Financial Foresight – Regrets in Financial Planning

In this thought-provoking episode, Casey and Jarrod focus on the financial regrets that plague many older dentists. Inadequate retirement planning and financial missteps can haunt dental professionals long after they've hung up their scrubs.

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, in studio with co-host Jarrod Bridgeman.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yo, Casey, how's it going?

Casey Hiers:
I feel like I'm at a luau, looking at that T-shirt.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
You like this shirt?

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, it's sharp.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah. Thank you. Casey, we just celebrated, as a nation, the birth of America. How was your Independence Day?

Casey Hiers:
Saw a lot of fireworks. Heard even more.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's right.

Casey Hiers:
I don't know who's popping them off at midnight, but the little ones were just loving that.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
For people in other states where it might be harder to get fireworks, in Indiana, people start and stop about a week before and a week after 4th of July.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, it's lively.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
My wife and I made Chicago dogs yesterday. I went and bought a bunch of-

Casey Hiers:
What's that recipe?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
So, I bought 100% beef hot dogs from the butcher shop here in town. I got sports peppers, pickles, tomato, onion, neon green sweet relish, and celery salt on a poppy seed bun. Mustard too, all that.

Casey Hiers:
Sounds like like a supreme.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Nice.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
It's real good.

Casey Hiers:
Nice.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
It was very nice. So yeah, looking, anyway, as we are celebrating another year of the country and looking at things, you and I were talking about some of the calls you've had, some of the people you've met, some of the people out at the conventions we go to, and there seems to be a rising topic for people that are starting to potentially age out of dentistry. What was that topic? What was that thing that kept popping up for you?

Casey Hiers:
A lot of conversations I have, it's regret.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Okay.

Casey Hiers:
It's interesting. I was talking to an older dentist. He had been to his state dental convention, I believe, 40 straight years.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Oh, boy.

Casey Hiers:
And he had just retired and sold his practice. And we're just kind of chatting it up, and he was asking a lot of questions. But I found it fascinating because he was kind of sad. He was like, "This is probably the last meeting I'm going to come to. Most people I went to dental school with, they don't come anymore. They're all retired. I sold my practice." And it was interesting. He goes, "Throughout my career, I felt like I was doing okay. And now that I've retired, I look back, and there's so many things I could have done better." He really opened up, but sharing... He was asking about why we were at the convention and what we do. And I mean, he was like, "Do you have business cards? And I'm going to pass these out." And it's interesting, when I talk to younger dentists sometimes, they don't know what they don't know.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
No, and they don't have maybe professional regrets yet.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, that's a good way to put it. And this sounds funny, but again, dentistry is a profession where a lot of practice owners can make three, $400,000, but they should be making five, six, or seven.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Now, if a younger dentist, let's say early thirties, is making 200, 300, why do you think that they, at that time of their life, are okay with that, or at least complacent?

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. Well, again, they don't know what they don't know. And so, a lot of younger dentists, they're making more money maybe than they thought they would. Their primary stressor is debt, so they're just trying to have a singular focus of-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
That's right.

Casey Hiers:
... getting rid of the debt. But they feel like they're doing pretty good.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
And maybe less familial ties. Maybe they don't have kids yet. Maybe they're not even married.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's funny. I've talked to people, and they're not making as much as they should, and their overhead's high, and their practice, there's a lot of stress, but, well, they're 34, they're single. Then all of a sudden, fast-forward at 42, well, you've got a wife or a husband, you've got a couple kids.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right. And they just suck the money out of you.

Casey Hiers:
Well, it's kind of a slow burn where people look up, and hopefully, they look up and fix the business side before it's too late. But the gentleman I talked to, I mean, he was like, "Gosh, I should have done that side of things better. I love dentistry, but I should have done that better." Looking back, he could see over the decades, he probably underachieved.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Well, how many years do you think someone would need to own before they start really feeling that maybe this is not where I want it to be, or maybe not making what I want to make?

Casey Hiers:
Everyone's different. For us, we like people to own for two or three years. Typically, that's when it kind of starts to settle in.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
So, that first year might be a little honeymoon.

Casey Hiers:
Again, they don't know. They're just trying to produce dentistry and not have a revolt within the staff, right?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
I mean, those are the top stressors typically when they start. But ultimately, somebody will get a tax surprise, or somebody will see their peers have more and then wonder, "Huh?" But yeah, typically that year three to five. Now for some, again, that never hits them. They've left $5 million on the table over the last 25 years of practicing dentistry.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Well, and in that case, not knowing it was there in the first place.

Casey Hiers:
Sometimes, yeah.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah, they're not sad about it until they run into you at a convention.

Casey Hiers:
But nobody wants regret, right? And in fairness, I get to see, I get to talk to those folks, and having him just have a fire to pass our card out to people because he now knows young dentists need the help. But yeah, when you're younger, it's hard sometimes, but-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
How often, and I feel like everybody kind of falls into this trap, we should listen to and respect our elders, how many of these young doctors take an older dentist's advice when it comes to things like this? Is that still kind of like, "That's down the road for me. That's out there"?

Casey Hiers:
It's hard. Clinically, there's a lot of advice given and taken and things like that, but for older dentists, sometimes they're ashamed that maybe they don't have as much as they should retired.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
It's so much more of a personal pain than-

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, they don't want to-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
... maybe skills you never could quite reach.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. But people will do the mentor/mentee thing typically with clinical things.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Okay.

Casey Hiers:
But there's a little bit of, maybe, like I said, shame, and people don't want to talk about it. But it's a disservice because so many young dentists, some of our best clients, their uncle, mom or dad were dentists, had a practice and said, "Hey, dentistry's great. This part's hard. Work with these guys."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
They experienced it firsthand, or at least saw firsthand the stress that their parents or uncle had.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, because every year, the practice owner's, "Well, I'm just going to grow, or I'm going to do this." They've got their-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
We've talked before. We've had our owner and CEO, Jason Smith, on here to talk about the myth of the multi-practice.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, yeah. You'll get the younger... "Well, I just need one more associate. I need one more practice. I need that one thing that's going to change it." And they look up and not a lot's changed.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
In fact, it may even be worse.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
If anything, they've just complicated their situation.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. The adult babysitting can be tough. But yeah, for those who can master the business side of their practice sooner, it's incredible what can happen.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Or find someone to help them master it.

Casey Hiers:
Right. But the regret that I hear more, so often from dentists in the end of their career or what have you, they almost have that moment of, "Gosh, darn it, why didn't I do better at the business side of my practice with insurance, with overhead, with all those things?" And-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
It's not often you hear them being regretful about particular clinical things.

Casey Hiers:
No, I mean, that's where the joy is. But-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
And usually, a lot of docs tend to be pretty up-to-date on what's out there at the moment.

Casey Hiers:
Oh, yeah. No, that's what they enjoy. But yeah, I mean, our tagline of, "Find us in your thirties, retire in your fifties," again, people go, "Well, I want to work one or two days a week." That's fine. But be able to retire in your fifties, if you're not there, why not? What's going on? And so many practice owners, they can't. It's hard to look in the mirror, right?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yes, yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Why aren't you making more money? Why is your overhead so high? Why do you not have a clear plan for retirement? Why is your business model and your practice not mastered? What's up with this tax surprise? And they just try to tackle as they come and then think, "Well, I'll just try harder. I'll just produce more hopium." Right? Hope is a terrible business strategy, and that's a prevalent in dentistry.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
I mean, there's a level of, maybe you do need to increase production if your production numbers are not great because you've got to have some cash to have cash flow. But as we've said multiple times on this podcast, we help our clients retire earlier, have way more money than they had to be on track, and we do a lot of that with not increasing production whatsoever.

Casey Hiers:
No, no. Most of the time it's not a production issue. I mean, if you're over 900,000 in collections, I talk to people all over the place, million, million five, two, two five, and again, typically you don't need more production. You either need two or three of you as a dentist, or you need to find the external team to be able to master this for you. But yeah, the regret part, it's hard when I talk to the older folks that finally come to maybe an honest clarity or a reflection versus the one that's like-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Well, hindsight's 20/20. And it's like that Rod Stewart song, back when he was in the band, the Faces, it's the song Ooh La La, where he's talking about his poor old granddad, and he wish he knew all he knew now back then, kind of thing. So I mean, everybody feels that, but now that I'm middle-aged, I'm starting to see that too, like, "Man, when I was 25, I wish I had done X."

Casey Hiers:
I didn't know Rod Stewart was in a band-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah, before he went solo.

Casey Hiers:
... called the Faces.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
The Faces. Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
I learned something today.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah, yeah.

Casey Hiers:
But yeah, no, I mean, what's the message? Don't have regrets. And it sounds so simple, but-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Why don't we give our listeners a little homework assignment? I want you guys to sit down and really think about this. Write down three professional potential regrets or pains that you have right now as a practice owner. Or if you're not a practice owner yet, some pains that you've heard when you've been at a study club, or at a convention, or just budding up with the local doctor. Write down the three things, and if they end up being money, retirement-

Casey Hiers:
Well, resist the urge to put staff. Let's get real, right?

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yes, thank you. Yeah, yeah.

Casey Hiers:
Overhead, income, retirement, a plan, a strategy. How are you going to get to your goal? What is your goal? What do you need to do? That's where you get down to the brass tacks in this.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
And if you look at those, what you wrote, you can always give us a call or send us an email, but I mean, it's coming up with at least... It's a starting point of coming up with a plan or at least thinking about a plan.

Casey Hiers:
Hey, when we have meetings with potential people we work with, I go, "Listen, this exercise is good. You're either going to confirm you're doing the right things, or you're going to find out that there's a lot of improvements that can be made. And what you've rationalized while making 300 is just fine, no, actually, you should be making five, 600. And anything less should be unacceptable to you."

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Right, right. Casey, I want to thank you so much for coming in today. If you want to learn more about these topics, we are going to be in several cities throughout the rest of the year. We're coming up this week, we're going to be in Indianapolis and Westfield, Indiana doing our continued education and bourbon-tasting events, or lunch events. We're also going to be in Cleveland, Ohio, and Cincinnati, Ohio. We're coming up through Washington, D.C., and Chevy Chase, Maryland. We've got LA coming up. I think the AGD, we're going to be there as well.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah. No, we're everywhere. I mean, ultimately, we're everywhere. If-

Jarrod Bridgeman:
We help you.

Casey Hiers:
... you want to make more money, find us.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Yeah, yeah. Thanks, Casey.

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.