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Tele doctors and other tele medicine medical practitioners who advise patients over video are becoming more popular nationwide.

Jeff: Welcome to the latest edition of “Who’s Making Money?” Hi, I’m Jeff Biesman and I’m here again today with Phil Pirio, a Senior Plan Design Consultant at Dedicated Defined Benefit Services.

Phil: Thanks, Jeff. Hello everyone. My associates and I work with Financial Advisors nationwide to design traditional defined benefit and cash balance plans for high income self-employed people and small business owners in order to help them hold on to more of what they earn and plan for retirement.

Jeff: Phil, I know that you work with many physicians – independents and in larger practices. Today’s story is a fascinating new way that doctors are making money. Could you tell us about today’s successful client?

Phil:  Sure Jeff; we often set up retirement plans for doctors who are not part of a traditional practice. Some are solo practitioners; for example, surgical specialists; some practice as locum tenens; traveling to different communities to fill in for other doctors, but this was a first for us.

Last month, an Ameriprise advisor introduced us to a doctor who lives in Missouri and contracts with Teladoc, one of the largest startups offering medical services via the internet.

Jeff: Ah, telemedicine! I understand it’s an emerging market for doctors, nurse practitioners, and others in the medical field to monetize their time by advising medical needs through video, right?

Phil: That’s right and it’s expected to be a $3B industry by 2025.

Jeff: So, what about this particular client?

Phil: Well, the doctor, works from his home office full time, never sees patients in person. He recently set up an S-corp. And pays himself $140,000 in W-2. We designed a Defined Benefit plan to which he will contribute $135,000 each year; obviously he has additional resources and distributions to support his current life style needs. The contribution is a 100% above-the-line tax-deduction so it directly lowers his and his wife’s adjusted gross income.

Jeff: Ah, that’s great. So, a key takeaway for financial advisors is that nontraditional medical practices are becoming much more common and advisors may want to do some prospecting online. So, Telemedicine is part of the future – providing the main source of income for a growing number of doctors. And you can help them save on current tax and invest more with a Defined Benefit or Cash Balance Plan?

Phil: Yes. And I’m certain we will be working with more physicians just like this client, especially as the new HR1 tax law offers more reasons to reduce income below certain thresholds.

So, if you’re an advisor and one of your clients fits this profile, or if you are a physician, and would like to reduce your current tax bill, contact us right away. Talking to us early on in the year increases our ability to help you set up a high contribution retirement plan this year, and perhaps leverage some of the attractive incentives of the new tax law.

We are here M-F from 7am – 5pm PST, and we’re also available on weekends by appointment. Call us at 1-866-269-2706 or check us out on the web at www.dedicated-db.com

Jeff: Thanks Phil! Well, that’s it for now.  We’ll see you next time on “Who’s Making Money”.