, yeah, I could save on my taxes in a legal, ethical way, have more money at the end of the year that I could then put towards this, like you said, make it work for me. Well, now that it's just duplicating, it's multiplying, it's replicating, those things to me are things I get excited about. Those are things that I look for, because I don't think there's a lot of money.   I call it the money making machine. What things can we put into your money making machine to where it's working for you day in, day out without you having to do any extra work? I think all of us check yes, let's say yes to that. So Derick, let's talk about how we can create more of these money making machines, putting our money to work for us rather than constantly trying to chase the money dream to where at the end of our careers and even during our careers, we're living the lives that we wanted to get to when we first started out into these careers.   Derick Van Ness (09:29) Yep.   Yeah. And I can tell you guys this, if you only walk away with one thing, it's the idea if you want to build wealth, you need to create systematic savings, right? Systematize putting money aside, whether that's actually savings account or investing or however, but just getting money out of the spending cycle and into the building cycle. And it's like watching your child, right? Like in the beginning, kids grow and it's like day to day, you don't see it, but year to year,   it starts to make a bigger and bigger and bigger difference. And then, you know, when they're teenagers, you're just like, what's happening, right? So it's the same kind of thing with your money. In the beginning, if you're just watching a day to day, you don't really see the growth. You have to trust the process, right? But the biggest thing you can do is put that on autopilot, because if you have to automatically go into your bank account every month and move money over or every year, move money over, it's much harder. And like writing,   Kiera Dent (10:28) Mm-hmm.   Derick Van Ness (10:42) 25, 50, 100, $200,000 checks feels hard. Setting aside 2,000, 3,000, 5,000, $10,000 a month, and then you cut that in half per pay period, and all of a sudden it gets a lot easier. It's like, oh yeah, $1,000 a pay period, not that big a deal. Much easier than writing a $25,000 check, right? Or two or $3,000 per pay period. It really does add up. And that's where the tax piece comes in is, in many cases, it's like found money. I try to teach our clients to...   Kiera Dent (10:46) Mm-hmm.   Derick Van Ness (11:11) save like you're going to pay full blast on taxes. And then when we do the tax strategy, all this money is left over. And so it feels like extra money, and then you can put it to work, right? And that's where you do get to play with some bigger chunks. ⁓ But really, it's that habit of automating, setting money aside. If you can just only take one thing from this, it's that. And taxes can create a huge amount of that for you along the way. So let's talk about the tax bill, right?   Kiera Dent (11:24) Mm-hmm.   Yeah,   let's talk about it. And I just want to highlight on that, Derick, of I was talking to a CPA the other day on the podcast and he talked about how like there's a different psychology of business owners. ⁓ We go from getting a W-2 paycheck that we're used to being able to spend all of it because taxes have already been taken out to them becoming business owners and not having taxes automatically taken from that and needing to be super disciplined on saving. And so I agree with you. And when I realized like,   I got so annoyed when I'm like, great, so now I never get a refund check ever again in taxes. I was like, no, actually it's actually so much better now than it ever was. Because if I just set it aside, I'm like, taxes are pretty simple. I guess there's some nuances to them, but it's pretty much like whatever tax bracket you are, take your profit at the end of the month, set that aside. And lo and behold, if you do the tax planning strategy, like you said, usually I'm ending up with a pretty good substantial chunk at the end of the year that I count as my like quote unquote, like   the refund check or whatever. It's been so long since I've gotten one that I don't even know what it is. But it's awesome because then you have this huge lump of money because you've been saving it. You weren't expecting it. All your expenses in your life is taken care of to where now, like you said, it is really fun. Is that an investment? Is that buying something that I've always wanted to get? Is that real estate money? Because the amount of cash, if you are strategic in how you do it, is exponentially substantial.   It is truly life-changing. So I'm excited, Derick. Let's talk about the tax bill, but I will second you and ditto you and just say, yes, there's discipline to it, but that discipline equals so much freedom on the other side that just try it. Trust us on this. Save, learn to save on it and ⁓ be blown away at how much you're able to have at the end of the year if you do it really well.   Derick Van Ness (13:25) Yeah, I 100 % agree and I love your approach, Kiera. That's exactly what we try to teach with people. So let's talk about the tax bill, right? There's a ton of stuff that's in there that we're not going to touch on because like the child tax credit go up $200 a year. Yes. Is that going to move the needle for you as a business owner? Not really, right? Is there a little bit for senior tax relief in there where there's $6,000 of income that they don't pay taxes on? Yes. Does that really matter for you? Probably not, right? So we're going to...   Kiera Dent (13:33) Okay, let's talk.   Derick Van Ness (13:55) we're going to talk a little bit about a couple of key things that can really move the needle. One of them you alluded to, Kiera, that I think is really important is the idea of bonus depreciation, right? People who don't know what bonus depreciation is, it's when you buy certain types of equipment or real estate, you can take all the depreciation in the first year, right? And that can be ⁓ a huge chunk, especially when you combine it with something like cost segregation. For those of you who don't know what cost segregation is, the two really   Kiera Dent (14:04) Mm-hmm.   Derick Van Ness (14:24) work well together. So I think it's worth taking just a sec, even though it's not new, it really enhances this strategy. ⁓ Cost segregation is when you have a piece of real estate, you bring in an engineer, and there are companies that do this, right? So you don't have to know all this stuff. ⁓ But they come in, they reclassify as much of your building as they can as equipment. And so what you get to do is depreciate a portion of the building, the stuff that's equipment much more rapidly. So a lot of times five, seven or 15 years.   versus either 27 or 39 and a half years. So you get a lot more depreciation on the front end. It's not like you get more overall, but money today is worth a whole lot more than money 20 or 30 years from now. You can invest it and use it to grow your business, et cetera. But then when you add bonus depreciation to that, you can get a lot more of it in the first year. what this really means is if you're   Kiera Dent (15:06) Mm-hmm.   Derick Van Ness (15:21) buying the right kind of equipment or you're buying a building or you're doing big improvements, you can get a lot more depreciation and that depreciation can save you in taxes, right? And this is one that I feel like most CPAs kind of get bonus depreciation, but a lot of them don't bring in the cost segregation piece. So if you own a piece of real estate, especially if you bought it in the last few years and you haven't done a cost segregation study, this is something that you would have to know about because someone has to physically come to your building. If you haven't done one,   Kiera Dent (15:39) Mm-hmm.   Derick Van Ness (15:51) should talk to your CPA about it or talk to someone about it. I'm sure Kiera knows people, we know people, there are plenty of people out there who do it. But that's something worth looking at, especially if your building's worth, I would say, $250,000, $300,000, and you've had it less than five years and you haven't done this, yeah, it's totally worth looking at. It could be a real nice windfall. So that's a big one. It had been in place, then it started phasing out from 100 % to 80 % to 60%.   Kiera Dent (16:04) I   Derick Van Ness (16:20) but now we're back at 100%. So this is a big one, especially if you own your building or you're buying a lot of equipment. ⁓ Another really big one is the SALT tax. Now, people hear SALT tax and they're like, what? They're thinking of like the SPICE, right? SALT stands for state and local tax. And really to simplify this, and there's kind of a workaround in almost every state where you can do it as a pass-through setup. And essentially what that means is,   Kiera Dent (16:27) Mm-hmm.   Bye.   Derick Van Ness (16:49) If you pay all your state taxes before the end of the year, those state taxes become a write off for your federal taxes. Now this was in place up to $10,000. So if you were in a 40 % tax bracket, it could have saved you $4,000. Now it's up to 40,000, four zero, $40,000. So if you're making a lot of money or you're in a high tax state, you can pay those state taxes before the end of the year and it creates a federal tax write off.   And so like if you were in a, you know, paying in a 32 % tax bracket and you paid $40,000, it's going to save you, you know, between 12 and $13,000 in taxes that year, which is pretty significant for found money. All it has to be done is you have to pay those taxes and then your, your CPA or your tax pro has to claim that. Right. So that's another big one that got raised and you probably heard a lot about it in the news because   People were trying to get it raised higher and some people thought it should be lower. It really does favor business owners. It's not something a person who doesn't have a business can do. And that was part of the controversy, right? ⁓ But at the end of the day, it's law. So you should be taking full advantage of that.   Kiera Dent (18:03) I feel like that definitely impacts like the high state tax ⁓ states like California, New York, like some of those bigger ones, definitely because I live in Nevada, it's a no state income tax state. So if I understand correctly, Derick, and this is where I love bringing smart people on, the salt tax doesn't apply to me per se in Nevada, because we don't have state income tax. Is that correct? But in those higher ones, it definitely helps you out tremendously by being able to take those those credits and apply them.   Derick Van Ness (18:32) That is correct, yeah. And like another really high one is Oregon. They have quite high state tax, whereas Washington has none. So yeah, that doesn't apply to everybody. But if you're in a state that has even medium, like I'm in Utah, income tax there is right around 5 % for the state. It's still significant, right? You can still do up to the same amount. You'll just get there slower than if you're in California.   Kiera Dent (18:36) Mm-hmm.   I agree.   Right.   Derick Van Ness (19:00) Once again, just one of those things like you talked about, know, having kids or, you know, having the ADA like disability access to your building or a lot of these other things that like there are a bunch of little things, but they really do add up doing the Augusta rule. I'm sure you guys have talked about a million times and paying your kids properly. And we have a whole strategy of actually how to help people use tax strategy to pay for their kids college, which is a pretty cool one using some of that.   Kiera Dent (19:15) Mm-hmm.   Derick Van Ness (19:29) But those aren't part of the tax bill, so we won't dig into that today. ⁓   Kiera Dent (19:32) But they   are smart things to know because as you're listing it off, I think when someone's making, let's say your practice is doing a million, let's it's doing 2 million, 5 million, let's say you're at a 50 % overhead, let's just do 5 million, that's 2.5 mil. Not all of that's going to come to you as profit, but let's use like, it also could be coming to you as profit, even if it's in the form of distributions and different pieces. I'm like,   Derick Van Ness (19:42) Mm-hmm.   Kiera Dent (19:55) on that 2.5, if that's your taxable income, now let's just do, let's say you're in the highest, like that would put you in the highest tax bracket. So we're at a 37%. Like that's almost a million dollars worth of tax money right there on 2.5. So I understand that say 12 grand doesn't seem like that much, but I'm like, but 12 grand is still going to chip down this tax bill. And then you do another 20 grand here, then you do another 15 grand here.   All of that does exponentially chip down and like the bonus appreciation. That's why I think Derick, you're talking like the $200 on a million of taxes, not really going to move the needle, but 12 grand, 15 grand. It's the stacking and being able to keep that money. You have to pay this tax no matter what. And why not like benefit and minimize and reduce it and keep that money. then even worst case scenario, you even go invest it or you put it somewhere like a high yield savings account, but still making 4 % for you.   that you wouldn't have been making so that money's working for you. I think it's a no brainer ⁓ no matter what tax bracket you're in just to see. But like I also think this is where I don't like to get lazy on my taxes like, is it really worth doing the Augustus roll? Yes, it is. Because like you said, every dollar saved today, if I could even take that 600 or that 2000 or that 12 grand, put it in right now, like go back to college. How many of us wish we would have invested at that point in time? 20 bucks when we were in college.   Derick Van Ness (21:02) You   Kiera Dent (21:19) into the stock market and what that would be worth today, I think that there's just value in being strategic and smart and this is how you build wealth. It's not sexy, but if you do it consistently, you will exponentially become wealthier much faster than otherwise. I think it's the fastest way to get to wealth long term because you've got a runway in front of you.   Derick Van Ness (21:38) Well, I'm going to throw something out here, Kiera, because I get to see behind the scenes, right? I work with a lot of successful dentists and dentists have a really good income. Dentists generally are not great at creating wealth. I'll just be totally honest with you. A lot of them, they make enough money that they, ⁓ they can spend and they have a good life and they're able to put some money away, but proportional to their income, a lot of them are not great savers because of exactly what you talked about. A lot of them make all this money, but they got to pay off a lot of debt.   Kiera Dent (21:42) Mm-hmm.   I would agree.   Derick Van Ness (22:08) right, student loans and a business loan. Well, that's a lot of cash flow, especially in the first five years going out of lot of people's pockets. So a lot of times I'll see a dentist and they're making, let's say they're taking home $500,000, which is very common. ⁓ But you look at their investments and everything and they've got 300 grand saved. And they've been at it for 10 years and you're like, what happened? it's they paid off student loans, they paid off business debt.   Kiera Dent (22:27) Mm-hmm.   Derick Van Ness (22:33) They've had to invest in equipment along the way. They've had to remodel their office. They bought a house. You know, and they have some nice things. But now when you start going back and saying, hey, we can do this, this, and this, and now you get to save an extra, let's go really, really low, an extra $20,000 a year. Okay. I did some math the other day for our newsletter, $20,000 a year. If that's what someone saved and they just put that money to work at 7%. Over 30 years, they'd have $2.1 million roughly.   Right? So it's like, it's not, it doesn't appear to be a huge thing, but over time it really does add up. And to be quite honest, someone who makes $500,000, I can think of a bunch of ways that are outside of the new tax bill, things we've been doing for years that can really save them a whole lot more than that. And so for a lot of people, like if somebody is making two and a half million dollars, there's actually some advanced strategies that can really move the needle in a big, big way. But these small things like paying your state tax by the end of the year,   It takes you five minutes and you saved 13 grand. Okay, that's a big deal. Doing, making sure you're paying yourself properly so that you don't end up paying self-employment tax unnecessarily on more of your income than you. Okay, that's another seven, 10, 15, 20 grand. ⁓ Paying your kids, Augusta rule, bonus depreciation. Okay, now all of sudden we took a bill that was maybe 120,000 of taxes for someone who makes 500 grand and now they're paying 50.   Kiera Dent (23:34) Hmm.   Derick Van Ness (24:00) So they kept 70,000. Like that's a big deal. You put that together and using the math I just did there, that's about $5 million over 30 years, right? So it's significant and I bring up the two and a half million thing, because I don't see a lot of dentists. I have a few clients that make that kind of money, but most of the dentists, especially people who own one or two practices, they're making between on the lower end, maybe 300, 350, on the higher end, maybe 800, 900,000.   Kiera Dent (24:00) Mm-hmm.   Mm-hmm.   I agree.   Derick Van Ness (24:29) You know, so suddenly an extra 50, 70, 80, $100,000 a year is a lot of money. It makes a really big difference.   Kiera Dent (24:37) I agree.   I even think though, on no matter where your bracket is, I think like, well, one, I just hope I don't know, Derick, I need to surround myself with people like this. I hope that no matter what income I make, I don't ever like pish posh 70 grand. Like I just hope I hope I never I mean, I hope that I'm a freaking billionaire at one point in my life, like that'd be incredible. And like the amount of good that we'll be able to do in this world, like even today. But I'm like, I hope that I stay   humble and grateful enough that I would never say like 20 grand or 50 grand is not worth my time to do ⁓ in a small effort. ⁓ And so I think that that's just a zone of like, let's remember the humility as well of like, yes, these things are tax savings, but they're also going to exponentially grow you, you, your practice, your family, like your contribution, your good that you're able to do in this world. So even if you're not using it for yourself, think of the good that you can give back to this community in this world. So I think   And then I'm also like, yeah, and if you're at 300, 70 grand is a lot. If you're at 900, 70 grand should still be a lot. If you're at 2.5 million, 70 grand should still be a lot for you to where I think like, I also feel it's a skill of staying sharp rather than getting lazy and sloppy as we evolve. I know I've done it. Like I used to be way more scrappy when I first started the company and I'm like, yeah, well, do we really have to do all this? And it's like, but I think this...   sharper we can keep ourselves and the more disciplined we can to be expert saviors. Like I talked to Ryan Isaac of Dentist Advisors often and he and I talk about like the biggest thing is like being a great saver, like building your wealth, but then also not losing your wealth by doing dumb things or not being disciplined and watching what you've built. Like it's kind of two sides of the coin and being able to get there at the end of the day, I think is what we're all striving for. So I think it's brilliant and I hope that nobody says pish posh to us.   Derick Van Ness (26:12) Mm-hmm.   Kiera Dent (26:34) 70 grand if we could save you that much in taxes.   Derick Van Ness (26:37) I sure hope not, right? And if you do, it's because you've got a better use of your time than that. But quite frankly, most of this stuff, especially taxes, the cool thing is we've had a few tax rewrites in the last, you know, 10 years or so. But typically we don't have a lot of tax rewrites. So once you know the rules, it doesn't change that much year to year. A few little things change here or there, but for the most part, if you can take the time.   get yourself the right team or learn the rules yourself. mean, I think even people who know how to do this themselves, having a good tax pro on your team can be worth a lot because things do come up. ⁓ But honestly, most of it, once you know it, doesn't take a lot of time, right? We're talking a couple hours a year. And if you know what you're doing, a lot of this you kind of do along the way or it's already set up, like setting the money aside for taxes that's already set up, paying before the end of the year. That's just the thing you do one time, you write one check or make one payment online and   Kiera Dent (27:17) Mm-hmm.   Derick Van Ness (27:32) and you're done, right? And a lot of these things are easy. ⁓ Another one that's a really big one that came up with the tax bill that I'm very excited about is they brought back the research and development credits. And this is another thing that for a dentist, it'll probably take you two hours of time ⁓ to do it, like an hour to work with someone to do the projects, which is basically an interview of what have you done, what's the research so that the tax team can look at that.   Kiera Dent (27:43) Mm-hmm.   Derick Van Ness (28:00) And then just getting your tax returns over because not only do these credits come back, but you can retroactively, we've got one year to do this retroactively. You can go back and claim the credits for 2022, 2023 and 2024. And so that gives us three years where you can amend and go back and get that money. And I mean, for a typical dentist, I see on the low end, there are a lot of them. If you're investing in equipment, trying new stuff, which   Kiera Dent (28:15) Wow.   Derick Van Ness (28:29) most dentists to compete have to be doing today. If you're doing, you know, still doing mercury fillings from the seventies, then maybe that's not you. But most people who are listening to your podcast are...   Kiera Dent (28:32) Mm-hmm.   I was going to say you, most of the podcast   community should be in that realm.   Derick Van Ness (28:44) Yeah, I'm kind of joking, but typically, I mean, it's between $10,000 and $20,000 a year. if you have a big practice, I mean, we've had clients that have gotten multiple six figures back because they did some major overhauls and a bunch of stuff. But let's call it $15,000 to $20,000 a year for a lot of dentists. It takes 45 minutes to do it, the interview, and then a little bit of time to review that, make sure it's good.   So let's call it two, maybe three hours of total time to get that money back, right? And you can do this every year when we amend. You have to amend them and they go back to the IRS. And the IRS is taking about a year to get checks out. They're a little buried ever since COVID. They got behind and they just never caught back up. But once you get on top of that for 2025 and beyond, like you can just do it proactively. You just don't pay the taxes. You don't have to wait for a refund.   And so it's another one of those things where you spend an hour or two a year and you get 10, 15, 20, $30,000 a year that you just get to keep. Right. And so this one to me is a huge one for dentistry because the rate at which the industry is changing, right. Uh, went from, from cone beams to milling people, milling their own crowns. Now it's 3d printing pretty soon. It's going to be, you know, a lot of these things you see at the shows with the robots doing things and all kinds of different things that   Kiera Dent (29:50) Awesome.   Totally.   Derick Van Ness (30:12) Dentistry is a very progressive industry, right? A lot of AI coming in with answering phones and scheduling people and answering questions and all of that kind of stuff. You may as well get credits for it. You're doing the work, you're buying the equipment, you're figuring this stuff out. So if you're doing anything where you're upgrading, trying new technology, looking to get better, faster, more efficient, you're probably accruing the credits. ⁓ And it's just something you don't want to miss out on. R &D credits are... ⁓   not as well known as they could be because it's very much a specialty thing and it's relatively new to the tax code. It only became permanent in 2015. It's been around since the 80s but it changed a bunch and became permanent then. And the reason we didn't do it through 2022 through 2024 was there was a change in the 2017 tax code and you know they gave tax breaks.   Kiera Dent (30:43) Mm-hmm.   Derick Van Ness (31:07) to corporations, they had to make it up somewhere. And this was the place where they said, if people claim R &D, they also don't get to write off all the expenses without going into all the detail. It just wasn't worth doing. Now we can go back and recover that. Congress didn't think it was even going to become a law. I think they thought they were going to amend it. And then COVID happened. And they sort of forgot about it. So it became a law in 22. Anyway, this is all fixing it. So to me, this is a huge one. It's an easy win for a lot of a.   Kiera Dent (31:18) Yeah.   Derick Van Ness (31:36) a lot of dentists to be able to go out and just get a bunch of money back in taxes you've already paid for stuff you've already done. And it's pretty minimal effort. ⁓ There are lot of different people out there who do it. We do a free estimate for people so they can kind of see what's on the table. But yeah, it's pretty straightforward. To me, that's probably the one specific to dentistry that's going to apply to almost everybody listening almost every year. And so   I kind of saved it toward the end here because I think it's the big win. know, the others, the bonus depreciation can be bigger, but you're probably not buying a business or massive amounts of equipment every year. But if you are, then that's going to be a huge one too.   Kiera Dent (32:20) Yeah. No, Derick, I love that. And I did some math because you talked about like one hour approximately per month to do these things. And I just I did some really, really conservative numbers. So I was like, if we were doing 20 grand of how much we get for tax savings of like actual dollars to you. And that was in 15 hours a year. That's 1333. So about 1400 per hour. And so thinking about a dentist who's producing 1400 per hour.   That's actually, that's a pretty high production. You're producing about $11,000 a day as a dentist at that rate. Then I was thinking like, okay, the R &D is 10 grand, 20 grand in two hours. That's now producing $10,000 an hour. I was like, that dentist would be producing $80,000 a day. Just to put in comparison of your dollar per hour on production, you apply that to your tax savings. I think that it's to me,   Not all dentists are even producing $1,300 an hour. Even very, very skilled dentists, like 500 to 1,000 is actually pretty great. That's what we try to target for doctors to do. 8,000 a day is a pretty good amount. So when I just did the quick math and I'm like, a lot of dentists are not working five days a week. A lot of you are working four days a week. So if you just added this as part of your CEO time, one hour per month to dedicate to this.   What's the ROI of that time? think it's very well worthwhile. And I will agree with you, Derick. We've had you on the podcast before. That's why I had you come back on, because I am seeing multiple clients get these R &D credits coming through that I just think it's a worthwhile thing. Again, I feel like it's Geico. That's what I feel like right now. Like one hour or like one quick call could save you 10 to 20 grand. I think that that to me, again, let's be sharp. Let's be savvy. Let's make sure we take advantage of these opportunities because again,   Derick Van Ness (34:00) you   Kiera Dent (34:13) Like you've said, the compound of that 10 or $20,000 that you get over the course of the next 20 to 30 years while you're doing dentistry, even if it's five years, even if it's 10 years, ⁓ that to me is so worth your time. I feel like that's the best use of your time you can possibly do as a CEO, as a business owner. So Derick, that's why I want to do back on because I think everybody should connect with you. Everybody should talk to their CPAs about this.   I know you guys do the R &D credits. I also know that you guys do accounting. So if people are looking to connect with you, Derick, like what's the easiest way? Like I'm fired up listening to this podcast. I'm committed to my one hour a month. It's like one and a half guys. So you're gonna have to be a little bit more, but I'm committed to that. Where do I start? How do I get going to make sure that I can maximize this big, beautiful tax bill and also the R &D credits for my practice.   Derick Van Ness (35:03) It's a great question. So we actually set up a page just for Dental A Team listeners, right? So it's just, my company's called Big Life Financial. And we do that, it's not big money financial. Our goal is to help you get money out of the way so you can live the life you're here to live as a human, right? And really spend the family time and make the contributions and express yourself as you want to. But it's BigLifeFinancial.com/DAT. So if you go there, it's a research and development credits   opt in right for the page because I think that's the biggest win. But we will also do, if you would like, a full three year tax review for people. Anybody who wants to see, have I been overpaying? There's a million things we didn't touch on today because they're not part of the new tax bill. There are things that have been around for a long time. ⁓ But we can help you to get a good idea of have you been overpaying and what are the opportunities out there? ⁓ And so that's a great way to start. And then from there, if it seems like you want to   Kiera Dent (35:46) Mm-hmm.   Derick Van Ness (36:03) find out more, you have questions or things come up, but that's a good starting point, right? It's like a diagnostic that gives us a good place to start from. So BigLifeFinancial.com/DAT will set up a free call. It should only take maybe 15, 20 minutes at first just to answer any question. That's great.   Kiera Dent (36:19) 15 or more could save you.   It really fills up, it's true. It's true. Daria, I do have a question though, because people get creeped out by taxes. How often do doing this and looking back at past taxes alert audits within the IRS? Because people creep out about this.   Derick Van Ness (36:37) So doing it,   so the R &D credits, especially this because they literally passed a law and said, yes, you can go back and do it. So there's going to be a ton of people doing it. So I don't think it's going to be any type of audit unless you really weren't doing research, right? But that's what the interview is for, is to help us to identify it. And our team will essentially tell you what does and doesn't qualify. But there's no risk to it, especially because they're saying, hey, yeah, you can go back and do this. You could.   I mean, you could have claimed it before, but nobody did. So it's not going to stand out. also, even in the past, when we've done this for people prior to that law change, I think out of 16,000 filings, there's been like maybe 12 or 15 audits. It's lower. It's even lower than a typical audit range. And I don't know how that's even really possible, but it's just been very low. It's not something the IRS is really worried about. It's not huge amounts of money.   Kiera Dent (37:10) Mm-hmm.   Derick Van Ness (37:35) You know, some of these other strategies care that you're aware of. people are getting 50, 100,000, $200,000 tax breaks and those are much more highly scrutinized. You really doing this work, which dentists do, uh, and based on your industry, I don't think they're really going to bat an eye. It doesn't mean there's a zero chance, but it's very, very low. Just like if you had a piece of equipment, forgot to depreciate it. Now you went back and amended to do that. It's that straightforward. It's a permanent part of the tax code. It's not gray area stuff.   Kiera Dent (37:42) Right.   which is super helpful. And that's just where I wanted to clarify because I know people get kind of weird of like, yeah, I want to save on my taxes, but I'd rather not get audited. And so I think this is a world where you can be both. You can save on taxes legally, just like the Augustus rule. Like that is something very common. People do it if you don't know about it, talk to your CP about it, ⁓ your kids having real jobs. So I feel like it's something where, like you said, it's not talked about as much, but that does not mean that it is not as commonplace or that you shouldn't bonus appreciation on real estate, on big equipment.   Derick Van Ness (38:10) Yeah.   Kiera Dent (38:36) These are things that I also feel this is the time like a political landscape for you as a business owner to take advantage of tax benefits. The person who's in the White House currently, whatever you choose to believe or not believe is very pro businesses in a lot of ways. And so I'm like, if you're ever going to try it based on who's in office, ⁓ I think now is a great time ⁓ with how many things are coming forward for businesses and being more business. ⁓ I would just say   business friendly, I think is where the political landscape is currently. Again, not to go down a political path, just to be looking at like, if I'm hedging my bets, now is probably a really good time where odds of audits are probably a little bit lower than maybe at other times of the political landscape. So just things to think about. Derick, I love these podcasts. I love building wealth. So guys go to BigLifeFinancial.com/DAT, so Dental A Team. So it's just DAT our initials.   Derick Van Ness (39:15) Yeah.   Kiera Dent (39:32) And Derick will take great care of you. Derick, any last thoughts as we wrap up today? I appreciate you so much being on here.   Derick Van Ness (39:38) No, just think, you know, dentists work really, really hard and I feel like a lot of them don't get the fruits of their labor because there's a lot of these little things that they haven't been taught. And I think all the little things do add up. So, you know, this is one of those things that if you choose to just take it on, figure it out in a year or two, you'll be way ahead of the game and you get to benefit from that basically forever. Right? lot of this stuff, once you figure it out one time, you can just ride.   80%, 90 % on autopilot. So if you've been afraid of it, would say it's climb over that hill, whether it's with us or someone else, it is really worth it. You guys work too hard, take too many risks, deal with too much headache to not get the full amount of the money that you really deserve to keep. So yeah.   Kiera Dent (40:23) I agree.   That's why Derick gets to be on the podcast because we're very aligned. I've always said I want dentists to be insanely wealthy, insanely. I see what you go through in school. mean, 2.5 million debt ⁓ to even get the opportunity to practice. ⁓ That's really where I was on a very strong mission to help dentists just like Derick to be as successful as you want to be. And there's little strategies like what we talked about that are big strategies. So take advantage, get over the hump.   Chat with Derick or your financial advisor or your CPA. But these things, I think, need to be part of your every single year conversations. They need to be talked about multiple times. You need to be asking what's been changing in the tax bill, keeping yourself a part of it. Very simple moves, big gains this year. Derick, as always, thanks for being a part of it. I really appreciate you. And for all of you listening, thank you for listening, and I'll catch you next time on the Dental A Team Podcast.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt and Rabih talk about the latest economic headlines—from recent moves at the Federal Reserve and internal disagreements among its members to fresh insights on the labor market and inflation trends. They also discuss how Trump's policies are influencing the stock market and the reality of grocery prices. Do you have a question you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Visit DentistAdvisors.com/podcast to submit a question or topic. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Do you need a vacation from your vacation? On this episode of The Dentist Money Show, Matt and Taylor unpack the changing meaning of vacations, from the pressure to plan extravagant getaways to the financial strain and emotional guilt that often tag along. They share personal experiences, explore how technology interferes with true downtime, and highlight why intentional planning (and smart budgeting) is key to actually enjoying your time off. You can read Taylor's full article about vacation planning here. Tune in to learn how to take a break that actually feels like one. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

In our new TL;DR series episode, Jake reads his blog post where unpacks the surprising reasons why so many Americans struggle to save for retirement. From rising living costs and stagnant wages to psychological barriers like procrastination and decision fatigue. Tune in as he offers practical strategies—like automating savings and focusing on consistent steps to help you take control of your retirement path. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt and Rabih discuss the latest economic data, including GDP growth, unemployment rates, and inflation trends. They also provide updates on the August 1st tariff deadline, highlighting the recent negotiations with various countries. Finally, they debate the value of TSA PreCheck, in light of the recent change in the shoe policy. Do you have a question you'd like us to cover on the podcast? Visit DentistAdvisors.com/podcast to submit a question or topic. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

On the first episode of a 5-part tax series of the Dentist Money Show, Matt and Ryan break down the essentials of the tax system and why taxes create so much confusion (and stress) for dentists. They tackle common misconceptions around tax brackets, clarify the difference between deductions and credits, and explain how taxes really impact your take-home income. They also highlight the value of working proactively with a CPA and why understanding your taxes is key to long-term financial success. Tune in to the first episode of our new tax series and learn how basic tax knowledge can help you avoid costly mistakes. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.

Welcome to Dentist Money Two Cents, a look at the latest financial and economic news from the past week.
 On this episode of Dentist Money's Two Cents, Matt and Rabih dive into the newly passed Genius Act and its potential to legitimize and regulate stablecoins. They break down how this legislation could shape the future of cryptocurrency, they talk about the shifting landscape of student loans, and finally, they touch on the political tension surrounding the Fed. Book a free consultation with a CFP® advisor who only works with dentists. Get an objective financial assessment and learn how Dentist Advisors can help you live your rich life.