How This FI Physician Decided When to Retire

There are numerous facets to deciding when to retire. The event is usually spurred by some combination of “I have enough” and “I’ve had enough.”

My friend Dr. David Graham, the infectious disease doctor and part-time financial advisor behind the FI Physician blog has realized that the time has come for him to circle a date on the calendar and leave the medical profession while still in his forties.

What was the impetus for change? How much notice is he giving? I’ll let the good doctor from Montana answer those questions.

This Friday Feature was first published by the FI Physician.

 

 

 

Well, it is done. I emailed my boss this week telling him I am retiring on 4/1/2022. April fool’s day next year, in fact, and that’s no joke.

How did I pick my retirement date? Well, I had to get approval from my better half, and she will learn about this decision from this blog. She doesn’t often read my blogs, so it will be interesting to see if she notices. And no, it is not an April Fool’s joke either… I can’t hardly plan for next week let alone a joke carefully planned out a year in advance.

So, what process goes into picking your retirement date? Which date will it be for you?

 

 

Early Retirement and the “One-More-Year” Syndrome

 

I am retiring early. I will be 48 when I retire from medicine. I wanted to “FIRE” a year ago, but I got one-more-year syndrome.

Reading FIRE blogs, it seems the one-more-year syndrome is common. After all, if you are retiring early, by definition it is a choice to do so. You are not being forced out of the job; you are leaving for the greener pastures on the other side of the fence. It is a decision.

I don’t think many of us take out a blank sheet of paper, put a line down the middle and write on each side the reasons for and against retiring on a certain date. But it is more than just a gut feeling. There is some reason or logic applied to the decision-making process.

Sometimes, the one-more-year might indicate that you are not sure you have enough money. If I work for one more year, then I have a year’s more resources (and a year’s less expenses) at my disposal. This is a math problem: 25x your yearly expenses and you have hit your FI number.

But what if you are not the only source of income for your family? Truth be told, I am not retiring, I am going to be a stay-at-home dad and my wife will continue to work. She makes more than enough to support our young family.

So, the retirement police can call me a stay-at-home dad instead of an early retiree. Fine with me!

I waited one more year for non-financial reasons. I am worried: what will I do with my time?

 

 

What Does it Mean to Retire?

 

What do retirees do with their time? Asked another way: what is retirement?

There is controversy aplenty about the definition of retirement. In fact, most people who “retire” early go on to do other things. Perhaps the emphasis is on no longer getting a paycheck doing what you’ve been doing before.

You can still do work, and you can still get a paycheck if that brings you value. But early retirement means that you can live on your accumulated assets if that is what brings you value.

More importantly, then, what do you do with your time when you retire? This worry is what kept me working one more year. [Well, there is this global pandemic too… is it poor optics for an ID doc to retire during one of those?]

I will, in fact, keep working when I retire. It is my hope to take my kids to school and pick them up at the end of the day. Between then, I’ve got this blog. I made $250 off it in the last two years, so that will go a long way. Aside from the massive paycheck this blog brings in, it also is a lot of fun. “Flow State” for me is at 2AM writing a blog. Sick, but true.

But the purpose of the blog is to promote my job: Advice-Only retirement planning for physicians. That is what interests me. That is a passion of mine. Helping well-to-do physicians who are DIY investors retire. That’s a nice niche to be in! It has taken all of my interest but 10% of my time over the last few years. What would happen if I gave it more time? Some Passion, even…

 

Passion Drives the Decision to Retire

 

It is hard to let go of what you know and try something new. That is perhaps what is the most difficult part of this decision, to stop working. “Better the devil you know” and all…

There is great camaraderie in the hospital. I do enjoy talking to colleagues, though the covid conversations become challenging in the last year. Meanwhile, I feel like I’ve had one foot in the grave and one out ever since I knew I wanted to FIRE. There is much to miss but staying here means staying stuck.

It took many years to get my job just how I like it. Once you have “F-You” money, you can start working on improving your job. For instance, list the top 5 things you like about your job and the 5 things you like least about your job. Stop doing the 5 things you like least about it, and do more of the top 5 things if you want to. And if your boss won’t work with you, find one that will. FI means you can work because it brings you pleasure to do so.

Many doctors will never quit, either because they are “old school” where being a doctor is your identity, or because it is all they know. That is fine. Most of them would probably die a few years after quitting anyway.

For me, one foot in the grave keeps me from exploring my future passions.

 

Retirement is the Wrong Word

 

Early Retirement is the wrong word. It is a transition from being a doctor to being a stay-at-home dad with some other interests.

As I mentioned, I feel like I cannot move on and allow myself to explore the next step while I’m still at my current job. There are the hours in the day, after all, you can do anything you want to do with your time. But until you have those empty hours stretch into weeks and weeks into months as a retiree, it just feels different.

So retirement is the wrong word. What should we call it? Finding a new passion?

What about finding Ikigai in the next phase of your life?

Ikigai, or “a reason for being.”

 

 

On the top, do what you love. Right: do what the world needs. Bottom: do what you can be paid for. And finally, on the left: do what you are good at.

Are you working a mission, vocation, profession, or passion? If all of them, then it is Ikigai.

Is Ikigai just for work, or does it work in retirement, too?

 

Ikigai During Retirement

 

Ikigai during retirement is a little different. No longer do you need to worry about the bottom half circle: do what you can be paid for. After all, you don’t need the money.

But interestingly, that doesn’t mean that vocation is gone: you still must do what the world needs. Similarly, profession is still there too: it is what you are good at.

So Ikigai during retirement means finding your mission and passion, with less emphasis on vocation and profession. What you love, what you are good at, and what the world needs.

It is time to take one foot out of the grave and find Ikigai in retirement.

I have the sense that it is time to move on. April 1^st, it is.

You: maybe you will know when your retirement date is as well by pondering Ikigai in retirement. Remember meanwhile, though, FIRE is JOY!

For me, I have an idea of what comes next. More time with the kids, my consummate wife, and more time to discover Ikigai during retirement.

 

 

Do you know your retirement date? How will you pick your retirement date?