February 19, 2024 • 47 mins
In this empowering episode of The Dental Wealth Nation Show, host Tim McNeely is joined by esteemed financial coach Kristie Reph, to delve into a topic that plagues many dental professionals – debt management and retirement planning. Kristie brings her considerable expertise to the table, sharing actionable insights that are particularly relevant for dentists looking to achieve financial independence and secure a robust retirement.
Throughout the episode, Kristie highlights the crucial first step towards overcoming debt: the willingness to change and the open-mindedness to absorb guidance from financial experts. With her unique background rooted in healthcare, Kristie blends empathy with a no-sugarcoating approach to financial coaching. Together, Kristie and Tim address the all-too-common perception of finances as a daunting challenge, and they discuss strategies to navigate the often overwhelming landscape of debts common in high-earning professions like dentistry.
This episode goes beyond just the numbers; it's about breaking down behavioral barriers to financial success. Kristie suggests practical methods such as creating a spending plan, strategic debt repayment, and prioritizing expenditures to pave the way for debt_freedom. The discussion doesn't shy away from touchy subjects like the stark reality that 80% of the population lives paycheck to paycheck, a situation often attributable to the lack of financial education during one's developmental years.
In addition to practical advice, Kristie shares her inspiring personal journey of overcoming significant debt, which reinforces the power of financial education, budgeting, and a savings-oriented mindset. The insights provided in this episode are aimed at helping dental professionals map out their finances to tackle debt aggressively while simultaneously preparing for retirement.
Finally, the conversation turns to the future, with Tim and Kristie emphasizing the need for planning, honest financial conversations, and taking real steps towards improving one's financial health. Kristie Reph's return to The Dental Wealth Nation Show is eagerly anticipated, as listeners walk away with invigorated motivation to pursue the dream of being debt-free, wise investment strategies, and a future where financial strain does not dictate the quality of their lives or relationships.
This episode of The Dental Wealth Nation Show with Tim McNeely is an essential listen for any dental professional seeking to take control of their financial destiny, reduce stress and anxiety associated with debts, and lay the groundwork for a thriving, worry-free retirement.
Discussion Questions:
- How does Kristie Reph suggest dentists shift their mindset to become open to changing their financial habits? Can you share a time when a change in mindset impacted your financial decisions?
- Tim McNeely touches on the fear of finance being a monster. How can dentists approach this fear constructively to take control of their financial situation?
- Debt accumulation is common in high-income professions like dentistry. What strategies can be employed to not only manage but also prevent excessive debt in such professions?
- Kristie Reph emphasizes addressing underlying behavioral issues when it comes to spending. What are some common behavioral barriers to financial wellness, and how can they be overcome?
- Financial education tends to be missing from early education. How can dental professionals compensate for this lack to ensure their financial health?
- Christy Ruff shares her personal journey of debt and the role of financial education in overcoming it. What lessons can be learned from her story that can be applied to the lives of dental professionals?
- Discuss the concept of a spending plan versus a traditional budget. How would implementing a spending plan change your current approach to your finances? <
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
As a driven dentist, you see the world differently where
some see scarcity. You see abundance. When others
wanna give up, you keep going. You're building an amazing
life of significance. That means you can't rely Eye on
ordinary advice from ordinary advisers to get to your goals. You
want advice that's going to help maximize your net worth so you
(00:25):
can take even better care of the people you love, the causes
you care about, and make your dent in the universe.
But the fact is This advice remains hidden because
relatively few professionals are well versed in them, and the extremely
affluent don't care to let but you know about them. Join
us as we pull back the curtain to reveal the often hidden
(00:47):
advice and Strategies used by today's most successful
individuals and families. Welcome to Dental
Wealth Nation. Here's your host, Tim McNealy.
Welcome everyone to another edition of Dental Wealth Nation.
There's a lot of things that keep me as an entrepreneur up at night. It's
(01:09):
can be the stress sometimes. It can be anxiety. It can be issues with
my team members or just how the overall business is doing.
But there's another thing that keeps me up at night, and it may keep you
up at night too, And that is debt. And, you know, I've accumulated
some debt in in acquiring assets through my life, and it's it's something I wanna
get rid of. And I'm slowly working on Retiring that debt because
(01:31):
I wanna be debt free. And chances are, if you're listening to this also,
you, at some point, wanna become debt Free. Awesome. And
that's why I'm so excited about today is by the time we finish
today, you're gonna know that becoming debt free is actually possible.
It's a reality that you can achieve. You're gonna have
tools to help you better communicate with those around you about your
(01:54):
finances and about Money because money can cause a lot of stress and
anxiety, but most importantly of all, you're gonna feel confident that you can
live and build a debt Free lifestyle. And
I am so excited about our guest today. Our guest today is Christy Ruff. She's
a financial coach. She's been helping people. And not just people,
she's also helped me and my wife get out of debt and pay better
(02:15):
attention to your finances. And and what I love about Christy, she's got
a passion For encouraging you to dream big and helping you
achieve even more so that you can take better care of the people you
love, the causes you care about, And really make a lasting impact
for generations to come. Christie, welcome to the show.
(02:37):
Good night, Tim. Thank you for having me. It's awesome to be here.
Oh, I I am just so Thrive, and and it's such an important
topic That you and I are are talking about today
is is deadened. You know, in in your work with people, do
you do you happen to see Anyone out there with any debt in the world
today?
(02:59):
Yes. Actually, I'm a part of
Dave Ramsey's preferred coaching program, and the
stats that he gives is 80% of people live paycheck
to paycheck. That's pretty staggering amount
to me, and it's scary. Yeah. No. I
Absolutely. Why do you think that that 80% of the population that
(03:22):
that that's 8 out of 10 people. That's a lot of people. Why
do you think so many people out there are are living with with
debt today and living paycheck to paycheck?
Well, because they weren't taught about finances when they were
younger. I almost a 100% of the people that I
(03:42):
talk to say no one talked them about finances when they were younger.
And going through school, no one taught you about finances.
You know, think about yourself, Tim, when you went through school. Did anybody teach you
about taxes? Did anybody teach you about credit cards?
Did anybody teach you about just how to set up a household
(04:03):
budget? And for most, almost all everybody,
like I said, that I've talked to, the answer's no.
I find that it is really helpful for these
people just to start talking about it, period.
We don't even have to get into numbers. We just have to start talking about
it because what happens is you're able to start focusing
(04:27):
more on What the problem is when you
acknowledge the problem. Wow. Well,
you know, in my household, we certainly had Some conversations
about money and and I learned a couple lessons. I learned that at
Christmas time, my mom would buy us all our Christmas presents on her credit card.
Right. So so so we learn things that aren't necessarily the the
(04:50):
the right habits and the the right mindset. And and I wanna get into your
journey here in a little bit and And talk about your transition from from
being into health care to to financial coaching. And and it's so great that you're
here because we're talking to other health providers. We're talking to to dentists
today, and it's a a world you certainly understand. But but why
do you think like, once again, why is it so hard for us to have
(05:13):
Nation around these topics and around money and around
debt. What gets in the way of us talking about these things?
Because we feel like it's personal and it becomes
Nation, and that's what the Problem is when you get
into to talking about things that bring up emotions in people,
it really throws them off kilter. I've had
(05:37):
several clients say that they didn't even
know how to bring up the conversation of finances in their
household. Other
clients have been like, oh, I was
divorced and my husband handled all that, so I I just don't even know where
to begin. So our society
(05:58):
teaches us that's a taboo subject. It's kind of
like politics and church. We don't talk about those things.
Wealth, why? I don't understand. You know,
if we sit down at the dining room table and teach our kids that
this is the money that we have coming in each month and this is what
the mortgage is, Where do you want that $20 to come from
(06:22):
that you wanna go out to dinner with your friends with? Where does that come
from? They just think that it's magic Just like you did with
your mom at Christmas. You know? Yeah. And it's all
until that credit card bill comes in the mail, and then it's not
magic anymore. Yeah. I I learned later on
in life you have to pay those things off. It's crazy. Who
(06:44):
knew? But, You know, would you share with us a little bit of your
journey and your transition from working in Wealth care to to
helping people through financial coaching?
Well, again, my story is kind of emotional.
I started My journey when my husband
(07:04):
and I got married 25 years ago and we just
kept accumulating debt and accumulating debt.
Our house that we had built in Maryland was a 521 100 square
foot house. We had 3 and a half acres, so I've had the big house,
The cars, the whole thing,
and 2008 hit. So I don't know if anybody
(07:28):
remembers what happened, but market took a kind of a crash.
It kinda went oops. So
they got They did away with my husband's job, and he was in
management. So when they did away with his job,
That was an oh, crap factor of now what do we
(07:48):
do? You know, we have this big mortgage,
Car payments, the whole 9 yards. So
we decided to move to South Carolina because it was It's
cheaper. We had already bought property down here because we kinda saw
the light coming towards us and it wasn't a flashlight, it was
a Freight train.
(08:11):
So we moved to South Carolina and bought a piece of property,
Came down here when we sold our house in Maryland and paid cash for
the house. Thought we were In the
free and clear, our habits
didn't stop. We continue to build debt.
So at one point we had $290,000 worth of
(08:35):
debt, not including our house.
So fast forward
to 2014, I started writing it all down in an
Excel spreadsheet, And I said, enough.
This has gotta stop with me now.
(08:56):
And I went to the Dave Ramsey coaching, the Dave Ramsey
class, and that taught me how to budget and how to
start Not relying so much on
debt and credit cards. And eight and a
half years later, I am debt free. So, it is
possible. That's amazing, Christy.
(09:17):
Wow. Yeah.
And so I I I I noticed when you were sharing that, you you
kinda reached that moment where you said enough is enough, and and that
change has to start. How important is reaching that point
of being able to mentally say enough is enough? Is that
essential in this In this transformation, in the mindset and
(09:40):
overcoming debt?
Yes, it is essential. You have to get to that point
of be being willing to change, and then you
have to get to a point of being willing to be open to listen
To what other people have to say and just
follow. Whatever the information is,
(10:01):
just Follow their lead. You know, like with
me being a coach, I have to just tell people,
It's just that simple. Just do it and
I promise you, if you get a little bit better each day and a little
bit better each day, it'll come quickly. You'll be out of
debt before you know it. One of one
(10:24):
example always get of client my clients
that they were in healthcare as well. They
didn't even wanna look at their finances. She put it in the
closet and closed the door. And I'm like, what do
you mean? How do you how do you live and not Know what your
finances are. She's like, I just don't. I don't look at it because it was
(10:46):
a big scary monster to her. So when you
start opening that door and opening up those
feelings and those thoughts, it all became
easy. She they paid off their car 6 months
early. They put money in the bank. They're literally
selling their house right now to get out from all the debt they're in.
(11:08):
Wow.
I and and so how do you think your your background
in health care has influenced your approach to financial
coaching. Are are those related in any way?
Yes. Having empathy, compassion,
(11:30):
caring about people. If you don't Care
about people, it comes across when you're teach when you're talking
to them and when you're teaching to them because it can come up. If you
don't care about people, you can come across as you're talking down
to them, and that's not ever what I want to have happen
or to do Because when just feel just think about when
(11:52):
what you feel like when you're talked down too.
You You're like, I don't even wanna listen to this person now.
So it becomes a stopping point.
So what I found was that, And another part that I
found is that the way that I am as a person
comes across because I don't sugarcoat
(12:15):
things. I'm not gonna tell you it's, you
know, a lollipop when it's Not even a dumb dumb. You know
what I mean? I'm not gonna tell you that it's
gonna be all rainbows and unicorns when
There's thorns and bushes in the way, but I
you we've gotta get through those thorns and bushes to get to that other
(12:38):
side. Yeah. Well, I
in in Wealth and that's such a valuable lesson, and I appreciate you
bringing up That that empathy piece because I I think that's so key. And
and what you shared about, you know, finances so often being a monster to people,
and I and this big scary thing, I think a lot of us are scared
to to open up our bank statements. We we are scared. We we we may
(13:00):
like to add up our net worth, But we may not like so much to
look at our cash flow statement because those are very different things. And
sometimes that cash flow statement And that p and l can be pretty
scary, especially when it comes to debt. And and dentists,
they accumulate quite a bit of debt over their their lifetime. Right? Whether
it's the School loans they first get or it's acquiring that first
(13:22):
practice or then acquiring an office building and then maybe some
new Equipment down the road, and they've got a house, and they've got cars, and
kids, and so so that that lifestyle really starts
adding up quickly. What are some strategic debt management
plans that that you really Wealth these doctors implement, and and
how should we think about our debt that we have?
(13:46):
There's 2 ways of dealing with it.
One way is that You just build up more income to
cover the issues. But what that does is it
doesn't show you Where
the issues are. It just puts a rug over the dust, if you
think about that. The other way that you can think about
(14:08):
it is that It
you have to create a budget and I don't like using that word anymore. It
kinda has a negative connotation, so I call it a spending plan.
So when you say it's a spending plan, that's more
positive twist on it that you're able to spend this money,
but that you have constraints on it. So just
(14:31):
like I was talking with one of my clients earlier today,
she's a single woman Who goes and spends $600
a month at the grocery store. And I said,
I don't think that there's any way possible
you can eat $600 worth of groceries. I said,
let's let's start Talking about that. And what we found
(14:54):
was that it was something that was
so Nation innate in her that She didn't even realize she was
doing it because it was emotional. She was
keeping herself from thinking about When she
had nothing or when she wasn't able to fill the refrigerator
is full. But I don't want to get into
(15:17):
the Mindset
of scarcity, but I want people to understand
what they're doing And be able to do it within the confines
of a plan.
Does that make sense? Oh, that that Tim makes a lot of sense. And
and I and right within that context of a a
(15:40):
Spending plan. I I know oftentimes one of the things I I hear is, well,
I just I really wanna buy this new a piece of equipment, and I'm gonna
Finance this new piece of equipment because it's gonna help me make more money.
And so why is that a dangerous way of thinking? And is there a
better way to think about Growing our businesses because
oftentimes Wealth think about, you know, accumulating debt to invest
(16:03):
in our business, But is it really investing? Like like, what's going on in
our heads when we think that way?
Well, it just uncovers behaviors that you weren't able
to put enough money away
to capitalize on buying those new pieces of equipment.
(16:24):
So it's there's still an underlying behavior issue that
is not being addressed. So and we
also look at keeping up with the Joneses. So, yes, you
may be able to buy that new piece of
equipment because the other dentist down the street has it,
but if something were to happen to that dentist
(16:46):
tomorrow, Would he be able to cover all of his expenses
for whatever time necessary?
So like if he were to crush his hand in a door and be out
for 4 weeks, would he be able to cover expense? He or
she'd be able to cover those expenses? You have to start thinking about it
that way too. Like you need to have a
(17:09):
progression,
way of doing things, but also a substantiation
of what you're doing currently Nation understand that
You need to have a a good base
and foundation set up in your mindset,
in your behaviors, And in your processes
(17:32):
to be able to support moving
forward because I think a lot of People just continue to move and
move and move and they build their house on sand and then it
all falls down and then they wonder why. Yeah.
Wealth, right, because because that Dental load can be pretty pretty frightening. I
was talking to another doctor the other day. His Practice does
(17:54):
about $1,800,000 a year, and you would think you'd bring home some
pretty nice income from a practice like that. His take home is only
about $120,000 a year after all the expenses are
paid, primarily because there's such a massive debt load. And,
You know, and there's a plan to pay it off, but it it's creating a
lot of stress, a lot of anxiety, a lot of a lot of worry there.
(18:16):
He's like, Tim, What do I do? And,
you know, it's so because we can get ourselves in these these really rough
places, and it and it sounds like really Kinda what what we're
talking about is mindful spending and being aware of of where our
money is going. And I know for so many professionals
in high end feel in high come in in
(18:39):
in high income fields like dentistry. You know, this mindful spending
can really be a challenge. And so So how do we think about
prioritizing expenses and investments and paying off debt?
Right? How do we put these things in in the right order of Nation, so
to speak?
Again, it goes back to getting your foundation in order, so
(19:03):
make sure that you have a good Savings account set up,
make sure you have all of your debt laid out to where
it doesn't matter which way you do it, whether you do it by the the
Smallest to the largest with the amount or with
the interest. It's been proven by math that it only makes a couple
of months difference of Paying things off, but have a
(19:25):
plan to pay things off as
well as putting money in the savings account for that rainy day for
when things aren't going as planned. I don't wanna
speak negative over anyone, but There always has to be
that, umbrella over everything. And you
also wanna make sure that you're paying yourself adequately So that you
(19:48):
can start investing in your
retirement, in your investments that you wanna
uphold, Especially for the future. You know, if you start
getting investments as quickly as you can, then they start to
build and build compound Wealth, but if
you continue to let debt build up, it's gonna do the same
(20:10):
thing. It's gonna compound that interest and that
debt to make it an even bigger number, and then you're
chasing your tail around.
Interesting. So so so kinda what I almost hear you saying is just
just start. Get a plan. Even if it's not perfect, Just
get some kind of plan together and start down that road so that you
(20:32):
can you can start paying yourself what you're worth and start getting rid of
that debt. Yes,
absolutely. Without a plan, just think of it this way, Tim. If
you're going on a vacation, Do you ever just go up to the
airline counter and say give me a ticket? You
you have to give them a destination.
(20:56):
So you need to tell them, okay. I'm going
to Thailand. So then they can say, okay. From
San Francisco to Thailand is going to be $1800
here. Okay? When
you walk into it blindly and you say, Oh, I'll handle that some other
time, some other time doesn't happen and it continues to
(21:18):
snowball and make The behind the scenes,
bigger. Yeah. You have to be like the wizard of Oz and pull back
the curtain and show the man behind the curtain.
So so really kinda going back to those first things we were talking about is
just start having conversations around this and and be willing
to to talk about it.
(21:44):
Yes. Absolutely. And I see we've got to
have conversations that are
I was gonna say just to have conversations that are real With your
spouse, significant other, even if you're by
yourself, to the person in the mirror, you have to be
(22:05):
real And get real. And I wanna
talk about that here in a second. We've got some live viewers popping in. If
you've got questions for Christy, Please take advantage of this time together. Put
them down in the the chat, and we'll we'll answer those questions about spending
and retiring debt and how you can Build that life that you're really looking
for. Just put them down with love. We'd love to to answer them for you.
(22:26):
And so so, Christy, you you talk about, you know, Having
honest and real Nation. And and and, right, when we
talk about authenticity all the time, we talk about vulnerability
and transparency, but But, like, what are those conversations
start to actually look like and and sound like if you
wanna approach that or or if you realize like, Hey. I I'm I'm struggling
(22:48):
with this stuff, and I I don't know how to talk to my spouse about
it because I'm I'm hiding all my statements in the closet and throwing them away
the moment that show up. Like Like, how do you even start broaching these
topics so that you can have those real conversations?
That's a difficult one to
(23:10):
Talk about without personalizing it towards
the person that you're speaking to. Generalities
would be start laying things out yourself,
like start looking up all of your numbers.
Just get it in black and white. What do they say?
(23:32):
Without something written, you have no idea of where you are and where you've
been. Right? So just like taking that journey
to Thailand, you need to have a route in place
before you can even broach moving on.
So when I started with my Excel
(23:52):
spreadsheet and looking at how much debt we were in, It
was mind blowing to me that we had
let it get this far out of control without having those conversations
of It's Friday. It's payday. Why are we
broke again? It's Friday. My payroll's due.
Now what do I do?
(24:16):
Just starting the conversation with reality and writing
things down or Putting it in a spreadsheet or
whatever you have to do to get it out
in the universe. Alright. No. I I think that's so
powerful. Right? Just start with a a an honest assessment of of where
you are. Just lay it out in in black and white, and And that
(24:40):
actually kinda leads me to my my my next question is, you know, many
times people are working with financial advisors or wealth managers. Right? I'm a
wealth manager for Thrive dental entrepreneurs, but there there's something
different about financial coaching. And so so in in your
view, how does financial coaching differ from That traditional
financial advice that that many entrepreneurs are are getting from their
(25:03):
advisers. Well,
1st off, I'm not certified
in giving financial
Investment Thrive. So let me be clear about that.
So when it comes to your spending plan, your
expenses, Is your debt Nation?
(25:27):
Anything like that, I can talk to you about. What I find
is more helpful is that people feel like That I'm more
approachable than a financial adviser because they
think that our financial adviser is gonna do nothing but take their money and
run, And that's not always the case.
Just like everybody, everybody has to make money,
(25:49):
but A financial advisor has to go to school
and learn different techniques on how
to set up your investments and things like that. I
am here to be the reality for
the the mirror of reality. Let's put it that way. I'm here
to shine the light on what you need help with
(26:12):
to get you started on the path Of
getting to an investment place, to a
financial advisor. Those people
Don't really deal with, people that are day to day people.
They deal with things that are more long,
long term. And what I mean by that is you don't give
(26:34):
your money to a financial adviser and then on Friday, take it
back out. You don't give your money to a
financial advisor and then tell them, oh, no. I need that
back. Sorry. It doesn't work that way. But with a
financial coach, you are able to deal
with your household with me. So we sit and
(26:56):
we talk about what you want your household to look
like, what you guys have talked about, What you want your
spending plan to be, where you want your investments to go in the
future. I feel like I'm the more,
If you wanna give it an analogy, I'm the jeans and t shirt kinda person
and a financial advisor is a person in the suit and
(27:19):
tie Do I send you to
when you're ready? Interesting. Well, I and I love
that Distinction you just made too. Right? A lot of the the
financial coaching is kind of the the day to day operations.
It's what's going in and out of your bank account. Like, Right. What happens on
a on a on a daily and weekly and monthly and and
(27:41):
yearly basis, whereas, you know, a lot of the the financial
advice and the wealth management, those are long term strategies
to to get you to where you wanna go, but you you need that foundation
That you really help people build. Right? You you gotta manage that cash flow
properly, because it's one thing to to meet with
a Wealth manager and for them to say, hey. You know, we can do all
(28:03):
this stuff. You just have to invest this amount per month. You may have no
idea how to find that amount per month. Whereas, You really are able to step
in there and say, hey. Let's let's take that that that picture of where you
are right now financially, right, With the cash flow, let's let's
work on those things. So I love that distinction.
And once again, I see some some people logging in. If you've got questions,
(28:25):
just Post them down below, and we'll get we'll get Christy to to jump on
those and and answer them live for you. So coming back to
just, you know, the the impact that that finances can have. And
so what are some of the the things that, you know, happen to
us when our finances aren't in good order?
(28:46):
Well, just day to day can be
sleepless nights and causing emotional strain
To causing pregnancy issues,
you know, because you're so stressed out That you could be
not able to conceive if you wanna conceive.
(29:08):
It can be causing Such things as
divorce. It's the number 1 it's one of the top 10
leading causes of divorce is finances.
Those are the things that it can lead to, and I'm
here to Be the detour in the road
(29:30):
to see if we can work something out, to get you
off of those Sleep medicines because you can't
sleep, to be able to get your mind to kinda
relax And take it down a notch. When you
especially when you look at the credit card statement and you've got
an overwhelming balance and you don't even know how
(29:54):
It's gonna get paid or or why you even wanna pay it. Let's talk about
that. Why?
Wow. Wow. Very, very powerful. And so so so let's
say we've reached that point, like like you've reached. Right? You the where you reach
that point, you you were looking down at your Excel spreadsheet, and you said enough
(30:17):
is enough. Let's say we've decided. We've We've had enough, and we're
ready to start creating that that culture of financial health
in our families, in our in our lives, in our dental practices.
How can dental entrepreneurs really start fostering that that
culture of financial health and mindfulness in their families,
with their staff, with the The people they care about. How do we start
(30:39):
doing this?
That's been on my mind for a while. What I
was What I'm starting to do is branch out to
do workshops for doctors and
dentists and things like that Because I feel like if you
just get the conversation started, then
(31:02):
you're able to work with People
want a different level. If you say, look, money and
finances is not a taboo subject, it's not
a scary subject and you get them to working on just
something as simple as a spending plan. It
starts open those doors to, well,
(31:24):
what else can we work on? Now we can
work on looking at our debt. Oh, okay.
Wow. Wait a minute. Now we can start looking
at, once our Dentist gone, getting rid of the mortgage,
Whether that's in your practice or in your home, you know, you
(31:46):
you have to have those Those things taken
care of and talking with your
staff members, talking with your children,
Talking with anybody who will listen,
especially people that are younger in the younger generation,
(32:06):
Excuse me. They have no idea of what is going
on in finances. And
Take right now, for example, season. People
have no idea even where to start with taxes.
And I guarantee you a lot of people miss out on some tax
(32:27):
benefits because they don't know. And
especially, like I said, with kids getting into this environment, they just
go and hire a CPA When it may just
be all they need is TurboTax. I don't know.
You know?
Yeah. No. Very, very interesting. Great great point. I I love that you start
(32:50):
touching on, right, One of the ways that that we can build a
a a healthy culture of financial health is actually
just focusing on the the education piece. Right? Just Educating
ourselves. Right? Acquiring knowledge. That's one of the reasons I run this
show. That's why we share these strategies and tactics with you is we
wanna create that that financial Financial ed I but
(33:12):
what often, you know, one of the struggles we we see in financial education,
especially among Dentist, is Tim a lot of dentists I talk to, they say,
Tim, I'm I'm not that good with numbers, but then I I push in a
little. I'm like, actually, you're really good as long as those numbers are 1 to
32, which is the Number of teeth in a human mouth. They've they've got those
numbers nailed. 33, 34, 35, all that's a
(33:34):
little fuzzy. And so So I what's your strategy
for approaching financial education for people who don't
have a financial background to To really help them and make form
decisions in their personal and financial life, how do you start bridging that
gap?
(33:55):
Like I said before, just mainly getting them to look at their
expenses in a real time
Atmosphere. So like one of the exercises
that I have most of my clients do, and I think you'll remember this,
is Collecting your receipts for 30 days. Mhmm.
Yep. And you don't think that that's a big deal,
(34:18):
but right now, we have, You know, phones that are
do everything for us, including make payments on
things that we don't feel anymore.
So what I mean by that is, it's become a big thing
on online as well that
(34:39):
You have lost that tactile sense of cash.
So when you have cash in your hand And you go to Starbucks,
you have a $100 bill in your hand. You go into Starbucks. Are you breaking
that $100 bill for a $5 coffee? I'm
gonna scan this Tim.
Exactly. Exactly. And that's what I
(35:01):
mean. Even if you go to the gas
station, most people hit no receipt
Or they can't even get a receipt out of the pump anymore,
you know? So I want you to feel
what That transaction feels like, and I want you to go into the
gas station and get the receipt, and I want you to put it in an
(35:24):
envelope for 30 days. And I'm not trying to punish
you by doing that. I'm trying to show you
that it's a transaction And all money
is in this life is energy and it
moves back and forth. You know, you in a
dentist practice, would you ever consider doing
(35:46):
dental work for free forever? Most
People, the answer is no, right? You have to have that flow of
income coming back in. So
That's what I'm saying. We've lost somehow, we've lost that
touch of putting
that $100 bill on the counter I'm paying for that $5 coffee.
(36:11):
You know, and and that Then reciprocates
behind the scenes, you know, then that store owner is able to take the money
and do what he needs to do, or the dentist is able to take that
money and do what He or she needs to do. So
if you make it more tactile, I think that that's
one good strategy that people can use And
(36:33):
if all else fails, go back to nothing but cash.
If you feel like you can't control the credit card or the
Apple Watch Or the phone, go back to all
cash. You know, take what you're gonna pay
yourself, you know, whether that's 4, 5,
$6 a month, whatever that is, and take it out of the bank every month.
(36:56):
They might look at you like you got sick but you've
gotta do what you gotta do to get that in
your mind that I'm on I'm on a mission.
I have a goal. You know, a lot of
people waste a lot of McNeely, I shouldn't say waste,
a lot of people use their
(37:19):
money by like going out to eat and
by Buying
dinner for everyone at the table, but you have to realize that that's taking
money out of your personal Spending plan and
using it for other people and that
Tim be okay. You may have a budget for that, but you may not.
(37:42):
And if you don't get that under control, that can get out of
control very quickly and when you use that credit card, You
don't even feel it. You take that receipt home and you throw it in the
trash. You know, that's 4 or $500. Go
on. Easy. And that that, you
know, that might even be a mid level restaurant. That's not even a high level
(38:03):
restaurant. Yeah. Yeah. These days, that's, you know, your
average place with a couple people for dinner.
Wow. Exactly. And I'm not saying that you need
I'm sorry. I'm just I'm not saying that you
need to have that scarcity mindset, but I'm saying you
(38:24):
need to be aware of what you're doing And what
your goal is. Yeah. I I
I love that you've referred to it as a spending plan and and not a
budget because it gives you Nation to actually spend the money that that that
you make, and Nation and we do. We we live in abundance, and that's how
we wanna operate, but we also have to realize that, You know, some
(38:46):
resources we do have limited amounts of, so let's let's spend them wisely.
Let's be mindful of it. And and I love what you're just sharing too
about making this a experience. Right? Just really
parting with that money because they've made it so easy for us to spend, and
and that's it hasn't been an accident, and that's done on purpose to To get
us to part with our money. So the the other thing I wanna talk about
(39:08):
before we wrap up, and this has just been so good, is I wanna talk
a little bit about the role of accountability in achieving
financial goals. How important do you see accountability being
in the financial coaching process?
Oh, let me tell you 100%, it's about accountability.
(39:28):
When people don't have accountability, Just like going to the Tim,
you can pay for that gym membership all day long. It don't matter, but
until you get a personal trainer or a
gym buddy that you go with that says,
Tim. We're gonna meet at the gym at 6:30.
Be there. Be square. You don't have a goal.
(39:51):
You don't move forward. So
that's part of what I do and what I teach is
accountability, so that's the way that my program runs
is that you not only get Zoom calls with me, You get an
accountability partner and you get that touch that
you need more than once a month or once
(40:14):
every 3 months. So it's definitely
part of the whole process is
being accountable, not only to yourself,
but to future generations. You know, the
I have a son and he's 33 now, But
I really had to have a moment with
(40:37):
myself and
Realize what I had done. I had taught
him all these horrible habits of
how to deal with money And
he is in he was
(40:57):
in the spending habit of Buying big boy
toys and he wasn't making the big boy money and
it's like as a mother, that was extremely
hard and I had to sit him down and say,
look, I did this. I take full responsibility,
But we're ending this now. You need to get out of debt, and you need
(41:20):
to do it now while you're going.
Wow. Wow. That takes a lot of courage to to do that,
and I I just I I applaud you for doing that. What what a great
way to lead your family. And Because I I think that's another mistake
people often make is is they don't own up to the mistakes they've made
because of of fear and shame. And and and like we started off This
(41:42):
episode's talking about, right, you just gotta be honest about these things.
You gotta just lay it all out there. And I think when you do that,
you you you Find that forgiveness, you you find accountability, and you
find a way to move forward and not continue those mistakes so that you
can build generational wealth and you can make an impact That's gonna last
for generations.
(42:07):
And I I I think I I love it. That was very
heartwarming because
No. I was just gonna say with my son, he was able to help 2
of his buddies at work, Start looking at their finances and dealing
with their debt.
(42:28):
Wow. Wow. Right? See, talk about impact.
Right? One small change that that you made with your son is already having a
ripple effect And going out there and impacting his circle of friends,
and and hopefully, it'll spread on from there. And so right what a great way
to to give back, especially when it comes to to finances.
And and the other thing is you've been married just a couple years Nation, and,
(42:51):
you know what? I think is it 25 years?
Mhmm. Right? That's amazing. And and so,
right, you and your husband, I'm sure, have certainly had those money
Nation. And And and what's some advice that you would offer the those
dental couples who are listening on on managing their finances
together, Especially when when 1 or both partners are involved
(43:14):
in a high stress profession.
Just like Nike says, just do it. I mean,
It's something that you have to get over
that hurdle. It can cause some
(43:37):
Uncomfortable conversations. I'm not gonna lie.
You know, when you were hiding all those credit card receipts
and those Packages underneath of the bed because you didn't want
him to see them. That all has to come out to the light
to understand where all that money Dental. And the
other issue is, is that if anything were to happen to you or
(43:59):
your spouse, you don't want somebody else to have to come in and clean
up your mess. Plain and
simple. Wow. No. That's that's such a good point.
Right? And I love it. Just do it. Right? Just get started.
Right. And and so if someone wants to get started, how can we find you?
How can we get in touch with you, Christie?
(44:23):
Inspiritfinancialcoach.com,
I have a booking page there. You can book a free 45
minute call with me to see how I can Wealth,
so if you Go ahead and just
book a link book a call with me on that link. We can sit down
(44:43):
and talk about it, and I really would prefer if you guys, If you're
a couple, to have both people there so that we can make an educated
decision together. Mhmm. No. I I love that. And that's how
you and I Started working together is is my wife and I reached out because
we realized we were in over our heads. Right? We we could do it ourselves,
but we weren't. Right? We wanted that Accountability. We want we
(45:05):
wanted to take the journey with someone else because we're pretty
good at lying to ourselves. And, you're right. Having
you as our coach, the one who's helped us, we're already seeing
tremendous progress in in our lives, and And we're getting back on track again,
and it feels so good. And I've loved the accountability calls. I've
Thrive loved the insights we've gotten from you. And so I I just wanna thank
(45:27):
you so much for the The work you've done for Dana and I because it's
made an impact, and it's and that's why I asked you on the show was
to share what you're doing because I've personally seen The impact that it's
been making. Thank you.
That's amazing. Yes. And I love the senior journey as
well. It's just it's heartwarming to see when that
(45:48):
actually happens and it comes to fruition. Well well, thank
you again for for sharing so generously with us. And so Before we
sign off, any closing thoughts? I've put your website down below.
If you wanna connect with Christie, and I highly recommend it, you can just click
below. But any closing thoughts before we sign off here?
(46:10):
Just that it is possible that Being debt
free releases that burden off of your
shoulders that you didn't even know was there.
It creates the ability for you
to invest in yourself and in others,
(46:30):
And to give generously when
it's time. Wow.
I I absolutely love that so much, and and I know I
certainly feel even more confident that I can live that
debt free lifestyle. You've given me even more tools to
communicate better with my wife, to talk about it, and and once again, you've
(46:52):
just encouraged me and all our listeners to know that that becoming debt
Free is possible. And so, right, if you're a doctor and you're struggling with
that, I highly encourage you to reach out and get a plan. It's
one of the best things you can do, and And you'll make an impact for
generations to come. So, Christy, thank you again for being an amazing guest.
Thank you so much, Tim, for having me. And we'll see you again
(47:15):
here soon on the Dental Wealth Nation show. You've
been listening to Dental Wealth Nation. We hope you've gotten some
useful and practical information from the show. Join us next
time as we pull back the curtain to reveal the often
hidden advice and strategies used by today's most
successful individuals and families and help maximize your
(47:37):
net worth so you can take even better Take care of the people you
love. Till next time. Make sure to hit the website at
Wealth Nation.
As a driven dentist, you see the world differently where
some see scarcity. You see abundance. When others
wanna give up, you keep going. You're building an amazing
life of significance. That means you can't rely Eye on
ordinary advice from ordinary advisers to get to your goals. You
want advice that's going to help maximize your net worth so you
(00:25):
can take even better care of the people you love, the causes
you care about, and make your dent in the universe.
But the fact is This advice remains hidden because
relatively few professionals are well versed in them, and the extremely
affluent don't care to let but you know about them. Join
us as we pull back the curtain to reveal the often hidden
(00:47):
advice and Strategies used by today's most successful
individuals and families. Welcome to Dental
Wealth Nation. Here's your host, Tim McNealy.
Welcome everyone to another edition of Dental Wealth Nation.
There's a lot of things that keep me as an entrepreneur up at night. It's
(01:09):
can be the stress sometimes. It can be anxiety. It can be issues with
my team members or just how the overall business is doing.
But there's another thing that keeps me up at night, and it may keep you
up at night too, And that is debt. And, you know, I've accumulated
some debt in in acquiring assets through my life, and it's it's something I wanna
get rid of. And I'm slowly working on Retiring that debt because
(01:31):
I wanna be debt free. And chances are, if you're listening to this also,
you, at some point, wanna become debt Free. Awesome. And
that's why I'm so excited about today is by the time we finish
today, you're gonna know that becoming debt free is actually possible.
It's a reality that you can achieve. You're gonna have
tools to help you better communicate with those around you about your
(01:54):
finances and about Money because money can cause a lot of stress and
anxiety, but most importantly of all, you're gonna feel confident that you can
live and build a debt Free lifestyle. And
I am so excited about our guest today. Our guest today is Christy Ruff. She's
a financial coach. She's been helping people. And not just people,
she's also helped me and my wife get out of debt and pay better
(02:15):
attention to your finances. And and what I love about Christy, she's got
a passion For encouraging you to dream big and helping you
achieve even more so that you can take better care of the people you
love, the causes you care about, And really make a lasting impact
for generations to come. Christie, welcome to the show.
(02:37):
Good night, Tim. Thank you for having me. It's awesome to be here.
Oh, I I am just so Thrive, and and it's such an important
topic That you and I are are talking about today
is is deadened. You know, in in your work with people, do
you do you happen to see Anyone out there with any debt in the world
today?
(02:59):
Yes. Actually, I'm a part of
Dave Ramsey's preferred coaching program, and the
stats that he gives is 80% of people live paycheck
to paycheck. That's pretty staggering amount
to me, and it's scary. Yeah. No. I
Absolutely. Why do you think that that 80% of the population that
(03:22):
that that's 8 out of 10 people. That's a lot of people. Why
do you think so many people out there are are living with with
debt today and living paycheck to paycheck?
Well, because they weren't taught about finances when they were
younger. I almost a 100% of the people that I
(03:42):
talk to say no one talked them about finances when they were younger.
And going through school, no one taught you about finances.
You know, think about yourself, Tim, when you went through school. Did anybody teach you
about taxes? Did anybody teach you about credit cards?
Did anybody teach you about just how to set up a household
(04:03):
budget? And for most, almost all everybody,
like I said, that I've talked to, the answer's no.
I find that it is really helpful for these
people just to start talking about it, period.
We don't even have to get into numbers. We just have to start talking about
it because what happens is you're able to start focusing
(04:27):
more on What the problem is when you
acknowledge the problem. Wow. Well,
you know, in my household, we certainly had Some conversations
about money and and I learned a couple lessons. I learned that at
Christmas time, my mom would buy us all our Christmas presents on her credit card.
Right. So so so we learn things that aren't necessarily the the
(04:50):
the right habits and the the right mindset. And and I wanna get into your
journey here in a little bit and And talk about your transition from from
being into health care to to financial coaching. And and it's so great that you're
here because we're talking to other health providers. We're talking to to dentists
today, and it's a a world you certainly understand. But but why
do you think like, once again, why is it so hard for us to have
(05:13):
Nation around these topics and around money and around
debt. What gets in the way of us talking about these things?
Because we feel like it's personal and it becomes
Nation, and that's what the Problem is when you get
into to talking about things that bring up emotions in people,
it really throws them off kilter. I've had
(05:37):
several clients say that they didn't even
know how to bring up the conversation of finances in their
household. Other
clients have been like, oh, I was
divorced and my husband handled all that, so I I just don't even know where
to begin. So our society
(05:58):
teaches us that's a taboo subject. It's kind of
like politics and church. We don't talk about those things.
Wealth, why? I don't understand. You know,
if we sit down at the dining room table and teach our kids that
this is the money that we have coming in each month and this is what
the mortgage is, Where do you want that $20 to come from
(06:22):
that you wanna go out to dinner with your friends with? Where does that come
from? They just think that it's magic Just like you did with
your mom at Christmas. You know? Yeah. And it's all
until that credit card bill comes in the mail, and then it's not
magic anymore. Yeah. I I learned later on
in life you have to pay those things off. It's crazy. Who
(06:44):
knew? But, You know, would you share with us a little bit of your
journey and your transition from working in Wealth care to to
helping people through financial coaching?
Well, again, my story is kind of emotional.
I started My journey when my husband
(07:04):
and I got married 25 years ago and we just
kept accumulating debt and accumulating debt.
Our house that we had built in Maryland was a 521 100 square
foot house. We had 3 and a half acres, so I've had the big house,
The cars, the whole thing,
and 2008 hit. So I don't know if anybody
(07:28):
remembers what happened, but market took a kind of a crash.
It kinda went oops. So
they got They did away with my husband's job, and he was in
management. So when they did away with his job,
That was an oh, crap factor of now what do we
(07:48):
do? You know, we have this big mortgage,
Car payments, the whole 9 yards. So
we decided to move to South Carolina because it was It's
cheaper. We had already bought property down here because we kinda saw
the light coming towards us and it wasn't a flashlight, it was
a Freight train.
(08:11):
So we moved to South Carolina and bought a piece of property,
Came down here when we sold our house in Maryland and paid cash for
the house. Thought we were In the
free and clear, our habits
didn't stop. We continue to build debt.
So at one point we had $290,000 worth of
(08:35):
debt, not including our house.
So fast forward
to 2014, I started writing it all down in an
Excel spreadsheet, And I said, enough.
This has gotta stop with me now.
(08:56):
And I went to the Dave Ramsey coaching, the Dave Ramsey
class, and that taught me how to budget and how to
start Not relying so much on
debt and credit cards. And eight and a
half years later, I am debt free. So, it is
possible. That's amazing, Christy.
(09:17):
Wow. Yeah.
And so I I I I noticed when you were sharing that, you you
kinda reached that moment where you said enough is enough, and and that
change has to start. How important is reaching that point
of being able to mentally say enough is enough? Is that
essential in this In this transformation, in the mindset and
(09:40):
overcoming debt?
Yes, it is essential. You have to get to that point
of be being willing to change, and then you
have to get to a point of being willing to be open to listen
To what other people have to say and just
follow. Whatever the information is,
(10:01):
just Follow their lead. You know, like with
me being a coach, I have to just tell people,
It's just that simple. Just do it and
I promise you, if you get a little bit better each day and a little
bit better each day, it'll come quickly. You'll be out of
debt before you know it. One of one
(10:24):
example always get of client my clients
that they were in healthcare as well. They
didn't even wanna look at their finances. She put it in the
closet and closed the door. And I'm like, what do
you mean? How do you how do you live and not Know what your
finances are. She's like, I just don't. I don't look at it because it was
(10:46):
a big scary monster to her. So when you
start opening that door and opening up those
feelings and those thoughts, it all became
easy. She they paid off their car 6 months
early. They put money in the bank. They're literally
selling their house right now to get out from all the debt they're in.
(11:08):
Wow.
I and and so how do you think your your background
in health care has influenced your approach to financial
coaching. Are are those related in any way?
Yes. Having empathy, compassion,
(11:30):
caring about people. If you don't Care
about people, it comes across when you're teach when you're talking
to them and when you're teaching to them because it can come up. If you
don't care about people, you can come across as you're talking down
to them, and that's not ever what I want to have happen
or to do Because when just feel just think about when
(11:52):
what you feel like when you're talked down too.
You You're like, I don't even wanna listen to this person now.
So it becomes a stopping point.
So what I found was that, And another part that I
found is that the way that I am as a person
comes across because I don't sugarcoat
(12:15):
things. I'm not gonna tell you it's, you
know, a lollipop when it's Not even a dumb dumb. You know
what I mean? I'm not gonna tell you that it's
gonna be all rainbows and unicorns when
There's thorns and bushes in the way, but I
you we've gotta get through those thorns and bushes to get to that other
(12:38):
side. Yeah. Well, I
in in Wealth and that's such a valuable lesson, and I appreciate you
bringing up That that empathy piece because I I think that's so key. And
and what you shared about, you know, finances so often being a monster to people,
and I and this big scary thing, I think a lot of us are scared
to to open up our bank statements. We we are scared. We we we may
(13:00):
like to add up our net worth, But we may not like so much to
look at our cash flow statement because those are very different things. And
sometimes that cash flow statement And that p and l can be pretty
scary, especially when it comes to debt. And and dentists,
they accumulate quite a bit of debt over their their lifetime. Right? Whether
it's the School loans they first get or it's acquiring that first
(13:22):
practice or then acquiring an office building and then maybe some
new Equipment down the road, and they've got a house, and they've got cars, and
kids, and so so that that lifestyle really starts
adding up quickly. What are some strategic debt management
plans that that you really Wealth these doctors implement, and and
how should we think about our debt that we have?
(13:46):
There's 2 ways of dealing with it.
One way is that You just build up more income to
cover the issues. But what that does is it
doesn't show you Where
the issues are. It just puts a rug over the dust, if you
think about that. The other way that you can think about
(14:08):
it is that It
you have to create a budget and I don't like using that word anymore. It
kinda has a negative connotation, so I call it a spending plan.
So when you say it's a spending plan, that's more
positive twist on it that you're able to spend this money,
but that you have constraints on it. So just
(14:31):
like I was talking with one of my clients earlier today,
she's a single woman Who goes and spends $600
a month at the grocery store. And I said,
I don't think that there's any way possible
you can eat $600 worth of groceries. I said,
let's let's start Talking about that. And what we found
(14:54):
was that it was something that was
so Nation innate in her that She didn't even realize she was
doing it because it was emotional. She was
keeping herself from thinking about When she
had nothing or when she wasn't able to fill the refrigerator
is full. But I don't want to get into
(15:17):
the Mindset
of scarcity, but I want people to understand
what they're doing And be able to do it within the confines
of a plan.
Does that make sense? Oh, that that Tim makes a lot of sense. And
and I and right within that context of a a
(15:40):
Spending plan. I I know oftentimes one of the things I I hear is, well,
I just I really wanna buy this new a piece of equipment, and I'm gonna
Finance this new piece of equipment because it's gonna help me make more money.
And so why is that a dangerous way of thinking? And is there a
better way to think about Growing our businesses because
oftentimes Wealth think about, you know, accumulating debt to invest
(16:03):
in our business, But is it really investing? Like like, what's going on in
our heads when we think that way?
Well, it just uncovers behaviors that you weren't able
to put enough money away
to capitalize on buying those new pieces of equipment.
(16:24):
So it's there's still an underlying behavior issue that
is not being addressed. So and we
also look at keeping up with the Joneses. So, yes, you
may be able to buy that new piece of
equipment because the other dentist down the street has it,
but if something were to happen to that dentist
(16:46):
tomorrow, Would he be able to cover all of his expenses
for whatever time necessary?
So like if he were to crush his hand in a door and be out
for 4 weeks, would he be able to cover expense? He or
she'd be able to cover those expenses? You have to start thinking about it
that way too. Like you need to have a
(17:09):
progression,
way of doing things, but also a substantiation
of what you're doing currently Nation understand that
You need to have a a good base
and foundation set up in your mindset,
in your behaviors, And in your processes
(17:32):
to be able to support moving
forward because I think a lot of People just continue to move and
move and move and they build their house on sand and then it
all falls down and then they wonder why. Yeah.
Wealth, right, because because that Dental load can be pretty pretty frightening. I
was talking to another doctor the other day. His Practice does
(17:54):
about $1,800,000 a year, and you would think you'd bring home some
pretty nice income from a practice like that. His take home is only
about $120,000 a year after all the expenses are
paid, primarily because there's such a massive debt load. And,
You know, and there's a plan to pay it off, but it it's creating a
lot of stress, a lot of anxiety, a lot of a lot of worry there.
(18:16):
He's like, Tim, What do I do? And,
you know, it's so because we can get ourselves in these these really rough
places, and it and it sounds like really Kinda what what we're
talking about is mindful spending and being aware of of where our
money is going. And I know for so many professionals
in high end feel in high come in in
(18:39):
in high income fields like dentistry. You know, this mindful spending
can really be a challenge. And so So how do we think about
prioritizing expenses and investments and paying off debt?
Right? How do we put these things in in the right order of Nation, so
to speak?
Again, it goes back to getting your foundation in order, so
(19:03):
make sure that you have a good Savings account set up,
make sure you have all of your debt laid out to where
it doesn't matter which way you do it, whether you do it by the the
Smallest to the largest with the amount or with
the interest. It's been proven by math that it only makes a couple
of months difference of Paying things off, but have a
(19:25):
plan to pay things off as
well as putting money in the savings account for that rainy day for
when things aren't going as planned. I don't wanna
speak negative over anyone, but There always has to be
that, umbrella over everything. And you
also wanna make sure that you're paying yourself adequately So that you
(19:48):
can start investing in your
retirement, in your investments that you wanna
uphold, Especially for the future. You know, if you start
getting investments as quickly as you can, then they start to
build and build compound Wealth, but if
you continue to let debt build up, it's gonna do the same
(20:10):
thing. It's gonna compound that interest and that
debt to make it an even bigger number, and then you're
chasing your tail around.
Interesting. So so so kinda what I almost hear you saying is just
just start. Get a plan. Even if it's not perfect, Just
get some kind of plan together and start down that road so that you
(20:32):
can you can start paying yourself what you're worth and start getting rid of
that debt. Yes,
absolutely. Without a plan, just think of it this way, Tim. If
you're going on a vacation, Do you ever just go up to the
airline counter and say give me a ticket? You
you have to give them a destination.
(20:56):
So you need to tell them, okay. I'm going
to Thailand. So then they can say, okay. From
San Francisco to Thailand is going to be $1800
here. Okay? When
you walk into it blindly and you say, Oh, I'll handle that some other
time, some other time doesn't happen and it continues to
(21:18):
snowball and make The behind the scenes,
bigger. Yeah. You have to be like the wizard of Oz and pull back
the curtain and show the man behind the curtain.
So so really kinda going back to those first things we were talking about is
just start having conversations around this and and be willing
to to talk about it.
(21:44):
Yes. Absolutely. And I see we've got to
have conversations that are
I was gonna say just to have conversations that are real With your
spouse, significant other, even if you're by
yourself, to the person in the mirror, you have to be
(22:05):
real And get real. And I wanna
talk about that here in a second. We've got some live viewers popping in. If
you've got questions for Christy, Please take advantage of this time together. Put
them down in the the chat, and we'll we'll answer those questions about spending
and retiring debt and how you can Build that life that you're really looking
for. Just put them down with love. We'd love to to answer them for you.
(22:26):
And so so, Christy, you you talk about, you know, Having
honest and real Nation. And and and, right, when we
talk about authenticity all the time, we talk about vulnerability
and transparency, but But, like, what are those conversations
start to actually look like and and sound like if you
wanna approach that or or if you realize like, Hey. I I'm I'm struggling
(22:48):
with this stuff, and I I don't know how to talk to my spouse about
it because I'm I'm hiding all my statements in the closet and throwing them away
the moment that show up. Like Like, how do you even start broaching these
topics so that you can have those real conversations?
That's a difficult one to
(23:10):
Talk about without personalizing it towards
the person that you're speaking to. Generalities
would be start laying things out yourself,
like start looking up all of your numbers.
Just get it in black and white. What do they say?
(23:32):
Without something written, you have no idea of where you are and where you've
been. Right? So just like taking that journey
to Thailand, you need to have a route in place
before you can even broach moving on.
So when I started with my Excel
(23:52):
spreadsheet and looking at how much debt we were in, It
was mind blowing to me that we had
let it get this far out of control without having those conversations
of It's Friday. It's payday. Why are we
broke again? It's Friday. My payroll's due.
Now what do I do?
(24:16):
Just starting the conversation with reality and writing
things down or Putting it in a spreadsheet or
whatever you have to do to get it out
in the universe. Alright. No. I I think that's so
powerful. Right? Just start with a a an honest assessment of of where
you are. Just lay it out in in black and white, and And that
(24:40):
actually kinda leads me to my my my next question is, you know, many
times people are working with financial advisors or wealth managers. Right? I'm a
wealth manager for Thrive dental entrepreneurs, but there there's something
different about financial coaching. And so so in in your
view, how does financial coaching differ from That traditional
financial advice that that many entrepreneurs are are getting from their
(25:03):
advisers. Well,
1st off, I'm not certified
in giving financial
Investment Thrive. So let me be clear about that.
So when it comes to your spending plan, your
expenses, Is your debt Nation?
(25:27):
Anything like that, I can talk to you about. What I find
is more helpful is that people feel like That I'm more
approachable than a financial adviser because they
think that our financial adviser is gonna do nothing but take their money and
run, And that's not always the case.
Just like everybody, everybody has to make money,
(25:49):
but A financial advisor has to go to school
and learn different techniques on how
to set up your investments and things like that. I
am here to be the reality for
the the mirror of reality. Let's put it that way. I'm here
to shine the light on what you need help with
(26:12):
to get you started on the path Of
getting to an investment place, to a
financial advisor. Those people
Don't really deal with, people that are day to day people.
They deal with things that are more long,
long term. And what I mean by that is you don't give
(26:34):
your money to a financial adviser and then on Friday, take it
back out. You don't give your money to a
financial advisor and then tell them, oh, no. I need that
back. Sorry. It doesn't work that way. But with a
financial coach, you are able to deal
with your household with me. So we sit and
(26:56):
we talk about what you want your household to look
like, what you guys have talked about, What you want your
spending plan to be, where you want your investments to go in the
future. I feel like I'm the more,
If you wanna give it an analogy, I'm the jeans and t shirt kinda person
and a financial advisor is a person in the suit and
(27:19):
tie Do I send you to
when you're ready? Interesting. Well, I and I love
that Distinction you just made too. Right? A lot of the the
financial coaching is kind of the the day to day operations.
It's what's going in and out of your bank account. Like, Right. What happens on
a on a on a daily and weekly and monthly and and
(27:41):
yearly basis, whereas, you know, a lot of the the financial
advice and the wealth management, those are long term strategies
to to get you to where you wanna go, but you you need that foundation
That you really help people build. Right? You you gotta manage that cash flow
properly, because it's one thing to to meet with
a Wealth manager and for them to say, hey. You know, we can do all
(28:03):
this stuff. You just have to invest this amount per month. You may have no
idea how to find that amount per month. Whereas, You really are able to step
in there and say, hey. Let's let's take that that that picture of where you
are right now financially, right, With the cash flow, let's let's
work on those things. So I love that distinction.
And once again, I see some some people logging in. If you've got questions,
(28:25):
just Post them down below, and we'll get we'll get Christy to to jump on
those and and answer them live for you. So coming back to
just, you know, the the impact that that finances can have. And
so what are some of the the things that, you know, happen to
us when our finances aren't in good order?
(28:46):
Well, just day to day can be
sleepless nights and causing emotional strain
To causing pregnancy issues,
you know, because you're so stressed out That you could be
not able to conceive if you wanna conceive.
(29:08):
It can be causing Such things as
divorce. It's the number 1 it's one of the top 10
leading causes of divorce is finances.
Those are the things that it can lead to, and I'm
here to Be the detour in the road
(29:30):
to see if we can work something out, to get you
off of those Sleep medicines because you can't
sleep, to be able to get your mind to kinda
relax And take it down a notch. When you
especially when you look at the credit card statement and you've got
an overwhelming balance and you don't even know how
(29:54):
It's gonna get paid or or why you even wanna pay it. Let's talk about
that. Why?
Wow. Wow. Very, very powerful. And so so so let's
say we've reached that point, like like you've reached. Right? You the where you reach
that point, you you were looking down at your Excel spreadsheet, and you said enough
(30:17):
is enough. Let's say we've decided. We've We've had enough, and we're
ready to start creating that that culture of financial health
in our families, in our in our lives, in our dental practices.
How can dental entrepreneurs really start fostering that that
culture of financial health and mindfulness in their families,
with their staff, with the The people they care about. How do we start
(30:39):
doing this?
That's been on my mind for a while. What I
was What I'm starting to do is branch out to
do workshops for doctors and
dentists and things like that Because I feel like if you
just get the conversation started, then
(31:02):
you're able to work with People
want a different level. If you say, look, money and
finances is not a taboo subject, it's not
a scary subject and you get them to working on just
something as simple as a spending plan. It
starts open those doors to, well,
(31:24):
what else can we work on? Now we can
work on looking at our debt. Oh, okay.
Wow. Wait a minute. Now we can start looking
at, once our Dentist gone, getting rid of the mortgage,
Whether that's in your practice or in your home, you know, you
(31:46):
you have to have those Those things taken
care of and talking with your
staff members, talking with your children,
Talking with anybody who will listen,
especially people that are younger in the younger generation,
(32:06):
Excuse me. They have no idea of what is going
on in finances. And
Take right now, for example, season. People
have no idea even where to start with taxes.
And I guarantee you a lot of people miss out on some tax
(32:27):
benefits because they don't know. And
especially, like I said, with kids getting into this environment, they just
go and hire a CPA When it may just
be all they need is TurboTax. I don't know.
You know?
Yeah. No. Very, very interesting. Great great point. I I love that you start
(32:50):
touching on, right, One of the ways that that we can build a
a a healthy culture of financial health is actually
just focusing on the the education piece. Right? Just Educating
ourselves. Right? Acquiring knowledge. That's one of the reasons I run this
show. That's why we share these strategies and tactics with you is we
wanna create that that financial Financial ed I but
(33:12):
what often, you know, one of the struggles we we see in financial education,
especially among Dentist, is Tim a lot of dentists I talk to, they say,
Tim, I'm I'm not that good with numbers, but then I I push in a
little. I'm like, actually, you're really good as long as those numbers are 1 to
32, which is the Number of teeth in a human mouth. They've they've got those
numbers nailed. 33, 34, 35, all that's a
(33:34):
little fuzzy. And so So I what's your strategy
for approaching financial education for people who don't
have a financial background to To really help them and make form
decisions in their personal and financial life, how do you start bridging that
gap?
(33:55):
Like I said before, just mainly getting them to look at their
expenses in a real time
Atmosphere. So like one of the exercises
that I have most of my clients do, and I think you'll remember this,
is Collecting your receipts for 30 days. Mhmm.
Yep. And you don't think that that's a big deal,
(34:18):
but right now, we have, You know, phones that are
do everything for us, including make payments on
things that we don't feel anymore.
So what I mean by that is, it's become a big thing
on online as well that
(34:39):
You have lost that tactile sense of cash.
So when you have cash in your hand And you go to Starbucks,
you have a $100 bill in your hand. You go into Starbucks. Are you breaking
that $100 bill for a $5 coffee? I'm
gonna scan this Tim.
Exactly. Exactly. And that's what I
(35:01):
mean. Even if you go to the gas
station, most people hit no receipt
Or they can't even get a receipt out of the pump anymore,
you know? So I want you to feel
what That transaction feels like, and I want you to go into the
gas station and get the receipt, and I want you to put it in an
(35:24):
envelope for 30 days. And I'm not trying to punish
you by doing that. I'm trying to show you
that it's a transaction And all money
is in this life is energy and it
moves back and forth. You know, you in a
dentist practice, would you ever consider doing
(35:46):
dental work for free forever? Most
People, the answer is no, right? You have to have that flow of
income coming back in. So
That's what I'm saying. We've lost somehow, we've lost that
touch of putting
that $100 bill on the counter I'm paying for that $5 coffee.
(36:11):
You know, and and that Then reciprocates
behind the scenes, you know, then that store owner is able to take the money
and do what he needs to do, or the dentist is able to take that
money and do what He or she needs to do. So
if you make it more tactile, I think that that's
one good strategy that people can use And
(36:33):
if all else fails, go back to nothing but cash.
If you feel like you can't control the credit card or the
Apple Watch Or the phone, go back to all
cash. You know, take what you're gonna pay
yourself, you know, whether that's 4, 5,
$6 a month, whatever that is, and take it out of the bank every month.
(36:56):
They might look at you like you got sick but you've
gotta do what you gotta do to get that in
your mind that I'm on I'm on a mission.
I have a goal. You know, a lot of
people waste a lot of McNeely, I shouldn't say waste,
a lot of people use their
(37:19):
money by like going out to eat and
by Buying
dinner for everyone at the table, but you have to realize that that's taking
money out of your personal Spending plan and
using it for other people and that
Tim be okay. You may have a budget for that, but you may not.
(37:42):
And if you don't get that under control, that can get out of
control very quickly and when you use that credit card, You
don't even feel it. You take that receipt home and you throw it in the
trash. You know, that's 4 or $500. Go
on. Easy. And that that, you
know, that might even be a mid level restaurant. That's not even a high level
(38:03):
restaurant. Yeah. Yeah. These days, that's, you know, your
average place with a couple people for dinner.
Wow. Exactly. And I'm not saying that you need
I'm sorry. I'm just I'm not saying that you
need to have that scarcity mindset, but I'm saying you
(38:24):
need to be aware of what you're doing And what
your goal is. Yeah. I I
I love that you've referred to it as a spending plan and and not a
budget because it gives you Nation to actually spend the money that that that
you make, and Nation and we do. We we live in abundance, and that's how
we wanna operate, but we also have to realize that, You know, some
(38:46):
resources we do have limited amounts of, so let's let's spend them wisely.
Let's be mindful of it. And and I love what you're just sharing too
about making this a experience. Right? Just really
parting with that money because they've made it so easy for us to spend, and
and that's it hasn't been an accident, and that's done on purpose to To get
us to part with our money. So the the other thing I wanna talk about
(39:08):
before we wrap up, and this has just been so good, is I wanna talk
a little bit about the role of accountability in achieving
financial goals. How important do you see accountability being
in the financial coaching process?
Oh, let me tell you 100%, it's about accountability.
(39:28):
When people don't have accountability, Just like going to the Tim,
you can pay for that gym membership all day long. It don't matter, but
until you get a personal trainer or a
gym buddy that you go with that says,
Tim. We're gonna meet at the gym at 6:30.
Be there. Be square. You don't have a goal.
(39:51):
You don't move forward. So
that's part of what I do and what I teach is
accountability, so that's the way that my program runs
is that you not only get Zoom calls with me, You get an
accountability partner and you get that touch that
you need more than once a month or once
(40:14):
every 3 months. So it's definitely
part of the whole process is
being accountable, not only to yourself,
but to future generations. You know, the
I have a son and he's 33 now, But
I really had to have a moment with
(40:37):
myself and
Realize what I had done. I had taught
him all these horrible habits of
how to deal with money And
he is in he was
(40:57):
in the spending habit of Buying big boy
toys and he wasn't making the big boy money and
it's like as a mother, that was extremely
hard and I had to sit him down and say,
look, I did this. I take full responsibility,
But we're ending this now. You need to get out of debt, and you need
(41:20):
to do it now while you're going.
Wow. Wow. That takes a lot of courage to to do that,
and I I just I I applaud you for doing that. What what a great
way to lead your family. And Because I I think that's another mistake
people often make is is they don't own up to the mistakes they've made
because of of fear and shame. And and and like we started off This
(41:42):
episode's talking about, right, you just gotta be honest about these things.
You gotta just lay it all out there. And I think when you do that,
you you you Find that forgiveness, you you find accountability, and you
find a way to move forward and not continue those mistakes so that you
can build generational wealth and you can make an impact That's gonna last
for generations.
(42:07):
And I I I think I I love it. That was very
heartwarming because
No. I was just gonna say with my son, he was able to help 2
of his buddies at work, Start looking at their finances and dealing
with their debt.
(42:28):
Wow. Wow. Right? See, talk about impact.
Right? One small change that that you made with your son is already having a
ripple effect And going out there and impacting his circle of friends,
and and hopefully, it'll spread on from there. And so right what a great way
to to give back, especially when it comes to to finances.
And and the other thing is you've been married just a couple years Nation, and,
(42:51):
you know what? I think is it 25 years?
Mhmm. Right? That's amazing. And and so,
right, you and your husband, I'm sure, have certainly had those money
Nation. And And and what's some advice that you would offer the those
dental couples who are listening on on managing their finances
together, Especially when when 1 or both partners are involved
(43:14):
in a high stress profession.
Just like Nike says, just do it. I mean,
It's something that you have to get over
that hurdle. It can cause some
(43:37):
Uncomfortable conversations. I'm not gonna lie.
You know, when you were hiding all those credit card receipts
and those Packages underneath of the bed because you didn't want
him to see them. That all has to come out to the light
to understand where all that money Dental. And the
other issue is, is that if anything were to happen to you or
(43:59):
your spouse, you don't want somebody else to have to come in and clean
up your mess. Plain and
simple. Wow. No. That's that's such a good point.
Right? And I love it. Just do it. Right? Just get started.
Right. And and so if someone wants to get started, how can we find you?
How can we get in touch with you, Christie?
(44:23):
Inspiritfinancialcoach.com,
I have a booking page there. You can book a free 45
minute call with me to see how I can Wealth,
so if you Go ahead and just
book a link book a call with me on that link. We can sit down
(44:43):
and talk about it, and I really would prefer if you guys, If you're
a couple, to have both people there so that we can make an educated
decision together. Mhmm. No. I I love that. And that's how
you and I Started working together is is my wife and I reached out because
we realized we were in over our heads. Right? We we could do it ourselves,
but we weren't. Right? We wanted that Accountability. We want we
(45:05):
wanted to take the journey with someone else because we're pretty
good at lying to ourselves. And, you're right. Having
you as our coach, the one who's helped us, we're already seeing
tremendous progress in in our lives, and And we're getting back on track again,
and it feels so good. And I've loved the accountability calls. I've
Thrive loved the insights we've gotten from you. And so I I just wanna thank
(45:27):
you so much for the The work you've done for Dana and I because it's
made an impact, and it's and that's why I asked you on the show was
to share what you're doing because I've personally seen The impact that it's
been making. Thank you.
That's amazing. Yes. And I love the senior journey as
well. It's just it's heartwarming to see when that
(45:48):
actually happens and it comes to fruition. Well well, thank
you again for for sharing so generously with us. And so Before we
sign off, any closing thoughts? I've put your website down below.
If you wanna connect with Christie, and I highly recommend it, you can just click
below. But any closing thoughts before we sign off here?
(46:10):
Just that it is possible that Being debt
free releases that burden off of your
shoulders that you didn't even know was there.
It creates the ability for you
to invest in yourself and in others,
(46:30):
And to give generously when
it's time. Wow.
I I absolutely love that so much, and and I know I
certainly feel even more confident that I can live that
debt free lifestyle. You've given me even more tools to
communicate better with my wife, to talk about it, and and once again, you've
(46:52):
just encouraged me and all our listeners to know that that becoming debt
Free is possible. And so, right, if you're a doctor and you're struggling with
that, I highly encourage you to reach out and get a plan. It's
one of the best things you can do, and And you'll make an impact for
generations to come. So, Christy, thank you again for being an amazing guest.
Thank you so much, Tim, for having me. And we'll see you again
(47:15):
here soon on the Dental Wealth Nation show. You've
been listening to Dental Wealth Nation. We hope you've gotten some
useful and practical information from the show. Join us next
time as we pull back the curtain to reveal the often
hidden advice and strategies used by today's most
successful individuals and families and help maximize your
(47:37):
net worth so you can take even better Take care of the people you
love. Till next time. Make sure to hit the website at
Wealth Nation.
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