Author’s Note: This new quarterly finance column is designed to help doctors of chiropractic achieve financial independence.
If you’re a practice owner, you’re not just managing clinical outcomes – you’re managing payroll, overhead, marketing, staff, debt, and your own financial future. Associate doctors may not have the same level of financial responsibility, but they still can face huge student loan burdens and often experience caps on their income. Navigating personal finance and wealth creation in this high-stakes environment can feel overwhelming, especially when every financial guru seems to have the “right” way to build wealth.
This article breaks down four of the most prominent financial voices that influenced me during my time in practice – and who are still widely followed today: Dave Ramsey, Robert Kiyosaki, Grant Cardone, and R. Nelson Nash (of Infinite Banking Concept fame). Let’s explore some bullet points of each approach.
Dave Ramsey
Ramsey promotes a rigid debt-elimination approach, most known for his 7 Baby Steps: save $1,000, pay off debt using the snowball method, save 3-6 months of expenses, and invest 15% of income into mutual funds.
The strength of this approach is its simplicity: clear, actionable, and effective at reducing stress. After exiting training with six figures of student debt, that stress is real. I can personally vouch for the stress that comes with loads of debt, and the peace that has come with being debt-free. Could I have made more money leveraging my income? I did – for a while. But I also learned the hard way how too much leverage creates immense stress.
Is it realistic to run a practice 100% debt-free? Sometimes, yes; but often not, especially for younger owners or associates. Ramsey’s all-debt-is-bad philosophy misses the nuance that some debt (equipment, buildings, etc.) may be strategic and necessary. Used responsibly and with much caution, debt can be a tool. But it must be handled with extreme care and wise counsel.
Robert Kiyosaki
Like many of my peers, I dove into Rich Dad Poor Dad during chiropractic school. Kiyosaki’s distinction between assets (which produce income) and liabilities (which consume it) was a game-changer in my thinking. His promotion of entrepreneurship, real estate investing,and financial education inspired me to buy five properties throughout my career.
When it was good, it was good. But when the wheels fell off circa 2008 and 2012 – tough periods of time in the economy – it was rough, extremely stressful, and I could’ve easily gone bankrupt.
Kiyosaki’s core strength is that he encourages a mindset shift – from pay-check collector to investor and owner. And surprise: your business is your greatest cash-flowing asset. Before you chase shiny side hustles, make your practice exceptional. Build a great team. Create amazing patient outcomes. Your business will cash flow when you do that.
Should you consider other ventures? In my opinion, yes. It’s hard not to. Most doctors I know are entrepreneurial by nature. Diversifying into passive income and real estate can be smart. But be cautious – Kiyosaki has stated he’s $1.2 billion in debt and was only in the black by about $100 million. That liquidity ratio is insane and dangerous for most rational people.
Grant Cardone
Cardone is famous for his “10X” mindset – take massive action; go big or go home. He promotes high-ticket sales, branding, and aggressive real-estate transactions, often with heavy leverage.
There’s no denying his approach is compelling for growth-minded practice owners. His branding and sales strategies can be very effective when applied to your practice. I personally like a lot of what he says about marketing and mindset.
But a word of warning: Cardone encourages using large amounts of debt to grow fast. That can often equate to minimal cash reserves. For practices with high overhead, that’s a dangerous game.
In our financial practice, we’ve seen people go heavy into real estate or other business ventures and have very low liquidity (remember, you can’t go sell the front door to your Airbnb if you’re running low on cash). Real estate and other businesses can be a great investment – but not always. Caution, due diligence and patience are essential.
R. Nelson Nash
Nash introduced the Infinite Banking Concept (IBC), which promotes using whole life insurance policies as personal banks. The idea is that you can borrow against your policy’s cash value to fund purchases or investments, while enjoying tax-deferred growth.
I followed this approach for several years – and wrote about it in a previous article. In short, it cost me $722,000.
The sales pitch is that these policies create a “forced savings” mechanism. And that’s true. But the return is abysmal. Even some proponents I’ve read are now shifting the narrative, calling them glorified savings accounts rather than investments.
Yes, you can borrow against them, and yes, there may be tax advantages. But guess what? If you borrow against the policy, it’s a loan; you owe interest and it must be repaid.
At our financial planning practice, we only recommend these policies in very rare cases (we don’t sell them and get zero commissions), usually for ultra-high-net-worth individuals who already are extremely liquid, have well-diversified portfolios and need a strategic estate tool. They’re expensive, complex, and often sold to doctors who don’t understand the long-term opportunity cost.
Real Client Example: A recent new client came to us with 22 whole-life policies. One has been active for 42 years, with a monthly payment of $440 (totaling $221,176 in premium payments), a loan balance of $213,000 and a death benefit of $280,000. If he passed away today, his heirs would receive just $67,000.
Had he invested that same $440 monthly premium payment in a low-cost S&P 500 index fund, he likely would’ve had well over $1 million today – a 5X return. That’s a textbook case of opportunity cost. Imagine that analysis times 22 POLICIES! Millions and millions of liquid dollars this client would have had, that he doesn’t have.
These policies may have niche uses, but they’re not ideal for most doctors building wealth. Do your due diligence. Run the math before you commit. And remember – life-insurance agents love to sell them. They get huge commissions.
Final Thoughts: What Strategy Should We Follow?
As an entrepreneurial doctor myself, I spent years chasing the next big thing – the shortcut to wealth. But after 22 years, I’ve come to one conclusion: I wish I’d done it differently.
I wish I’d paid off my student loans before buying the big doctor house. I wish I’d driven beater cars until I could pay cash for a nice one (yes, the “write-off” argument sounded good ... until I was stuck with five more years of payments after the tax benefit was gone).
I wish I had focused on building wealth slowly. No over-leveraging. Pay things off fast. Yes, we’re doing very well now. But it could have been better.
My advice: Serve your patients well. Create value. Build a great team. And follow a simple plan: give, save/invest, and then spend. Get into other businesses or real estate once those three fundamental financial habits are established. Do that consistently and you’ll win over time. And as you’re navigating money and all the spending choices that come along with it, don’t forget to build your generosity muscles! Our most successful clients are usually the most generous.
Until next time.
Disclaimer: The Wealth Group is a Securities and Exchange Registered Investment Advisor. No content contained herein should be construed as an offer for investment advice or an offer for the purchase or sale of any security, insurance or other investment product. Investments involve the risk of loss, including loss of principal. Please consult with a qualified financial, tax or legal professional before implementing any strategy presented here. Data presented here is obtained from believed reliable sources, but cannot be guaranteed as to completeness or accuracy.
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