Reader,

This weekend, I stepped away from the clinic and the golf course to attend the Clinic Boss Summit in Toronto on Friday and Saturday. Yesterday, Katie joined me as the designated unpaid social media rep, and the energy in the room was phenomenal.

Over the two days, we reconnected with familiar faces and met plenty of new ones, both online and in person. We had a great meetup with the team from Jane who sponsored the event, and I had the opportunity to make some fantastic new contacts with clinic owners from Vancouver all the way out to Cape Breton.

A massive shout-out to Yash, Karim, Anthony, and Justin (readers of the newsletter) who introduced themselves to me! I am incredibly grateful to the Clinic Boss Summit and the Clinic Accelerator community for having me there.

Now, the travel schedule pivots.

Starting tomorrow through Friday, I will be out at the Wellness Creator Retreat, before flying straight to Atlanta on Friday night for Jane's Unwind event at Pelvicon. I will be flying back home on Saturday morning and hoping to arrive to celebrate closing day at the golf club.

There will be absolutely no golf played over the next 6 days, but I am locked in on expanding the knowledge of personal finance among the healthcare professionals I'll be meeting.

The Burnout Math: Why Compensation Alone Fails

While talking with clinic owners this weekend, a common pain point kept coming up: How do we properly adjust compensation for our clinicians? Some have unreal expectations and I'm not sure how to offer them more without them providing more?

Clinicians inevitably want to make more money based on the years they've worked or the hours they put in. But traditionally, there are only three ways a clinician can earn a higher paycheck:

1. Charge more per hour (patient fees).
2. See more people per hour (volume).
3. Work more hours in a week (time).

All three of these variables are strictly finite.

There is a ceiling on what a patient will pay, and there is a physical ceiling on how many hours you can work before your body and mind break down.

Relying purely on this model to increase income is a guaranteed recipe for clinical burnout.

Making More by Keeping More

What almost no one discusses is the other side of the equation: making more by keeping more.

Most of the time, when a clinician approaches an owner for a raise, it isn't necessarily about recognizing their clinical value; it is triggered by a sudden financial pain point. Maybe their dog needed an unexpected $3,000 emergency vet procedure, or their rent just spiked. Because many healthcare professionals lack basic budgeting skills and behavioural finance education, their only solution to a cash flow problem is to try and grind out more clinical income.

If clinic owners want to retain top talent, they need to educate their teams on dual incentives so both parties work in alignment. Clinicians need to learn how money actually works, how reducing their personal spend puts direct cash in their pocket, and how to build alternative revenue streams that pay cash flow to offset their clinical income.

If they don't learn how to manage their money outside the clinic, they will inevitably burn out chasing the next dollar, or they will leave to start their own competing practice just to secure a slightly higher split. But inevitably, they'll face the same challenges with their staff...

The Millionaire Benchmark is Shifting

This ties directly into two articles published this week by Yahoo Finance on the reality of modern wealth.

The first piece highlights what it takes to join America's top 1%, noting that the net worth and income thresholds continue to aggressively accelerate. The second piece, however, is much more relevant to our daily lives: Why being a millionaire isn't enough to retire comfortably anymore.

Between sticky inflation, skyrocketing housing costs, and the silent wealth-killer of lifestyle creep, hitting a $1,000,000 net worth simply doesn't stretch as far as it used to. The cost of higher education, healthcare, and metropolitan real estate can quickly diminish the impact of a seven-figure portfolio.

If you get a raise at the clinic but immediately upgrade your car, take on a higher mortgage, and inflate your lifestyle, you haven't actually built wealth, you've just increased your overhead. The clinicians who ultimately reach financial sovereignty are the ones who combine a high clinical income with strict lifestyle control. They keep enough of what they earn and aggressively direct their surplus into assets that compound in the background.

As you head into the clinic this week, take a hard look at your own cash flow.

Are you constantly chasing a higher hourly rate just to cover your expanding lifestyle, or are you actively keeping the money you make?

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.

Time for me to pack for the Pacific Northwest.

​@financiallyfulfilledpro and Certified Financial Counsellor CFC™

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