The hidden wealth in your dental practice: Get insurance, retirement, and real estate in sync

Every office has its junk drawer, and dental offices are no exception. This storage spot comes in handy whenever you need to quickly stash a miscellaneous something-or-other until you need it again. 

While all other shelves and cabinets in your office have a specific purpose, this little vault of disarray exists for a slightly different reason: to eliminate chaos from erupting elsewhere in your bustling workplace. The only rule is that no item with a designated spot should go in the junk drawer. 

When I meet one-on-one with private dental practitioners, the first discussion we have centers around those aspects of their business that need to come out of the junk drawer and be placed in a designated area. I’m speaking metaphorically, of course, and I’m not referring to staplers, paper clips, and postage stamps.

What’s in your financial junk drawer? Time to take inventory

I’m talking about business loans, potential real estate holdings, retirement accounts, and perhaps most importantly, insurance policies. While they might appear as tedium, these items should not take a backseat. When you want to truly thrive, then the seemingly mundane sides of business ownership not only must come to the forefront, but they must work in harmony with one another. 

Have I overwhelmed you? Breathe easy. It’s common for new business owners to relegate back-of-house concerns to a generic holding place while they shore up their immediate duties. Every dentist needs to make patients and employees their number one priority.

Moving forward, if you stick with me, you won’t inadvertently sacrifice the upkeep of major structural components of your business in the process. As boring as it might seem, those back-of-house details have to come out of the junk drawer for close examination.

I teach clients to view each underlying facet of their organization as an instrument within a greater symphony. When I meet with entrepreneurs, our job is to orchestrate what goes on underneath their business with as much focus and clarity as they exhibit toward the everyday. Even though it might not happen overnight, your business can transform rapidly with the integration of key components, many of which you might already possess but that have remained buried and forgotten.

Insurance isn’t just protection—it’s a wealth-building tool

Consider the last time you looked at the insurance policies for you and your business. If it’s been a while, you’re not alone. Nonetheless, if you want to safeguard your success, then it’s time to reorient the way you approach insurance. As a medical professional, your greatest risk is the permanent loss of your income.

Thankfully, private practitioners have access to numerous products that can effectively mitigate this risk, in addition to dozens of others, including umbrella policies and whole life insurance. I don’t want my clients simply buying and holding insurance. I teach them specifically how insurance works to preserve their livelihood and help make them wealthy. 

Many dentists seem shocked when I reveal how insurance can be integrated within a wider investment strategy to grow their wealth. Remember, all aspects of your business should ideally work in tandem.

Rethinking retirement: Stop letting your money sit idle

Therefore, in addition to insurance, you also need to take your retirement accounts out of the junk drawer. Mindlessly shoving money into a 401k or IRA every month isn’t going to maximize your wealth.

If you’re hard at work in the accumulation phase, I want you to hit your targets as soon as possible, putting you in the express lane to the distribution phase. Whenever a client thinks that the surest way to generate wealth is to beef up retirement savings, I point out that you don’t want all your capital locked up in an IRA that can’t be touched, especially if you don’t have adequate emergency reserves. 

Make no mistake. I espouse having an unlimited appetite for savings and investments. Sock away every nickel you can within reason. Just don’t relegate all your money to that old junk drawer. When the objective is to formulate a symphony, tailor specific strategies for each dollar you accrue.

A good rule of thumb is to primarily focus on investments with a four to five times rate of return. Thus, you’re not going to direct all your savings into the stock market. On the contrary, you’re going to invest most of it back to you. 

Invest in what you know: Leverage your practice for higher returns 

Self-investment relates to a broad spectrum of financial strategies. If you’re a private practitioner, most of them will naturally revolve around your business. For instance, now might be an optimal time to purchase the building you work in, provided you’re not going to soon outgrow the space.

Keep in mind that you can accelerate the depreciation of your newly acquired real estate over the course of just five to 10 years as opposed to the typical 30 years. Doing so might be advantageous and give you an easy way to boost your retirement accounts early on with those associated tax savings.

While buying the property underneath one’s business is an attractive proposition for some dentists, others might be keen to allot their dollars elsewhere. Before making any significant investment leap, I advise clients to ask themselves how the expenditure fits within the broader context of their goals. Are they likely to get that ideal four to five times return on their investment? Will it insulate them from natural market fluctuations, or will it weigh down their portfolio and expose them to unnecessary risk?

If you’re not accustomed to asking these questions, it’s time to meet with an advisor who will. Before you talk to someone, here are a few quick guidelines. Make sure your discussions involve financial balance that can weather all types of market fluctuations. Stay clear of anyone who seems especially intent on only selling you products, especially ones you don’t understand.

Recall that the fast track to multigenerational wealth requires taking key items out of your junk drawer and creating synergies between them. For me, that’s the fun part of being a financial advisor. I love nothing more than aligning all these various elements, leveraging them wherever possible, and then watching dentists flourish.

Editor's note: This article appeared in the July/August 2025 print edition of Dental Economics magazine. Dentists in North America are eligible for a complimentary print subscription. Sign up here.