How Much Money Does a Doctor Need to Retire?

Short answer: It depends. Better answer: The number will vary from person to person depending on a wide variety of circumstances, but that shouldn’t stop us from coming up with an estimate for you.

The variables that actually matter include current lifestyle, which influences your desired or anticipated spending in retirement, anticipated length of retirement, time to retirement, risk tolerance, ability or willingness to earn income in the future, and passive income streams including pensions and social security.

Will You need $10 Million to Retire?

$10 Million is a lot of money. Few physicians will ever be able to claim a net worth of $10 Million, let alone retirement savings of $10 Million. The vast majority of physicians will retire eventually with less than half of that.

What’s your number? Let’s examine the variables to come up with our best guesstimate.

Examine Your Current Lifestyle

What does your life look like today? What creature comforts have become customary? How much do you spend in a year? Are you determined to maintain your current lifestyle indefinitely or do you expect some current expenses to go away?

Determine Your Anticipated Retirement Spending Needs

Retirement life will not be the same. Any kids may be grown and out of the house. You may choose to downsize your home or move to a lower cost of living area. You’ll be able to drop disability and term life insurance.

– 2 Years of FIRE: Life After an Early Exit From Medicine

How Long Will You Be Retired?

It’s best to have a positive outlook and assume you’re going to live a long, healthy life. Not only does that attitude tend to be a self-fulfilling prophecy, but it’s also better to have your money outlast last you as opposed to you outliving your money.

How Close Are You to Retirement?

If you plan to retire within the next five years, you can probably get by with less than a $10 Million dollar nest egg. Probably a lot less. But if you’re a medical student today, and you plan to retire in 35 to 40 years, $10 Million may not be enough.

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