If you are early in your career, or even completing your training, financial planning may be the furthest thought from your mind. However, establishing good financial habits now, and having a financial coach to lay the foundation for the rest of your future today can be powerful in setting you up for success.

These early years can be stressful with long hours, lower pay, and large student loans potentially hovering in the background. Working with a financial coach can help save time, energy, and money down the road. Some of the biggest ways that we help Resident and Fellows put their best foot forward are:

• Cash-flow management and budgeting – We can work with you to find problem areas in your budget, and to help you redirect money where it can make the most impact today!
• Help chart a path for student loan repayment – Today’s residents report average medical school debt of $232,300! Faced with a lower initial salary in their field, and mounting debt, decisions around how to best manage this are crucial. My Financial Coach can review whether refinancing, public loan forgiveness, or even private loan consolidation are right for you and chart a path to becoming debt free.
• We can review immediate protection needs such as disability and life insurance coverage which will continue to grow and change with your career.
• Plan for short-term and intermediate goals – Getting settled into your career will also lead to major milestones such as buying your first home, or establishing savings towards your retirement. We can help you prioritize your goals and make your dreams a reality.

Attending dentists often find themselves relieved of past obligations such as student loans, but now may find themselves making progress towards their dream goals. All of the hard work established to lay down a financial foundation such as reviewing your cash-flow, paying off debts, and establishing retirement savings are now turning into substantial wealth.

With the basics in place, your financial planning shifts into new complexities. With the help of a financial coach that is knowledgeable in the unique needs of established dentists, you can work together to uncover opportunities to close any inefficiencies in your planning. At My Financial Coach, some of the ways that we can help established physicians:

• Retirement Review – Choosing the right retirement plan whether through an employer’s offering or the addition of an IRA or brokerage account. Getting started and choosing the appropriate amount to invest is just as important as choosing the proper investments. 
• Asset Allocation/Investments – Once you’ve chosen the right vehicles to invest in, it is also crucial to have the proper asset allocation and investments. My Financial Coach works with investment experts who can build you a portfolio suitable for your goals, timelines, and risk tolerance. 
• In-depth review of your employer-based benefits – Your financial coach can review your employer benefits and assess how they fit into your overall financial picture. Any possible gaps in your planning will be reviewed, and your coach can help you close those gaps, or take further advantage of previously unused benefits.
• Assistance with legal document review – At this stage of planning we can connect you with Subject Matter Experts who can review all of your estate planning documents as well as make sure assets are properly titled, and trusts are drawn up as needed.
• Ongoing review of important insurance policies – Your family dynamics may have changed with marriage, or the birth of a child, and it is now time to see if you have adequate disability and life insurance to protect your family. These reviews are important as they determine what legacy you leave behind.

Dentists must navigate the complexities of their own financial needs, and dentists who or own or partner with a practice are responsible for planning around their businesses and partially for the wellbeing of their employees. Often this means that owners are given the task of determining the appropriate employee benefits package. As a business owner you will also need to consider the tax structure of your business as well as the industry-specific liabilities that come with operating a dentist’s practice.

At My Financial Coach, we understand how to map out the financial needs of business owners. We work with you in coordinating the right types of benefits that will protect and build retirement for you as an individual and also help attract new talent through competitive benefits that serve you and your employees and leads them to achieve financial goals. Just some examples of how we may serve a practice owner’s financial needs are:

• Retirement planning for your unique practice – This includes analyzing business succession and “phased-retirement” strategies.
• Help you maximize tax-savings and retirement contributions – This starts with examining your retirement plan options and individual accounts available to you. We can see if a deferred compensation plan, 401(k), 403(b), SEP IRA, SIMPLE IRA, or other retirement solutions may be appropriate for your situation.
• Ongoing review of the complex insurance needs of medical professionals for both personal and group-focused benefits. We have partnerships with leading Subject Matter Experts in these areas that can find the right solutions for your practice.
• Illustrating all of your financial solutions together through a unique and comprehensive financial story, along with your own financial website.