On today’s episode, I start out with an update on the Paycheck Protection Program and what we’ve learned through the first round of applications as well as an update (as of now) as to what the next round of stimulus funding might look like and when that might come to fruition. I then share details on another aspect of the CARES Act that hasn’t been as talked about but can still be an important planning consideration and that’s the Employee Retention Credit. I share the details on how the ERC wor...
Apr 20, 2020•47 min•Ep. 76
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Matt Geller. Matt joins me back on the show today to talk about a variety of topics as it relates to staffing an office in the wake of the COVID-19. We talk about areas that practice owners should be focusing on now as well as some of the top items (personally and professionally, financially and otherwise) that ODs should be maximizing in this time of uncertainty. We emphasize the importance of cash, what someone ...
Apr 13, 2020•57 min•Ep. 75
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! Today’s show is a unique one in many ways, starting out with a longer-than-normal introduction. This episode is actually a replay of the 75 minute Q&A session I did with the ODs on Finance Facebook group on all things related to the CARES Act and how it impacts optometrists. It’s important to understand that, at the time of the live Q&A session, both the IRS and Small Business Administration (SBA) had not yet released additional guidance...
Apr 06, 2020•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 74
Hey there 20/20 Community. Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Justin Manning. I know ODs around the country are going through a lot right now as we all grapple with the disruption caused by COVID-19. I wanted to have Justin back on the show because I thought he’d bring a unique perspective to the show, as he’s the only OD I know that also has their MPH (Masters Degree in Public Health). During our conversation we talk about various examples and ways in which ...
Mar 30, 2020•50 min•Ep. 73
Welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! Every practice owner around the country is trying to figure out which way gravity is working right now and figuring out how to make unprecedented decisions in their practice as it pertains to their cash flow and their team management. With that being the case, we wanted to provide some thoughts and ideas that practice owners can take during these time to better prepare themselves and their practices for the foreseeable future. In this episode we talk about...
Mar 23, 2020•38 min•Ep. 72
Welcome back 20/20 Money Community to another episode. Well, unconventional times call for unconventional strategies. Some of you may have financial-related questions about what’s going on right now in the markets. Whether you’re a new investor and this is your first “taste” of volatility or you’re a seasoned investor on the brink of or in retirement, it’s times like these that questions, concerns, or doubt can creep into our psyche and mindset. I wanted to let you know that we’re going to be ho...
Mar 16, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 71
On this episode of 20/20 Money, I deviate a bit from the traditional topics of the show and talk about what investors should be thinking about and doing during market selloffs like we experienced last week. I actually bumped a previous episode to make room for this conversation just given the nature and timeliness of the events that occurred in the markets last week. I talk about the importance of having an investment philosophy, what you should be looking at with regards to your investment plan...
Mar 09, 2020•50 min•Ep. 70
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guests on today’s show are Drs. Jennifer Stewart and Jeremy Ciano. Longtime listeners will know that both of them have been on the show a number of different times. Their business knowledge and practice insight has helped them each build and run very successful private practices. On today’s show, we discuss one of the biggest decisions and factors that influence the gross revenue and thus profitability of an optometry practice: vision plans. ...
Mar 02, 2020•49 min•Ep. 69
As the owner of a private practice, a question that you will inevitably ask yourself is “How much should I pay myself as the owner of my practice?” There are a number of different ideas and considerations to think about with regards to this question and in this show I talk through some of the different decision points that exist for a practice owner to consider which can influence how much they pay themselves. Profit First The Profitable Doctor My sessions at Vision Expo East (March 26-29 in NYC...
Feb 24, 2020•38 min•Ep. 68
In this episode of 20/20 Money, I talk about three important ratios that optometrists should understand using their balance sheet. There are three big financial statements that practices should always be analyzing, and I feel that the balance sheet is the one that gets the least love from ODs. During the conversation, I talk about how to calculate your quick ratio, your current ratio, and your debt service to outstanding debt ratio and what range each of those should be within your practice. ———...
Feb 17, 2020•18 min•Ep. 67
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Nysha Blender. Nysha joins me on the show to talk about her journey in optometry and how she ended up in a somewhat unconventional role as a medical science liaison with Ocular Therapeutix. On this show we talk briefly about her path in optometry and what caused her to go down this path of becoming an MSL and what it’s meant to her personally, professionally, and clinically. She gives us an idea of “a day in the l...
Feb 10, 2020•59 min•Ep. 66
Life insurance for optometrists is something that probably isn’t the topic of conversation when ODs get together and chat, but it’s an important part of a well-rounded financial plan. Unfortunately, there are many different options for life insurance and they’re not all created equal, especially when you take into consideration the conflicts of interest that exist between you the client and the person selling you a policy. On this episode I share with you the basics of the different kinds of lif...
Feb 03, 2020•34 min•Ep. 65
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dan Zone. Dan’s a VP and Senior Relationship Manager with Wells Fargo Commercial banking here in Indianapolis and is back for a second time on 20/20 money. What’s unique about Dan, though, is that he has a big focus on serving those in “white coat professions” including optometrists and I wanted to have him on today to talk specifically about financing the sale of a practice from both points of view: the seller and th...
Jan 27, 2020•38 min•Ep. 64
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Mick Kling, OD. Mick wears many different hats in the optometry community and spends a good deal of his time talking and consulting with other ODs around the country. In addition to owning Invision Optometry in San Diego, he is also the founder of Impact Leadership, an organization that helps ODs understand their practice’s finances and how to use that information to run a more profitable practice, albeit through ...
Jan 20, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 63
As the owner of an optometry practice, one of the benefits is being able to participate in not only the normal “earnings” that any other OD would make, but also the rewards of owning the practice in the form of profits. In this episode, we’ll talk through the different ways in which ODs can pay themselves out of their practice, which starts by understanding how your practice files its taxes. From there, we’ll discuss the type, timing, and frequency of how you can pay yourself out of your practic...
Jan 13, 2020•28 min•Ep. 62
It’s the start of a new year—the year of optometry!! Let’s start out 2020 by talking about 5 financial topics that optometrists should be reviewing both in their personal and professional lives. We start out by talking about funding your Roth IRAs (especially if you’re making those contributions via back-door Roth IRA conversions), HSAs, and 529s and also remind you to adjust your annual contribution savings amounts into your 401k or SIMPLE IRAs. From there, I talk about the importance of making...
Jan 06, 2020•40 min•Ep. 61
Hello, and welcome to the last episode in 2019 of 20/20 Money! In this final episode of the year, I spend time talking about how important it is to take time to measure where your money is going in your personal life and how the only way to really get a good picture of that is by analyzing your spending by running a personal budget. I talk about the different kinds of expenses to track and a number of tools that you can use to help you kick-start the process of analyzing your spending. I then di...
Dec 30, 2019•33 min•Ep. 60
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! On this episode I discuss my top 10 books that I believe ODs should read in 2020 to help them get closer to building the practice of their dreams and a life they love. The books are both personal and professional in nature (along with one investment-related book). Links to all the books can be found below in the show notes or at www.integratedpwm.com/59 . While there, you can also set up a 15min pre-discovery conversation to learn a little bit m...
Dec 23, 2019•40 min•Ep. 59
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Gina Wesley. Dr. Wesley owns and practices at Complete Eye Care in Medina, MN and she’s been recognized as Minnesota’s Young Optometrist of the Year in 2011 and has also earned the Early Professional Achievement Award from The Ohio State University College of Optometry in 2013. She joins the show today to talk about something that almost every practice owner I’ve talked to struggles with at some point in their car...
Dec 16, 2019•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 58
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! As we close in on the end of the year, it’s time to begin thinking proactively around different strategies you can still consider before the calendar rolls over to 2020. In today’s show I’ll discuss what you can and cannot do in your practice to control net pass-through income and thus reduce your tax bill. I’ll also revisit the 199A deduction (QBI) and profit sharing contributions into your practice’s retirement plan. On the personal side, I’ll...
Dec 09, 2019•40 min•Ep. 57
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Hannah Cho, OD. Hannah joins the show today to talk about the journey she’s had in private practice, going all the way back to when she started the practice cold while still a 4th year optometry student (and also shortly after having her first child). She talks about why establishing culture very early on in your practice is one of the key factors in delivering a WOW! patient experience and why that begins at the ...
Dec 02, 2019•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 56
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Ken Krivacic. I believe my conversation with Ken will resonate with a number of listeners because Ken found himself on both sides of the private equity equation: first publicly opposed to it (even going so far as to author a number of articles written for Review of Optometric Business on why he WASN’T going to sell but then ultimately agreeing to sell his practice to a private equity firm. During this conversation...
Nov 25, 2019•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 55
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is Dr. Jeremy Ciano, owner of RevolutionEyes in Carmel, IN. Jeremy has been on the show in the past and today’s conversation was actually sparked by a question from one of our listeners and a prospective client of our firm, which was analyzing their fee schedule in their practice to determine if their profitability ratios are where they should be. During this conversation, Jeremy shares so many good ideas and strategies ...
Nov 18, 2019•56 min•Ep. 54
It’s that time of year again: open enrollment. While everyone is thinking about the holiday season that is right around the corner, small business owners and those individuals that aren’t eligible to participate in group health insurance plans also find themselves in their own version of “open enrollment season”—the window of time where we can change the type of coverage that we have, who we have that coverage with, and what our costs for next year will be. In this episode, I share an update on ...
Nov 12, 2019•37 min•Ep. 53
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! Today’s show takes on a bit of an unorthodox format as it’s actually the audio from a recent presentation that I gave at the University of Houston-College of Optometry. If you’d like to watch the video version of the presentation, head over to our website at www.integratedpwm.com and click on the Learning Center where you’ll not only find the video in a separate post but you’ll also find a variety of other resources to help ODs make smart and in...
Nov 04, 2019•57 min•Ep. 52
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! In today’s episode, I spend the first part clarifying and expounding upon two previous shows and topics that we’ve discussed and then finish it up by talking about a relevant topic that has come up both in my personal life as well as with a number of clients over the past couple of weeks. The first part dives into a few more clarifying points about disability insurance that was shared with me by a listener of the show and the second topic provid...
Oct 28, 2019•32 min•Ep. 51
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! My guest on today’s show is none other than my wife Dr. Andrea Cmejla. As I celebrate 50 episodes of 20/20 Money, I thought this would be a great opportunity to have Andrea on the show to talk about her journey in optometry thus far and some of the lessons and knowledge she’s learned through her multiple modalities of practice. We talk about her first position as an associate out of school and spend a good part of our conversation talking about ...
Oct 21, 2019•59 min•Ep. 50
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! This is part 2 of my conversation with Dr. Justin Manning. In this continued conversation from VEW in Las Vegas, we discuss the importance that ODs play in patients’ lives (which is no surprise to ODs), but more importantly the role that ODs can play in the greater issue of population health, and we still do this through the lens of being a great leader and having a great practice culture. We talk about how to reframe tx plans through the filter...
Oct 15, 2019•38 min•Ep. 49
Hello, and welcome to this episode of 20/20 Money! This is an extra-special episode of the show, because it’s being released exactly one year to the day from when the show was started. Back then, the show was called “The Dose” so if you haven’t checked out some of those earlier episodes, be sure to scroll through the show archives and check out our earlier episodes. My guest on today’s show is Dr. Justin Manning. Justin is an optometrist based in Colorado and is focused on helping other ODs scal...
Oct 07, 2019•48 min•Ep. 48
On this episode of 20/20 Money, I keep the theme going of “Selling in September” and talk about three of the biggest taxes to be aware of when you sell your practice and how those taxes will impact the net proceeds that you will walk away from after the sale of your practice. I also discuss the ongoing investment-related taxes that you need to be aware of as well and which investment vehicles are usually more tax efficient for a non-retirement brokerage account, which is typically the type of ac...
Sep 30, 2019•37 min•Ep. 47
