Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! To wrap up the series on risk management, Evon is joined by Levi Barlavi, attorney and owner of Pacific Health Law Group, to provide and introduction to asset protection for optometrist. Levi dives into what asset protection means, and the liability risks optometrists face in and out of practice. He talks about ways to protect yourself, from exempted assets and insurance to legal entities. He also dives into how optometrists can pr...
Nov 01, 2023•51 min•Ep. 82
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Ali Oromchian, J.D., LL.M. of Dental & Medical Counsel joins the podcast to provide an optometrist's guide to estate planning. Ali and Evon dive into the purpose and important - but often difficult - considerations of estate planning, when optometrists should consider creating and reviewing an estate plan, the tools and legal documents used in an estate plan, trusts vs. wills, how practice owners should incorporate their practi...
Oct 25, 2023•59 min•Ep. 81
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! What's the value of your optometry practice? What goes into a practice valuation? Erich Mattei of Akrinos joins the podcast to provide an introduction to optometry practice valuations. Erich dives into his work with valuations, three general approaches to valuating businesses, and when practice owners should start considering their practice's value. Lastly, he discusses how valuations can be improved and ways current valuation meth...
Oct 18, 2023•32 min•Ep. 80
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Do the partners and vendors in your practice have the same values of independence as you? Ben Collier and Dan Korolev of Collier Optical Lab join the podcast to talk all about the benefits of independent optometry practices working with an independent optical lab. They dive into what being "independent" means, and how independent labs operate differently. They also talk about the importance of your lab relationship to the patient e...
Oct 13, 2023•43 min•Ep. 79
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Fellow financial advisor Andy Panko, CFP®, RICP®, EA joins Evon on the podcast to dive into the ins and outs of Indexed Universal Life (IUL) Insurance. In a recent explosion of marketing and sales on the internet, this highly complex insurance product is often touted as "THE" product you should own above all others. Andy and Evon provide an objective review of this type of life insurance, diving into how the product works, how it's...
Oct 03, 2023•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 78
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! To continue September's life insurance theme, Evon is joined by Broc Buckles - co-founder of BC-Brokerage - to dive into permanent type life insurance. They talk about the ins and outs of how permanent life insurance policies work, when they're appropriate for optometrists' insurance planning, some ways they're used inappropriately, and ways to adjust or get out of a policy. Hopefully this episode helps optometrists make more educa...
Sep 28, 2023•43 min•Ep. 77
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! It's September, which means it's Life Insurance Awareness Month! In light of the theme, Evon provides an optometrist's guide to life insurance. Life insurance coverage is a core, important piece to managing the big financial risks in the life of an optometrist. Evon dives into the purpose and uses of life insurance, the different types of life insurance policies - from term life to whole life and universal life, how to decide how m...
Sep 20, 2023•36 min•Ep. 76
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! How do you build an optometry practice to multiple locations? How do you establish a great culture? In this rewind of a popular 2022 episode, Dr. Andy Yaryan, owner of Yaryan Eye Care Center, joins Evon to talk about how he purchased an optometry practice right out of college, grew it to three locations, and how he reviews the health of the practice. He also talks about how important culture is to a practice and how he evaluates cu...
Sep 14, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 75
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! As the dust settles on all the recent changes, Evon dives into one more comprehensive episode on student loan planning for optometrists in 2023 and beyond. Evon talks about the recent updates in federal student loans, including the recent SAVE income-driven repayment plan and PSLF updates. He goes through student loan deadlines optometrists need to know about. Lastly, he discusses the different student loan repayment strategies you...
Sep 07, 2023•53 min•Ep. 74
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! In this rewind of a popular 2022 episode, Dr. Larry Golson joins Evon to talk all about how Gino Wickman's book Traction and the Entrepreneurial Operating System can help take optometry practices to the next level. Larry is the owner of Envision Eyecare and Sherpa Consulting. He brings so much experience having cold-started his own practice, implementing Traction on his own, and now helping other practice owners do the same. Whethe...
Aug 31, 2023•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 73
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Ankit Patel joins Evon to talk about how to use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create a more efficient and productive optometry practice. Ankit is the CEO of Classic Vision Care and the Founder of My Business Care Team. Ankit and Evon dive into how AI can improve workflows in your optometry practice, administrative tasks, the patient experience, hiring process, and even clinical work. He talks about the different AI tools he uses,...
Aug 23, 2023•57 min•Ep. 72
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Jackson Pace, CPA, owner of Refractional CFO, joins Evon to talk about how to look at the health of your optometry practice through the eyes of a CFO. They talk about what data in the practice he reviews, how he looks at the financials of the practice, differences between cash flow and profit, appropriate amounts of debt in the practice, and more. Have questions on anything discussed or want to have topics or questions featured on ...
Aug 16, 2023•57 min•Ep. 71
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! In Part 3 of a 3 part series, Evon dives into the many financial planning considerations optometrists need to think about when you own a more established, mature private optometry practice - both inside the business and in the household. A few of the planning topics practice owners should think about are: Maintaining your vision for the ideal practice and ownership life Building guardrails around your practice based on your ideal l...
Aug 09, 2023•26 min•Ep. 70
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! In Part 2 of a 3 part series, Evon dives into the many financial planning considerations optometrists need to think about in the early years of owning a private optometry practice - both inside the business and in the household. Once doors are open and for the first few years, you should think about: It's quite the busy time, learning and adjusting to owning the practice and managing employees. Getting familiar with the three core ...
Aug 02, 2023•41 min•Ep. 69
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! In Part 1 of a 3 part series, Evon dives into the many financial planning considerations optometrists need to think about as they prepare for practice ownership. Whether cold-starting an optometry practice or buying into an established practice, you should consider: Your biggest goals are to have cash flow flexibility and cash in the bank The importance of a game plan to cover living expenses in the early 2-3 years Why it's importa...
Jul 27, 2023•32 min•Ep. 68
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Evon is back with even more big federal student loan updates optometrists need to know about! Over the last few weeks, the Supreme Court gave its ruling on the Biden student loan forgiveness case, which kicked off a lot of news. He dives into the: Recent Supreme Court ruling on federal student loan forgiveness The final rules of the new SAVE income-driven repayment plan Reminder of the IDR Waiver / Account Adjustment Kaiser (and si...
Jul 19, 2023•29 min•Ep. 67
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! What retirement plan options are available just for independent contractor optometrists? Evon dives into the retirement plan opportunities just for 1099 optometrists and those with side businesses. He talks about how optometrists can benefit from: Taxable investment accounts Traditional and Roth IRAs SEP IRAs Solo 401(k)s He also talks about how pre-tax retirement plan contributions can negatively impact the QBI deduction for self-...
Jul 13, 2023•33 min•Ep. 66
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! In honor of the 4th of July holiday and the Declaration of Independence, this episode is a rewind of a popular 2022 episode on financial independence. How do you track progress toward financial independence? How do you know if you're on track, or how much you'll need to make work optional? On this episode, Evon talks about how to measure and track financial health, and specifically, one metric optometrists can use to track their pr...
Jul 06, 2023•21 min•Ep. 65
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! How do you maximize the retirement plans in your optometry practice? Profit and cash flow are growing, your taxable income is growing. How do you put potentially $100,000 or more into your retirement accounts? Matt Ruttenberg of Life, Inc. Retirement Services joins Evon once again for Part 2 to talk about how to use the different layers and features of retirement plans to their fullest potential. They dive into: The three layers of...
Jun 28, 2023•51 min•Ep. 64
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! What's the right retirement plan for your private optometry practice? Matt Ruttenberg of Life, Inc. Retirement Services joins Evon to talk all about choosing the right retirement plan for your practice. They dive into: IRA-based retirement plans, like SEP IRA and SIMPLE IRA plans Safe Harbor and Traditional 401(k) plans Questions to ask to choose the right plan for your practice Updates from the recent SECURE Act 2.0 Important enha...
Jun 21, 2023•58 min•Ep. 63
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! It's official! Federal student loan payments are finally going to start again! Evon dives into the latest news optometrists need to know for federal student loans: Payments and interest are set to start this fall Updates on loan cancellation and the new income-driven repayment plan Actions to take as payments restart And more! Have questions on anything discussed or want to have topics or questions featured on the show? Send Evon a...
Jun 14, 2023•24 min•Ep. 62
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Should optometrists invest in international stocks? Or only in the United States? In this episode, Evon dives into research around why optometrists should invest in stocks globally, and not just limit their investing to the US. He summarizes four pieces of research about the diversification benefits of investing globally. Diversification is a foundational part of investing, and global diversification is an important part of managin...
Jun 07, 2023•27 min•Ep. 61
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! How do you know how much of your investments should be in stocks and real estate vs. bonds? What's the right mix for you, and when should it change? This episode provides an optometrist's guide to selecting the right mix for your investments. Evon dives into: Different types of financial risks to plan against. Your ability or capacity to handle investment risk Your willingness or tolerance to take investment risk How much risk you ...
May 31, 2023•47 min•Ep. 60
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! This episode replays Evon's 2022 guest appearance on the Try Not To Blink Podcast, hosted by Dr. James Deom and Dr. Roya Habibi. They dive into Evon's background, why he chose to serve optometrists, student loan planning decisions, preparing for practice ownership and cold-start opportunities, what his "spirit animal" is, and much more. Dr. Deom and Dr. Roya do an awesome job hosting a fantastic podcast, and it's absolutely worth s...
May 25, 2023•51 min•Ep. 59
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! In the first episode of an investing-focused series, Evon dives into how stocks, bonds, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITS), mutual funds, and ETFs work. At the end, he talks about the risk and return relationship between the different investments, and the role that stocks and bonds play in your investment portfolio. Have questions on anything discussed or want to have topics or questions featured on the show? Send Evon an email ...
May 17, 2023•46 min•Ep. 58
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Where should you save your hard earned dollars? Which accounts should you use? In what order? In this episode, Evon provides a framework for optometrists on where to invest your dollars first and which investment accounts to go to next. He gives an order of operations for saving and investing between: Cash savings Your practice and career Roth IRA Health Savings Account (HSA) 401(k) or SIMPLE IRA Taxable investment account and any ...
May 10, 2023•36 min•Ep. 57
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! This episode replays Evon's recent guest appearance on The Power Hour Optometry Podcast, hosted by Dr. Bethany Fishbein. Evon and Bethany dive into the importance of employee financial wellness is for the productivity of your staff, different benefit features in your optometry practice that help them make good financial decisions, and talk through a few "gray" situations of whether practice owners should help employees financially....
May 03, 2023•41 min•Ep. 56
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! April is National Financial Literacy Month! In honor of that, Evon dives into some foundational topics around how to manage and prioritize your cash flow. He talks about four foundational financial questions you should ask yourself about financial health: Are you taking the right amount of risk? Are you using your income appropriately? Do you have the right mix of assets? How much wealth do you need to make work optional? He guides...
Apr 26, 2023•23 min•Ep. 55
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Dr. Kara Ramsey-Foster, OD joins the podcast to talk about her journey freeing her optometry practice from managed vision care plans through a direct care business model. In a bit of a case study, Dr. Foster talks about what led her to transition her practice entirely away from vision plans, how a direct care or fee-for-service model works, how she made the transition successful, and how it's benefited her practice. She had such a ...
Apr 19, 2023•48 min•Ep. 54
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! In today's episode, Evon provides an optometrist's guide to estimated tax payments. If you're a practice owner or independent contractor OD, quarterly estimated tax payments are likely a part of your life. He dives into what quarterly estimated tax payments are, who needs to pay them, when they're do, how much your estimated tax payments should be, and more. Have questions on anything discussed or want to have topics or questions f...
Apr 12, 2023•18 min•Ep. 53
