Episode Overview
Podcast: Private Practice Startup Podcast
Episode: 106 – Wealth Formula
Hosts: Dr. Kate Campbell & Katie Lemieux
Guest: Dr. Buck Joffrey
Release Date: October 6, 2018
Main Theme:
This episode features Dr. Buck Joffrey, a surgeon turned entrepreneur and wealth educator, who shares his journey from medicine to financial freedom. The discussion centers on transforming professional skills into wealth-building opportunities, tackling conventional financial wisdom, and introducing key principles to create long-term financial security—especially for therapists and private practice owners.
Key Discussion Points & Insights
1. Dr. Buck Joffrey’s Journey: From Surgeon to Wealth Mentor
- Buck describes his “circuitous” path: focusing on academic achievement, initially training as a neurosurgeon, then shifting to plastic surgery, before embarking on entrepreneurship after a life-changing encounter with Robert Kiyosaki’s book Cash Flow Quadrant.
- Quote: “Throughout this entire academic journey… it had never occurred to me that I could be an entrepreneur. Never. That was not even part of my reality.” – Buck Joffrey [07:03]
- Reading Cash Flow Quadrant sparked a paradigm shift, inspiring him to build businesses with the intent to eventually become less involved and reinvest into other ventures.
2. The Limiting Mindset of Professionals
- Discussion about how education trains people to follow structured paths, making it harder for high-achieving students to see themselves as entrepreneurs.
- Quote: “The more successful you are, the more difficult it is to become an entrepreneur.” – Buck Joffrey [10:48]
- Parallels between therapists’ conditioning (“You can’t make money in therapy,” “You should work in community mental health”) and Buck’s own initial mindset.
3. Deconstructing “The Wealth Formula”
- Three key components:
- Investment: Allocating funds into ventures that generate returns.
- Velocity of Money: How quickly returns are reinvested to continue generating income.
- Smart Leverage: Using borrowed resources wisely to amplify results.
- Critique of following conventional financial advice (stocks, bonds, mutual funds)—Buck likens it to following outdated food pyramids driven by special interests.
- Memorable Analogy: “If you look at the food pyramid, that’s a perfect food. The problem is that that food pyramid was created... by the sugar industry.” – Buck Joffrey [14:49]
- Draws a parallel between misinformed health guidelines and financial advice guided by Wall Street’s interests.
4. Actionable Strategies for Private Practice Owners
- Entrepreneurship first: Focus on increasing revenue streams, especially leveraging skills beyond direct therapy (e.g., coaching, online products).
- Quote: “You have a lot of skills...that are highly marketable in more ways than just therapy.” – Buck Joffrey [19:19]
- Pay yourself first: Essential to separate personal profit and investments from business growth funds.
- Hosts reference using the Profit First method and recommend the Profit First book and related podcast episode [21:16].
- Resist lifestyle inflation: Avoid automatically increasing expenses as income rises; set aside investment funds.
- “The more you feed [your business], the more it’ll eat. And it’s like a teenage boy.” – Buck Joffrey [20:33]
5. The Harsh Reality of Conventional Investments & Retirement
- Buck describes doctors making high incomes but having little net worth due to following traditional savings vehicles that yield poor returns (average 1% after inflation).
- Quote: “You look at the last three decades… mutual funds... have been growing at an average of about 3, 3.5%. You take that and… about 2% inflation… it’s growing at about 1%. And 1% means you double your money every 72 years. That’s not enough.” – Buck Joffrey [26:09]
- Urges listeners to avoid complacency—relying solely on 401(k)s and IRAs isn’t enough for real financial freedom.
6. Wealth Building as an Ongoing Education
- Start as early as possible, but recognize that it’s never too late to change financial habits.
- Quote: “No one else is out there. No one else has your back. That’s a misconception.” – Buck Joffrey [30:27]
- Hosts stress the need to educate oneself about personal finance and investment, referencing books like Rich Dad, Poor Dad and Cash Flow Quadrant.
Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments
- On Mindset: “The irony is, and I see this all the time now...the more successful you are in academics...the more difficult it is to actually see that there’s a world outside of it, which is entrepreneurship.” – Buck Joffrey [10:48]
- On Conventional Wisdom: “Conventional wisdom can be dangerous to your financial health. And that conventional wisdom can also be dictated by special interests.” – Buck Joffrey [15:54]
- On Urgency: “If nothing else, hopefully it’s opened up people’s eyes... Now is the time to start thinking about those things. Don’t ignore them because no one else is going to.” – Buck Joffrey [29:57]
Timestamps for Key Segments
- 03:14 – Dr. Buck Joffrey joins and introduces his background
- 06:45 – The personal “aha” moment with Cash Flow Quadrant
- 09:33 – Importance of shifting mindset for professionals
- 11:54 – Dr. Joffrey explains his wealth formula components
- 14:13 – Analogy between the food pyramid and conventional investment advice
- 18:38 – Strategies for those just starting private practice: where to focus, how to build investment capacity
- 21:16 – Discussion of Profit First and importance of paying yourself first
- 25:02 – Avoiding lifestyle inflation and the pitfalls of only following traditional retirement plans
- 26:09 – The math behind poor long-term portfolio returns
- 28:31 – Final takeaways: personal responsibility for financial future
- 30:34 – Resources: Buck’s book and Robert Kiyosaki’s works recommended
Resources & Recommendations
- Books:
- Cash Flow Quadrant & Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
- Profit First by Mike Michalowicz (recommended by hosts)
- Seven Secrets of Eternal Wealth (Buck Joffrey; free at wealthformula.com)
- Podcast Episodes:
- “Profit First” (link in show notes)
- Hosts’ Final Thoughts:
Listeners are encouraged to seek financial education, start investing early, and not settle for conventional financial guidance. Buck's free book and Kiyosaki's resources are excellent starting points.
Conclusion
This episode blends personal experience, business strategy, and a call for self-education. Dr. Buck Joffrey and the hosts challenge therapists and private practice professionals to rethink their financial futures—move past limiting beliefs, take control of wealth-building, and leverage resources for both present and future security.
For further discussion: Join the Private Practice Startup Facebook group and check show notes for all recommended resources.