The boring stuff that protects your freedom

I work with people who are excellent at what they do—health professionals, other professionals, and small business owners—who still feel financially exposed.

Not because they’re bad with money.

Because when your income depends on your capacity to perform, life and business risk are always sitting in the background. And most people don’t plan properly until something forces them to.

A concept I keep coming back to is this:

Prevention is the cure. Your financial plan should not be static. It should change and adapt as you, your practice/business, and your family change.

This article is my MoneyPlan version of that message—expanded beyond medical professionals to anyone who sells expertise and time for income.

Prevention first: don’t wait for a financial emergency to start planning

Most people don’t wake up excited to think about tax, insurance, estate planning, or “what if I can’t work”. People often plan late, and then it becomes difficult to structure wealth well or get the right insurance in place.

Brutal honesty: if you only look at your finances when something breaks (tax shock, health event, business disruption), it usually costs more—money, options, and stress.

1) Run your practice or business like a business

This applies whether you’re a dentist, a GP, a lawyer, an engineer, a consultant, or a trades business owner.

My recommendation: run your practice like a business, and think about other ways to generate annuity-style income because “we sell our time… we are our practice.”

What that means in real terms:

• Know your actual numbers (revenue, overheads, tax, debt, true owner pay).

• Separate business cashflow from personal cashflow.

• Build pathways to income outside your daily output (investments, retained profits strategy, scalable services, diversified assets).

2) Tax + lack of planning quietly erodes wealth

From intergenerational planning research René references: tax and lack of planning were the single biggest cause of wealth erosion. 

I’m not saying “obsess over tax.” I’m saying: stop treating it as an afterthought.

Where I see people get hurt:

• The structure that was “fine at the start” becomes expensive or risky later.

• Non-compliance or messy reporting because advice isn’t specialised.

• Liquidity problems (not enough cash when a big obligation lands).

3) Diversify, save, and protect (in that order)

My framework is simple and solid: diversify, save and protect—including diversifying across asset classes and not letting everything sit inside the business/practice.

In other words:

• If your wealth is “business value + home + maybe a retirement account,” you’re concentrated.

• If you’re a professional or business owner, your income is already concentrated in you (and sometimes one location/one market).

Protection is not just “insurance paperwork”—it’s the difference between a bad year and a permanent setback. I explicitly calls out income protection, liability cover, and buy/sell cover as part of what a financial adviser should be ensuring.

4) Start simple, then evolve your structure as you grow

A mistake I see: people keep the same structure for 10–20 years because changing feels painful.

My view: there’s no one-size-fits-all, but many people start in their own name/partnership because it’s simple and cost-effective, then consider operating via a company once revenue reaches a threshold, and only later consider legacy structures (like a trust-company structure) for wealth assets—while being sensible about costs.

Key takeaway: structure should match your stage. Inertia is not a strategy.

(Also: structure is always jurisdiction-specific—what works in one country may not work in another.)

5) Build the right team (and stop expecting one person to do everything)

I like to separates roles:

• Tax compliance: tax accountant 

• Planning + insurance + liquidity + retirement: financial adviser 

• Will/estate docs: specialist to draft a will (one of the most important documents you’ll draft)

One line that cuts through avoidance: death is a liquidity event—meaning cash may be needed quickly, so planning for liquidity matters across every life stage, not only later.

My 10-point checklist for professionals and business owners

1. Do I know my real annual spending and savings rate?

2. Is business/practice cashflow clearly separated from personal cashflow?

3. What happens financially if I can’t work for 3 months? 12 months?

4. Do I have the right protection (income, liability, key person / partners if relevant)?

5. Do I have an up-to-date will and estate plan?

6. Do I have a system for tax (not “deal with it later”)?

7. Is my structure still fit for purpose at my current revenue/assets stage?

8. Am I diversified outside the business/practice?

9. Do I have a realistic retirement/exit pathway (not “sell someday”)?

10. Are my accountant/adviser/lawyer aligned on the same plan?

Where MoneyPlan fits

My role is to help you turn this into a plan you can actually follow:

• clear cashflow + next steps

• risk-proofing (income, liability, liquidity)

• long-term investing built for real life

• coordination so the structure/tax/estate pieces don’t contradict each other