Retirement Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Physician on FIRE

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Early Retirement Bliss: Getting Your Partner on Board

cubert bike

Early retirement sounds amazing, but what if it doesn’t sound amazing to your partner? That makes things a bit challenging, to say the least. Cubert, an aspiring retiree who plans to abandon the cubicle in his mid-forties, provided today’s guest post in which he discusses strategies one can use to make the FIRE life sound like a winning proposition (and how not to approach it, as he did initially). Cubert and I have a fair amount in common, living in the same state while owning property in the same part of another (here’s his and here’s mine). We’re also husbands, […]

Top 5 Expenses That Could Go Up in Retirement

Playing with FIRE

A few weeks ago, I celebrated the Top 5 Expenses That Go Down in Retirement. Every dollar you don’t spend when retired is $25 to $33 you don’t need to set aside for retirement. Drop $10,000 in expenses and your required nest egg is at least a quarter million dollars smaller. Awesome! But… there’s a not-so-awesome part. Some expenses go down, sure. Others will remain roughly the same. Some spending categories, though, can unfortunately be expected to go up. Ay, there’s the rub. Every $1,000 you plan to spend per year requires roughly an extra $25,000 to $33,000 in savings […]

Ten Reasons to Delay Your Early Retirement by Five to Ten Years

dock of the bay

Prepare to be taken on a musical journey through Vagabond MD’s extended-play version of One More Year Syndrome. Today’s post borrows ideas from a wide variety of talented artists, so strap on your Beats and enjoy the ride. Our guest author is a financially independent interventional radiologist who will soon be working part-time. He is a frequent and thoughtful contributor to the White Coat Investor forum with over 1,100 posts to date. You may recall his previous guest posts, both of which generated much discussion. Kids are Dynamite for Your Early Retirement Plans Top 5 Reasons This Physician Holds $500,000 […]

Top 5 Expenses that Go Down in Retirement

boys fighting

In order to safely plan for a successful retirement, it’s imperative to have a general idea of what your spending needs will be when retired. We cannot calculate whether or not our anticipated withdrawal rate would be considered safe (in the range of 3% to 4%) without knowing the size of the annual withdrawal. That number can be difficult to pin down, as there are many variables. It can be informative to budget (we don’t) or track spending (we do), but this year’s spending might not look like last year’s, and could be entirely different than what we will end […]

Regret After Leaving a Medical Career Behind

villa at night

“Can I look at that book?” said the man next to me in an accent I would soon learn to be Pakistani. I had placed the book face down on the park bench intentionally. In a busy, public place, I didn’t want to broadcast that I was reading The Doctors Guide to Smart Career Alternatives and Retirement. The back cover contained enough information to pique the polite man’s interest. “Sure,” I said. I was genuinely curious as to why the guy, who has holding a baby boy on a Thursday afternoon in Nickelodeon Universe, would be interested in a book […]

Financial Implications of Leaving a Military Medicine Position

world war II museum

Today’s Saturday Selection from the White Coat Investor is a nod to current and former members of the military on Veteran’s Day. From both of us, thank you for all that you’ve done and continue to do to keep our nation safe and free! Dr. Jim Dahle, the author of this post, has experience as both a military and civilian physician, making him particularly qualified to explore this topic. This post originally appeared on The White Coat Investor in 2012, and has been partially updated for 2017. As noted by commenter Mike below, there have been additional changes in the last […]

Look Mortality in the Eye Without Flinching: Simple Estate Planning

courthouse city hall

Our latest guest post comes courtesy of Mrs. BITA of Bayalis is the Answer. What is Bayalis, you say? The answer is 42 in Hindi, or the age at which Mrs. BITA plans to be financially independent. Mrs. BITA and her husband are raising a family in one of the highest cost of living areas in this great nation, and are managing to get far ahead in spite of the high rent district. They are also planning for a future beyond their FIRE timeline, as you will learn from today’s article. I had the pleasure of meeting Mrs. BITA a […]

Lessons Learned at a Physician’s Retirement Planning Workshop

retirement planning workshop

When I saw these words in the ASA Annual Meeting schedule, I knew I had to check it out: Successful Retirement Planning: Accumulating and Utilizing Your Well-Earned Savings in Retirement! It was a three-hour tour, guided by pediatric anesthesiologist Jonathan D. Griswold, MD. I didn’t sign up to learn how to plan for retirement; I’ve got a pretty good handle on how I’m doing that. Curiosity drove me to add the item to my itinerary. I had questions. What would be covered? Would concepts of financial independence and early retirement be addressed? How many would attend? What would […]

An Actuary’s Take on Longevity and Early Retirement

longevity feature

Today’s guest comes someone who loves numbers even more than I do. As an actuary, the guy practically bathes in numbers. He also spends a lot of time contemplating heartwarming topics like life expectancy and the factors that alter it. The Actuary on FIRE (clever name!) is not to be confused with actually on fire; but instead is an actuary with a family on the east coast and he’s revving up his game after a recent financially indolent interlude. So, how does an actuary approach early retirement? Death. When life has slipped through your fingers like so many grains […]

The Rollercoaster Ride of Retirement: How to Survive Market Meltdowns

Today’s post is a guest post from The Wall Street Physician, a former Wall Street trader turned physician who blogs on investing topics pertinent to physicians and high-income professionals like us. Regular readers of this site should be familiar with the good doctor, as his writings have been featured a number of times in The Sunday Best. His posts have also appeared on KevinMD and The White Coat Investor, and I’m honored to share a post of his here with you today. Let WSP take you through the scenarios, and stick around for my comments at the end! Physician […]

Don’t Retire To Something. Retire On Something.

hobie blue sky

Retire On something. And With something. And From something. And Under something. And Before something. And In something. And For something. If you’ve read any advice related to early or standard retirement, you have encountered the following mantra: “Don’t retire From something. Retire To something.” Retire To Something is great advice and I’m not here to dismiss or disparage it. I could have just as easily written this post with the quote as the title, but where’s the fun in rehashing advice that appears on the pages of hundreds of other articles and forum threads on the subject? So […]

The Ultimate Hedge Against Future Uncertainty

Navy Pier Ride

Dr. Curious was kind enough to submit today’s guest post on a topic that is near and dear to me and my readers. The good doctor is a radiologist married to a pediatrician. They’ve got two young human children and another of the canine variety. He started a blog of his own several months ago to explore his curiosities on life, money, and more in a two-physician household. If you enjoy this post, be sure to check out more thoughtful and curious posts at his site My Curiosity Lab. Dr. Curious, tell us more about this ultimate hedge against future uncertainty. […]

How To Punch Out of Medicine in 10 Years

wakeboard boat powell lake

Today’s Saturday Selection from The White Coat Investor is a guide to moving on from medicine in about as little time as possible. Personally, I didn’t punch out after 10 years, but I did realize I was in a pretty darned good position to do so in my tenth year out of residency. I didn’t follow this plan exactly, but whatever I lost in silly mistakes and departures from the prescription, I made up for with extra work and income. This post originally appeared just over a year ago on The White Coat Investor, and has been updated with some […]

Our Drawdown Plan in Early Retirement

sun valley stream

We know how to become financially independent. We work, we earn, we save. We invest in a simple and sensible fashion. Perhaps we’ve accepted the challenge to live on half. Eventually, we have reached our magic number. We’ve got 25, 30, or 33.33 years worth of anticipated annual expenses for a 4%, 3.33%, or 3% withdrawal rate spread across various tax-deferred, tax-advantaged, and taxable accounts. We are experts in adding to them. But how do we best subtract from them? Today, I’d like to share our drawdown plan in early retirement. Know Your Starting Point at Retirement There […]

What’s Your Part Time Number?

I recently revealed my plan to decrease my workload as a part-timer this fall. I detailed the schedule and the math behind the taxation in a post on this site (So Long, Full Time Employment!) and the news has also circulated amongst my real-life colleagues at work. While I do get my share of quizzical looks due to my relatively young age of 41, I honestly haven’t been on the receiving end of much negative feedback, at least not to my face. More often than not, the response is some combination of “good for you,” and “I wish I could […]

Retired from Medicine at 37: The Finances Behind Her Decision

newborn baby

Today’s article is a guest post from Valerie A. Jones, MD, a way early retiree who left behind a medical career at the ripe young age of 37. To learn why, check out her post at OB Doctor Mom entitled Retired at 37: Breaking Up With a Career in Medicine. To learn about the finances that allowed her to do this, read on. I am a 37-Year Old Retired OB/Gyn Usually, when I tell people I retired from my physician career at age 37, they respond with shock. Some look at me like I am the most foolish person they […]

How to Get to Your Money Before Age 59 1/2

POF 1st Home

Saturday Selection: How to Get to Your Money Before Age 59 1/2 This classic post from Dr. Jim Dahle originally appeared on The White Coat Investor. It is of particular value to the aspiring early retiree. Yes, Virginia, there is a way to get to that retirement money. If you read the fine print on your IRAs, 401Ks, and 403Bs, you’ve probably discovered that the government wants you to use the money for retirement, and also that the government feels that retirement shouldn’t start before age 59 1/2. But what if you want to retire before age 59 1/2? How can […]

Confessions From a Physician Who Failed Early Retirement

May 2017 calendar

Today’s article is a guest post from Douglas Segan, MD JD, a doctor and lawyer who seems to like going to work as much as he did going to school. Dr. Segan is an expert on insurance and asset protection, having written on the topics in numerous guest posts at The White Coat Investor. I am honored that he asked to share a story that fit best on this site — the story of the failed early retiree. Let’s hear it, Dr. Segan, Esquire. I Tried to Retire Early Financial independence is an admirable goal for every physician. I believe […]

Beyond Enough

louvre sculptures

Today’s article is an original guest post from the White Coat Investor. Like the good Dr. Dahle, I have crossed the threshold of having Enough to consider our family financially independent, but I continue to work one more year after another. Read further as he delves into some of the lifestyle and financial considerations for those of us in the extremely fortunate position of having Enough and then some. Beyond Enough Physician on FIRE (the blog, not the person) is all about Financial Independence and Retiring Early. Over the last year or so, I’ve had to grapple with […]

Early Retirement Chose Me

Vieques Plane

Why on earth would someone put themselves through twelve years of education and training for a career of only about twelve years? It’s a great question and one that I had best be prepared to answer again and again. My current job as an anesthesiologist is ending in the summer of 2019, and my time away from clinical medicine will be extended and perhaps permanent. If I put myself in the position of an outsider looking in at this situation, it doesn’t make a lot of sense. Here’s a guy who saves all this money just so he can quit his job. […]

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