Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! What should we do during stock market declines? Even though the ups and downs are a normal (and expected) part of investing, what beneficial actions can you take? Evon dives into rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, and other actions optometrists should consider during market declines. Have questions on anything discussed or want to have topics or questions featured on the show? Send Evon an email at podcast@optometrywealth.com . Chec...
Aug 10, 2024•22 min•Ep. 112
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Matt Ruttenberg of Life Inc., Retirement Services joins the podcast for a mid-year review of 2024 updates for 401(k) plans and late-year deadlines optometry practice owners need to know. They dive into soon-to-be required auto-enrollment, deadlines to open a safe harbor 401(k) plan for 2024, profit sharing deadlines, submitting 5500 for solo 401(k) plans, and more! Have questions on anything discussed or want to have topics or ques...
Jul 31, 2024•26 min•Ep. 111
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Now that July 1st has come and gone, Evon dives into the recent student loan updates optometrists need to know. He discusses how the Pay As You Earn payment plan is no longer accessible, the consolidation deadline passing for the One Time IDR Account Adjustment, PSLF no longer administered by Mohela, and changes and court cases impacting the SAVE payment plan. Have questions on anything discussed or want to have topics or questions...
Jul 10, 2024•23 min•Ep. 110
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! What do presidential elections mean for your investments? What actions should you take during an election year? Do provide context for this common question, Evon dives into the historical behavior of US stocks related to US presidential elections. He dives both into the short-term results - looking at the months and years around the elections, as well as a longer-term perspective. Ultimately, stocks - publicly traded businesses - h...
Jun 19, 2024•17 min•Ep. 109
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! In this episode Evon is joined by Colin Carr, founder and CEO of CARR to dive into lease and purchase decisions for your optometry practice real estate. We dive into what to look for in a location for your practice, negotiating points for a lease, how to prepare and plan for a lease renewal, when to lease vs. purchase the commercial property, and so much more! Have questions on anything discussed or want to have topics or questions...
Jun 05, 2024•58 min•Ep. 108
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! With a new stock market all-time high earlier this year (2024), Evon provides perspective from history to put new record highs into proper context. While it's often thought that you should avoid investing at all-time highs do to some inevitable crash, ultimately, all-time highs are more common than you think. And the performance of stocks (on average) after new record highs would surprise you. Evon ends with the importance of keepi...
May 08, 2024•14 min•Ep. 107
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Evon is joined by Dr. Tessa Sokol, owner of Sokol Advanced EyeCare in Madison, Wisconsin. Tessa shares her experience transitioning from a long-standing, successful corporate sublease to her own independent, private optometry practice. We dive into the benefits and drawbacks of the corporate sublease (from her experience), what to look for when evaluating a sublease opportunity, why she made the shift to private practice, all the s...
Apr 30, 2024•55 min•Ep. 106
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! In this replay of a popular 2023 episode, Evon revisits an important topic for optometry practice owners and independent contractors - the differences between different business entities! How do the different business entities work? How are they taxed? How are they different? In this episode, Evon provides a basic guide to the differences between: Sole Proprietorships Partnerships Limited Liability Companies (LLCs) S-Corporations C...
Apr 24, 2024•35 min•Ep. 105
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! In this replay of a popular 2023 episode, Evon revisits an important tax planning topic for optometry practice owners and independent contractors - the Qualified Business Income Deduction! He dives into what the deduction is, how it's calculated, its limitations and phase outs, how it works differently in different business types, and planning considerations to keep in mind. Have questions on anything discussed or want to have topi...
Apr 18, 2024•31 min•Ep. 104
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! In today's episode, Evon dives into the tax considerations when selling your primary residence. Homes tends to make up a considerable portion of optometrists' net worth, and fortunately the IRS provides an exclusion for capital gains from selling your home. Evon dives into the Section 121 home sale exclusion, the two tests you need to meet to qualify, certain exceptions to keep in mind, and planning considerations when selling a ho...
Apr 11, 2024•22 min•Ep. 103
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Evon is joined by Thomas Castelli, CPA, partner at Hall CPAs, as well as CEO of Tax Smart Investors. Many optometrists own rental real estate properties, and it's common for practice owners to own the commercial real estate the practice operates in. Thomas brings a ton of specialized knowledge in real estate taxation to the podcast, and we dive into how rental income is taxed and how optometrists can unlock "passive" rental real es...
Apr 03, 2024•43 min•Ep. 102
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! On today’s episode, Evon is joined once again by Dr. Bethany Fishbein to talk all about how to push through conflict and confrontation to improve your optometry practice and your career. Ultimately as business owners and professionals, or just when working in a team, there’s going to be a time where conflict comes up or uncomfortable conversations need to be had - with team members, managers, patients, or vendors. And avoiding that...
Mar 27, 2024•38 min•Ep. 101
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! In the show's 100th episode, Evon talks about what optometrists should expect and experience from working with a financial advisory firm. There has been historically poor business models in financial services that fall short of providing advice optometrists need, in their best interest. There also appears to not be a great public awareness of what good financial advisors actually do for clients Evon aims to help optometrists unders...
Mar 20, 2024•19 min•Ep. 100
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Evon is joined by Michael Pote of The Growth Cooperative to dive into creative ways to structure the sale of a practice from one optometrist to another. They talk a little bit about the structure of private equity sales and OD-to-OD sales, and the pros and cons to both. They then dive into creative ideas to make that transition work for both parties, including structuring the purchase over a period of time rather than all at once. ...
Mar 13, 2024•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 99
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Evon dives into the recently announced update for federal student loans! The Department of Education extended the pause for income recertification for borrowers on income-driven repayment plans to late September, 2024 at the earliest. Optometrists may have even more time on lower IDR payments! Have questions on anything discussed or want to have topics or questions featured on the show? Send Evon an email at podcast@optometrywealth...
Mar 06, 2024•11 min•Ep. 98
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! This episode plays Part 2 of Evon's recent guest appearance on the Four Eyes Optometry Podcast. Evon joins Lainey Bokhaut, CPA in Canada, as a guest to talk about foundational financial decisions optometrists need to make - especially as they transition from school to practice. We dive into the basics of different business entities for practices and independent contractors, the importance of disability and other types of insurance,...
Feb 29, 2024•47 min•Ep. 97
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Evon is joined by Jackson Pace, CPA and Kevin Dang, CPA of Refractional CFO to take a deep dive into financial due diligence when buying a practice. They talk about: The goal of financial due diligence and the list of what to review The documentation and information needed and the process of how to review them What factors they've seen that indicate the health of a practice What sellers should focus on to improve and preserve the v...
Feb 23, 2024•50 min•Ep. 96
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Using income-driven repayment (IDR) plans toward student loan forgiveness can be a favorable way for optometrists to manage student loan debt. In this episode Evon talks about how strategically changing the way you file your taxes when married can improve the long-term math toward student loan forgiveness. He dives into how filing taxes married filing separately can exclude your spouse's income from your student loan calculation on...
Feb 14, 2024•27 min•Ep. 95
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Andrew Berkin, PhD - head of research at Bridgeway Capital Mangement and author of The Incredible Shrinking Alpha - joins the podcast to discuss why active investment management fails, and why you're unlikely to get the outperformance you're looking for. Evon and Andrew dive into: Research behind why active management fails - both for individual investors and professional managers What an "efficient market" means, and why stock mar...
Feb 07, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 94
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! On today's episode Dr. Michael Neal of Lakeside Vision and founder of Build My Team joins the podcast to discuss the lessons he learned and process he built to hire better team members for optometry practices. We dive into: What's wrong with the conventional ways of hiring Why resumes are the worst place to start the process Why experience can actually be a red flag How to streamline the hiring process Aligning natural skills and a...
Jan 31, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 93
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! On today's episode, Evon is joined by Ali Oromchian, attorney with Dental & Medical Counsel, to review the new federal business entity reporting requirements under the Corporate Transparency Act. They dive into which entities are required to report, what information is involved, deadlines to keep in mind, potential penalties, and more. This impacts not only optometry practice owners, but also optometrists that own rental real e...
Jan 24, 2024•24 min•Ep. 92
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! In today's episode, Evon gives optometrists a guide on one of the most tax-efficient savings accounts out there - Health Savings Accounts! He dives into the appropriate uses and benefits of HSAs, who is eligible to contribute, the annual limits and nuances to keep in mind, how to invest in an HSA as a retirement account, and planning considerations and ideas to make the most of them. Have questions on anything discussed or want to ...
Jan 17, 2024•35 min•Ep. 91
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! This episode plays Evon's recent guest appearance on the Four Eyes Optometry Podcast. In Part 1 of 2, Evon joins Lainey Bokhaut, CPA in Canada, as a guest to talk about foundational financial decisions optometrists need to make - especially as they transition from school to practice. We dive into debt decisions and how to tackle student loans, we talk about differences between retirement accounts and how to decide between them, we ...
Jan 10, 2024•50 min•Ep. 90
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! Happy New Year! It's time to dive into the many 2024 financial updates, rule changes, and deadlines optometrists need to know about. Evon discusses: SECURE Act 2.0 rule changes in effect in 2024, including positive adjustments to SIMPLE IRAs and 401(k)s. Increases in contribution maximums for 401(k)s, SIMPLE IRAs, Health Savings Accounts, and IRAs. Two important federal student loan deadlines this year. Beneficial Owner Information...
Jan 05, 2024•32 min•Ep. 89
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! For the last episode of 2023, it's time to rewind to our most popular episode of the year. 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, h...
Dec 27, 2023•48 min•Ep. 88
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! As we approach year-end, it's time to rewind to a popular 2023 episode! In Part 3 of a 3 part series, Evon dove 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 owners...
Dec 20, 2023•26 min•Ep. 87
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! As we approach year-end, it's time to rewind to a popular 2023 episode! 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 th...
Dec 15, 2023•41 min•Ep. 86
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! It's almost the end of the year, and Evon dives into a year-end checklist for financial planning actions that every optometrist needs to keep in mind. He talks about retirement plan contributions, important student loan deadlines, tax and business planning considerations to review before the year ends and into early next year. Have questions on anything discussed or want to have topics or questions featured on the show? Send Evon a...
Dec 07, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 85
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! In this Thanksgiving holiday rewind, we wanted to replay a popular 2022 episode on an important end-of-year topic: charitable giving. Evon dives into the tax benefits of charitable giving and tax planning strategies optometrists should consider to make the most of your charitable donations. He talks about how charitable deductions work, bunching your donations, donor advised funds, and more! Have questions on anything discussed or ...
Nov 23, 2023•27 min•Ep. 84
Questions? Thoughts? Send a Text to The Optometry Money Podcast! As we get into the holiday seasons and end of the year, it's time for a rewind of a popular 2022 episode on managing taxes through capital gains! Evon continues the year-end tax planning theme and talks all about how investment income and capital gains impact your tax return. He dives into how your investment account creates income, how it's taxed, and 5 levers you can pull to control capital gains on your tax return. This episode ...
Nov 16, 2023•43 min•Ep. 83
