“Financial planning for dentists:” probably not a phrase that entered your mind in dental school… yet here we are today.
If you’re reading this, we would guess that you’ve spent many years working hard to master your craft and provide exceptional care to your patients, but you’ve been surprised by how challenging the financial side of running your dental practice has been.
Like any human engaging in something you were not primarily trained for, dealing with your business finances could easily become distracting or even overwhelming, especially where your unique financial realities clash with the hopes you started out with in your career.
Many dentists, and especially those just getting started in the profession, feel a lot of frustration when they find that things like medical school debt, complex dental insurance, and general business overheads can eat away at the high earning potential they were promised. You might even feel like you’re barely scraping by.
To add insult to injury, admin headaches and mounting bills can shift your focus from your dental team and patients, whose well-being you have a huge investment in, to what can feel like trivial matters. In other words: not what you signed up for.
Financial Planning for Dentists: Iron Point is Here to Help
At Iron Point Financial, we don’t just understand these challenges, but we know the best strategies to work through them with you. We can provide you with a long-term, personalized financial planning process that suits your situation, and which our team can implement on your behalf, so that you can focus on what you do best.
Without further ado, here are five key issues many dentists face on the financial side of their practice —and how our team at Iron Point Financial could help you tackle them as you work towards a more secure, profitable future.
1. Dental School Loan Costs: Managing Student Debt
According to the American Student Dental Association (ASDA), the average debt of graduating dental students has increased enormously over the last two decades: in 2022, the average debt value per graduate was a ridiculous $293,900.
Compare that to the already high average debt for typical college graduates — hovering around $40,000 in 2024, according to the Education Data Initiative — and you would be well within your rights to feel like you’ve been given a raw deal.
Whichever way you spin it, it’s hard to avoid the fact that dental school comes with a hefty price tag — one that continues to chase after new dentists long past graduation. Suffice to say, balancing loan repayments while trying to build a brand new practice is no easy task.
Financial Planning for Dentists: How Iron Point Can Help
We specialize in creating tailored debt repayment strategies that align with your cash flow and career goals. Whether that means consolidating loans, refinancing for a lower interest rate, or exploring loan forgiveness programs, we can help you find the most efficient path to eliminating your student debt, whilst also planning for your retirement and wealth management needs.
2. High Overhead Costs: Managing Rent, Equipment, Supplies, and Staff Payroll
Running a dental practice can, among many other things, come with high overhead costs, with everything from rent and equipment, to supplies and staffing adding up. These expenses can quickly compound and threaten your financial stability.
To make matters worse, if you’re the boss, these expenses could impact your pay check most heavily; as they say, “leaders eat last.” We’ve met and worked with several business owners who struggle with this very problem; if it’s an especially tough year, you could even end up as the lowest paid person in your practice; who wants that?
Financial Planning for Dentists: How Iron Point Can Help
Our in-house business planning tools can help you take a big-picture perspective of your expenses, to identify both where you would like to go and how you can improve efficiency with what you already have.
We can work with you to optimize how you manage your books, finance new equipment more efficiently, and align your practice with the best tax strategy possible, among other services, all without compromising on the quality your dental practice currently offers.
3. The Complexity of Dental Practice Insurance: Navigating the Maze
Dealing with the ins and outs of dentistry insurance (professional liability protection) for yourself and the others in your practice could feel like a daunting task, especially in a country as litigious as the USA. Nobody wants to have to deal with a malpractice suit, but perhaps it’s even less appealing to navigate the confusing maze that is dental practice insurance.
It goes without saying that business insurance for dentists can become absurdly expensive and time-consuming if not handled properly…
- How do you know whether you’ve got the best deal, or whether your chosen coverage will be enough if something goes wrong?
- Who has time to deal with the immense administrative burden of it all?
- Wouldn’t you rather focus on helping patients, instead of dealing with insurance salesmen?
Financial Planning for Dentists: How Iron Point Can Help
One of the cornerstones of Iron Point Financial’s business is helping people like you find the best insurance solution for your situation.
We have had over a decade of experience helping business owners understand and implement the best risk management strategies, and we will use every ounce of our insider experience to find the best rates and coverage for your practice, to contribute to your sense of financial confidence.
4. Staffing Issues: Recruitment, Training, and Employee Retention
Recruiting and retaining skilled staff is one of the most pressing challenges for any dental practice. Finding the right people, providing competitive compensation, and ensuring ongoing training can strain both your time and finances.
Financial Planning for Dentists: How Iron Point Can Help
At Iron Point Financial, we can help you develop compensation packages that attract and retain top talent without overextending the budget established in your high-level business plan.
That could include getting you set up with great employee retention programs, such as retirement plans and health benefits, that could provide offer long-term stability for your practice without breaking the bank.
We believe that with a team of loyal, well-trained staff around you, you will be able to focus more on patient care and less on staff turnover.
5. Pricing for Patients: Balancing Affordability with Profitability
Setting the right prices for dental services can be a delicate balancing act. On the one hand, you want to keep your services affordable for as many patients as possible; on the other hand, you need to ensure that your practice remains profitable, and that you get paid what you’re worth.
Depending on the type of clientele on your roster and the kind of dental services you offer, you may also need to research a sweet spot for the more high-end, cosmetic side of dentistry (i.e. elective work rather than emergency dental repair).
Financial Planning for Dentists: How Iron Point Can Help
As part of the overall business plan we can work with you to create, we can prioritize pricing considerations in a way that balances affordability and profitability, and takes into account the specific client demographics for your practice area.
By analyzing your practice’s existing cost structure and local market conditions, we could help you set competitive prices that attract patients while still generating healthy profit margins.
We would also aim to ensure that your pricing strategy is aligned with your long-term financial goals, so you can grow sustainably, in tandem with the other important financial areas we have touched on in this article.
Iron Point Financial: Your Partner in Dental Practice Success
At Iron Point Financial, we believe that your primary focus should be on what you do best—providing top-notch dental care to your patients.
That’s why our personalized financial planning process is designed to take the stress of financial management off your plate: to allow you to concentrate as much of your energy on your practice as possible.
As registered fiduciares and certified financial planners (CFP®), we offer a holistic approach that always puts your best interests first, and that addresses every aspect of your financial life—from student loan management to overheads, insurance complexities, staffing issues, and pricing strategies.
Our goal throughout all of this is simple: we can handle the intricacies of financial planning for your dentist practice, so that you can prioritize and optimize your workflow.
As Greg Liszka (CFP®, RICP®), President and Advisor at Iron Point would say,
“I would make a terrible nurse, or dentist, or whatever. I would have no clue; that’s what they do. It’s their specialty. They’re busy doing their thing. And they’ve got hobbies and families to look after.
So they don’t have time for the complexities of the financial world. It takes a lot of work and effort to understand it. It’s not easy. It constantly changes. The rules change. The tax laws change.
In the end, most of our clients just say, “I’m more than happy to have Greg help me get to my goals. I’ve got a lot more confidence that he can get me there than me getting me there.”
Let’s Build a Financial Future as Bright as Your Patients’ Smiles
The challenges of managing a dental practice are real, but with Iron Point Financial in your corner, they don’t have to bring you to your knees. Together, we can create a financial plan that supports your goals, protects your practice, and helps you achieve long-term success.
If that sounds like something you would be interested in, don’t hesitate to schedule a free consultation with Iron Point Financial today, so that you can start your journey towards a more secure, profitable future. Just as you keep your patients smiling with great dental hygiene, let us take care of your financial health.
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Iron Point Financial is here to empower you to secure a brighter tomorrow. We operate physical offices in Grove City, PA and Greenville, PA.
We primarily serve residents of Pennsylvania, Ohio, West Virginia and Florida but we also have security registrations for 22 other states across the continental USA.
