David Denniston

Renting and buying both have their advantages and both of their weaknesses. Make sure you're doing the right thing for your unique situation. 

I recently read an article from financial blogger 

 that led me to have some really interesting thoughts on the subject 

. He said if you have to ask, you should probably rent.

We were talking about living in the city of Toronto and how it costs so much money- living in the burb’s vs living inside the city. To live in the city, all you will find are a million-dollar homes. He said, hey, that doesn’t work for me, I’m going to rent rather than buy. There were also a number of good points he had on there. For instance, one was when you have an 80k salary then renting makes more sense than buying. But I think there are a few points that he is missing out on.

When you rent, number one; you are subject to your rent going up every single year. Guess what, people own that property and they want to make money out of it. When you are having a good rebounding economy like we`ve been having, people getting hired and filling places, then rent gets pushed up. And then your budget may not accommodate it in the future and in the end, market tender tends to come to equilibrium on these things even though for a couple of years things may swing one direction or the other.

The other major point that I will make with this, as a resident or as a fellow, often I see people trying to buy a home. Residents and fellows, if you want to rent a place you better have a bunch of cash put down on it because you do not want to go cash flow negative. You need to make sure that you are not having the backup in case the place was empty for a couple of months. You want to have great cash flow consistently.

The third thing that I want to point out is that if you are already in practice and looking to buy your first home the situation also changes. I do think that the appreciation factor, as you can see in this case here, can be a huge part of your retirement. So, I still believe buying a home is the right thing to do. Perhaps the main point he is making is, “hey, if you buy a huge mansion then you might have huge mortgage payments, or you want to put down a lot of cash. You`re taking a big risk.”

However, in certain areas, like let's say where I live here in Bloomington, MN, you can get a great home for 400K with 5,000 square feet. For a physician that’s most likely not a big deal. Think about your situation if you are a resident, if you are a fellow, really ask yourself strongly; do I want to buy here? Am I going to be here for the rest of my career? If you are not sure, you shouldn’t buy because then you might have issues with trying to rent the place later, cash flow can slow down from that. And we want you to have great cash flow.

So, I`d like to know your thoughts; are you renting? Are you buying? What would you say to a resident or fellow with advice? Am I on point? Am I way off here? Is there a reason that they should buy that I have missed?

For more financial advice and insight read on 

Advisory services through Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services LLC and securities through United Planners Financial Services of America, a Limited Partnership. Member FINRA and SIPC. The Capital Advisory Group Advisory Services, LLC (CAG) and United Planners Financial Services are not affiliated.

The views expressed are those of the author and may not reflect the views of United Planners Financial Services. Material discussed is meant to provide general information and it is not to be construed as specific investment, tax, or legal advice. Individual needs vary & require consideration of your unique objectives & financial situation.

Articles

Finding the right living situation for your unique situation includes a number of factors, how much you're spending chief among them. Make sure to weigh the options of renting versus buying when considering your budget. 

Rent vs. Buy

Being a dentist doesn't mean you can only be a clinician; you can only do whatever you want to do with your expertise.

I want to focus on dentists in private practice. I was listening recently to a webinar by my friend Doctor Vicki Ratner and she had some really awesome takeaways. I wanted to boil down some of her notes and put my own spin on it with five ways to generate more revenue for you. Now, we all know today there is so much going on that it can be just painful being a physician.

We know how much harder every physician is having to work. I hear more and more physicians are concerned thinking their pay is going to flatten out. They think that they may not want to be in medicine for their career, they might want to transition out at some point. So, what I’d like to do for those of us in private practice or not is think of a few good ways with which to generate more money and assuage those fears.

So, what does that mean, right? It means that you are an expert witness. You are like the expert doctor in the show 

 where you come in to testify in a court case how certain evidence works that no one else can explain. And what’s great about it is I’m often talking about being a business owner. What is the number one tax reduction you can have? Be a business owner.

That’s right, that’s what we want to do, and being an expert in medical litigation can allow you to do that. You can charge a huge hourly wage. Actually, I have a client that is a surgeon. His wife is now starting transcription work and I was shocked at what she could earn doing transcription. Just transcription by itself she is charging $75 an hour and it’s 1099 income which means you can take all these great business deductions. And as a physician, you can often charge two times, three times, four times that amount on your own schedule, up to you, when you want to do this. And of course, this isn’t for everybody right, we don’t necessarily want everybody to do this. You have to have a certain personality. Can you handle the counter argument of lawyers on the opposite end?

Now the other caveat here, which Vicki had pointed out and I thought was really really good point, is that you can only do this up to three years after you retire. If you want to transition out of practice you can still do this for up to three years. This makes becoming an expert witness involved in medical litigation a very appealing way to transition out of practice. Still have some interesting stuff to do and charging hundreds of dollars per hour possibly for your time and offer.

Now, I know the AMA is very much against wanting to have conflicts of interest. And absolutely conflict of interest are not ideal and you don’t want to be viewed as someone that is pushing products from a pharmaceutical company. You don’t want to be viewed as the doctor that is unethical and doing things that are not right, you want to put the patient first. However, what I do want you to think about is how can you capture your knowledge. How can you generate more patients? How can you generate more high paying patients? And the number one way to do this is to start being a celebrity.

Let me ask you a question; how hard of a time do you think Dr. Oz has in getting new patients? I bet he would have a huge waiting list, whether or not you agree or disagree with his medicine and methods you have to admit he`s have done an awesome job of being a celebrity. This could be educational materials, this could be a program for weight loss, or it could be adding on warranties, or giving access to hotline for people to reach you. And really what this is all about is helping people to achieve something. Losing weight, looking younger, to stop smoking, to sleep better, to find love, to get fit, to get healthier. What is your passion? What is something that you know that you can help people with? It doesn’t have to be a product, or it could be a product of skin care for example. It could be a cream or some ointment or something like that, but it could just be information. More and more today people are hungry for information. Probably that’s the reason why you are here. So, I`d like you to think about what could you white label? What could you put your stamp on? Because what if you could double the average revenue per patient? How will that change your practice?

What if people came to you without having to have referrals from other physicians which I think that’s one of the biggest issues that we have today. As more and more private practices are getting gobbled, physicians can have their legs cut out from beneath them because they are so dependent on referrals. Having someone to help you with the social media, having someone to position you as a super scientist to sell this information and your information product could help in finding ways to get people in into your doors so they know you, like you, love you and trust you.

Basically what this means, and this is a trend we are seeing with telemedicine and all kinds of areas, is if you look at your business as a profit centre is there something that you are doing right now that a PA or a nurse practitioner could be doing for you? This is for our friends here in private practice. Can you pay less to get the same stuff done and still get good quality of work? What can you delegate in your practice? Think about that; how can you leverage your resources?

In Dr. Vicki Ratner’s original webinar she said that many physicians they have a jar full of reimbursement stuff from insurance companies and follow ups that need to be done. So how can you streamline that with EMRs and all these codes and everything that happens out there? There are some companies, I am going to be doing a podcast with one here shortly, that focus on streamlining your reimbursement process. So rather than having everything be paper as we are used to, making that electronically seamless to increase your cash to increase the speed of receiving your receivables. So, think about those things and get on board with the resources to help make you more profitable now.

4. Conduct seminars and engage with your patients

Now the other thing that I will like you guys to think about for number four here is to educate, empower and entertain. Number four my focus was on creating products, but in my industry something that financial advisors have done forever to increase their celebrity and increase engagement is having seminars. I don’t know of any physician that hosts seminars. I know very few physicians that write books, that write blogs, that do videos.

So how can you educate, entertain, inform your audience. As a matter of fact, I think if you have several doctors in a practice why wouldn’t you assign each person based on upon their strengths with what’s best for them. Could you have a podcast?  Does someone love to write? If so, write a few articles for your practice website. Another idea is to create a workbook, then you create another workbook and the next thing you know you have a full-on book. So, there are a lot of things you can do to position yourself as that empowered teacher people want to listen to.

Another thing that you might want to consider if you have more and more staff is you could have an online membership site where people pay you recurring revenue. So rather than worry about reimbursements you could bill someone`s credit card $20-30 a month to get your latest newsletter, to get your latest tips of some of that contents you are creating. As a matter of fact, you can think of fee versus free. There are some websites out there that will pay you to write for them.

As a matter of fact, there are many healthcare websites that are looking for content, they are starving for content. A lot of those you don’t get paid for but there are some that do. And another thing that is helping many physicians become more noticied is to hold a Ted Talk. This is simply telling stories with just a few key points and possibly less intensive than hosting a full seminar.

So, if you do own your own practice do you have unused office space. What are you doing to get that filled up? And if you don’t own your office space why not buy the real estate to have that additional equity. How much wealthier could everyone be by paying rent to yourself rather than someone else. This way even if the billing doesn’t appreciate, you will walk away with equity. I just want to tell you guys, the best thing you can do is to avoid dumb doctor deals.

You know what am talking about, there are these deals out there that look too good to be true. So, make sure you are consulting with your team, your advisory board to have your team together to help you avoid those deals that can kill you. But overall, the best success I have seen people have is by investing in the places that they work. Investing where they usually go to.

There you go you guys, five different ways with which to generate more income. Number one was being an expect in medical litigation; number two selling products and services; number three leveraging your business; number four educating, empowering, entertaining and number five generating more investment income.

Now, my question for you is; doctor how are you going to position yourself for success? How are you going to help yourself and head against this environment where it’s harder and harder for private practices, where you have to work more and more in order to get the same amount of money.

I’d love to hear from you, I’d love to know how you are positioning yourself for success in this coming year!

9 Questions to Ask When Shopping for An Advisor

How Dentists Benefit By Integrating Financial Fitness into Holistic Wellness

The views expressed are those of the author and may not reflect the views of United Planners Financial Services. Material discussed is meant to provide general information and it is not to be construed as specific investment, tax, or legal advice. Individual needs vary & require consideration of your unique objectives & financial situation

Being a dentist in private practice does not necessarily mean just seeing patients and providing treatment. There are other ways to use your expertise, ones that might also be profitable for you.

5 Smart Ways for Dentists to Generate More Revenue

Building your practice comes down to more than just money, and inspiration for building your practice can come from anywhere.

You may not know it, but I love to work out. Yet I hate paying money for gym memberships. As a matter of fact, I haven’t had a gym membership in 12 — 13 years. It's been a long long time. Instead of the gym, I like to run, or I’d rather get outside on the bike, but here in Minnesota it is so cold there is no way that I will be going outside to run in -20-degree weather. So instead I invested money in Insanity and in T-25, which are both produced by a company called 

 that every businessperson, and every practice owner, should preach. I would like to extract three lessons from Beachbody, the maker of P90x, T-25 and Insanity because they do a wonderful job of marketing and understanding business. I know one big thing as a physician, you never went to business school, none of this stuff ever got taught. Making it more important to learn and adapt along the way.

Now, the first thing you might notice is how they buy media. For the most part, they spend millions and millions of dollars in TV Ads. Whether it`s Insanity or Beachbody or scanning programs; they are in all kinds of stuff and they mostly do infomercials. Now during those infomercials one of the biggest things referenced, that I almost never see physicians use, are 

. These testimonials are filled with men, women and they are usually targeted for a very specific purpose.

So who do you think of as your ideal patient? Who do you love dealing with most? Are they young? Are they old? Are they in-between? I think more of us can really specialize in doing what we do, especially if you are in private practice, you really want to have a good idea who is your ideal customer is and you want to build your testimonials around that group.

The second lesson that I would like you to think about is 

showing transformations or telling stories

. How has this person changed since they’ve been in your office? At Beachbody, they are focusing on a body image and how this person is transformed after using their product. I think more physicians` offices can focus on that and really build a great client base who just loves them and doesn’t see them as just another doctor. They are not just seen as a customer but as a client that can have a positive change.

The third thing that I think physicians could learn a lesson from is the whole way that Beachbody turns these fitness professionals into celebrities. They are no longer just the regular trainers, they are something else. 

. As celebrities people have fans, people follow them, people who will pay anything to spend time with them. On top of that, it allows Beachbody to charge premium prices for their products. They are not selling a 20-dollar DVD, oh no, they are selling a $180 transformational system by the celebrity that you will get to know.

So, if you’ve used Beachbody products, what lessons may you apply to your practice? Do you have restrictions that do not allow you to do these kinds of things? But what CAN you do? Using these three lessons find what works best for you and your practice.  

For more tips on practice management, read on 

Lessons that can help you build your practice can come from anywhere, even your exercise program of choice.  

3 Practice Building Lessons from Beachbody

The path to retirement isn't the same for everyone, but the one consistent factor in everyone's plan is always to find a way to save more. 

When saving for retirement, the key is not how much you make annually. It’s how much you save each month. It seems like a simple concept, right? It turns out, it’s not that simple. But with a bit of planning and reworking, you can live the life you dreamed of in retirement.

If you want to retire, there’s no doubt that most of us have to save money- and a lot of it! But how much?

 aspect of what determines whether or not you can retire is to come up with “your number”. How much money do you need to live the lifestyle you want?

The “big three” components to finding “your number” are income, living expenses, and savings. Each of these components can drastically affect one another. Consider that what you spend in retirement could be the same, higher, or lower than what you are currently spending.

Set savings goals and parameters on how you will save this amount and you will surely achieve them. For example, create a budget so you know exactly how much you are allowed to spend week to week, month to month, etc. in order to stay on track with the goals you set. Perhaps seeing a financial advisor would benefit you as you lay out the map to your savings goals. Without a doubt, saving more and spending less while you are working is incredibly important.

You could also choose to max out a 401k and savings account. This would be fairly easy to tweak by targeting major expenses, such as entertainment and other non-essential expenses. Perhaps, take one less vacation a year or find outings you can do for free, like going to a museum or park. What if you choose to downsize and live more simply in retirement? This could make your goals more manageable, allowing you to not sacrifice as much in order to save. All of these are great ways to save money now, so you can live the life you choose in retirement based off of your unique situation.  

Take Aways to Consider with Living Expenses 

		Control your living expenses to the best of your ability. $20,000 a year can make a 

		Understand what your living expenses are over a year time frame. Make sure to include vacations and the emergency fund for car repairs, home repairs, etc. Consider signing up for a service like Mint.com or E-Money Advisor so you and your advisor can track the reality of your spending habits.

		If you don’t want to change your standard of living today, live and enjoy your life how you see fit. Consider downsizing your home and living expenses in retirement in order to meet your retirement goals. 

To learn more on the topic of retirement check out my case study on 

The Challenges of Starting and Sticking to a Budget

Saving for retirement is going to be different for each individual, but you can build a map to retirement with the same foundations. Namely, making sure you save as much as you now. Follow this guide to learn more.  

The Map to Retirement

Giving to charity is a reward all its own, but you can recieve a tax deduction award if you file your receipts correctly. 

If you are a part of a group or organization that is a non-profit, or donate your time, goods, or money, here is some great news! If you donate you can get a tax deduction or even possibly 

 taxation by unleashing your giving spirit.

Under our current tax code, any itemized deductions above the amount of the standard deduction you can have a higher tax-write-off than average.

Keep in mind that your state income taxes are currently counted towards your itemized deductions as well as mortgage interest. By adding some charitable giving to the mix, most of us can easily exceed the standard deduction limits and be able to itemize instead.

Receiving deductions from your charitable contributions 

 some of the guidelines for charitable contributions. Here are the main points from their guidelines on charitable giving while getting a tax deduction:

		You can also contribute property or an appreciated asset (but you may need a valuation to be done if it is over $5,000)

I cannot overstate the tremendous implications of having the ability to contribute an appreciated asset. This means that if you have a position with a 

 unrealized gain, you never have to realize it. Instead, you can gift it (or part of it) to a charitable organization 

 and receive a deduction for doing so. There are some other more specialized strategies that many dentists should consider as well.

For example, you can set up your own foundation or charitable remainder trust (CRT) and donate an appreciated asset 

 to your foundation or CRT and get a tax write-off

In the case of the foundation, you can distribute a percentage of the foundation to charities of your choice.

Another charitable strategy that I think is far too under-utilized is charitable giving through required minimum distributions.

Once you hit 70 and a half years old, you have to start taking distributions from your IRA, 401k, or 403b (unless you are still working for a given employer).

substantial IRAs. As a matter of fact, I have several clients who are required to take $50,000 to $150,000 in distributions 

However, here’s the good news- if you instead direct 

of that to a charitable cause (a qualified entity, not a person). You will not have to pay taxes on that part of the distribution.

Review over your tax return from last year and ask yourself the following questions. Did you itemize your taxes or take the standard deduction? How close were you to be able to itemize your deductions? Then, review over Schedule A in your tax return. What itemized line items were you able to take advantage of? How much did you give in charitable contributions? Could you do more and take advantage of the tax code?

For more information on taxes or tax deductions check out the 

How to Get More Bang for Your Charitable Buck

The holiday season is a great time for giving, meaning it can also be a great time for savings if you file your taxes right. Follow this guide to see the benefits of charitable contributions.  