By Dr. Erik Hofmeister, WCI Columnist
My wife and I are set to retire in July 2025 at the ages of 43 and 47, respectively. Our combined salaries have been around $250,000 for more than five years now. We like our jobs. We are in our peak earning years. We’re going to walk away from that amount of money forever because we want to spend more time on our health, hobbies, and socializing with friends and family. It’s scary to think about. Let’s first examine the fears of retiring this early and then the rational thoughts we use to balance them.
The Fears of Giving Up Our Salaries in Retirement
Fear #1: What If We Don’t Have Enough?
It’s easy to go to a job and get paid and not have to really worry about money. We spend less than 50% of our income, so there’s plenty of money to go around. If we have to pay an unexpected medical bill or have to buy a new car or a trip is more expensive than we planned, we can easily cash flow it. Once we don’t have our jobs, we’ll only have our assets to support us. What if it’s not enough, or unexpected things happen and deplete our assets too rapidly?
Fear #2: What If Everything Goes to Hell?
When the pandemic happened, it was sure nice to know I was still collecting a paycheck. What if political instability happens? What if a war starts? What if the market crashes like it did leading to the Great Depression? Having a job is a decent hedge against instability—you keep getting paid regardless of market performance.
Fear #3: What If We Get Bored and Regret the Decision?
We have jobs we really like right now that afford us a very high quality of life and a good work-life balance. We’re married academics—finding jobs in the same town is often impossible. If we want to go back to full-time work, it’s unlikely we could find jobs we like as much as the ones we have now.
Fear #4: What If One of Us Gets Really Sick or Disabled?
Our health insurance and employer-based support systems are incredible. If one of us requires significant disability support, can we actually cover that expense with our assets? If one of us gets really sick and requires years of expensive medical care, can we really cover that with our not-so-great ACA policy? Our meager mid-five-figure HSA will be rapidly wiped out in such an event.
Fear #5: How Will I Replace Everything I'm Accustomed To?
I’ve never been outside an academic system; how will I manage all kinds of things? Our phones have been provided by our employers for years. We have an IT department. I have an office printer. My computer and laptop are routinely replaced. We can easily get medical supplies and provide routine care for our pets ourselves. I have an institutional Zoom account I use daily. My institution pays for my yearly medical society memberships, statistical program licenses, and CE (often with travel!). We have a gym in the hospital basement I can use whenever I want for no charge. We have instant access to a large community and a whole university system. How will I replace all of these dozens of intangibles I have never had to think about?
Whew, that was a lot! It was both cathartic to write and terrifying to put it all in one place. OK, I need rational thoughts now to calm down.
More information here:
I’m Retiring in My Mid-40s; Here’s How I’ll Start Drawing Down My Accounts
A Pre-Retirement Financial Checklist
Rational Thoughts on Giving Up Our Salaries in Retirement
Thought #1: We Can Die at Any Time
Although my parents are healthy in their 80s, that’s no guarantee for me. What if I get a terminal diagnosis when I’m 53? Would I rather have spent six years working or six years spending time with my loved ones and enjoying my days as much as possible? Anyone in healthcare has seen disease or accident spring up with no regard to time or convenience. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.
Thought #2: Our Bodies Are Falling Apart
I have been doing martial arts for more than 30 years and social dancing for more than 20 years. My wife has been doing yoga for 25 years, social dancing for 20 years, and martial arts for 15 years. Guess what? In our mid-40s, we no longer want to take the hard falls in hapkido class. In my 30s, I choreographed a swing dance piece to music which was 240 beats per minute (BPM). Nowadays, if I dance a lindy hop swing to a song over 170 BPM, I’m tired. I want to take better care of my body. We did a trial retirement week and did yoga every day, I did heavy weights twice a week, we did a dance hour, and we did a couple of martial arts classes. That schedule is difficult to maintain when I am on clinic duty for 50-60 hours a week.
Thought #3: Our Jobs Have Never Been Our Identities
I’m not one of those people who wanted to be a veterinarian since I was 5. In high school, I had a mentor who was a vet, and I thought, “Sure, I guess I could do that.” My wife also chose her career late in high school. We have numerous activities and friends not associated with our jobs. We don’t crave the acclaim and respect that comes from our jobs. Our social system is not built on our jobs. We will not be bored in retirement.
Thought #4: The 4% Rule Is the Worst-Case Scenario
We will be below the 4% rule (we're planning on spending 3.5%), and we have assets that are more stable than the market. The 4% rule survived the Great Depression and 1960s stagflation, and it seems on track to have survived the dot.com crash and the Global Financial Crisis of 2008. Even Big ERN, who is notoriously conservative based on extensive mathematics in his Safe Withdrawal Rate series, is using 3.25%. We also have a single-family home rental house, a pension (starting at 60 years old), Social Security (probably starting at 62 and 70 years of age), and the continued ability to make money if we want. We hit our “enough” point two years ago. We have more than enough. The money will be fine.
Thought #5: We Will Figure It Out Together
I have always been prone to catastrophizing. My wife told me early in our relationship that if we encounter a problem, we will figure it out together. At the time, I wasn’t comforted, but now I have over 15 years of experience proving her point. We have worked through several difficult situations and catastrophes over the years, and we’ve always figured it out. If one of us becomes paralyzed, we’ll figure it out. If the government collapses tomorrow, we’ll figure it out. We’re smart and resourceful, so I have pretty strong faith in our resiliency. I think anyone who has suffered through a medical residency with their health and mind intact can probably say the same.
As you approach retirement, it’s important to reflect on the feelings it brings up—good and bad. As highly paid professionals, leaving full-time work leaves a LOT of money on the table. It is essential to make sure the good outweighs the bad in that equation. For us, it has slowly tilted toward the good over the few months since we made the decision to retire and set our retirement date. Regularly reminding myself of the rational thoughts has been tremendously helpful.
If you need extra help with planning for retirement or have questions about the best way to save your money in tax-protected accounts, hire a WCI-vetted professional to help you figure it out.
Are you nearing or thinking about retirement? What fears do you have? What rational thoughts are you using to calm yourself?
Can you comment on if your current lifestyle matches your goal lifestyle? I always wonder if I’ll keep working and not retire because I want to “boost’ my lifestyle or something. Like have more cash to travel for example
It’s a good question, Robert, and a little hard to know. Our life is going to be “simpler” in a lot of ways in retirement, but we have the same budget for travel that we have now. Some expenses will go down or away (travel to the town where we are going to retire, work expenses, eating out), some will probably increase (longer trips). Nonetheless, it will be our “goal” lifestyle.
Have you considered part time work if that’s an option?
Hello GK, it’s a good thought and would be great, but veterinary academia doesn’t really understand <1.0 FTE. Academic institutions as a whole, in my experience, are very slow to embrace change or different ways of employing people. We will almost surely do locums as they become available and are in interesting places.
Thank you for sharing. Your post is definitely motivating for a pair of mid-40s married dentists. I’m understanding that working in academics, both your jobs are likely full time. I understand the desire to have more control of your schedule, but I wonder if there are part- time options for your positions. I worry about a sudden dramatic change in my lifestyle if I were to retire early. As a clinician, the obvious answer is to reduce the days per week seeing patients, like splitting a full time equivalent position with another provider. In Academia, could you be one term on and one term off, or perhaps work remote for weeks long stretches in order to test drive retirement?
My wife and I are currently aiming for mid-50s early retirement from clinical practice, but we find it hard to calculate any kind of “enough” with a child in elementary school and not knowing what the future holds.
Hello Pulp Assassin, we did try to take some unpaid leave to expand the amount of time we had without work responsibilities. That worked OK, but can’t really replicate a lot of what we want from being retired- specifically, a lot more control over our time. Maybe if we could dial back to 20%, that would meet our goals, and we’ll probably achieve something like that via locums.
It’s interesting to see a couple contemplating these ideas in the mid to late forties, especially with a combined income of $250,000/year. Kudos for making it to FIRE at such a young age!
This type of inventory and preparation are crucial. It appears you planned and saved extremely well. One cautionary note from our recent experience is to account for above average inflation and healthcare/insurance costs. You probably have already based on your success.
Enjoy your retirement and renewed focus on living a full and healthy life instead of working it all away.
dude Erik congrats on retirement! you and wifie will have an awesome time and seems like are well prepared!
This was a timely post for me as I recently went through a similar decision making process. In my case, I’m no longer married so going it solo and I decided to go part -time vs fully retire. Even though the numbers work, it’s a bit difficult mentally to make the shift from massively accumulation to decumulation. And like another poster mentioned, now that I have more time to travel, I will likely be spending more there. Also I’m late 40s and am increasingly opting to pay more for comfort and convenience like flying business class, etc.
The one thing you don’t mention in your calculus is the inherent value of work and helping others. I have struggled with this concept for years as a solo internist. I enjoyed the work itself and felt like I was contributing to the human race. Granted, the last 10-15 years have been more burdensome in terms of paperwork and work hours. But I didn’t end up retiring from my practice until age 68, and even now, still work part time in hospice. I couldn’t see myself retiring completely even though, financially, I could have easily done so years ago. I felt like I was going to just spend my life “playing” in self-absorption. But that’s just how my immigrant mother raised me I suppose. To her, work has intrinsic value and gives one purpose in the universe, so that work ethic was built into my DNA. I’m not saying that I am more right than anyone else, it’s just how my brain works. I applaud you on reaching your goals. Each person must work out their own path.
Hello Dr. Gray, I agree that work provides a lot of value for people. Some of that comes from making the world a better place. Happiness is definitely better when you are living a meaningful life and a purposeful life. This can come from work, but it can also come from other pursuits that help people and the world.
I think the idea that one stops contributing to society completely to play in the manner you highlight is ludicrous. Now if someone wants to “give back” differently than through their primary career in medicine and has the financial flexibility to do so, that’s great! Can do what you want on your own terms. But to simply revel in a never ending self-indulgent style of life is no way to live. Freedom is a gift from above, use it wisely.
I know I can’t just play all the time or just travel all the time and still be happy. I hope everyone has the opportunity to learn how much play and travel they can do and still enjoy it as I have had. It’s a privilege for sure. It’s easy to say it won’t make you happy, but I’m not sure anyone really learns that lesson from other people. I think most of us have to learn it for ourselves.
Are you both vets? Can you jobshare for a few years? Guess that denies you traveling together over long time spans, and moving to your planned retirement location.
I’m guessing no kids. So typical. Selfish DINKs who want to FIRE and no longer want to contribute to society. I don’t understand the point of publishing these articles that have no bearing on 99% of your readers lives. Anybody with kids is not retiring in their 40’s.
HYSKOS. You are likely right that most people with an income of $250k and children would not be able to retire and leisure in their 40s. I would ask you to review your comment, however. It comes across to me as very unkind. We don’t have to understand or agree with others, but we can refrain from being unkind. Perhaps a couple like this were unable to have children or had a child who died, etc. Perhaps they are aware of family or friends who got sick at relatively young age. Perhaps they suffered in one way or another when they were younger and feel like they have had enough of a grind. Perhaps after a few years of leisure they will have a renewed sense of purpose. You never really know. Like Morgan Housel says in the Psychology of Money, nobody is “crazy”. Our decisions are informed by some information whether or not we are aware of it. We can all be kind, or at least refrain from sharing unkind thoughts. Be well.
Beautifully said!
Thanks
Thanks for pointing out the importance of perspective and kindness. Hopefully HYKOS was just frustrated, but that seemed an unnecessarily harsh criticism. I would suggest they try to err on the side of curiosity instead of judgement. You could say, “wow, that seems hard to do on $250k, maybe they have some strategies I could implement or I had not thought of, but maybe their situation does not apply to me and that is ok.” WCI says it a lot, take what you want from this blog and leave the rest.
Also, there are plenty of people, including some docs, who live on less than $250k and raise happy and healthy children. Probably more challenging than having more money, but definitely possible. Knowing what enough is for each person is difficult, as well as different.
Lastly, I think we all have to realize there is no limit for how much or how little we are all “supposed” to “contribute” to society. Is 20 years of medicine enough? 30? 40? Have we not contributed enough unless we do it until we keel over and die? I think as long as you are not a burden to society, you do you. We do not need to martyrs or be judgemental on others choices if they are well intended people.
I’m not criticizing him not having kids. Who knows what him and his wife went through. I’m criticizing this whole FIRE attitude that these people tend to have that the end all and be all is a life of leisure and not doing anything with your life. They usually tend to be childless. If you want to retire so you can raise your kids better that’s one thing, but literally the things he listed after retirement is to hang out with his friends. If you’re not gonna have kids, then at the very least, you can contribute to society by working. It’s just hedonism through and through, and every philosophy or major religion would find it abhorrent. it’s not good for society and it’s definitely not good for him. He just doesn’t know it yet.
“If you’re not gonna have kids, then at the very least, you can contribute to society by working.”
Wow, just wow. It sounds like you’d be okay with them retiring in their 40’s, if only they had kids. That is seriously screwed up. So I can be irresponsible and have kids that I know I can’t provide for, and that to you is “a contribution to society”? But if I choose not to have kids, then I’d better keep working for 30+ years, lest I be seen as a free-loader? Who is this, JD Vance?
I agree with SG: “…there is no limit for how much or how little we are all “supposed” to “contribute” to society.” You get to make the decision for yourself, not for others.
Yea that’s what I’m saying. If he had kids it be ok to retire. But no kids and not working is the worst combination and totally selfish. Childless ppl are a net negative on society especially as they age as they drain SS and Medicare. Ppl who have kids at least add workers to the economy. If we had our values right as a society, we would be taxing childless couples more to make up for the harm they’re causing.
That’s a hot take but as the famous quote from The Big Lebowski says:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j95kNwZw8YY
“Yeah? Well, you know, that’s just like uh, your opinion, man.”
At any rate, singles and childless couples DO pay a higher tax rate in most cases due to different tax brackets and the child tax credit.
Why don’t you call it what it is, plain old bigotry. So now we know that Hyskos wasn’t having a bad day or being uncharacteristically unkind.
Where is the line, WCI? Seems like it’s okay to denigrate people without children on this blog. What’s next, comments about how Jews control all the money, or how black people should go back to Africa? Maybe if we had our values right as a society, women would just stay home?
Sorry, but I refuse to put myself in the same room with any of that. I’m not gonna fight the same battles here that I’m already fighting in places where it actually matters. I thank you for what I’ve learned here, but I won’t be back.
Where to draw the line is a great question. The moderators in our online communities definitely struggle with that sometimes. Tough to decide that free speech/censorship/rude/wrong line. I tend to adopt a fairly laissez-faire attitude with comments on the blog but there isn’t some sort of rigid policy that I follow. Most of the time it’s just me moderating these. I figure if people really don’t like the comments, they’ll just read the articles by email and skip the comments. Maybe I should nuke more of them.
We’ll miss you and you’re welcome back anytime.
I used polite language, I never used any slurs. I was mostly critiquing the article. I certainly didn’t make any racist comments. I don’t think childless people are protected class immune from criticism. My main argument is an economical one really. I’m sorry you felt I was being a bigot.
I think this topic has been beaten to death at this point. Let’s move on.
You of all people know there’s a marriage penalty once you get into the higher tax brackets. Income tax and capital gains.
Highly dependent on your personal situation. Sometimes it’s a marriage penalty, sometimes it is a marriage boost. It’s generally two earner families that get penalized. It’s a two worker penalty, not a marriage penalty. Single worker families generally get a boost for the marriage.
Maybe they will contribute to society by being nice kind people who don’t judge others. He makes no mention whether they have kids or not, but I have plenty of childless friends and it is not always by choice (and you should be much more sensitive to that- infertility and loss are painful things many people silently deal with, and not everyone happens to meet the right partner to have children with at the time of life to be parents) but if it is by choice to not have children, that is completely an ok life choice that in no way should make you so angry at them just because you have chosen to have kids which increases your expenses.
One of my childless friends cares for her elderly parents every night after work because her sister with 5 kids is too busy with her kids to do so. Others have other equally important and fulfilling roles they fill in helping others and doing useful things they with their time – and they have more time to give by not having children. Being a parent and or having a paying job are not the only ways to contribute to the world.
Additionally, given that plenty of people raise families on well under 100,000k incomes, it is completely possible for one to make $250,000/yr and retire in your 40,s or at least take a break and be financially secure even with kids if you are living below your means as it sounds like they are.
The thing is most people increase their lifestyle to their income and the fact that they haven’t gives them the freedom to make this choice and that I think is the whole point of what people who talk about FIRE are seeking is the ability to not be golden-handcuffed to their jobs forever.
Well said Friend50.
He doesn’t have kids. He listed all the things he was gonna do after he retired, and none of them involved children. I have great sympathy for people who are not able to have kids. I have very little sympathy for dinks who chose to be childless and who want to FIRE.
Sounds like Hyskos has it all figured out👌. Now, let’s turn Hyskos loose on the rest of the world’s problems!
There is no greater problem in the world than the declining birth rate and people not having kids. It’s hedonism run amok and it will be the end of humanity itself.
Huh. I am hard pressed to come up with any act more selfish than having a child. I’m not telling you not to have kids, but if you’re doing it to be selfless there are far better ways to spend your energy than making yourself a personal mini-me.
Either you are trolling or are in serious need of a therapist. Maybe both? Gotta love anonymous internet weirdos. Thanks Dr H for sharing your story.
…sounds like *someone* might resent having had children…. hmmmm. ; )
I know people with kids who retired in their 40s. Some would say I retired in my 40s. I certainly cut back dramatically in my 40s, from two full time jobs to two part time jobs.
Fair enough, but I’d say that it’d be in the single digits percentage wise of Drs.
Not having kids is a major reason I have cut back at work. My immediate family doesn’t live in my household, so it takes a lot more time and effort to be engaged with them than if they were waiting for me at home – plus, it’s more people that I’m trying to treat equally. Big difference in logistical demand to be a committed, present family member if you have spouse/kids vs only siblings/niblings/godkids.
It’s not about selfishness at all. Their lives are their own and they can do whatever they want to with their lives. They’ve already contributed a great deal to the world. It’s not up to you or anyone else to judge them. Each of us has only one life to live and it’s up to each of us how to live that life. More power to them.
Well said, Sir Lawrence. It doesn’t matter under what circumstances the author made the decision to retire early. Each of us has our own lives to live and it would be better for the world if we each kept our eyes on our own goalposts rather than judge others for living their lives to their own standards. I can’t believe how judgy some people can be about matters that don’t even affect them!
Congratulations. Very encouraging post!
1. You have a very well thought out plan. You have great hobbies and travel plans to keep you occupied. Both of you seem to be physically active and healthy so there’s more time in hand for new hobbies will follow.
2. Your financial plan seems to be on track with the proposed withdrawal rate, not to forget the future pension and SS for extra cushion. If market tanks you can always cut down your non discretionary expenses or pick up some part time work to cover those expenses.
All the best!
Fellow veterinarian here. So excited to see I am not alone on my journey to FI. Congratulations!
I only retired slightly early, at 60, as our sole household earner. But my income was in the several six figure range. I had some of the same thoughts. That was nine years ago and I have never regretted it. But I do question some of the pro’s you mentioned. The 4% rule is not the worst case. Its only the worst case of the past. But its a little presumptuous to assume the future is strictly bounded by the good and bad times that have occurred in history. It could easily be much rosier or wickedly worse. And it could even be that no amount of savings would matter in a true worst case scenario. But I get you, the 4% rule comforts me too, since it says I’m OK. But I also have to remind myself that digital numbers in my brokerage account can never provide absolute security in the future. As Sam Walton said, “It’s only paper.”
Second, as far as dying young or facing ill health, what does it matter if it happens when you are working or when you are retired? The idea that retired life is vastly better than working life is a questionable assumption. I loved my job and I love my retired life. They were/are both great lives. If you die young you miss out on years of life, and that’s sad, but its not necessarily better to die retired than to die working, if you enjoy what you do. The bigger issue is to avoid spending decades of your life doing something that doesn’t fulfill you. If I had been told I only had weeks to live late in my career, I’d not have had a single regret that I wasn’t already retired. I think the time to retire is when you can afford to and when it feels like you are ready to. But I do see that most of us have bucket list items that are difficult to accomplish when we have full time careers. And many of those may require significant strength and endurance.
I’m definitely all in on #5. Having a great life partner, as I have for 46 years and counting, is a huge key to both having a great working life and a great retired one. Very nice content here, I think you will be surprised at how great being retired is.
Hello Steveark, thanks for the comment and insight. You are absolutely right that the 4% rule is a historic worst-case-scenario and it’s impossible to know what the future brings. That’s what black swan events are all about. There’s a certain point of security beyond which investment strategy and drawdown strategies etc. aren’t going to help. I tell my students that, if the market goes to 0, you don’t need gold or alternative investments or a 2% withdrawal rate, you need #1) guns and #2) ammo. I used to think I would be all ready for TEOTWAKI but nowadays I’m not so sure I want to live in that world. Since I have never been retired, it’s impossible to say which I would prefer until I try it! I have an article written about doing a trial retirement but, at the end of the day, I think you have to do it and see. I’ve read thousands of articles about retirement life, but it’s kinda like med/vet school: you can’t _really_ describe it to someone. It’s something they have to experience for themselves. Thanks for the support!
At leisure
I loved your courage and that of your spouse. I admire you for not following the herd but making your decisions, together. That’s a truly supportive partnership of marriage.
It is wonderful when you can appreciate your career, and what you have contributed, but not be strictly defined by that title and by others’ validation of you.
You will experience freedom. It is priceless. And you have already assessed two of the potential worst situations: poor health or returning to some form of work, and so will unconsciously have done some planning.
Divorce would actually be the worst outcome, but I do not think that will happen to you both.
Enjoy your retirement.
Retiring early is vastly overrated… I did it at 55 and it sucked… All my friends still worked… My kids were in college… My wife still worked… There’s only so much golf and fishing you can do… I changed careers, got an MBA, now I’m in public health administration… Maybe I’ll try again when I’m 70… Retirement for Type A personalities does not work.
Gotta have something to retire too. But what do I know, I’m still working at two jobs and turning 50 this year. Of course, as I type this I’m in a hotel in Grand Cayman so there’s that.
We moved to East Coast from Midwest this past summer. My better half works in Corporate world, fairly high up on her company and makes about the same as average Dentist. We really never loved Midwest, we liked it fine. I went to school in Midwest, had a scholarship for Undergrad, applied to local Dental School (great reputation), got married, kids came along – and so on 20+ years go by. We did not want to wait until retirement and then move to a place we love, so we moved our family (might be mid life crisis who knows). We really like it here in East Coast. It is somewhat unusual in Dentistry to sell a successful office in your most profitable years, yet we did it.
Back to you and contemplating full retirement. I have not worked since middle of July, granted took as a month or more to move all our “stuff” we had accumulated for almost 25 years. Planned it for the last year though. So lets call it since middle of August. I have been looking at offices to purchase as I am not ready to retire yet (financially about there) but I am just not wired to be fully retired at my age and especially after this “trial” run. What I have found personally – I enjoy cycling, did a ton of cycling, worked out 5 times a week, ate healthy, made new friends, reconnected with some old friends, got kids situated in school and various activities, it was fairly busy few months – in general it is great, however if you go from working full time, keep in mind majority people your age are going to be working during the week.
I never planned to retire in my mid-40s but it gave me a taste of how it is and for me personally it is not it (yet). I think question is, does your work affect or interrupts in a major way things you really want to do. For me it doesn’t, everything I want to do from sports, travel, kid activities and so on (all within reason) are not affected by my work schedule. I can work and schedule around it.
Is it an option to take a sabbatical before you retire, since you work in Academia – it might just give you a trial run before you fully pull the plug on work.
Good luck on whatever you decide!
Thanks for the comment EastCoastDDS! A sabbatical is a good thought. For most of my academic career, I worked somewhere that didn’t allow sabbaticals, and they aren’t done very often in veterinary medicine, so I don’t have much experience or cultural context for them. Where I currently work has an allowance for them, but you’re expected to be doing something job-related or profession-expanding and it’s a competitive process. I could probably make something up that would fit, but it seems like a sabbatical would be different from retiring. Not sure, it would be interesting to hear other academics’ experience on that score.
I enjoyed your article. What hit home with me was when you said “Sure, I can see myself doing that” in regards to contemplating what you wanted to be “when you grow up.” I’m a pediatric dentist, and that was my mindset at the same stage. It’s refreshing to hear other professionals say that their (societally well respected) profession is not their identity. Although I love what I do and and dedicate myself wholeheartedly to providing excellent care, I enjoy my weekends better. I never miss not being in the office or the hospital after a vacation. Stepping away won’t be difficult. We are already financially free (42 yrs old). I guess you can say I’m bounded by the Golden Handcuffs. It’s just too easy to be done by noon on an OR day and earn a few thousand bucks.
I appeared on a Millionaires to Milestones Podcast. You can search Pediatric Dentist and I should pop-up if you’re curious about my situation.
Be well.
I hear that frequently from early retirees. “I liked my job, I just liked Saturdays better and wanted more of them.”
This was timely for me as I am planning to hang it up later this year. Mid fifties. Love parts of my primary care job; but it’s too much time at the office and husband is older and already retired. I did cut down to 0.8 FTE which was helpful but it’s not enough. We all know life can be very short. We have enough per my calculations and it is a little scary knowing you can’t cash flow expenses with a W-2 income but that’s why we lived frugally. We also have no children; it didn’t work out for us. Travel and hobbies beckon us; so does helping out family members and volunteer activities.
All the best!
Exciting. Congrats.
When possible, I love the idea of cutting back gradually. Allows one to gradually get used to being retired and I think there’s a lot of value in that, especially if one goes too far. It’s easy to go back the other way and pick up a little more work.
After 35 years of working as a full time psychiatrist in the community mental center system, my career came to a screeching halt due to a cancer diagnosis pushing me into retirement a little sooner than planned. I have now been “retired” for 6 months and fortunately my health is stable for the moment. I could go back to work but won’t. In reflecting back, I realize now how burnt out I had become over the past 5 years. It’s an insidious process that I could only recognize once I stepped away from it. Anyway, a couple points I’d like to make. Why are doctors anymore obligated than other professionals to remain in the career they trained for if it is no longer giving them satisfaction? It would be a disservice not only to themselves but also their patients to continue to practice that way. Secondly, I chose not to have children as I did not feel I could raise a child and work in medicine and perform adequately in both roles simultaneously. Plus, I just never had that “maternal instinct” that many women experience. There was nothing selfish about it. It
amazes, and angers me, that women are still having to defend their choice not to have children in this day and age. Finally, feeling “financially secure” is an important goal but can have many interpretations. I know many families that live on significantly less than a doctor’s income, who are much happier than those who are encumbered with all the trappings of wealth.
This:
“ I know many families that live on significantly less than a doctor’s income, who are much happier than those who are encumbered with all the trappings of wealth”
Truth!
Mo’ money, mo’ problems.
I think retirement is one of the most complex decisions one will make in live, right up there with the decision to marry or have kids. On balance Id rank them kids>retirement>marriage, as marriage does not have to be forever. We dont get a do over with kids, so the decision to have kids, esp after the first one, needs to be very very carefully considered . But the metrics on that are pretty similar for most of us for retirement and having children -bandwidth, careers, reproductive age of the woman, availability of good public k-12 schools, retirement is a different beast . SAVINGS – cost tend to be higher initially, esp you retire young, but if you retire at age 65 have Medicare, grandchildren you aren’t cruising the Rhine river al the time , costs actually drop. INCOME – let put savings aside; other commenters have already commented on “good enough.” But regardless of savings It’s much easier to walk away from a job gross paying $75,000, than $750,000. I dont care how bored or old you are making $750,000 for most docs will never get “old”. There. Are times where . I can’t fathom why any senior successful competent, experienced ,healthy orthopod would totally retire form such a job when they have good operating room slots, a curated stable practice, no call, If you dont need the money SOMEBODY does- your church, your local charity your laid off son in law , special needs grandchildren etc -dont see that money as not moving your needle, see all the good it can do at this scale. -work part time until to you die (everybody’s real aspiration actually) Very few people can have the joy of donating $300,000 annually tax freer to a a charity, need, vanity project. It’s Tran formative and easily more impactful than anything you’ll ever do as a doctor. SPOUSE CONSIDERATIONS_ – your retirement needs to be congruent with one’s spouse regardless of their employment Career. . Retirement can be very destabilizing to even stable good marriages. If your spouse continues to work or not, you need to be roughy in synch. If your spouse has never worked, is she/he expecting things t change at a certain age ?if not, you can work for we’re without disrupting your marriage as expectations are stable and no big change precipitated by your retirement. HEALTH -touched upon above, but even if healthy now, you have to project. NOBODY has the energy at 65 they had at 45, repeat after me NOBODY. Not Michael Phelps, not carl Lewis, not Henry Aaron, NOBODY. It’s hubris and dangerous to think otherwise.just track your performance metrics over the years and youll see if you doubt this. AGE_ yes actuarial tables say those who make it to 65 healthy will leave past 88, but NOT past say 95.You are no gogin to ive forever regardless of how many chia avocado smoothies you consume. WHAT WILL YOU DO? Some docs who were premeds from age 4 will be challenged , others who have many avocations and I sternest prior to becoming premed soph year in college will enjoy retirement. TIME_see energy above as well . After age 65 we need to spend at least a. Hour a dy just stretching ad balance work we didn’t need to do at 45. We also need more sleep and most of us need a nap. GRANDCHILDREN – the world divides enormously here, as much arguably as between childless and child centered couples, Most grandparents are surprised by how this changes life’s trajectories . If you live close to them, and enjoy children, there is never aa better time to be a grandparent Han their young years. If you put this off until they are 12 years you are missing out on the real joy or being a grandparent, don’t Kid yourself. REGRETS – i would confidently say my informal survey of colleagues , absent a forced retirement, confirms the number of retired physicians who would say they retired to late versus too early would b 5-1.