THE MILLIONAIRE DENTIST™

The Inflation Rate and the Supply Chain

EPISODE TRANSCRIPTION

Announcer:
Hello, everyone. Welcome to The Millionaire Dentist Podcast brought to you by Four Quadrants Advisory. On this podcast, we break down the world of dentistry finances and business practices to help you become the millionaire dentist you deserve to be. Please be advised, we do speak with an honest tongue and may not be safe for work.

Casey Hiers:
Hello and welcome. This is Casey Hiers back at The Millionaire Dentist Podcast with co-host Jarrod Bridgeman in the studio.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Hey, good afternoon.

Casey Hiers:
If you have looked at any source of media over the past, I don't know, months, weeks, months, quarters, inflation.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
We're kind of talking about this because, as you mentioned, a lot of the things we've seen in the media, inflation is rising more than the average, like it normally would. Is that correct?

Casey Hiers:
Oh yeah.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Okay. Because I mean, obviously most people know this, but inflation does happen every single year, but there are reasons why it can go even crazier.

Casey Hiers:
So what's causing it, right?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
I mean, I always like to say, "Where do we start? Let's start at the beginning."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
All right.

Casey Hiers:
Supply chain, when there's a breakdown in the supply chain, that has an effect on inflation, right? Then you start connecting dots, what else are you seeing in the news, in the media? Well, reduction in fuel, transportation.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Casey Hiers:
Hard to get fuel where the source of the fuel is. Some of these basics that we keep hearing about as we build upon this today in this time, Jarrod, it ultimately just points to massive inflation is here and is coming, and it affects all of us, unfortunately.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Oh, and it really does. And it's even affected me, especially with the supply chain thing, with my hobbies. I do a lot of... I collect vinyl records, and I preorder things, and I do a lot of board games and stuff, and I'm constantly getting updates of, "Oh, well, the ship is here, they just can't get it docked." There are things like that where they can't even get the boats in.

Casey Hiers:
There are some basic things that I use as well that I have not been able to find at different places. So it's one of those things, you hear about somebody getting their car stolen in the parking lot, and then when it happens to you, it becomes real.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
So there's been three or four things that I can't find now at some basic places, and it's that uneasy feeling of, "Oh, okay. Well, now, it's actually affecting me."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
"Well, what's going on here?" Right?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Well, I've even noticed the local gas station, the soda coolers are half stocked, quarter stocked.

Casey Hiers:
Oh.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's been odd too, just to notice that.

Casey Hiers:
Unacceptable. But yeah-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Me and my Mountain Dew.

Casey Hiers:
Supply chain, fuel production, the increased printing of money, which devalues the dollar. These are the foundations of all of this.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yes.

Casey Hiers:
So those are the things that we'll see those headlines, right?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Casey Hiers:
Or we'll hear a blurb on the news, but that's about as far as a lot of us take it.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Correct.

Casey Hiers:
And that's why we're going to go a little bit deeper today on that. But as a high demand for products is there, there are decreasing supplies across the board. Excuse me. Those four things are all major causes of the inflation. So what are the concerns? Are there positives to it? Obviously, there are negatives.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
What do you think a couple negatives might be?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Well, I mean, the most basic one out there would be is as inflation goes up, your actual dollar buys less, right? So the decrease in the dollar value.

Casey Hiers:
I like to spend money, my wife likes to save money, which is a huge blessing. But I've been telling her, "Think about things you want or need, and buy them. Because right now, if you wait six months, it's going to cost more."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Think about housing costs, lumber, you name it, it's going up. And we-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Oh, I've heard lumber and all that's gone crazy.

Casey Hiers:
But we did a lot to our home over this year, and thankfully we got a lot of stuff locked in because it's 30, 40, 50% more now to do some of the things we were doing. And while patience and not buying everything, historically, is a good idea to save and to plan, right now-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
... if you need it, you probably ought to buy it, within reason. I mean, the microchips and the cars, and you see many less cars on the lots.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Many less options.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I know one of our coworkers here bought himself a new car, but it took almost three months because of that chip.

Casey Hiers:
Oh, wow.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That chip shortage.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. The current low-interest rates, they make savings accounts and fixed income products less attractive for places that store cash, that's another negative or another concern.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Now, let me ask you what... This is the dummy in me, but what does that mean? What does a low-interest saving, just like your local bank, Chase Bank, or anything like that is that what you're referring to as a low-interest-earning savings account?

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. No, that is a basic understanding of what that means, and that's absolutely right. So while inflation is not a good thing, if you think about our market or our economy in general, there are a couple, I guess we can call them positives, right? Maybe they're silver linings to a bad situation. So those negatives are real, and we don't see them lightning at all. But some positives are, if you think about it, there are still a lot of jobs available, right?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Oh, yeah.

Casey Hiers:
There's a strong need for employees, which is a good thing. In the dental world, hiring is really hard right now to find good hygienists and things of that nature. So that's good that there are jobs available. The market is still going strong. It's-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Also want to say, everything I've seen on the news, it's-

Casey Hiers:
It's bullish, right?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Bear market, bull market. It's bullish. I mean, it's, what, 36,000 is the [Dow 00:05:29]?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
We won't get in the quantitative easing and the printing of money and how this is a house of cards because that would be depressing. But the market somehow is still going strong. Consumer confidence, it can be interpreted as strong, I guess, which is a good sign, going back to the holiday season and some of that can bode well for sustained stock market.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
It does. Because I think the stocks will keep going strong and up. But with the holiday season coming up, I was talking to a friend of mine who's been looking into it, he wants a PlayStation 5, and the local Best Buy or the local Game Stop had said that they don't even think they'll get any in time for Christmas.

Casey Hiers:
My sister got the last Nintendo Switch at a random Meijer, in a far-out Meijer, because she couldn't find them at the normal places.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
So again, consumer confidence with buying, I don't think it's because the good times are here again and everybody's spending money because they're happy. I think it's because if we don't get it now, we won't be able to get it, which is frightening. So when I say silver lining-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
... I'm trying to be positive. But people are spending money, just like I said, I'm trying to think of things to go buy that I might not be able to get here in a little bit. But the question remains is, where to go if and when the continued strain on the supply chain?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
And the increased fuel costs as winter approaches during a time of fuel shortages, potentially, how do people prepare for that downturn, and what options are there?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
So let me ask you this, are there things that people or clients could do that could lessen the negative impact that we had talked about?

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. Taking advantage of low-interest rates now to make large purchases and consolidate debt, if you have some, I mean, that's low-hanging fruit.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
My guess is most of our listeners have already done that. If you haven't considered that, reduce seeing any credit card debt, which carries variable interest rates that are going to negatively affect consumers-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Not only variable but high.

Casey Hiers:
Well, I just saw some articles... Again, with everything going on, the credit card debt in our country is even higher than it was already, which is sad, right?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
It's outrageous. Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
It's sad. It's like this-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I mean, I've fallen victim to them in the past.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. I think-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
College me was not smart.

Casey Hiers:
I think I opened up a thousand dollar limit in college and went down to South Padre for spring break, and I mean, I thought I was a rich man.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
And then I'm like, "Wait, I got to pay this back?"

Jarrod Bridgeman:
And then you're paying that for 10, 15 years for a week.

Casey Hiers:
But yeah. I think that not panicking, right? Most practice owners, a lot of practice owners that we know, the ones we work with are doing great. The ones we don't, there's a lot out there that are doing okay right now. But when they start hearing from their patients who may not be doing as great, it gets closer to you.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah. Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Again, it's that whole you're sad somebody gets their car stolen, and then when it happens to you, then you go from sad to pissed.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah. Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
So it's getting closer to everybody, I think, right?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Casey Hiers:
So that's what you... But panicking is not going to do anything short-term.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
So what do you mean? Like, when you say, "Don't panic," I would imagine that'd be, don't run and take all your money out of a particular thing or-

Casey Hiers:
Liquidate everything, put it under the mattress.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Buy a hundred percent, all gold. Again, you don't want to make emotional decisions.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
Talk to your advisors, our clients-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Talk to your team.

Casey Hiers:
Have a team to talk to. Make sure that you are being very realistic with all the things that we've talked about. These are the bad things that are going on. What are some sound strategies to insulate ourselves from that? Can we use this current environment and financial landscape to correct something, to do a good thing? And those are just the questions that need to be asked, talked about during this time. But-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Well, honestly, I feel like the current rate of inflation is not going to level back out anytime soon-

Casey Hiers:
Yeah.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
... is what it feels like.

Casey Hiers:
I mean, I need to start an opinion podcast and get into my dark conspiracy theories and rabbit trails and rabbit holes of what, but I'd probably have six listeners and number [inaudible 00:09:38] the five of them. So we'll probably just stick to this one, but-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
For now.

Casey Hiers:
... it's an interesting economic time. And if there's anything about inflation, having cash when prices are high and when things can crash, then it's a good time to buy more things.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
I mean, so just put yourself in a good position. Those that are leveraged in debt right now, it can be a little tricky, but ultimately, again, it just makes maximizing your efforts every day-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Casey Hiers:
... that much more important, that much more magnified. Make sure your financial house is in order, so that continues to be other people's car that's stolen and not yours. So it continues to be really hard things, but you are okay because you've planned for it, you've talked to the right people, and-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
... you've done the best you can with your abilities.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Exactly.

Casey Hiers:
Thank you, sir.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Thank you.

Announcer:
That's all the time we have today. Thank you to our guests for their insight and for sharing some really great information. And thank you to you, the listener, for tuning in. The Millionaire Dentist podcast is brought to you by Four Quadrants Advisory. To see if they might be a good fit for you and your practice, go on over to fourquadrantsadvisory.com and see why year after year, they retain over 95% of their clients. Thank you again for joining us, and we'll see you next time.