What does it actually look like to grow a dental practice, write a book, raise a family, and still show up for your spouse every week?

In this episode of Smiles and Cents, Ian McGinnis sits down with Dr. Joseph Houlik - dentist, practice owner, and author of The Wealthy Dentist - for one of the most honest and personal conversations on the show.

From high school sweethearts whose father-in-law happened to be his childhood dentist, to four boys and a baby on the way, to a two-year book writing journey nobody warned him about — Dr. Houlik gets completely real about what building a dental career costs on the personal side, and how he protects what matters most while still keeping his foot on the pedal.

What You'll Learn:
→ What it really looks like to balance practice growth, content, and family life
→ Why fitness is always the first thing to go — and how to fight back
→ The weekly date night rule every busy professional should steal
→ Why simple goals always outperform complex planning systems
→ What The Wealthy Dentist covers: from associate vs ownership to practice valuation to legacy planning
→ Why being the "best kept secret" in your market is a business emergency
→ How Ian built Smiles and Cents from a home office to a regionally endorsed firm
→ Why hiring your spouse as your assistant is probably a terrible idea
→ How to use a book as the anchor for all your long-form marketing content
→ Should dentists pay off debt or invest in a practice first? The honest answer

About Dr. Joseph Houlik:
Dr. Joseph Houlik is a dentist, practice owner, and author of The Wealthy Dentist — a career-spanning financial guide covering everything from associate vs ownership decisions, to practice valuation, marketing, financial strategy, and legacy planning. He is a high school sweetheart husband, father of four boys, and has been growing his practice while writing, speaking, and building a dental sleep medicine clinic.

About Smiles and Cents:
Smiles and Cents is a fee-only, non-commissioned financial planning podcast built specifically for dentists. Hosted by Ian McGinnis, the show explores what it means to build a life worth living — not just a practice worth owning.

💬 What was the last personal goal you set that had nothing to do with your career or your practice? Drop it below. Dr. Houlik is pitching his wife on a month-long national park road trip in an RV with four boys. What is yours?

CONNECT WITH DR. JOSEPH HOULIK
Website: https://houlikfamilydentistry.com/
Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/drhoulik/

CONNECT WITH SMILES AND CENTS
Host: Ian McGinnis, Website: https://dentistfinancialplanning.com/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ianvmcginnis/

#EntrepreneurMindset #BusinessScaling #PracticeManagement #FinancialStrategy #LeadershipDevelopment #AgencyGrowth #BusinessConsulting #StrategicGrowth #CEOInsights #EntrepreneurLife

Schedule a free consultation with a dentist-specific financial planner.

Get an objective financial assessment and see how your current strategy stacks up when it comes to debt management, practice growth, investing, and tax planning.

Most dental practices have a vision document nobody reads, core values nobody lives, and a team that doesn't know what winning looks like.

Tyson Lee — former Mississippi State quarterback, Rams organisation alumni, school principal, and now Director of Leadership at Bates Orthodontics — joins Ian McGinnis on Smiles and Cents to share the five questions every dental practice must answer to build a team that performs, a culture that holds, and a leader who is not doing everything alone.

This is not theory. This is a playbook built from the football field, the principal's office, and the orthodontic chair.

Topics covered in this episode:

• Are great leaders born or built?
• Why leadership is only as real as the followers behind it
• The 5 questions: Who are you, where are you, where are you going, how will you get there, and who will help you?
• How to build an input-based scoreboard for your dental team
• The difference between character and competence in team evaluation
• Why most dentists never give their team clarity — and the cost of that
• The 75% rule: how to know when to stop doing everything yourself
• How Bates Orthodontics operationalised core values into daily behaviours

If you are a dental practice owner who feels like the leader but doesn't feel like the team is following — this episode is for you.

CONNECT WITH DR. Tyson Lee
Website: theinterdependentleader.com
about tyson lee: @TysonPLee

CONNECT WITH SMILES AND CENTS
Host: Ian McGinnis, Website: https://dentistfinancialplanning.com/ Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/ianvmcginnis/

#dentalleadership #dentalpractice #dentist #teambuilding #smilesandcents #tysonlee #ianmcginnis #dentaloffice #businessleadership #corevalues #dentalentrepreneur #podcastclip #clarity #leadershipdevelopment #quarterbackleadership

Schedule a free consultation with a dentist-specific financial planner.

Get an objective financial assessment and see how your current strategy stacks up when it comes to debt management, practice growth, investing, and tax planning.

Most dentists know they should be investing. Almost none of them know the right order to do it in.

In this episode of Smiles and Cents, Ian McGinnis and Dr. Richard Low lay out the exact sequence every dentist should follow to build real financial freedom — starting with liquidity, moving into Roth accounts, and understanding why compound interest means the best time to start was yesterday.

Dr. Richard Low admits openly at 39 he still feels behind. That honesty drives one of the most practical and accessible financial conversations built specifically for dentists.

Topics covered in this episode:

• The three investment buckets: taxable brokerage, traditional, and Roth
• Why liquidity always comes before tax-advantaged accounts
• The exact order of operations for dentist wealth building
• Why starting with $50 a month beats waiting to invest big
• How the backdoor Roth IRA works step by step
• The compound interest math: starting at 35 vs 50
• Why dentists need $5M to $10M at retirement depending on lifestyle
• The pledge asset line of credit and how to stay invested while accessing cash

If you are a dentist who has been putting off investing until the "right time" — this episode is the push you need.

Connect with Dr.Richard :
Insta: @dr.richard.low
FB Group: Next Level Dentist — Rising Beyond Burnout

Connect with Smile and Cents:
Host: Ian McGinnis, Website: Dental Wealth Partners
Insta: @ianvmcginnis

#dentistfinance #smilesandcents #drrichardlow #ianmcginnis #compoundinterest #investing #backdoorroth #dentistmoney #financialplanning #wealthbuilding #personalfinance #retirementplanning #dentistlife #moneytips #401k #liquidity #highyieldsavings #podcastclip #startinvesting

Schedule a free consultation with a dentist-specific financial planner.

Get an objective financial assessment and see how your current strategy stacks up when it comes to debt management, practice growth, investing, and tax planning.

Dr. Richard Low admits it upfront: most dentists never talk about Roth versus traditional accounts. Not once. Not at dental investment group meetings, not with their financial advisor, not even with each other.
In this episode of Smiles and Cents, Ian McGinnis breaks down exactly why that silence is costing dentists real money — and walks through the simple framework that makes the Roth versus traditional decision almost a non-issue for most high earners.
This is the episode that explains marginal tax brackets in a way that finally makes sense, reveals why today's tax rates are historically low, and shows why "FU money" might be the most underrated retirement goal in dentistry.
What You'll Learn:
→ Why almost no dentist ever discusses Roth vs traditional with their peers
→ The marginal tax bracket misconception that confused even Dr. Low for years
→ Why today's 37% top tax rate is historically low compared to the 1950s
→ The simple rule of thumb: fund your Roth and stop overthinking it
→ How to stack a Roth 401k, Roth IRA, and profit sharing to hit $70,000 in contributions
→ Why a $10 million Roth account is untouchable — and why that matters
→ The real psychology behind tax-free "FU money"
→ Why spending money in your 30s and 40s often matters more than saving it for your 70s

About Dr. Richard Low:
Dr. Richard Low is a 2016 dental graduate, Army veteran, and founder of the Shared Practice podcast with over 3.25 million lifetime downloads. He is also the founder of Next Level Fathers, a transformation program helping dentists rebuild their health, marriages, and purpose.

About Smiles and Cents:
Smiles and Cents is a fee-only, non-commissioned financial planning podcast built specifically for dentists. Hosted by Ian McGinnis, the show explores what it means to build real financial freedom — not just a bigger practice.

💬 Be honest — have you ever actually talked to another dentist about Roth vs traditional? Drop a yes or no below. We want to know if Richard's experience is universal.

Connect with Dr.Richard :
Insta: @dr.richard.low
FB Group: Next Level Dentist — Rising Beyond Burnout

Connect with Smile and Cents:
Host: Ian McGinnis, Website: Dental Wealth Partners
Insta: @ianvmcginnis

#rothira #dentistfinance #smilesandcents #drrichardlow #ianmcginnis #financialplanning #retirementplanning #rothvstraditional #dentistmoney #fumoney #taxfreeretirement #dentalpodcast #personalfinance #wealthbuilding #moneytips #dentistlife #financialfreedom #401k #taxplanning

Schedule a free consultation with a dentist-specific financial planner.

Get an objective financial assessment and see how your current strategy stacks up when it comes to debt management, practice growth, investing, and tax planning.

Jeff Hand joined Life Dental in 2019 when they had three practices. Today they have fifteen, over 210 team members, 29 dentists, and nearly three million dollars a month in collections across Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. And they did it by refusing to act like a corporation.

In this episode of Smiles and Cents, Jeff Hand breaks down the Life Dental playbook how they recruit high achievers, how they scale culture across multiple locations, and why they share their financials with every single team member down to the front desk. He also gets honest about the biggest early challenge: getting clinical and financial teams to actually understand and respect each other.

If you are a dentist thinking about growth, a non-dentist leader inside a dental group, or just someone trying to understand what it really takes to build something that lasts this conversation is essential listening.

Follow the show so you never miss an episode.

Schedule a free consultation with a dentist-specific financial planner.

Get an objective financial assessment and see how your current strategy stacks up when it comes to debt management, practice growth, investing, and tax planning.

@dr.richard.low owned parts of 54 dental offices, hosted one of the most downloaded dental podcasts in history, and still found himself Googling "what is it called when nothing sounds appealing." The answer was anhedonia. The deeper answer was burnout.

In Part 2 of this Smiles and Cents conversation, @dr.richard.low picks up from rock bottom and walks through exactly how he climbed out losing 50 pounds, saving his marriage, stepping down as CEO, and launching Next Level Fathers: a men's transformation group that has helped over 50 dentists lose a combined 700 pounds and rebuild their lives from the inside out.

This is not a success story. It is an honest one.

Topics covered in this episode:

Burnout and mental breakdown in dental practice ownership

What anhedonia is and why high earners experience it silently

The deferred happiness trap: why the next milestone never delivers

How perspective and community break the feeling of being trapped

Next Level Fathers: what it is and how to join

Why confronting hard decisions is the only path forward

The role of faith, marriage, and identity in recovery

If you are a dentist who looks successful on paper but feels empty inside this episode is for you.

CONNECT WITH DR. RICHARD LOW

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.richard.low/

@dr.richard.low

Facebook Group: Next Level Dentist — Rising Beyond Burnout

CONNECT WITH SMILES AND CENTS

Host: Ian McGinnis, Website:

https://dentistfinancialplanning.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ianvmcginnis/

@ianvmcginnis

Schedule a free consultation with a dentist-specific financial planner.

Get an objective financial assessment and see how your current strategy stacks up when it comes to debt management, practice growth, investing, and tax planning.

Dr. Richard Low · Dentist, Podcaster & Founder of Next Level Fathers Prepared for Smiles and Cents Podcast

Dr. Richard Low owned 54 dental offices, hosted a podcast with over 3 million downloads, and still found himself Googling "what is it called when nothing sounds appealing anymore." The answer was anhedonia. The deeper answer was burnout.

In this episode of Smiles and Cents, Dr. Low unpacks what it really means to chase success in dentistry and what happens when you reach it and still feel empty. He talks candidly about his mental breakdown as CEO of a growing DSO, losing 50 pounds, saving his marriage, and building Next Level Fathers: a transformation group helping dentists rebuild their health, identity, and purpose from the inside out.

This is Part 1 of a two-episode conversation. If money, success, and happiness are not lining up the way you expected this episode is for you.

Follow the show so you never miss an episode.

CONNECT WITH DR. RICHARD LOW:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dr.richard.low/ , Facebook Group: Next Level Dentist — Rising Beyond Burnout, Podcast: Next Level Dentist (coming soon) Shared Practice Podcast: (search on all platforms)

CONNECT WITH SMILES AND CENTS

Host: Ian McGinnis,
Website: https://dentistfinancialplanning.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ianvmcginnis/

Schedule a free consultation with a dentist-specific financial planner.

Get an objective financial assessment and see how your current strategy stacks up when it comes to debt management, practice growth, investing, and tax planning.