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This is not a podcast about dentistry. This is a call to leadership. For those who are carrying pressure, for those building something bigger than themselves, for those who refuse average, this is where discipline replaces chaos. This is where clarity replaces confusion. Where leaders are forged. Welcome to the Iron Dentist. I'm Dr. Bobby J. Grassi, and this is where dentists stop reacting and start leading at the highest level. Welcome to the call. Everyone on the call, newcomers and those watching the recording, thank you so much for joining me. And these calls are always meant to define the game, the game you want to play, how to get started. And as always, my intention always is and always will be to help you in any way, shape, or form so that I can show you what I've done and continue to do every single day. That's not only that I can be the best version of myself, but you can be the best version of yourself. And this applies whether you're a young college student, whether you're inspired to be something new in life, whether you're a young dental student about to jump into the world, whether you're practicing or looking to grow, or whether you're retiring dentist looking to whatever it is, or just a person trying to be the best thing in life, these calls are meant for you. So my hope is that you take away some of the tips and tricks and start implementing these things in your life right away so that you can crush this game called life. As I stated before, I'm Dr. Bobby Grassi, born and raised in Flint, Michigan. Uh, I always struggle financially. So I talk about finances in this topic. I'm going to talk about finances. I see Connors on the call. Linda, welcome. 10K is on the call, Gabby. This isn't, you know, normally I'm what's up, Sky? Normally I have motivational calls, but you know, I struggle financially growing up. So I think it's a very important part to discuss finances. And I think even high school students and even uh students, just with a thumbs up, don't you agree that we should know a little bit more about finances in this world just with a thumbs up? At least I do. I know that I never thought, you know, growing up, I didn't know what it was like even to save money or have money or do things with money. And so it's so important to me to just a part of this. I know I'm a motivational guy, but the last two weeks we talked about finances and your financial thermostat and the ideal spending and standard based on how much you've earned in the past and how you can secure it to how it makes you feel. And the beauty of this concept lies in the ability to give guidance while also allowing wiggle room for growth, right? If done right, not only can it protect us from, but it prevents us from making reckless choices, but leads us towards achieving our bigger dreams too. So I think this week we're talking about the financial lexicon, and then we're gonna go back to more motivational stuff and stuff like that. But uh I want to talk about what is financial lexicon and what it what does it really mean? With ever-evolving trends in the finance market, gaining a comprehensive understanding of the language and concept is key to start uh staying competitive. So you a lexicon is kind of like its own language, it provides a knowledge-based uh enabling us, enabling users to communicate effectively with clients or other professionals while keeping up with the market changes. So it kind of is brains, if you will, investing in the financial literacy skills not only gives individuals an advantage, but also helps leftward career growth opportunities, making it essential for success today. So why do I think why am I just talking discussing finance? There's nothing worse in life than not having enough money. There's nothing worse in life than having money, but yet spending it all. So I think understanding your thermostat, understanding what to do, understanding your financial situation is probably the most important thing you could ever do in business and in life. And I think that the more you understand it, the more you gain knowledge and the more you understand how it works, how there's inflow of money and outflow of money, and how to read PLs and balance sheets and how to talk about debt and accrued interest and how to really utilize debt as an advantage to you. I think the more you understand it, the deeper meaning you have in life and the step you had in our life, and the less chance you have of going broke. Thumbs up if you understand that. So, why is financial lexicon important in your business? It is the go-to source for businesses to stay one step ahead of their finances. It equips entrepreneurs with useful knowledge and understanding through comprehensive industry terms, helping them make informed decisions which lead to smart investments and financial success. And it can explore various aspects before you know devising strategies based on current trends, essential tools vital in navigating potential risk, and also without being up to date about making changes. So, do you think financial lexicon is necessary for everyone to understand or just financial professionals? See, I think to me, that was a question that was written to me. I think it's important that everybody understands. Financial literacy is the necessity for anyone seeking to stay ahead of their finances. You must know where you where you stand, you must know where you start. You got to understand certain key terms. You must understand what compound interest makes, what is debt management, how investment yields give you great rewards, seeking you up with the knowledge required to confidently budget your money and make pretty decisions about your future spending. How did I get to where I want to? Guys, I leverage debt. People say I don't like debt. I would argue with you. Gordon, uh, it's Gordon Ramsay, that's Chef Ramsey. Uh Dave Ramsey, that's a better financial guy. Dave Ramsey talks about all the time you should pay your house off. I would argue with that sometimes because I can use my house as leverage. Okay, I can use the interest rate on my house as leverage. If I have $400,000 of equity in my house and I'm paying 3% of an interest rate back, right? But I can I can gain 20% on my money. Why wouldn't I just use the equity in my house? Right? Understand what I'm telling you. You use the equity in your house, you're paying it back at this. Look, think and grow rich. Uh um, uh oh my god, it was one of the uh um I think that is the right. Anyway, uh there's another gentleman who uh uh I can't think of the book. I think it is think and grow rich or poor rich mindset. Goodness gracious. Oh, here it is. Rich dad, poor dad. That's what I was thinking of because I just read the book. Rich dad, poor dad, they talk about utilizing debt all the time. So if you have an interest rate of 3% on your house or 4%, but you can make 20%, it makes all the sense in the world. Don't pay off your house, use your asset or your money in your house as leverage and invest that money, you're gonna make 16% yield on your money. Then use that interest to pay off your house. No, I just went really in depth, I just did a quick version of it. But understanding how to utilize debt, understanding if I if I didn't utilize debt, I would never be a dentist today. If I didn't take student loans to pay for my education, right? So I took debt out, paid for an education of my student loans' assets, and then I now am who I am today. You can utilize your debt, you can utilize things to make it to your advantage, and then you can pay it back down the road because it's makes smart decisions. But when you have the basic understandings of principles at hand, no matter what life throws at you financially, you will always be it'll always be attainable. It's understanding where you start, it's understanding your finances, understanding how to leverage debt, understand when to go into debt. I mean, it doesn't matter. I'm not saying all debt's good, but I'll also tell you all debt's not bad. Thumbs up if you understand that. Just with that house nailed it, can you see why can you see why that that that using the interest rate of my house makes sense and how to make money? Can you also see that if you have a 401k and people like it? Let's just say a 401k, people have 401ks right now. If you look at the United States, a 401k, I know I'm going deeper in finances right now, but and I'm kind of going off what I wanted to talk about, but just work with me. If you have a 401k right now that's losing 20%, take a loan off your 401k, pay it back, use that money on your 401k, right? And if you don't know what a 401k is in the United States, 401k is based on a retirement fund that might be different in Canada, whatever. But what we do is we we get penalized if we take it all out. However, you take a loan from a 401k, you can invest in something else that's not losing 20% right now and pay it back with that interest rate money. Now you're making money. And I talk about before, and if you don't follow me on YouTube and stuff with the dentist CEO, I talk about wealth creation formulas. Sometimes you got to get creative on the wealth creation formulas, and you got to use that money you have that might be lose right now. How do you make it a positive? How do you use your money that's in the bank as a positive, right? So you can there's a lot of tools we can dive in deeper on that, but I love finances, I love understanding the game of finances, I love getting creative. Um, I also, guys, I'm telling you right now, the best asset you have sometimes we're living in. That's why I'd always tell anybody and their mother, you have $500,000, don't pay off your house first. Go invest that money and use that money then to pay off your house. That's cool. But I would disagree with Mr. Dave Ramsey, but that's a sidebar. That's that is that is middle class thinking, not well thinking, just so you know. So debt is not bad. So, what are key components of your financial lexicon? Like when I said having a comprehensive grasp of your financial lexicon is essential for those in the business world, whether it's investors, entrepreneurs, small business owners, understanding these key principles related to the money and economics will help you streamline your decision-making process that leads to the improved profitability and increased sustainability over time. Every decision I make in crumble cookie, every decision I make in dentistry, every single uh business decision I make in Great Lakes, Dental Design Inc. and all my other businesses, I have to know where I start and where I go. I look at PLs, I look at balance sheets, I look at how to utilize debt. What can I do? Uh, we do some things every time when we own my my Great Lakes Dental Company. We will buy certain uh debts, we will buy scanners, and then we will donate them to other dentists and let them use that. Now you might say, well, why would I do that? Well, one, I'm gaining their business. Secondly, what I'm also doing just to educate you is I'm utilizing that debt and again depreciate that asset over time, and now I'm saving in taxes. So it goes full circle. Most people just don't want to think this way. So when you develop the knowledge, it opens up whole different new opportunities for both your individuals and businesses alike, and it's an invaluable asset worth investing in. So I know that if I invest in something, if I have the understanding of something, if I understand how it works, the principles how it works, the percentage rate, what I'm paying back, when I know the terminology, when I know how things work, that's what really catapulted me in my dental career. Because I was able, I was able to use certain things. Understanding my financial lexicon, I was able to use certain things as leverage. And then it helped create this thing. So you don't need to always use your money to become wealthy. You can use somebody else's money. So financial lexicons, I said this before, are so essential in business dealing with money, providing invaluable resources, understanding complicated financial processes, terms, and policies is establishes a substantial vote cap system so we know how to speak. Businesses can make smarter investments, communicate strategies and investors more efficiently. This then helps them stay ahead of the game when it comes to industry trends. You got to know where we're going with the industry. We know right now the economy is not where we want to be. I can tell you it's gonna come back, but you got to be smart with your money. You got to utilize your money. That's why I talked about even on the 401k. Yes, people want that safety net. In our generation growing up, when my mom, she would always say, get a job safe, get a job saved, get a job saved. It's not bad advice, it's just not the best advice. What if I could save enough money then to have enough money to invest? And then my save money could could come have compounding interest and split on it, right? So if you have, let's say I'm just gonna make up a number. Gabby has $10,000, right? And I'm not saying Gabby, you go waste your $10,000 right now. But if you save $200, $300 a month, and you keep putting it away and keep putting it away and putting it away, pretty soon you get $40,000 to $50,000, which is doable. I've done it over and over and over. It's just the discipline you have to create that process to work for you. You start investing that money, and now your $50,000 makes compounding interest, let's say you have 12% a year or 3% a quarter. You're you're making money with you doing nothing. That's where you want to get to. That's how you want to utilize your money. Or if God, you have a 401k plan and you can borrow from money, that's what you want to do, right? For individuals to reach financial success, it's as essential, literally essential, to understand the language of finance. Now, I'm learning on this as I fly and everything I'm teaching to you, I'm learning as well from the Richie Dones of the world, from the Ken Keys of the world, from the Grant Cardinals of the world. I'm learning what all this means. And what but without understanding the financial lexicon, I would struggle in efforts to even to make more capital. I wouldn't even have my true power while discussing financials and potentially investors or lenders. I'd have no idea. But the more you understand, the more you understand the language of finances, the better value you have. You will be like the whippersnapper and people will be throwing money at you or helping you get to where you want to get to. But even if you but if you don't understand, guys, just with a thumbs up, do you understand? Would you agree just with the thumbs up that there is a thing? And I know Ken K has been responding, so thank you, Ken K, of there is a such thing as good debt and bad debt, right? Would you guys agree with that? Perfect. So good debt. Good debt for me was taking student loans, great debt. I turned that debt into assets without those student loan payments. I would not be where I am today. I promise you. I wouldn't have had the money to go to dental school, it would not have ever happened. Another good debt, you might laugh at me. Credit cards. Why did I say some credit cards are good debt? Ready? I'm leveraging American Express's money for 30 days. I didn't say for 31 days, for 30 days to get whatever I want. Then I'm racking up points on a Delta credit card. I know this is silly. Then I'm getting my sky miles, even though it's running in my business any way you shape it, and then I pay it off through my business. Well, people will say, I don't like debt. Why not? But I have leverage and get whatever I want at that moment. Now the difference is do you have the discipline with the debt? There's the difference. So the other D word. Debt is great with discipline. Debt is great if you understand how to use debt. Debt is great if you can leverage debt and create an asset with it, right? That's what debt's good. So when you understand that, when you're understanding your financial ex con, your struggle never getting more capital. It's easy. It's easy. Banks will throw money at you to do whatever you want. It's paramount that entrepreneurs gain an experience grasp of key terms and concepts in order to make important decisions about money management. Doing so, if you know that enables parties involved as negotiations to become seamless. The more I can talk about it, even when I work out my deals, I talk about even what's your pay going to be? What is how do you get paid? How do you get paid hourly? Do you get paid annually? See, I always think if you think and if you think rich mindset, you want to look look at your annual income and how's your annual income set up to make you money. I always told you guys last last month or last, I'm sorry, last week, try to live 50% off your money. Now, Gabby, why do I say that? Skyler, why do I say that? Mario, why do I say that? 10K, why am I saying that? Because you're having the other 50% to do what you want to invest, to save, to make money, to spit money. It'll improve your quality of life and improve all your debt and income ratio. You guys got to worry about that. You know, when people say my credit score is good. Did you also know that if you have more debt on your credit score without being, even though you make good money, your credit score is lower? How do I know that? Because every child, uh Skylar McLaughlin, I think you're you know, what are you under the 17? When you turn 18, the first thing I would do would be get a credit card to establish my credit, not so you rack it up so that I establish my credit and now I use somebody else's money to get what I want to establish credit for me that helps me dominate this thing called life. Because it's all about credit score, bro. And it's all it is. And those that don't have a good credit score, they either have too much high debt to income ratio or they're not paying their bills off. Either way, it's not good. But once you understand how the game works, it's easy. Financial likes kind of business is that understanding is the key financial turns and concepts that is essential to success. After all, running a business demands constant evolution and updating the financial strategies and decisions. You got to evaluate you have to evaluate everything you do in business, it has to evolve, you got to update all your financial strategies and decisions. Dude, I do it month to month, uh, quarter to quarter, even year to year, because things are changing. You got to understand it's changing on a dime, interest rates change, percentage rate change. There's a lot of things that change over time, and you need to have a grasp of this. You need to understand what you need to do. You need to surround yourself with other entrepreneurs so that you can make sounder judgment calls, whether it's day-to-day decisions or even long-term investments. Guys, starting out early on, just make a smart day-to-day decision. You know, I was how I started saving money is what I did is I would always ask myself this one question. And I want you to start asking yourself these questions. You know, first of all, get rid of your bad debt, start paying them up. But let's just say you say I can't save. I always argue with people, you can always save money because that would that's what the 401k was established on. Now, 401k was established on do you want to give 10% of your money, 4% of your money, whatever, 3% of your money every paycheck. And I remember saying to myself, man, 4 10% of my money, I don't think I could ever do that. And then we all do it and we all make an investment, whether it's 10%, 4%, or 3%. And then pretty soon you realize that you don't even miss that money, and all of a sudden you're tracking up all this money. So when you create uh an auto savings account, or when you create something that you just take it out automatically, before you know it, it's up to 50, 60, 100,000, 200,000. And I'm gonna tell you the reverse scenario of this. And just with a thumbs up, if you don't get in trouble doing this, do you think debit cards are a great thing or a bad thing? If you think it's a great thing, give me a thumbs up. If you think it's a bad thing, try to give me a thumbs down. Are debit cards good for you or bad for you? Are definitely, are definitely, are definitely first one response. I'm gonna go, I'm gonna help you because I'm sure we got ups and downs of people trying to find their icons. Debit cards are probably the best thing ever for a bank. It's the worst thing ever for a human in their finances. And you might say that because it's so easy. It's so easy to swipe a debit card and we don't even think about it. It's automatic. Where you have cash in your hand, it's hard to get rid of that. So they want you to swipe that debit card. That's why I always say a credit card is way better for a child than a debit card. A credit card is way better than a debit card because I'm using somebody else's money as leverage, and then I got to pay it back. But I can control that, I can set limits on it. There's a lot of things I can do, and plus I'm rewarding, I'm rewarding points. Some are cashback points, 2% cash back. You got Delta Miles, you got Marriott points, whatever it is, find a credit card where you can actually make money back when you're spending. It's awesome. I'm telling you, that is the greatest hack you can do. I've done it so many times in businesses. If you're running a business anyway, like Connor, who's a dentist, if you're running a business, get a darn credit card and just use your credit card to pay your business debt off and then pay it back every month. You're gonna get so much instant credibility. And when you have this on your, I use an American Express because I like to travel. I mean, I'm getting trips for free. I'm using their money, their system on playing their game to get a better asset for my family and creating experiences is beautiful. But if I use the debit card instead, my money's gone. My money's gone. I lose that money instantaneously, it is gone. Use somebody else's money as leverage. I'm telling you, you can do it all the time. Staying up, but at the end of the day, though, you must know your latest financial developments. It's essential. You got to know where you stand. I'm when I say business, guys, you are a business. I'm talking about my dental business a lot or the dentist CEO or growing with Grassi, there is a business. But understand when I talk about business, you are your business. You are your brand. You got to know where you stand. Where do I want to go? How do I want to be? How what what financial future do I want to cause and create for myself? What do I want to cause and create for my family? When you know this though, when you know you're where you want to go financially, you know, you can make a good impression, you can do a lot of things, you can cause and create anything. You can get a loan by somebody, no different than just shout telling them about your dream. And this is what I had to back it up. You can get anything you want, you can start from somewhere. Everybody's got to start somewhere. If you don't think you should run a business, you all should own a business. Every one of you should have an LLC. Why do I say that? You should all have a trust one. I could go on a deeper, but we're not gonna do this. Why? Because even if you have an LLC, you get tax breaks, you get certain things you can do. Whether Skyler, it's your car, whether Guy, it's your car, whether you say you'll mow lawns. I don't know what it is, Connor. I don't know if you're a dentist, Connor, you want to become an independent contractor. There's so many things you can do to set yourself up from a financial point of view that's gonna help you take it to the next level. You will get tax breaks, you'll get things that are helpful. We could go dive deeper in this because I'm only touching on this, but understand, guys, you must know your financial lexicon. When you do this, you're you're gonna you're gonna raise your standards, your regulations, you'll understand the course concepts of finances, you'll understand it all. Lexic financial lexicon should be priority number one. Don't forget to note this down. Tell me what is your financial lexicon. What are the terms you don't understand? Write it in the planner so I can help you. My job on these growing with grassi calls is to help you understand how to leverage the things you have, whether it's your assets, whether it's your debts, whether it's depreciation, whether it's compounding interest. That's my job here. That's why I talked about this. And I know we're talking fast, guys. I'm trying to fit a whole finance class in literally 22 minutes. But are these calls tracking with you? Was this a good call for you guys? I really hope it is. I really hope it is. I really hope we're we're we're really moving the needle, right? I really hope in your life I'm moving things. I'm getting you to think totally different than you ever did. I'm gonna change your mindset based on what our parents taught us. I love my parents. I love my mom. I love Bob Hill. I love every parent in this generation. They did the best they could, but they were all wrong. You're me. Say it, they're all wrong. You don't need the they're they're totally wrong about finances, the majority of them. They really are. They they think as a middle class to low class individual when it comes to finances. I'm trying to get you to get more. How do you get more in your life? How do you dominate this thing like? How do you live the dream and legacy that you are always meant to live? And you know what's gonna tie into that? Come next week, guys. I'm gonna talk about the law of attraction. Like, oh gosh, here he goes. The guy's gonna start tapping on video and doing things and meditating. And I'm not gonna listen to the law of attraction, please. There's another side of the law of attraction, right? It's the law of distraction, is what I say. Anything you think, I always laugh about this. Anything you think you cannot you cannot accomplish, you'll be right. Anything you think you can accomplish, you will also be right. So why not proceed on the side of caution? Always think of the best in yourself. Dominate this thing called life, guys. I love you to the fullest. I thank you for always sharing this time with me with Grom Grassi on Tuesdays. Guys, much love. Dominate this thing called life. Dominate this week. I love you. We'll talk soon. Have a great night, guys. If this episode challenges you to think differently or lead better, share it with someone who's committed to growth and personal responsibility. Subscribe so you don't miss future conversations on leadership, discipline, and performance. And remember, leadership isn't a title, it's a daily decision. This has been Dr. Bobby J. Grassi, and we'll see you next time on the Iron Dentist Podcast.