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Chiropractic business as usual does not get most chiropractors financially independent. That’s not an opinion. It’s just the reality of how most chiropractors approach their practice and finances.
In today’s MCP essay I want to share snippets from a recently published article by one of my personal mentors – self-made multi-millionaire, author and consultant – Michael Masterson, author of the best-selling book Automatic Wealth (and many others). It highlights a simple financial philosophy any chiropractor can use to achieve the dream of true, life-long financial independence.
Michael starts off his article by posing a question, then following it up with a profound statement: “Are you a doctor, lawyer, or other professional? If so, you’re in a trap. And you’ll never get out unless you listen to me today.”
A pretty bold statement, right?
Well, Michael goes on to explain what he means…
“In my book Automatic Wealth, I talked about this “trap.” Here’s what I said…
‘At the end of the day, you are charging for your time. And if you want to make more money, there are only two ways to do it:
1. Charge more per hour.
2. Work more hours (though there are only so many hours you can work and still have a life).’
Professionals and top executives, you may be surprised to know, don’t make as much money as you’d think from watching television.
As they improve their skills, they earn more for every hour they work. Eventually, they might even earn one or two million dollars a year. To earn that money, they have to work hard. Often that means 10- to 14-hour workdays.”
As a chiropractor – earning income in relation to the time you allot to adjusting patients – this should ring very true to you. Despite what many chiropractors like to admit, most are hourly wage earners. Albeit, often earning good money. Money, though, based on the time they put-in.
As Michael explains, “Retiring is an option. But when you retire, you lose your active income. That’s not good. I know. I tried it for 18 months. I was rich and retired and happy to write poetry and paint bad paintings. But I was always worried that I would run out of money or that one of my investments would tank. That is not financial independence. I promised myself that I would never fall into that trap again.
I’m a big believer in financial independence. (I’m a big believer in every sort of independence, including emotional and personal independence too — but that’s a subject for another day.)
Being financially independent means exactly what it says: You are not dependent on anyone or anything to pay your bills.
How much you make has nothing to do with financial independence. I know plenty of doctors and lawyers who make high six-figure incomes but are deeply in debt and always worried about their future.
Having a million dollars in the bank doesn’t give you financial independence either. Given the interest rates you can get on a bank account these days, a million dollars is barely enough to feed and house a dog.
And having a substantial real estate or stock market portfolio doesn’t necessarily make you financially independent. If you need to make, say, 6 or 8 percent on your money to pay your bills, you are not going to feel comfortable. You are going to go to bed each night worrying about the market.
So What Is the Secret?
The secret to being truly free of money worries is to have multiple streams of income, each one of them enough for you to live on.
That way, if one stream dries up completely you still have another or even another to fall back on.
Here’s what I said about that in Automatic Wealth…
‘Natural moneymakers make most of their money by practicing a single skill within the context of a single industry. Don’t be fooled by financial gurus who tell you otherwise. But they eventually develop many streams of income. Many master wealth builders I know enjoy a dozen sources of income. Some are modest, some amazing. That’s the great thing about creating cash flow. Although you never know what will happen with any individual income source, if you get enough of them started, one will turn into a river.’
The day after I decided to get rich (which I’ve written about many times in my books), I woke up a much smarter guy.
I no longer believed I could slowly work myself up the corporate ladder. Or that having a hundred thousand dollars in the bank would give me peace of mind.
I was no longer willing to trust anyone with my financial well-being — not my stockbroker, not my bond broker, not the pundits I was reading or my friends or family members who had “advice” for me.
Most of all, I wasn’t willing to trust the company I worked for to guarantee me a lifetime of income.
Before I made wealth building my number-one priority, I was chasing after so many goals that I was confused and vulnerable to all sorts of self-delusions and bad advice.
I can tell you stories about the foolish decisions I made:
* The townhouse I bought in the wrong Washington, DC neighborhood with a negatively amortizing mortgage
* The “beautiful” 1955 Ford Thunderbird I bought for $15,000 that eventually cost me twice that much in repairs and improvements
* The small fortune I invested and lost in a furniture business before I knew anything about selling furniture
But once I prioritized my goals, it was no longer possible to make bad decisions like those. I had developed an instant and permanent instinct about wealth building that has never left me.
You can do it too.
And you will never again be confused about financial decisions. When you face a challenge or problem, the answer will be clearly and boldly evident. It will be impossible to ignore it. After that, growing wealthy will become relatively automatic — as it is for me now.
The Eight Rules for Financial Independence
When I decided to become rich, I began to keep a journal of thoughts I had about making money, losing money, and building wealth.
One chapter of that journal had to do with financial independence. And the eight rules I came up with then are the same rules I follow today:
1. You can’t truly trust anybody but yourself with your money.
2. The harder someone tries to convince you to trust him, the less you should.
3. However good a track record someone has, never believe that he/she can’t suddenly start your losing money. In fact, if you are like me, the moment you invest will be the moment his/her track record starts falling apart.
4. All markets rise and fall. Don’t ever believe anyone who assures you that they can predict the future.
5. If you don’t learn to spend less than you make, you will never have peace of mind.
6. Most of what you buy when your income is above $100,000 is discretionary. Don’t’ fool yourself into thinking you need a big house or a fancy car.
7. In making financial projections for yourself or a business, always create three scenarios: one that shows what things will look like if everything goes as hoped; one that shows what will happen if things are mediocre; and one that shows what will happen if things fall apart.
8. Know that the third scenario is optimistic.
Add these up, and you will come to one inevitable conclusion:
The only way to be truly financially independent is to have multiple streams of income, each one of them sufficient to pay for the lifestyle you want to live.
When I began to develop multiple streams of income, I did it the “chicken entrepreneurship” way. I started out small and built slowly. I never took large risks. And I never gave up my day job.
These are the income streams I have today:
* A local rental real estate portfolio
* An international rental real estate portfolio
* An interest in a half-dozen companies
* My consulting income
* My income from bonds
* My income from dividend stocks
Each of these streams is greater than the amount of money I spend every year. So if five of them suddenly disappeared, I would still have enough income to live on without diminishing my lifestyle.
And to back that up, I have a stash of hard assets that I could live on for the rest of my life.
That is a lot of financial security. I don’t know anyone else who has that much. Maybe it’s a reflection of how deeply untrusting I am. Or maybe it means I’m simply more independent than most of the people I know.
You don’t have to emulate my plan. But if you want financial independence, you should think about having more than one or even two streams of income.”
————————————– Highly Recommended ————————————–
What do financially-free chiropractors know that you don’t?
There’s a certain way the wealthiest chiropractors approach their practice, their time, their finances, and their lifestyle. It’s very different from what the average chiropractor does and has been taught. Yet, it produces extraordinary results for almost every doctor that follows along. Why not you…Click here.
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