The Optometry Money Podcast
Welcome to the Optometry Money Podcast, hosted by Evon Mendrin CFP®, CSLP®, where he helps optometrists make better decisions around their money, careers, and practices. He explores cold-starts, practice buy-ins, career decisions, tax planning, student loans, and other money issues ODs are navigating.
Evon cold-started Optometry Wealth Advisors LLC, a financial planning firm dedicated to help optometrists nationwide master their money, build wealth, and plan purposefully with their finances. Learn more about the show, and Evon, at www.optometrywealth.com.
Episodes
133 episodes
Strategic Tax Planning Levers in the Optometrist's Tax Return
Are you pulling the right levers in your tax planning?In this episode, Evon walks through key strategic levers you can (and should) be using to improve your tax outcomes as an optometrist—especially if you're a private practice owner.&nb...
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Episode 133
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20:52
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Creating a Clear Pathway from Associate Optometrist to Partnership with Erich Mattei
In this episode of The Optometry Money Podcast, host Evon Mendrin welcomes back Erich Mattei of Akrinos for a follow-up conversation focused on creating a pathway for associate doctors to become partners in your optometry practice.Whethe...
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Episode 132
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1:03:16
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Fresh Student Loan News and Tradeoffs ODs Choose When Using IDR Plans Toward Forgiveness
In this episode, Evon Mendrin, CFP® dives into the latest twists in the federal student loan landscape—and what they mean for optometrists using income-driven repayment (IDR) plans. There’s big news on SAVE plan court rulings, loan consolidatio...
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Episode 131
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20:51
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Are Stock Market Declines Normal? What History Tells Us and What ODs Should Do About It
Welcome back to The Optometry Money Podcast! In this episode, host Evon Mendrin, CFP®, dives into the topic of stock market declines—a reality for every long-term investor. With headlines buzzing about economic concerns, tariffs, and policy cha...
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Episode 130
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28:36
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2025 Student Loan Update: New Court Decisions and Actions to Take
The student loan landscape is shifting again! In this episode, Evon breaks down the latest updates on the SAVE Plan, the recent court rulings, and what these changes mean for optometrists navigating their student loan repayment.
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Episode 129
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24:03
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Cold Start vs. Practice Purchase: Most Common Questions & Misconceptions with Dr. Jennifer Stewart and Dr. Aaron Neufeld
In this episode of The Optometry Money Podcast, Evon Mendrin, CFP®, sits down with Dr. Jennifer Stewart and Dr. Aaron Neufeld to dive into one of the biggest career decisions optometrists face: Should you cold start a practice or buy an existin...
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Episode 128
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57:12
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Scaling an Optometry Practice and Embracing Family Entrepreneurship with Tony and Kim Turin
In this episode of The Optometry Money Podcast, Evon Mendrin sits down with Dr. Tony Turin and his wife, Kim Turin, to discuss how they intentionally built and scaled their optometry practice from a cold start to three thriving locatio...
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Episode 127
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1:02:26
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Lessons from Expansion: Growth, Hiring, and Refocusing the Practice with Dr. Nick Lillie
In this episode of The Optometry Money Podcast, host Evon Mendrin, CFP® sits down with Dr. Nick Lillie to discuss his journey of expanding his practice, hiring an associate OD, and restructuring his business to align with his lifestyle and pers...
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Episode 126
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48:09
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Implementing a Strategic Planning Week To Level Up Your Optometry Practice with Dr. Chad Fleming
In this episode, Evon welcomes Dr. Chad Fleming back to The Optometry Money Podcast. Dr. Fleming shares his experiences with strategic planning and explains how setting aside time to work on the business through a strategic planning we...
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Episode 125
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42:51
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Scaling and Freedom: When, Why, and How to Add an Associate Optometrist with Erich Mattei
In this episode of The Optometry Money Podcast, Evon Mendrin, CFP®, hosts Erich Mattei of Akrinos to dive deep into a pivotal question for many private practice optometry owners: when, why, and how should you hire an associate optometr...
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Episode 124
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1:03:40
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Savings Rate: The Ultimate Indicator of Future Financial Success
In this episode, your host, Evon Mendrin, CFP®, CSLP®, owner of Optometry Wealth Advisors, dives into the critical importance of your Savings Rate as a foundation for financial independence. We explore how incremental improvements—or marginal g...
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Episode 123
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19:36
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Key 2025 Financial and Tax Updates Every Optometrist Should Know
In this episode, your host, Evon Mendrin, CFP®, CSLP®, owner of Optometry Wealth Advisors, dives into the critical financial and tax updates optometrists need to know as we head into 2025. Whether you're an associate OD, a private practice owne...
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Episode 122
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30:51
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Critical Year-End Financial Moves for Optometrists
As the year draws to a close, it’s the perfect time to review your finances and ensure you’re ending the year on a strong note. In this episode of The Optometry Money Podcast, Evon Mendrin, CFP®, walks through a comprehensive year-end ...
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Episode 121
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39:52
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An Optometrist's Guide to 529 Plans and Saving For College
Evon provides optometrists a deep dive into 529 plans and other methods of saving and paying for your kids' college costs.He dives into the rules of how 529 plans work, the federal and state tax benefits of using 529 accounts, how to us...
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Episode 120
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42:36
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(Rewind) Tax Planning Targets to Aim For Mid-Year
In this rewind of a popular episode, Evon dives into mid-year tax planning targets optometrists and practice owners should keep an eye on as we work through the rest of the year. He talks through specific points of planning he thin...
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Episode 119
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24:11
Adding Private Label to Improve Margins Without Compromising Quality with Dr. Chad Fleming
In this episode of The Optometry Money Podcast, host Evon Mendrin welcomes back Dr. Chad Fleming to dive into a strategy for private practice optometrists: private label products.Dr. Fleming shares his insights into how practice...
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Episode 118
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35:56
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(Rewind) Investing in Election Years: What History Tells Us About the Stock Market and Elections
What do presidential elections mean for your investments? What actions should you take during an election year?In this rewind of a popular episode, Evon provides context for this common question by diving into the historical behavior of...
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Episode 117
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17:19
Can You Buy a Car in Your Optometry Practice as a Business Expense with Jackson Pace and Kevin Dang, CPAs
Jackson Pace, CPA, and Kevin Dang, CPA of Refractional CFO join Evon on the podcast again to dive into a common question - can you (or should you) buy a vehicle under your optometry practice for the tax deduction?They dive into:...
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Episode 116
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51:05
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Cash Flow Clarity: Navigating Important Differences Between Profit and Cash Flow in Your Optometry Practice
Cash flow is the lifeblood of your optometry practice. In this episode, Evon dives into important differences between the profit you see on the Profit & Loss and the actual net cash flow of your business, and also explores the Statement of ...
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Episode 115
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21:32
Tax Planning Targets to Aim For Mid-Year
Evon dives into mid-year tax planning targets optometrists and practice owners should keep an eye on as we work through the rest of the year. He talks through specific points of planning he thinks about as he works with clients and...
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Episode 114
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23:31
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(Rewind) An Optometrist's Guide to How Income Taxes Work
In this episode, we rewind back to a popular 2023 episode. How do income taxes work? How do tax rates work? How are your taxes calculated?As tax filing deadlines approach, Evon dives into a basic guide for optometrists to how US federal...
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Episode 113
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43:54
Actions to Take During (Routine) Market Declines
What should we do during stock market declines? Even though the ups and downs are a normal (and expected) part of investing, what beneficial actions can you take?Evon dives into rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, and other actions optome...
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Episode 112
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22:23
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2024 Mid-Year Retirement Plan Updates and Deadlines Practice Owners Need to Know with Matt Ruttenberg
Matt Ruttenberg of Life Inc., Retirement Services joins the podcast for a mid-year review of 2024 updates for 401(k) plans and late-year deadlines optometry practice owners need to know. They dive into soon-to-be required auto-enrollmen...
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Episode 111
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26:22
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Student Loan Updates: Can't Access PAYE Plan, SAVE Court Cases, and more!
Now that July 1st has come and gone, Evon dives into the recent student loan updates optometrists need to know. He discusses how the Pay As You Earn payment plan is no longer accessible, the consolidation deadline passing for the One Ti...
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Episode 110
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23:14
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Investing in Election Years: What History Tells Us About the Stock Market and Elections
What do presidential elections mean for your investments? What actions should you take during an election year?Do provide context for this common question, Evon dives into the historical behavior of US stocks related to US presidential ...
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Episode 109
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16:52
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