Mid-career may come sooner in non-medical professions, but the considerations remain the same.
The typical mid-career professional is probably in his or her forties or early fifties. She might have a decade or more under her belt and a decade or more to go.
There are plenty of financial articles out there for doctors who are just getting started with their investing careers. There are also many articles discussing what to do as you approach retirement.
Part of the reason for this is that the mid-career physician’s finances are truly a tale of two cities.
In the first city are those who became financially literate early in their careers, are already millionaires and expect to reach financial independence early enough to allow early retirement.
In the second city are doctors who don’t particularly enjoy reading about finances, are probably paying an overpriced advisor for bad advice , have made a few significant financial mistakes.
Whatever it was, it’s best to correct it earlier rather than later. That might involve paying an hourly advisor to get a second opinion or some assistance, but it is generally money well-spent, and the sooner you fix the issue, the more benefit you will see from doing so.
Having the mortgage paid off early allows you to boost retirement savings, cash flow college costs, or even increase your spending for items like automobiles and vacations.
Take a look at how much you have, how long until you will need it, how much college really costs these days, and how much of it you are going to pay for.