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Physicians have a strange relationship with retiring.
Because medical professionals tend to have a later start to their careers, they end up retiring much later than their peers. And even that is a mixed bag, with many doctors struggling to retire in the first place.
And if you haven’t noticed, early retirement is sort of our passion here are Physicians On FIRE. We believe that early retirement is a possibility for anyone in the medical field, as long as they play their cards right.
But of course, there are plenty of anxieties that emerge once we start discussing retirement as a plan. It can often feel like a definitive end to something you’ve worked for, for years. Which it can be, but those fears can keep you from fully enjoying what is considered the golden period of your life.
Physicians look forward to the day they’d have to stop clocking in, but there are many things holding them back from finally taking that plunge. So today, let’s go through some common retiree fears and how to tackle them for a retirement period with no regrets.
- The Physician Retirement Period
- Instability After Retiring
- Older Doctors And The Fear Of Losing Purpose
Doctors And Retirement: What’s The Deal?
Retirement is a long term goal for everyone, but physicians tend to to take it up a notch. According to Medscape, about 2 out of 3 physicians don’t plan on retiring until they reach their mid-60s or early 70s.
Contrast this with the average retiree age of other careers in the U.S. at age 63. But consider the demographics. In medicine, female physicians make up the majority of early retirees, with male physicians still wanting to work well into their 70s.
Whereas when you look at age, those with more than a decade of experience in the field want to approach retirement earlier than other age groups.
However, times are changing, and the newer generation of medical professionals doesn’t want to keep working until they reach the end of the average human lifespan. Early retirement amongst physicians has reached new heights, with nearly 30% of physicians wanting to hang the old lab coat up when they hit 60. And 12% of physicians don’t even want to wait that long.
One theory here is that because medicine is a field that takes time to establish yourself in, a later retirement age just makes chronological sense. However, many older physicians agree that to enjoy retirement, you need to be healthy enough to live through it.
So, it’s no wonder FIRE has become the way for many. What’s the point of winding down when you aren’t physically capable of settling in it?
Physician Concerns Regarding Retirement
There are multiple reasons that a physician might start looking into retirement from medical burnout, wanting to spend more time with loved ones, and even health concerns that might push them to pull back from practicing.
And yet, many physicians find it hard to retire at all, let alone at a feasible age.
Many common fears are associated with retirement amongst the medical fraternity, ranging from financial to a personal sense of responsibility. But it all boils down to a few key points listed below.
1. Feeling listless after a lifetime of working
When you’re in a routine for decades on end, it’s going to be hard to break through. Medicine itself is an organisational field. You clock in, do shifts, clock out. And for many, that routine is welcome.
The problem with retirement is that the excitement of the job is gone. It isn’t just about missing out on the amazing cases and interesting patients.
Older physicians complain about the full stop after retirement, all those years of training and tackling challenges coming to an end. The boredom can feel like a looming specter, when you’ve been on call for so long.
2. No sense of responsibility post-retirement
A lot of us didn’t become doctors just because of the pay. There is something to be said about the sense of purpose that comes with being a healer. And losing it can feel like being lost in all parts of your life.
It can be jarring when you go from saving lives and making a difference to zero responsibility. The idea of leaving such an impactful life is a hard one to grapple with and is one of the bigger reasons why doctors don’t end up retiring as early as others. There’s always one more case to diagnose, one more patient to heal. And that cycle can feel never-ending, leading to a loss of identity when you can’t do it anymore.
3. Financial instability
All personal expectations aside, financial security is probably the biggest hurdle for potential retirees.
Physicians are amongst the top earners in the U.S., according to federal data. That steady stream of income affords your average doctor a pretty comfortable lifestyle. But retirement is where that lifestyle comes into question because it can be pretty unsustainable.
And it’s not like all medical specialties earn the same, so their savings might look different when compared. Between supporting your family and taking care of any future expenses, retirement can feel unfathomable to many.
How To Bypass The Fears For A Comfortable Retirement
Those retiree fears will be ever-present, but that shouldn’t stop physicians from taking that well-deserved time away from practice. And so, here are a few ways to mitigate any concerns when considering retiring.
Be financially responsible from the get-go
This is a simple one, but most of your retirement issues go away as soon as you know you have enough savings to tide you through.
And for that, you can take multiple steps, such as following a sure FIRE way to manage your money or getting a financial advisor to help you budget things. This also means reassessing your assets and seeing where you could invest your money better.
Take loved ones in consideration
We often underestimate how much community can help when taking a huge step like retirement.
Consider sitting down with family and friends to discuss what would the right time for retirement be and what that would look like to them. Consulting the people who know you best can alleviate a lot of the fears because they affirm what you may or may not need going forward.
Consult older physicians for their retirement experiences
When in doubt, ask someone who has already been through it.
There is plenty of wisdom in talking to older medical professionals about what their retirement ended up being like. They could also help clear the air regarding whether you want to continue medicine going forward and how they dealt with the listlessness from retiring permanently.
Have a flexible retirement plan
Retirement doesn’t have to be a permanent end to your career! A flexible retirement plan can go a long way in helping you transition from full-time work to whatever suits you best.
There are many options, from taking on fewer shifts to becoming a partner for a self-owned practice. Even volunteer work can be rewarding for those physicians who miss the feeling of helping out others. Instead of stopping abruptly, cut your hours down to make for a smoother transition.
Retirement is a massive step in our lives, ending a period where we have struggled and worked so hard. But it doesn’t have to be this ominous gargantuan fear looming over your head.
