Handing Over the Keys: An Early Beach Retirement

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.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Hello, and welcome to The Millionaire Dentist. I am your host, Jarrod Bridgeman. Today we have a special treat. We had one of our clients, Dr. David Salomons, who was in town for his annual planning meeting. So we sat down and had Casey Hiers run an interview with Dr. Salomons, and so we're going to run with that, and it's also going to be a video that will be available online at a later date. So without further ado, Casey Hiers.

Casey Hiers:
This is Casey Hiers with Four Quadrants Advisory, here with Dr. David Salomons from Binghamton, New York. David, you just finished your seventh year with Four Quadrants Advisory.

Dr. David Salomons:
Seven years, yes.

Casey Hiers:
So this is a really good opportunity, I think to share really with your peers the emotions that you have when you learn about a firm like Four Quadrants, but there's some questions. You are thorough; you had a lot of questions. This was new for you.

Dr. David Salomons:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
But what's one thing you would tell a practice owner who thinks Four Quadrants Advisory sounds too good to be true?

Dr. David Salomons:
Good question. So, as dentists, as owners, we are control freaks. And we want to control everything, we know everything, but we don't know everything. So, where I was in my practice at the time was a transition time, and I realized I needed help with something. And I was lucky enough to stumble upon you and your company at the Yankee Dental, and it just changed my life.

So if you're not sure what you need or if it's too good to be true, well, the answer is yes, it is, but that's not a bad thing. What they say is what they do. So sometimes, when it's too good to be true, is that good? And in the seven years I've been with Four Quadrants Advisory, it has been that good. It's allowed me to retire probably five years earlier than what I thought I would be able to retire to. To give my wife and I the ability to have a second home on or near the beach. To put our kids through college. And put us in a position now where we can spend the next 30-plus years doing anything that we want to do. So the answer is yes, it is that good.

Casey Hiers:
Well, and that's a powerful, very compact answer because retiring five years early, that's incredible. Being able to live the life you want in retirement. Too many practice owners tell me, "I'll just scale back, I'll cut back, I'll cut back." That's a terrible retirement.

Dr. David Salomons:
Horrible.

Casey Hiers:
But a lot of dentists and specialists tell us, "Well, I've spent a lot of money on consulting or practice management, it didn't really do anything." They've almost been burnt in the past. And so when they do stumble upon something that seems like a good opportunity, sometimes there can be some of that PTSD.

Dr. David Salomons:
Sure.

Casey Hiers:
But it's powerful, I think, for you to share with your peers, "Yeah, it sounded really good, it has been really good."

Dr. David Salomons:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
We do what we say we're going to do.

Dr. David Salomons:
Yeah. And it wasn't an easy decision. It wasn't like, "Oh, yeah, they sound great. I'm just going to go right with it." Four Quadrants Advisory takes the time to know the client and to make sure that you're a good fit. And to their credit, it's not like you can go anywhere and they'll say, "Oh, yeah, we'll take you as a client, and we can do X, Y, or Z for you." But you may not be the right fit. So first of all, you have to be the right fit together. You have to be those jigsaw puzzles that match together.

And if they're able to do that and if they agree that we are a good fit, then you yourself have to make that leap of faith. And that's hard. Again, we're control freaks. We don't like to give things up. But you have to give somebody the keys to your Maserati. At some point, if you have kids, you got to give your kids the key to the car and let them go drive down the road to their friend's house, and you assume they're going to be okay. And this is the same thing. You got to give them the keys to your practice in a sense and know that they're going to take that and make it even a better place.

Casey Hiers:
Well, it's scary to give keys to your kids, but when they prove they do what they say they're going to do, they're responsible, then it frees up time.

Dr. David Salomons:
Yes.

Casey Hiers:
So not only can we help with getting your money right, but the time that it frees up.

Dr. David Salomons:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
It might be as scary. What would you share with the practice owner who maybe is a little hesitant to take that leap of faith? They maybe like their current CPA or finance advisor, have a decent relationship, or they're just scared of the unknown.

Dr. David Salomons:
Sure.

Casey Hiers:
What would you tell that person?

Dr. David Salomons:
So if you're looking at Four Quadrants Advisory, obviously, there's something in the back of your head that's nagging at you. Now, there's great CPAs out there, there's great investment people out there that, for some people, they may be doing a terrific job. But if you're looking at Four Quadrants, there's got to be something back there that you're not sure about.

I had great people, and they were my friends. It didn't mean they didn't do a good job in their advice, but they just couldn't give us answers sometimes when we asked those questions. And nothing against them, it's just what it was. So that was my nagging thing. So if you have that nagging feeling, there's a reason you have that nagging feeling. And it's okay to have that nagging feeling, but if they're your friends ... I had to go to my friends and say, "I found this company, they only do dentists. This is what they're going to do for my wife and I." And to their credit, they were like, "Hey, we totally get it. We're accountants, we're numbers people; these people specialize in something different." And no hard feelings, they understood everything, and that's how somebody else would be if that's what your concern is.

If your concern is, "Well, I just don't know if they can do what they can do," yes, they can do what they say they can do. And again, if you have that feeling, let somebody else do it. Take that off; we have enough stress as owners. We're running staff, we're running practice stuff, we're trying to get everything else in there. Take this off your plate. It makes your life so much better.

Casey Hiers:
Well, and you're someone, like you said, you want to control things, you want to know things. I vaguely remember when it was you had indexed out of our mutual vetting process, did a consulting. You still had a lot of questions, which is fair. You would have five questions, we'd answer those, and you'd have 10 more, we'd answer those, you'd have 20 more. And it got to the point when it becomes real sometimes, yes, there's questions that need to be answered, but sometimes those questions are almost delaying, "Do I have to actually make this decision?"

Dr. David Salomons:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
Do you remember back to when you were in that place and asking those questions?

Dr. David Salomons:
Yeah.

Casey Hiers:
I always joke that David could have asked 38 more questions. I don't know that he ever would have got all of them answered where he had complete peace.

Dr. David Salomons:
No.

Casey Hiers:
He had to take the leap to see it for himself.

Dr. David Salomons:
Yeah. So yes, I do remember that process. And I remember, all right, I got to make a decision. Talking with one of my ex-partners who was still around the office, but just not a partner anymore. He was like, "Yeah, it sounds good. I always wondered how we did things; that sounds like a good thing." And then talking to my wife, and she would be like, "You're not going to do it." And I said, "Well, I'm not saying that." We were comfortable where we were, but again, you had that little nag. And I just didn't know if I could take that step.

But yeah, it was you finally have to say, "Do it." When you ask your wife or whoever if you're married, you had to take that next step, or to ask the girl or the guy out. You had to take that next step. And if you don't do it, you're never going to get those rewards. So get past yourself. Yes, it's okay to have questions; you'll get the answers to them eventually of everything you could ever want to ask, but get past that and just ask the question or make the commitment like we do in everything in life. You made the commitment to go to dental school. You made the commitment to ask somebody out. You made the commitment to buy a practice, probably. You have to do this and just make that commitment and take that step forward.

Casey Hiers:
Yeah, you're right. Some of the most rewarding things in life, there is a leap of faith that needs to be taken. The interesting thing with our process, what we try to do is first, learn personality and mindset, understand the vision for their life and their practice. Then look under the hood at the numbers, "Can we help them?" If we get to the place where we offer a consulting and offer to work together, it's because internally here we know we can take somebody to a much better place.

Dr. David Salomons:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
Which for you, retiring five years sooner, getting that second house by the beach with a golf course nearby. And really, these last seven years, correct me if I'm wrong, have been some of your most enjoyable and most profitable years of your career.

Dr. David Salomons:
100%. Profitability is great. Listen, money is wonderful; we all love our money. But what else it's done is quality of life. If I have questions, if my wife has questions, if we're not sure about something financially, it's just a quick pick up the phone and call somebody. It's not like, "Oh, no, your week is the seventh week of the month," whatever it may be. This is, "Hey, you got a question, just give us a call, shoot us an email, we'll get right back to you, answer that question. Hey, can I afford this, can I afford that? Yes, you can. You might want to think about that." Or, "We can help you do better," whether it's buying something or doing that. "We can help you do better financially or get better rates, let us do that for you."

So yeah, these seven years have been more than what I would have expected or could have asked for.

Casey Hiers:
Well, and a lot of times, people's existing investment advisor, personal financial planner, or accountant, like you said, good relationships; it's heavy relationship. Here, we have good rapport. We want to get the results, then the relationship grows.

Dr. David Salomons:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
To the point where now, we have stories of playing golf together.

Dr. David Salomons:
Yes.

Casey Hiers:
And throwing dice together at a craps table.

Dr. David Salomons:
Right.

Casey Hiers:
And it's we kind of flip it on its head. Let's get them results as we're building the relationship and then have a really good, strong friendship and relationship. A lot of times, these other outfits, they try to get heavy on the relationship, be a cheerleader, and not really tell you what you need to hear, just tell you what you want to hear. It's been a pleasure.

Dr. David Salomons:
There's some hard truths that come out in this process, and you got to be willing to hear that. But if you do and you can change, and I had to change things I was doing.

Casey Hiers:
Not clinically, but-

Dr. David Salomons:
No. Yes, not clinically, but financially, business-wise, and the way I thought about different things. You have to be willing to change and adapt. And if you can do that, then you'll survive and prosper and move on. If not, you're going to be extinct like the dinosaurs.

Casey Hiers:
Amen. Let's leave it at that. Thank you, sir.

Dr. David Salomons:
Thank you very much. Appreciate everything.

Jarrod Bridgeman:
Thank you, folks, for listening to today's episode. As usual, we have a bunch of really cool CE events coming up all across the country. This time around, we're going to be in Ann Arbor and Birmingham, Michigan. We're going to be in Maple Grove and St. Paul, Minnesota. And we're going to be in Vernon Hills and Hinsdale, Illinois. There's going to be a lot more events throughout the rest of the year, so please check us out at fourquadrantsadvisory.com.

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.