If your income depends on you showing up every day, one injury or one shutdown can stop everything, even if you've done everything else right. In this episode, I talk with Dr. Jeff Anzalone, a dental specialist in Louisiana. Jeff had paid off every dollar of debt, including his house, when a ski accident injured his wrist and he realized that being debt free isn't the same as being free. That moment, and later a COVID shutdown of his practice, pushed him to build income that doesn't depend on his hands. Now he runs Perdido Capital, invests in mobile home parks, and teaches on his YouTube channel, The Debt Free Doctor. Jeff explains his seven work optional wealth steps, how to calculate your freedom number from your real monthly expenses, why he shifted savings into cash-flowing investments instead of selling assets to live on, and how to tell good debt from bad.

Take the Builder's Mirror Assessment to discover your Builder Story and get clear next steps toward the business freedom you want. - https://bit.ly/3RdNRLH

Learn more about Dr. Jeff Anzalone - https://www.debtfreedr.com/

Learn more about Rodney Boswell -

IHS Group - https://bit.ly/4pCdouJ

LinkedIn - https://bit.ly/454Aktf

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CHAPTERS

00:00 Debt free but not free: Jeff's wake-up call

02:18 Why relying on one income stream is risky

06:18 Why high earners rarely diversify their income

11:15 How COVID exposed financially fragile business owners

14:25 Turn your business into an asset by replacing yourself

19:12 Why a clear why keeps you investing through losses

23:06 What work optional means and how it differs from retirement

26:29 The shortcut of learning from people who've done it

30:51 The seven work optional wealth steps

34:10 How to calculate your freedom number

37:24 Why cash flow beats selling assets to fund retirement

43:36 Why most people never take action

45:02 Why wealthy families invest in real estate

48:52 Active vs passive real estate investing

53:37 Good debt, bad debt, and avoiding overleverage

KEYWORDS

work optional

freedom number

seven work optional wealth steps

multiple streams of income

passive income

how to become financially independent

how to retire early

how to stop trading time for money

how to replace myself in my business

financial planning for dentists

financial planning for doctors

debt free

debt snowball

emergency fund

good debt vs bad debt

lifestyle creep

cash flow investing

dividend stocks

dividend ETFs