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Walk into a showroom, and that new-car smell is intoxicating. Slide into the driver’s seat of the latest model, and you feel a rush of excitement. But fast-forward six months, and the thrill has faded. Now it’s just another car to wash, insure, and maintain.
Now think about the last family trip you took, or maybe a continuing education retreat with colleagues. You can probably recall moments vividly—the laughter over dinner, the conversations that deepened relationships, the joy of exploring something new. Those memories don’t fade in the same way. In fact, they often grow more valuable with time.
This is the difference between things and experiences—and it’s a principle every dentist should know when it comes to spending wisely.
Psychologists Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton, in their book Happy Money: The Science of Happier Spending, found that money can indeed buy happiness—but only when spent in the right ways. And one of the strongest findings was this: experiences bring more lasting joy than material possessions.
Why?
In short: the happiness curve for things goes down. For experiences, it stays flat—or even climbs as memories are revisited.
For dental practice owners, this principle is especially relevant. With busy schedules and financial demands, it’s easy to justify “treating yourself” with physical upgrades—cars, homes, watches. But what if more of that money went toward experiences?
Some examples that resonate with dentists:
These experiences don’t depreciate. They compound in meaning and often reinforce both your personal life and your practice’s success.
Dentistry can be a high-status profession, and with that comes temptation: the luxury home in the right neighborhood, the imported car, the designer wardrobe. These items do communicate success—but at what cost?
Here’s the challenge:
This is lifestyle creep in action. Your income rises, and so does your spending—yet your happiness doesn’t move in the same direction.
The good news? You can intentionally design your financial plan to prioritize experiences over things.
Here’s how:
By reframing your financial goals to include experiences, you’re not just spending—you’re investing in your well-being.
At the end of the day, possessions wear out. They lose their shine, they require maintenance, and they often end up owning you.
Experiences, on the other hand, live on. They enrich relationships, build memories, and add meaning to your life. As the saying goes:
“The best things in life aren’t things.”So the next time you feel tempted to upgrade your car or splurge on a gadget, pause. Ask yourself: Would this dollar bring me more joy if I invested it in an experience instead? Chances are, the answer is yes.
Want to hear more about the science of spending and how it applies to dentists?
Listen to Episode 126 of The Dental Boardroom Podcast and discover how to make your money work for both financial freedom and happiness.
Wes knows what's best for dental practices. He's been doing this for a long time and he sees lots of practices. He can tell me how our practice is doing, and what we can do to increase our productivity. With past CPA's, there were no ideas. It was all coming from me, saying "I think I can do better, but I don't know how." I come in to meet with Wes and he says "You CAN do better, and I know how."
PracticeCFO is in hundreds of dental offices around the country. They know what numbers should look like. They know what percentages of payroll, rent and supplies should be, and they will hold you accountable to those numbers, which will really help you stick to your plan and your path of growth and savings. That is invaluable
Whenever something comes up, whether it's building or practice related and we weren't sure where the numbers would go, PracticeCFO has been instrumental in helping us figure that out. I can't say enough of how important that is - that it goes beyond that initial partnership. They make sure this business marriage works.
When I go home from work, I don't spend a whole lot of time stressing about what my books look like, or how much I owe in taxes. By using PracticeCFO, the burden of keeping track of a lot of the big financial numbers and metrics are taken off my plate.
PracticeCFO helped me develop a plan for the future. I have colleagues that work with other accountants that don't have a plan - they just look at the numbers of the practice and that's it. There's no plan for 10, 20 years from now. But with PracticeCFO, you get that. PracticeCFO makes you feel like you're they're only client.
(In reference to his practice sale) What could've been super stressful, wasn't! When picking John and Wes, it was from word of mouth recommendations and other people's experiences from the past that really did it for me. And it turns out that those recommendations were right on the line.
Wes knows the business side of dentistry. His comprehensive plan will organize your personal and professional finances so you can focus on taking care of patients. Massive ROI.
I can’t say enough good things about everyone at PracticeCFO. Everyone on the team is professional, organized, knowledgeable, helpful and kind. They also respond to emails and phone calls immediately and are always happy to help. They have helped me navigate year-to-year as a business owner. PracticeCFO gives me peace of mind that my business is in good hands.
I love Practice CFO! They have helped me obtain a practice and maintain a practice. They are incredible people who are on top of everything and make owning and running the business portion of a practice easy. They couldn’t be better for my business and my sanity. They have every detail of the business and taxes taken care of where all I have to do is show up and follow their easy steps to success!
Practice CFO has the best tools I’ve seen for personal tax and financial planning in addition to top-tier corporate tax and accounting services. I have been very pleased with the level of quality service. They manage my monthly bookkeeping and accounts payable. It is a great system and saves me a ton of time, and it allows us to have monthly financial statements within a week of month end.
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