Short answer: most dentists build wealth with a boring, disciplined approach — max your tax-advantaged accounts, invest in a diversified, low-cost portfolio, and diversify beyond the practice. The practice is already your biggest, most concentrated bet; your investment portfolio should be the calm, diversified counterweight to it, not another gamble.
Where should a dentist invest first?
Follow the tax-advantaged priority ladder before taxable investing. A common order: capture any employer match, fund an HSA if eligible, max your practice retirement plan (and a cash balance plan if you want to shelter more), use a backdoor Roth, then invest additional savings in a taxable brokerage account. Every dollar you can shelter first is a dollar working harder.
What should the portfolio look like?
For nearly everyone, boring wins: a globally diversified mix of low-cost index funds, weighted between stocks and bonds according to your time horizon and risk tolerance. You don’t need to pick winners or time markets — decades of evidence show that a simple, low-cost, diversified portfolio outperforms most active strategies after fees.
- Diversified — broad U.S. and international stocks plus bonds, not a handful of picks.
- Low-cost — fees compound against you; keep them minimal.
- Tax-aware — hold the right assets in the right accounts.
- Automated — invest on a schedule so it happens regardless of the headlines.
- Rebalanced — trim and add back to targets so risk doesn’t drift.
How much investment risk should a dentist take?
Match risk to time horizon. Money you won’t touch for decades can hold more stock and ride out volatility; money you’ll need soon (or your emergency fund) should stay safe. The biggest risk for most successful dentists isn’t a market drop — it’s reacting to one by selling at the wrong time. A plan you can stick with beats a “perfect” one you’ll abandon in a downturn.
Should a dentist invest on their own or hire help?
A disciplined dentist can absolutely invest well on their own. Many hire help not for stock tips but for coordination — integrating investments with taxes, retirement-plan design, and practice decisions, and providing the discipline to stay the course. If you do hire someone, choose a fee-only fiduciary so their advice isn’t a sales pitch.
Frequently asked questions
Start by maxing tax-advantaged accounts — employer match, HSA, practice retirement plan, backdoor Roth — then invest additional savings in a diversified, low-cost portfolio in a taxable account. Keep it automated and matched to your time horizon rather than chasing hot investments.
For most, a globally diversified mix of low-cost index funds (stocks and bonds) weighted to their risk tolerance. The goal is to diversify away from the concentration risk of the practice, not add more concentrated, illiquid bets.
Individual stock-picking underperforms a diversified portfolio for most investors after fees and risk. Real estate can fit, but many dentists already carry real-estate and business concentration through the practice and its building — weigh new bets against how concentrated you already are.
Sources
Founder & Financial Planner · Investment Adviser Representative · Series 63 & 65
Ian McGinnis is the founder of Dental Wealth Partners and a fee-only financial planner dedicated to dentists. As an investment adviser representative (Series 63 and 65), he built the firm to give dentists coordinated, fiduciary advice across their practice, taxes, investments, retirement plans, and long-term goals — the whole picture in one strategy. A graduate of Belhaven University, Ian previously worked at Davis Private Wealth, MML Investors Services, and Northwestern Mutual, and is based in the Jackson, Mississippi area. He is the author of The Wealthy Dentist and hosts the Smiles & Cents podcast.
Keep reading
- Why your dental practice shouldn’t be your whole retirement planConcentration risk is the quiet danger for successful dentists. Here’s how to think about building wealth beyond the practice.
- How should a dentist choose a financial advisor?Not all “financial advisors” are the same. The questions a dentist should ask — about fiduciary duty, fee-only pay, and dental experience — before hiring one.
- How big should a dentist’s emergency fund be?Dentists need a bigger cash cushion than most — practice owners especially. How much to hold personally and in the practice, and where to keep it.