Kelly Alhooie (speaker) argues that "golden handcuffs"—the perceived benefits that keep people stuck in jobs—are mainly: employer 401(k) plans, employer-provided medical benefits, student loan forgiveness bonuses, and (less frequently) paid time off. She challenges the belief that these benefits require staying at an employer, offering alternatives: starting a small business (she claims it can cost as little as $400 to start, especially for healthcare providers), using marketplace insurance plus low-cost concierge primary-care memberships (~$90/month), and leveraging solo-business retirement plans (she cites a $23,000 contribution limit). She also notes employers may offer ~$5,000/year student-loan assistance as a tax-deductible benefit for the employer and argues that one new client a month can cover typical family health insurance costs (which she estimates at $400–$600/month). The piece combines practical tips, personal anecdotes (two businesses she founded), and motivational exhortation to leave jobs that don't fit long-term goals.
Questions this video answers
$400
$5,000 per year
$90 per month
$400–$600 per month
$23,000
Chapters
What's keeping you from leaving your job and starting your own business is actually the golden handcuffs. And the golden handcuffs are these three things, typically 401k medical reimbursement, actually them paying for your medical care or having some kind of way of, you know, getting medical services. And then number three, student loan forgiveness. This is what I find keeps people telling themselves a narrative that they're going to stick with a company so that they. Oh, and one more thing. Maybe number four is time off. I don't hear that one that often, but like, why have time off and I won't have it with myself? You can have all the time off you want. You can give yourself. Okay, these are the four things that actually keep people stuck. And a job they hate. Maybe not even hate. That's. Hate's a strong word. Dislike. But they're comfortable with it because they have some cool colleagues and they don't want to let those colleagues down to where they're going to be talking behind their back that they went and started their own company and how dare they do that. Guys, number one, please do not, not let your colleagues be the determining factor. If you yourself are going to change your life, that's on them. So let them talk about you. Let them say stuff behind your back. They're just jealous because they don't have the audacity to actually stand up and do the same thing. So they're going to continuously work for a system that is broken, that is going to keep them broke and not give them time with their family. And that is on them. That is not on you. But you can have a choice to take a stance and do something differently than all your other colleagues, and that is to start a company. It's a lot easier than you think to start a company. It's actually very easy for healthcare providers. You do not need high loan like taking out business loans. You not need lots of equipment. You literally need $400 to start a business. That is it. $400, okay? And a lot of freaking passion. That's it. And no, you don't have to be a business major. I never was. I didn't even know what was owning. I didn't even want to own a business. I didn't know even know how to what, what a business bank account was when I opened one up. I didn't have a credit card until I was 35 years old. I didn't know anything about anything. Okay? And I was able to create two successful businesses. Why? Because I had a mission to help people to just Freaking help people in different capacities. One business coaching, another purely just anything orthopedic or pelvic floor in the rehab space. Those were my two passions. And I was able to do that by seeing different gaps and being able to take people from, you know, 0 to 100, whether or not that's them climbing, you know, Mount Everest or whether or not it was taking my clients from no business at all to 40, 50, 60, 70, 80k months to be able to get their time back and have a life they never even knew existed. Right. So today I want to talk about why these beliefs are in our head that we have to continue to work at a job because of student loan forgiveness. Now hear me out. When I talk to most of you guys, most of you guys say, Kelly, they gave me 5k a year for student loan forgiveness. Do you guys know why they give you 5k a year? Because it is a tax write off. It is beneficial to businesses like mine or like any rehab facility if you are in the employer. We can get $5,000 written off for taxes if we give you 5k for your loans. So it's a benefit to both parties and it's also like a little carrot that we dangle to kind of keep you there. Now here's the thing, and I say that because this is what these companies are doing as tactics to keep people to kind of again put them in the golden handcuffs. They're basically saying, well, we'll give you 5k if you stay for a year. Well then, and they don't give the 5k until that year is up and then they give the 5k. Right? And many providers stay there until they get the 5k. But here's what they don't tell you. 5k for a whole freaking year. 5k. Some of y', all, I know when I was in your position, I was like, 5k is a freaking lot. 5k is nothing, by the way, 5k is you getting two clients, them signing on for 12 sessions or 13 sessions. It will pay that. And some literally you get two clients a month. A month. Not just like one time a year, a month. Like just one, one month will pay for the whole freaking year of that 5k. So why do we say, well I have to stay to get my 5k? Like what's wrong with our freaking brains? Like why that's not okay. Like we're brainwashed. Stop being brainwashed. I'm trying to unbrainwash you. If the news gets to brainwash you, why can't I brainwash you? The correct Way to tell you. Rethink about that. Reevaluate that. Like truly, if they're keeping you there for 5K. Come on, guys, you don't think you can get two clients a month? Just for one month? Come on, you can. Okay, so that's the first thing I have to say. The next thing, let's talk about health care or health benefits or health insurance, right? Okay, Health insurance. And I know most of you guys have kids and you know, you're concerned about the kids and the visits and whatever else, but here's the thing. Medicine has evolved. There are so many primary cares that take care of your kid, by the way, okay? With whatever respiratory issue they got, whatever fungus they bring home from school, whatever it is, okay? That actually have memberships now. And per X dollars a month, you can now have a membership where you can bring your kid whenever. You don't have to worry about co pays. You don't have to worry about any of that crap. That's the plan you should be on. And you go to marketplace.com, find the lowest freaking plan that you can possibly be on just to satisfy the needs of whatever government rules there are out there, okay? And then you pay the membership rate for you and your family to a concierge doctor, okay? And when I say concierge, it sounds like, oh, it's all bougie. No, there's many primary cares out there right now that charge like $90 a month for a family. And it includes basic vaccines if you want that. It includes wellness visit. It includes like so many different things. $90 a month, that's nothing. And so it's rethinking about it and how to do it differently. Plus, at least for me, I can tell you this, I never use the normal medical system here, ever. Never, never, never, never. So I save up for, for going to add a network. And that's just what it is. And you can look at like Fidelity or something that has flexible healthcare savings accounts that actually can be tax write offable. And you can also do something where you like invest money into the stock market as well, while also doing a tax saving plan for your health. I mean, there are so many different options for this, but none of us really know this because we weren't taught this. We were taught we got to stick with the plan because they're giving us health insurance. So I must have health insurance. I can't tell you how many people in my clinic that I. We didn't have health insurance at my clinic because I was just like it's, it's B.S. like, I didn't believe in it and there's so many other options, but so many people are like, no, I don't want this position because I don't have health benefits. And it's like, but are you really going to actually use that crappy care that they're about to provide you? And it's just because society said, no, I want benefits. I'm a doctor. I now get Benefits and a 401k and a student loan forgiveness, and now I'm going to be rich. That's not it. It's all a lie. It's all a lie. They're all lying to you. So there are ways around the health benefits and the health insurance. So please don't let that keep you stuck. And if I really break down the math, like, a lot of people are paying anywhere between 400 to $600 per family or per person and not per person, but basically for a family, depending on how many family members you have. So basically, let's just say if you have a, you know, two kids, spouse, whatever, about $600 a month, you bring in one client a month. It covers that. It covers it. One client a month. Guys. Like, we have to get our heads out of our freaking butts. Like, come on, one client a month. Do you think you can do that? Yes. So why are we waiting? Why not 30 clients? One. Okay, so then the next thing that, the next kind of excuse that I tend to hear is, well, vacation days. Okay, well, guess what? When you work for yourself, you can create any amount of vacation days you possibly could have off. Just so you know. Okay, what's the next one? We have health insurance, 401k. Did I go over that? Oh, 401k. Do that. 401k. By the way, if you own a business, you can put up to $23,000 into a business account, which is actually tax savings to your. To a 401k account, by the way. Okay. Which is actually tax savings and it will save you a couple thousand on your. On your actual. What you owe in taxes. So the benefit of you being your own entity and getting a 401k yourself is actually huge because you will get more tax benefit than if you save for what the company is putting into your 401k. Just so you know, again, it's the lies that they're telling us, the lies that are keeping you stuck in a job or position that doesn't create a life overall that you need or want. And I'm here today to break that down, to basically tell you what I hear on lots of these calls and tell you that. That it's just not true. Like, it's just not true. You're telling yourself lies that are complete lies that society has trained us to think that that is the thing, that that is like the magic umbrella that we're all going to be so happy to have and that everyone wants that. No one wants that. They think they want that, but no one actually wants that. Again, it's a lie. So stop listening to the lies and start telling yourself a different story. That you can do it, that you're worth it, that you're going to change your family's trajectory, and that you have the resources to actually do something that most people aren't willing to do. And you're going to be different than by going out there and starting your freaking business and not letting the freaking golden handcuffs tie you down to a freaking job that you feel secure at. You got to take action. You got to be the one that's going to step up. You got to be the one that says, no, put your foot down. I'm going to help these people because they freaking deserve it. And that's it. So stop letting the freaking handcuffs hold you back from freaking getting your dreams that you want. Bye, guys.
