The Dentist Money Show | Financial Planning & Wealth Management

Are you hesitant to invest your extra cash? If that emergency fund has turned into an emergency fortune, it's probably time to let your money spread its wings in the market. In this episode of Dentist Money™, Reese & Ryan discuss findings from a Vanguard study which compares two common approaches to investing large amounts of cash: Lump Sum Investing and Dollar Cost Averaging. They explain the tradeoffs of each approach and the factors to consider before deciding which strategy will work best for you.

Should you pay someone else to do a job you can handle yourself? As a practice owner, you might struggle to know when it makes more sense to outsource or keep things on your own plate. In this episode of Dentist Money™, Reese and Ryan explore the fundamentals of trade, specialization, and opportunity costs, and how economic lessons taught to fifth graders can help dentists improve their net worth.

Do you know what's happening in your front office? Has your staff been properly trained to offer appointments, ask for payments, and deal with cancellations? In this Dentist Money™ episode, Reese welcomes Laura Hatch, founder of Front Office Rocks, an online resource for dentists who need specialized training for their team on all aspects of the front desk. Laura discusses the four most common challenges in the front office and their financial impact on a practice. She also offers solutions to improve communication within the office, strengthen your value proposition against the competition, and increase case acceptance. Show notes: https://youtu.be/YgbnDtCDlTM www.frontofficerocks.com laura@frontofficerocks.com

Have you ever made a financial decision on the grounds that "everyone else is doing it?" When all the facts aren't readily available, human nature is to follow public opinion. But the herd can lead you off a cliff if you're not careful. In this episode of Dentist Money™, Reese & Ryan reflect on recent financial trends that led mobs of people to the poor house. They also provide a list of common investment bandwagons that leave dentists holding the bag.

Let's say you have an extra $30,000 in cash. You can pay down a loan with a 6% interest rate or invest in a retirement plan which could return anywhere from -10% to +10% this year. What should you do? In this episode of Dentist Money™, Reese and Ryan dive into the not-so-simple answer and explain why a lot of people get it wrong. They also weigh in on the pros and cons of cost-driven investment portfolios and provide a list of questions to ask before locking yourself into a loan.

Marketing pioneer John Wanamaker said, "Half the money I spend on advertising is wasted; the trouble is I don't know which half." As a practice owner, you might feel the same way. The challenge of measuring marketing results can be especially difficult for small businesses that have plenty of questions and not enough time to answer all of them. In this Dentist Money™ interview, Reese welcomes Wendy Phillips, founder of Big Buzz, who implements customer-focused dental marketing solutions for practice owners across the country. She highlights the most common marketing mistakes in dentistry, describes what to look for in a marketing agency, and provides inexpensive solutions for market research.

Remember the last time your retirement account took a hit? A lot of people do. You might have questioned the quality of your portfolio and the competency of your advisor. (Your concerns might have been valid by the way). Regardless of who or what's to blame, losing hurts, and behavioral psychologists have spent years researching how pain avoidance can influence major financial decisions. In this episode of Dentist Money™, Reese and Ryan explain how the fear of losing money can lead to losing more money. They also provide guidance for gaining emotional clarity so you can invest with more confidence.

Do you ever wonder if you're overlooking simple business fundamentals that could take your practice to the next level? Do you struggle to articulate your priorities as a business owner? While the decisions you make throughout your career are endless, there are basic principles that give the best business leaders an edge over the competition. In this episode of Dentist Money™, Reese welcomes Tanner Milne, founder of Menlo Group, the largest dental real estate brokerage firm in Arizona. In this interview, Tanner takes off his real estate cap and speaks to dentists as a business owner who understands the growing pains of entrepreneurship. He offers insights for better hiring, better planning, and better marketing to keep your practice thriving.

Did you know the average American wastes 55 minutes a day, or about 12 days a year, looking for things they own but can't find (Newsweek)? If it's lost keys, you could be late for your morning staff meeting. If it's important financial information, the setback is likely more severe. In this episode of Dentist Money™, Reese & Ryan discuss common ways dentists lose money simply because they don't know where to find the right information. They explain the preparation that should go into each decision-making scenario and calculate the cost of being unorganized.

Reese welcomes Denise Leleux, a leading expert on end-to-end client experience whose 26-year resume includes a position as VP of Global Customer Experience at eBay where she mentored top business leaders and managed a team of 6,000 employees. In this episode of Dentist Money™, Denise draws on her client-communication expertise and the observations she's made while in the chair at dental practices from Dallas to Denver and Louisiana to London. She offers priceless advice on dealing with difficult office managers, unifying your staff, and translating your business mission into unforgettable client experiences.