The nonfinancial aspects of retirement should not be ignored. Losing your identity as a practicing physician is difficult for many. Filling your time with worthwhile activities is hard for others. Your relationship with your spouse may also undergo a difficult adjustment when you work less. Emergency physicians and other shift workers are lucky in that they can often ease themselves into retirement by gradually reducing shifts, minimizing these issues compared to many specialists.
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ACEP Now: Vol 33 – No 06 – June 2014Appropriate retirement planning, done on your own or with an appropriate professional, will minimize financial worries in your later years.
Dr. Dahle is the author of The White Coat Investor: A Doctor’s Guide to Personal Finance and Investing and blogs at http://whitecoatinvestor.com. He is not a licensed financial adviser, accountant, or attorney and recommends you consult with your own advisers prior to acting on any information you read here.
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One Response to “How Much Money Do Physicians Need to Retire?”
February 2, 2018
David LippmanDr Dahle,
Thank you for the article. I appreciate it and your work at The White Coat Investor.
Perhaps I missed it, but in retirement expenses it appears that health care insurance/HSA was only $2k in retirement. Doesn’t that seem low, particularly for a 55 year old who had a high income? I would imagine that it could be closer to $10k if he/she has to purchase it on the exchange. Am I wrong?
I may be reading between the lines, but it appears that for a 68K lifestyle you would recommend a savings of approx $1.7 million. Lastly, I find it interesting that only approximately 22% of ER physicians have a net worth of $2 million or more per the Medstudy Physician and Wealth 2017 Report (and only 12% of Fam Practice and 15% of IM docs have such an amount saved).
Personally, I think, as physicians, we need more education and action in retirement savings regardless of our specialty.
Thanks for your work!