See Financial Independence More Clearly
Optometry school prepared you to care for patients and protect their vision, not navigate student loan forgiveness, practice acquisition financing, or backdoor Roth strategies. SLP Wealth is a fiduciary financial planning firm built to help optometrists make confident financial decisions from graduation through retirement.
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Fiduciary Advisors
Your best interest drives every recommendation
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Optometry Specialists
Financial planning tailored to every stage of an optometry career
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Student Loan Experts
Built on Student Loan Planner®, so loan strategy is in our DNA
Why Optometrists Need a Specialized Financial Advisor
Optometrists face one of the tightest debt-to-income ratios in healthcare. The average OD graduate finishes with $200,000 or more in student loan debt, while median optometrist salaries typically range from $120,000 to $150,000. That math makes the student loan decision — and every other financial choice — more consequential than for most other medical professionals.
The gap between a smart loan strategy and a mediocre one can easily reach six figures over the life of your loans. And it doesn't stop at student debt — optometrists also face decisions around practice ownership, joining corporate optical vs. independent practice, investing in equipment and diagnostic technology, and planning for retirement in a field that depends heavily on insurance reimbursement.
Then there's the complexity. Optometrists regularly deal with financial questions that don't come up in a standard planning engagement: Should I pursue PSLF at a VA or community health center, or refinance? Is corporate optometry (like working at a retail chain) financially better than building my own practice? How do I evaluate a practice acquisition offer? Should I form an S-corp for my practice income?
The wrong answer to any of these can cost tens of thousands of dollars — or more. A financial advisor who works with optometrists and other medical professionals day in and day out already knows the landscape, the trade-offs, and the strategies that matter most at each stage of an optometry career.
That's why working with an optometry-focused financial advisor isn't about getting generic advice with a healthcare spin. It's about partnering with someone who understands the debt-to-income realities of optometry, practice ownership economics, and how student loans interact with every other part of your financial plan.
What an Optometrist Financial Advisor Helps You With
Financial planning for optometrists touches nearly every corner of personal finance, but a few areas require especially careful attention. Here's where a dedicated financial advisor for optometrists adds the most value.
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Student Loan Strategy
With one of the most challenging debt-to-income ratios in healthcare, the repayment path you choose can swing your total cost by six figures. We help you evaluate whether PSLF at a qualifying employer, income-driven repayment and forgiveness, or refinancing is the right play — and how it fits your broader financial plan. At SLP Wealth, student loan planning is woven into every engagement, not treated as an afterthought.
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Tax Planning
The gap between good and great tax planning can be worth tens of thousands per year — especially for practice owners. We help optometrists take advantage of backdoor Roth IRA conversions, S-corp election, Section 179 deductions for diagnostic equipment, HSA optimization, and retirement plan design that minimizes your tax burden.
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Retirement Planning
Whether you're contributing to a corporate 401(k) in retail optical, an employer plan at a group practice, or designing a solo 401(k) or cash balance plan as a practice owner, optometrists have access to solid retirement savings vehicles. We help you build a plan that accounts for student debt, maximizes employer matches, and ensures you're on track for the future.
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Practice Ownership & Transitions
Optometry offers multiple practice paths: corporate retail, hospital or ophthalmology group employment, or independent ownership. Each carries different financial implications — from the stability of corporate employment to the higher income potential and risk of ownership. We help you evaluate acquisition offers, model ownership vs. employment, plan for buy-ins, and think through whether independent or corporate practice fits your goals.
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Asset Protection & Insurance
Optometrists face clinical liability that makes proper insurance coverage essential. We address own-occupation disability insurance, term life, malpractice coverage, umbrella policies, and how your assets are titled — so your personal wealth is protected from practice-related risk.
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Cash Flow & Budgeting
Whether you're an employed OD earning a salary or a practice owner navigating variable patient volume and insurance reimbursement, managing cash flow is critical. We help you build a spending framework that balances loan repayment, savings, practice reinvestment, and quality of life — without feeling like you're constantly behind.
Financial Planning for Optometrists at Every Career Stage
Your financial priorities change as your career evolves. Here's how we approach planning for optometrists at each stage.
Optometry Students & New Graduates
During optometry school, debt is climbing fast. The decisions you make in your first year after graduation carry enormous long-term weight. Choosing the right student loan repayment strategy — IDR and forgiveness vs. refinancing, PSLF-eligible employment vs. corporate or private practice — can save or cost you hundreds of thousands over the life of your loans.
We also help new graduates get the right disability insurance in place while rates are low — critical for a career that depends on your ability to practice.
Early-Career Optometrists
Your first few years as an OD are about building a financial foundation on what can feel like a tight income relative to your debt. You're navigating your first real compensation, deciding between corporate, group, or independent practice paths, and figuring out how aggressively to pay down loans. This is also when you're weighing whether to pursue practice ownership. We help early-career optometrists create a cash flow plan, prioritize competing goals, and make sure you're maximizing every dollar.
Practice Owners & Partners
Owning a practice changes everything. You're now managing business finances alongside personal finances — and the two are deeply intertwined. This is where conversations around entity structure (S-corp vs. LLC), retirement plan design (solo 401(k), SEP IRA, or cash balance plan), equipment depreciation, practice valuation, and navigating insurance reimbursement take center stage. Your net worth is growing, and the stakes of getting things right keep rising with it.
Pre-Retirement Optometrists
As you approach the end of your clinical career, the focus shifts from accumulation to distribution — and for practice owners, there's the added complexity of a practice sale or transition. How will you draw down assets tax-efficiently? What does your healthcare coverage look like before Medicare kicks in? Should you do Roth conversions during lower-income bridge years? We help optometrists nearing retirement stress-test their plan and make sure the transition goes smoothly.
How SLP Wealth Is Different
There's no shortage of financial advisors, but very few understand the specific financial realities optometrists face. Here's what sets SLP Wealth apart.
✅ Fiduciary financial advisors.
We charge transparent fees for financial planning and investment management with no hidden costs. When we identify a need for insurance or other products, we refer you to vetted professionals, and that referral relationship is always fully disclosed.
🎓 Student loan expertise built in.
SLP Wealth grew out of Student Loan Planner®, the largest student loan advisory in the country. Student loan strategy isn't a side offering — it's part of our DNA. For optometrists especially, where the debt-to-income ratio is one of the most challenging in healthcare, getting the loan strategy right is one of the highest-value decisions we help with.
🌐 Virtual and nationwide.
We work with optometrists everywhere. No need to find a local office. Your advisor is a video call or message away, which means you get access to a specialist instead of settling for whoever happens to practice nearby.
👁️ Optometry focus, not lip service.
Our team advises hundreds of optometrists, dentists, physicians, and other medical professionals with complex student debt. We know the nuances of corporate vs. private optometry, practice ownership economics, and how to build a strategy that fits an optometry career's unique financial timeline.
💲 Transparent pricing.
Our fees are published right here on this page. No hidden costs, no vague “depends on your situation” answers. You know exactly what you're paying before you commit.
Use our calculator to estimate what you'll pay
Financial Planning with SLP Wealth
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Tax preparation with SLP Wealth Waitlist — tell your planner
1For a limited time, just $299/month for financial planning and we’ll waive your set up fee ($0 instead of $1,000). Those fees are not locked in forever (thanks inflation), but once you sign up, we’ll keep you locked into that monthly rate as long as we can!
Testimonials / Endorsements
Laila
Optometrist“Very friendly and informative financial planner. Really takes the time to get to know your specific goals before diving into actual plans”
Disclaimer:
These testimonial/endorsement statements were provided by current and former clients in response to client satisfaction surveys. Clients who completed surveys were eligible to participate in a drawing for a gift card awarded to a survey participant chosen at random, not based on survey responses. No compensation was given, and no conflict of interest exists between the client and SLP Wealth.
Financial Planning for Optometrists — Frequently Asked Questions
Financial advisor fees vary widely. Commission-based advisors may appear “free” but earn money by selling products. Fiduciary advisors like SLP Wealth charge transparent fees. Our financial planning is $0–$299 per month, based on assets under management, and we also offer personal tax services for an additional $199/month. When we refer you to an outside professional for insurance or other needs, we always disclose that relationship. You can see our full pricing above.
The earlier the better — but especially during major transitions. Graduating optometry school, starting your first job, deciding whether to buy or start a practice, getting married, having children, or approaching retirement are all inflection points where the right guidance pays for itself many times over. The student loan decision right after graduation is one of the most consequential financial choices an optometrist will make.
Yes — optometrists who work full-time for a qualifying nonprofit or government employer (such as a VA medical center, community health center, or nonprofit hospital system) can qualify for PSLF. After 120 qualifying payments on an income-driven repayment plan, the remaining balance is forgiven tax-free. Given the optometry debt-to-income ratio, PSLF is often one of the most valuable strategies available. We help you evaluate whether it's the right path for you.
It depends on your financial situation, risk tolerance, and career goals. Corporate optometry (retail chains) typically offers stable income, benefits, and less administrative burden, while practice ownership can significantly increase your long-term income and build equity — but comes with debt, management responsibilities, and reimbursement rate exposure. We help you model both paths so you can make the decision with a clear financial picture, not just gut instinct.
Optometrists face a unique combination of challenges: high student loan debt relative to income, the decision of whether to buy, build, or join a practice, complex business entity and tax structures for practice owners, clinical liability risk, and insurance reimbursement pressures that can affect income. A financial advisor who specializes in working with medical professionals understands these dynamics and builds plans around them — rather than using a generic template and hoping it fits.
Absolutely. SLP Wealth is a fully virtual firm serving optometrists in all 50 states. Most of our client meetings happen over video, and our planning and investment management platforms are accessible from anywhere.
