By Josh Katzowitz, WCI Content DirectorIn the past few years, WCI readers have told us they want to read more retirement content. WCI founder Dr. Jim Dahle wrote an extensive series on retirement withdrawals . . .
- The Silliness of the Safe Withdrawal Rate Movement
- Fear of the Decumulation Phase in Retirement
- A Framework for Thinking About Retirement Income
- Comparing Portfolio Withdrawal Strategies in Retirement
- How Flexible Might You Have to Be in Retirement?
- What Does It Mean to ‘Adjust as You Go’ in Retirement?
. . . and we've hired two columnists (Anthony Ellis and Erik Hofmeister) who mostly write about retirement.
But we wanted to produce even more—talking about everything from withdrawal strategies to how to live your life without work—so we created a questionnaire that gets to the heart of the matter. We asked 15 questions to determine how those who have retired got there. For example, what was their asset allocation in their earning years, and what is it now? What has been their highest net worth? How are they drawing down their accounts in retirement? What's the best thing about retirement? What's the worst?
So far, dozens of readers have responded, filling us in on their most intimate financial details, strategies, and worries so they could pay it forward to the next generation of retirees. We'll plan to make this a regular series on the WCI blog, so if you're retired and interested in contributing your own gameplan, you can find the questionnaire here (and don't worry, we'll keep you anonymous).
Otherwise, keep reading to learn about how four white coat investors are managing their retirement.
#1 The Psychiatrist Who Retired at 56 Years Old
- What was your approximate asset allocation when you were a wealth accumulator? 5% cash, 25% house, 67% US stocks, 3% international stocks.
- What is your approximate asset allocation now in retirement? 15% cash, 25% house, 57% US stocks, 3% international stocks.
- How did your asset allocations change over time as you got closer to retirement? It didn't change.
- At what age did you begin taking Social Security, and why? If you haven't yet, at what age do you plan on taking Social Security? Retired three months ago; plan to take it at 70.
- How much did you spend per year in your prime earning years? How much do you spend now? $100,000 when working. Now it's $60,000 for living and $60,000 for travel.
- At its highest point, what was your net worth? What is your net worth now? $2 million (I retired three months ago, but I also have a pension of $80,000 that would carry over to my wife, plus really good and cheap $300 health insurance for life).
- What, if anything, are you doing (or what did you already do) to prepare for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)? How worried are you (or were you) about the tax bill associated with RMDs? Nothing. Zero anxiety.
- Did you do any Roth conversions? When and how much? Many years ago for $30,000.
- How are you drawing down your accounts to fund your lifestyle? How are you creating your monthly paycheck? Pension and cash savings so far. We have a monthly 457 distribution starting next year to add to the pension, and we'll draw that down until Social Security kicks in.
- How are you managing your money differently now than what you had planned to do? No change.
- What does your typical day look like now compared to when you were working? We've been very busy at home for the first three months; I work on the house and help my wife in the garden. Now, I am on day 11 of a 100-day trip around the world.
- What did you not think about before retirement that you wish you had thought of? It's too early to tell.
- What's the best thing about retirement? What's the worst? The best is spending 24/7 with my wife. The worst is being so busy there isn't time for anything!!!
My observation: Doing this questionnaire while in the middle of a 100-day trip around the world sounds pretty awesome. Isn't this what we dream of when we fantasize about life in retirement?
#2 The Hand Surgeon Who Retired at 46 Years Old
- What was your approximate asset allocation when you were a wealth accumulator? 10% cash, 35% stocks/bonds, 20% real estate, 30% ASC, 5% crypto.
- What is your approximate asset allocation now in retirement? 30% cash, 30% stocks/bonds, 30% real estate, 10% crypto.
- How did your asset allocations change over time as you got closer to retirement? It's more evenly distributed between real estate, cash, and stocks.
- At what age did you begin taking Social Security, and why? If you haven't yet, at what age do you plan on taking Social Security? 72.
- How much did you spend per year in your prime earning years? How much do you spend now? $400,000 prime, $180,000 now.
- At its highest point, what was your net worth? What is your net worth now? $4 million now; that’s the highest.
- What, if anything, are you doing (or what did you already do) to prepare for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)? How worried are you (or were you) about the tax bill associated with RMDs? We've been doing Roth conversions every year; we're careful with tax implications. I'm not worried about RMDs.
- Did you do any Roth conversions? When and how much? Yes, every year. How much depended on the anticipated capital gains for that year.
- How are you drawing down your accounts to fund your lifestyle? How are you creating your monthly paycheck? My wife and I withdraw monthly expenses from three brokerage accounts and a crypto account, based on the percentage of money in each account. At 59, I will withdraw from tax-deferred accounts if needed.
- How are you managing your money differently now than what you had planned to do? We fired our financial adviser, and we now manage our own brokerage and tax-deferred accounts. We won't have an annuity; we plan on Social Security at 72.
- What does your typical day look like now compared to when you were working? I cycle every morning, and I travel with family as much as I can while managing our real estate company, the rentals, etc. I'm more involved emotionally with family dynamics. I'm more present, mindful, and engaged.
- What did you not think about before retirement that you wish you had thought of? A Roth account—I wish I would’ve started with a Roth IRA rather than a traditional IRA.
- What's the best thing about retirement? What's the worst? Best: I feel like I have bought my time back, while I’m still young; I can go bike up Mont Ventoux if I want. I'm more present for my family. Worst: That I didn’t do it sooner, and the stigma associated with retirement at my age in the US.
My observation: Their current asset allocation is both riskier (more real estate, more crypto) and more conservative (lots more cash). Retiring at 46 and yet currently having their highest net worth is fantastic.
#3 The Executive Who Retired (for Good) at 60 Years Old
- What was your approximate asset allocation when you were a wealth accumulator? Accumulator (for most of the time): 100% equities in retirement accounts; about 85% in US and the rest in international. When I was about 56 and planning to retire at age 58, I moved my asset allocation to 75% equities and 25% bond funds. We opted out of real estate because we had a vacation home, our primary residence, and ownership of a third home that my wife’s parents were living in. I ended up retiring at age 60 (my wife retired when I was 46) and did some part-time consulting until age 62. Our asset allocation at 62 was 70% equities (45% US, 25% international) and 30% bond funds.
- What is your approximate asset allocation now in retirement? I am now age 70, and my wife is 73. She took her first RMD this year. Our current allocation in my IRAs is 13% cash (mostly in a rolling five-year CD ladder that has rungs going out to 2029), 17% bond funds, 27.5% US large cap, 15% US mid cap, 2.5% US small cap, 24.5% international developed, and 0.5% international emerging. We have a small real estate [allocation], because we own three homes that we use (we're planning to sell one of them this year and a second one in two years). We took some of the Sequence of Returns Risk off the table by increasing our cash/CD holdings to match expected RMDs, which for me start in 2027. We also have a couple of years' worth of cash needed to supplement our guaranteed pension/Social Security for discretionary spending in post-tax accounts.
- How did your asset allocations change over time as you got closer to retirement? We gradually increased fixed, cash, and international allocations as we eased into retirement.
- How old were you when you retired? The first time was at age 58. I went back for about two years after six months of being retired and then did part-time consulting work for another two years.
- At what age did you begin taking Social Security, and why? If you haven't yet, at what age do you plan on taking Social Security? My wife and I both took it at age 70. We were able to hold off until then because we had other sources of income to match our living expenses and wanted to maximize them for longevity insurance purposes.
- How much did you spend per year in your prime earning years? How much do you spend now? We have consistently spent about $250,000 per year before and after retirement.
- At its highest point, what was your net worth? What is your net worth now? Our net worth is approximately $8 million-$9 million now—which is probably its highest ever, because of the escalation in real estate values over the past few years and a strong bull equity market.
- What, if anything, are you doing (or what did you already do) to prepare for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)? How worried are you (or were you) about the tax bill associated with RMDs? We aren’t worried about the tax bill associated with RMDs. The government is owed its money for our ability to grow our retirement funds without any drag from taxes . . . a very good deal for us! My wife’s RMDs started this year. She has a small IRA with Fidelity and a SEP-IRA with an insurance company that consists of a deferred annuity. We are taking the RMDs out of the Fidelity IRA to hold off as long as we can before we start the annuity payments. We built a CD ladder in 2023 for her RMDs in 2024 and 2025 by selling a bond fund in 2023 and rebalancing in 2024 to take advantage of the growth in equities. For my IRAs, we built a five-year CD ladder in early 2023 by selling a bond fund. We were disappointed with the performance of bonds in 2022 and wanted to reduce Sequence of Returns Risk and take advantage of CDs paying around 5% to match assets with expected RMDs (liabilities) beginning in 2027. The average yield from the ladder is currently paying about 4.6%, which has been going down as new CDs are yielding less than they were in 2023. New CDs are purchased from distributions of bond and equity funds, interest on the CDs, and payouts from maturing CDs. I have enough cash to cover the projected RMD in 2027 and almost all we will need for 2028. The 2029 rung is about 2/3 built.
- Did you do any Roth conversions? When and how much? 2022—$109,000. We opted to take IRA distributions in 2023 and 2024 to manage our income to stay around $250,000.
- How are you drawing down your accounts to fund your lifestyle? How are you creating your monthly paycheck? The first part of my retirement was funded by savings in post-tax accounts, the sale of stock from my previous employer and two investment properties, a DB pension, a DC cash balance plan annuity payment, and a payout from a non-ERISA deferred income plan that paid out over 10 years beginning when I was 58. We draw money from post-tax accounts and my IRAs as needed to fund our spending.
- How are you managing your money differently now than what you had planned to do? Not much has changed. We thought we’d be taking RMDs starting at age 70 and doing larger Roth conversions in 2023 and 2024 (once we knew the RMDs could be delayed). We took a smaller IRA distribution in 2024 to sell some appreciated stock and remain below our target income ceiling. We may or may not do Roth conversions in 2025 and 2026. Earlier, I thought it was important to just do the conversions.
- What does your typical day look like now compared to when you were working? I still rise early, but I am able to spend more time reading stuff that interests me. I also sleep better, averaging about eight hours per night. I have more time for exercise, hobbies, and spending time with my wife. Life is much less stressful!
- What did you not think about before retirement that you wish you had thought of? Finding more balance, especially later in my working years. We were on a path that I could have retired earlier, but I kept working to be sure we were truly financially independent and ready for retirement.
- What's the best thing about retirement? What's the worst? The best thing is the ability to do anything that we want to do. We can come and go as we please to our various homes or visit friends. We fed my desire to rehab a house. The pandemic allowed us to sell it for much more than we originally thought. We now have a grandson, and we can help out with his care when my daughter and son-in-law have work demands, something we couldn’t take advantage of when we were raising my daughter. Experiences with my family and friends are optimized. I feel like I have enough interests to have purpose each day. Retirement is GREAT! I struggle to say what the worst is because it is going so well for us. It took some time for my wife and me to get accustomed to spending so much time together—boundaries, new roles, careless comments trying to be funny.
My observation: This person said they planned to retire at 58, but then, for whatever reason, they went back to work for a few more years. Not sure if that was because they wanted a little more money or because they got a little bored. But it’s worth noting that just because you retire a little earlier than most doesn’t mean you have to stay retired forever.
#4 The Pharmaceutical Product Developer Who Retired at 50 After Burning Out
- What was your approximate asset allocation when you were a wealth accumulator? 100% stock (almost all in mutual fund/ETF index funds, 10% in REITs, 20%-25% in international funds).
- What is your approximate asset allocation now in retirement? 100% stock (almost all in index funds, 10% in REIT, 20%-25% in international funds).
- How did your asset allocations change over time as you got closer to retirement? No change.
- At what age did you begin taking Social Security, and why? If you haven't yet, at what age do you plan on taking Social Security? Planning on 70 for me and ~67 (full retirement age) for my spouse.
- How much did you spend per year in your prime earning years? How much do you spend now? Earning years: $60,000-$100,000. Now: $80,000-$110,000.
- At its highest point, what was your net worth? What is your net worth now? The highest net worth is now $5 million+. It was $2 million when I retired in 2015. That does not include our primary residence, which we own without a mortgage.
- What, if anything, are you doing (or what did you already do) to prepare for Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs)? How worried are you (or were you) about the tax bill associated with RMDs? I plan to donate from my IRA to charity, via QCDs. I'm not worried about RMD taxes!
- Did you do any Roth conversions? When and how much? $50,000 in each of the past two years.
- How are you drawing down your accounts to fund your lifestyle? How are you creating your monthly paycheck? Quarterly dividends are paid into our bank account, and we periodically sell mutual fund/ETF shares as necessary. Because of the past 10 years of stock market returns, this has not resulted in any drawdown of our accounts!
- How are you managing your money differently now than what you had planned to do? We have no children, so we're now setting up a DAF and planning to make larger charitable donations.
- What does your typical day look like now compared to when you were working? More volunteer activities, travel, and recreational opportunities. We're almost at the end of a 2 1/2-year period traveling in Europe.
- What did you not think about before retirement that you wish you had thought of? Doing more higher-intensity activities before you get too old.
- What's the best thing about retirement? What's the worst? Best: making my own schedule. Worst: making sure we have at least minimal (catastrophic) healthcare insurance.
My observation: Forget the 100-day around-the-world trip. How about spending a couple of years just chilling in Europe?
[EDITOR'S NOTE: Here at The White Coat Investor, we know our readers love having real-life examples of portfolios and how people accumulate their money and then eventually spend it. That's why we want to hear from those who have already retired and who are living their lives in a post-work world, so those of us who are still working can be inspired and learn how to get where you are right now. Please fill out this form and inspire us with your wisdom. Don't worry, we'll keep your identity a secret. Already, dozens of people have sent in their answers, and with them, we're planning to create even more content for those who want to learn about how to spend in retirement. Help us help others!]
What do you think about these retirement stories? Do you think their withdrawal strategies are the right ones?
I love this series. Please continue. Maybe next time include a story (or 2) from someone that had to pivot due to a bump in the road of retirement. Thank you!
As long as there is somebody in that situation who answered the survey they can be included.
This is a helpful series. You recently published a post on how to optimally plan for drawing social security. The consistent theme in all four cases above is the delay of SS to the maximum age. Why? The break-even point for all these folks versus taking at 65-67, assuming they are in good health, is in their late 80s to 90s. Start the draw, deal with the RMDs when the time comes, and let the cash ride.
As a general rule, delaying to 70 for the high earner is almost always the right move. More info here:
https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/dont-take-social-security-early/
https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/social-security-basics/
https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/when-to-take-social-security-a-pro-con/
Bottom line: Guaranteed, inflation indexed income is rare and thus highly valuable and worth doing what you can to maximize.
If you can collect 95-98% of benefits at 65-67, and you want to bet against yourself living past 90, when waiting to 70 is the dominant strategy, collecting early seems like a reasoned strategy. Mileage will vary, but no one path is the clear winner without a crystal ball.
If you die young, it doesn’t matter what you did with SS. If you die old, you’ll be glad you delayed.
Thanks for engaging, and the last comment is yours. If you define ‘young’ as 90, point taken. But your response is agnostic to probabilities. I am not getting your logic. There is equipoise in an early strategy if you wish to trade slightly less than 100% SS value for the very high likelihood of dying at a youthful age, of say, 88. If you think you will make it to 90, go for it and claim it at 70. I am a glass-half-full guy.
It’s designed to be actuarially equivalent. So on average, it doesn’t matter when you take it. So when does the guarantee have more value to someone? When they live a long time.
It’s your money and your decision. Do whatever you want. Likewise for most multimillionaire WCIers it just doesn’t matter much. But there’s a reason pretty much everybody who has ever written anything informed on this topic suggests the higher earner wait until 70. Perhaps the best laid out argument is in Mike Piper’s Social Security book.
“For each full year you delay taking Social Security benefits past your full retirement age, your monthly benefit increases by
8% if you were born in 1943 or later.”
Not sure how you computed the numbers. Check out opensocialsecurity. com for an accurate tool.
8% is about right, but that also assumes you’re still working and paying in. Which isn’t really the question most want to ask. If you ask the right question (how much more do I get if I don’t pay anything in but just wait to claim), you get a lower % than 8%. Plus it’s actuarially equivalent, but still the best deal out there as far as SPIAs (especially inflation indexed SPIAs) go. Agree Piper’s openspocialsecurity.com is a great resource to actually do your calculations.
Its not the increase in delaying the age you take it. It’s the sum you receive between age 65-70, how it grows, and how it compares to receiving the higher PIA starting at 70. If you project into the future, there is an age at death at which a maximum PV starting at 70 exceeds that of taking it at a younger age. The delta, however, is small, and you need to live to an ancient age (as I noted above) to realize it. Mike Piper’s customizable graphs make it straightforward to analyze.
I’m less worried about maximizing my payoff from SS than some wonder treatment enabling us to live into our 120s. If I can truly guess my time is limited I might start before 70. (And in my case, older than spouse and with my own 70 yo benefit between 60% and 90% of his full (67 yo) benefit, no loss delaying- though if he is gone my widow’s benefit> 70 yo for me IIRC and I will adjust accordingly. Most wives do better getting max spousal benefit but IIRC I’d have to wait until he both reaches 67 and has begun drawing, so 69 for me!)
I’d be curious if #2 could expand on retiring with $4 mil at 46 with $180,000 spending and if any concerns of running out of money?
I guess it comes down to what you mean by “any concerns” but no, the way this is set up, you’re probably not going to get more info unless that survey responder decides to chime in, which I wouldn’t expect.
$180k out of $4m is only a 4.5% withdrawal rate. Seems pretty reasonable, especially if flexible and can cut expenses by 20% or so in a down market.
For the retirees with large amount of tax deferred retirement accounts, psychologically does it get easier to pay high taxes ? My current marginal tax rate (federal, state, city) is 46% and psychologically to hand over almost half of my earned income after those long hours and night shifts is difficult. But if it not earned income ( as is from retirement and investments accounts) it gets easier because it is somehow passive income? Or am I fooling myself? I expect to have high RMD during retirement.
Although the marginal rate goes down because you’re paying capital gains rates vs earned income rates I’ve found that the absolute amount of taxes in dollars remains nearly identical. Why? Because if you’re invested for both growth and income your portfolio increases (at least during secular bull markets) spinning off more income. Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on your point of view, those of us blessed with being part of a high paying profession and with a serious work and savings ethic will amass wealth and be taxed heavily for it. Remember too that fewer than 50% of Americans actually pay income taxes. You are truly pulling the wagon. And no, it doesn’t get easier psychologically.
Most of us get over this in our first few years of being attending physicians. The only thing worse than having to pay taxes is not having to pay taxes.
If you want to pay less in taxes, there is an easy way to do that. Just earn/work less. Welcome to the downsides of a progressive tax system.
Congratulations on having high RMDs. That means you’re rich. Well done.
It is maddening the number of free meals and seminars I am offered at this age about avoiding the taxes I arranged to DEFER not avoid back when I was earning. However deciding between cap gain rates and regular income rates for Roth or eventually RMDs makes for an interesting but unlikely significant decision whenever I’m drawing down.
I like this series. It is good to see what others have done, but you chose all “early” retirees. (are you sending us a subliminal signal?) Hearing what others do when they retire at the “usual” ages would be good also.
Happy to contribute after I hang up the spurs at mean physician retirement age next year!
Here’s a snapshot of some of the more recent people who have answered the questions and at what age they retired.
62
65
61
67
57
68
59
63.5
63
59-1/2
73
But you bring up a good point. I’ll try to add at least one or two more older retirees the next time we publish this series.
I enjoyed reading about these retired WCIers.
The folks with RMD issues and plans and people waiting to age seventy to take social security are counting on longevity and good fortune. At 61.5 years of age, the idea of planning to live to be ninety or older is more optimism than I can run up despite my excellent health and taking only one medication (for GERD.)
After running multiple scenarios, it seems that with a five percent return, three percent inflation, and without a projected twenty recent reduction in social security benefits, I may have to plan for RMD’s to give us too much taxable income for projected spending indexed to inflation.
What great problems to have: 1) That I would still be alive from age 73 to 90 and still have something to spend our current outlay on, and 2) Having RMD’s increase taxable income such that I could give more money away. Sounds great.
But, we plan to spend more early on while we are able and healthy…so I doubt I’ll have to worry about RMD’s. I think spending at 85-90 looks a lot different than at 60-75…and includes medications and doctors, fiber supplements, and joint surgery.
Best wishes to all the folks planning to live to ninety intact and cruising the Rhine in a river boat or hiking trails at eighty five. I think that’s a rosy assumption. Just for kicks and giggles, think of how many people you currently know that are 85-95 with enviable quality of life, driving, traveling abroad, hiking or similar, and giving money away due to RMD’s….I know none.
I don’t think the folks with RMD problems or who are delaying Social Security until age 70 are planning to spend a ton of money on fun things at age 90. I think they are hedging against ending up in a nursing home that accepts Medicaid patients because they spent too lavishly in early retirement and had the misfortunate to outlive both their health and their money. I also think they’re OK with having a substantial part of their stash going to their heirs or charity.
It might be excessive caution, but excessive caution beats profligacy when it comes to the personal impact of financial mistakes (or the impact of those mistakes on your relatives).
Did I read that correctly? You are worried you might end up in “Medicaid nursing home” due to excess spending, and becoming a burden to family?
Those are two worries I simply don’t have. You might want to check out a few of the articles linked in this post about the drawdown process in retirement. I think that is as rare an outcome as traveling the world extensively in your nineties while having to ramp up charitable giving due to RMD’s.
I used to work in nursing homes. I’ve never met anyone with that profile. It did happen to my Father. He lived on social security alone from age 65-79. He developed dementia ended up “in a nursing home that takes Medicaid.” My brother and I made up the difference per month on his expenses.
He told me, “Don’t end up like me”. I took his advice and made plans to insure I did not. I hope it pans out well for us both. Internet longevity calculators say I’ll live to be 83-93…pie in the sky.
I don’t need to check out those articles, as I’ve been reading this forum for a very long time. As I said, the danger is spending too much early on, under the assumption that the remaining portfolio will continue to show healthy growth. That is usually fine, but is not guaranteed. A long, deep market crash could result in that early spending leaving too little left in the portfolio after the crash for safety.
It is in danger of happening to my own father, who was receiving two small pensions as well as Social Security and thought he’d be fine with that plus the $200,000+ he had remaining in his savings – but then my mother developed dementia, he lost $100K to financial fraud (a crooked insurance agent stole the money from him), and he’s lived a lot longer than he ever expected to live. He’s in danger of running completely out of money in less than 6 months, and if he doesn’t die before he becomes broke what’s going to be keeping him out of a Medicaid bed is my own money. I don’t have kids, so that can’t be my backup!
Well, Artemis, I understand your concerns given those circumstances. I agree that it’s tough to plan it all out precisely and things can happen to throw a monkey in the wrench.
I am working part time longer than I expected to due to the need for family health insurance and the effects of inflation. With the dollar dropping like it’s the Vietnamese dong, I’m being conservative in our budgeting.
Best of luck to us all.
Best of luck to all of us, indeed! And here’s hoping we al get a nice, sunny retirement!
I am curious on case #2 of the hand surgeon. I am fascinated in people like this who retire so young, yet have the potential to make so much more money and change their quality of living over the next 30-40 years. I get when people who only make like $50-$100k or so per year call it quits because working an extra few years won’t really change their quality of life. But people like this who have the potential to earn hundreds and hundreds of thousands more per year for a few more years could really change their family tree and have such a higher quality of life by having maybe an extra $40-50k per year to spend on luxuries. Again, I get it if someone doesn’t make that much or if they are older in their fifties and up, but mid 40’s is pretty young. Also, why retire completely? Why not just cut back on hours and outsource things you don’t like doing? I have seen doctors work 1 full day per week or just a few hours a few times a week. I’m just curious why not do that instead?
I just regret the surgeon apparently dislikes the job they worked so long to get. And indeed that the system put so much into him/her for under 2 decades of work. If burn out caused earlier retirement than intended originally it’s another indictment of the way we manage physician compensation and employment.
Going to medical school doesn’t mean you owe anybody anything, at least once you pay for the schooling itself.
Here’s Anthony Ellis’s take: https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/physicians-retire-early-abusing-the-system/
and I’ve got a post coming out on this topic too. Bottom line, carry this out to its logical conclusion and you’ll realize it’s dumb. You can feel bad someone didn’t want to work longer, but somehow requiring them to do so or shaming them for not doing so is silly.
The government (ie taxpayers, eg the schoolteacher down the street and the plumber in the next neighborhood) paid for most of your medical school. You definitely paid some but taxpayer dollars built and continue to feed medical school. It seems to me it is a reasonable argument that among the other criteria medical school should use for admission (excellence, merit), if there were a way to measure it, longevity should be one criterion. If you knew this person would work five years then quit but the other would work 30 years, then all things being equal, because doctoring is a societal good that taxpayers are funding – the person likely to work 30Y should be selected before the quitter.
Your fees are only paying a little of medical school. I’m paying for your medical school too and I’d like to see a better return on investment than five years of practice.
Now the obvious conclusion – politically incorrect to be sure – might suggest some ageism and sexism in the admissions process. I don’t think we can conclude strongly about that but surely if it were possible to know in advance medical school and other public commodities should select for better ROI than worse ROI.
Great series-please continue. That said, it would be helpful not to just know what age they retired at but what age they are when they submitted the form. One example gave current ages but , while the hand surgeon retired at 46 it would be nice to know how old he/she is now. We only know he/she is under 72 years old
Agree with this.
Agree, it would be good to clarify, how old when you retired, and how old now.
Also to possibly add a few other questions:
1. Any regret retiring when you did? Worked longer or retired sooner?
2. Any unexpected things that were not accounted for when retirement planning?
3. What are your travel plans in retirement? How has the travel plans evolved as retirement has progressed?
This is a really cool series. Would love to learn more about that 100 day trip around the world, what companies offer that and some of the specifics and logistics. Sounds like something cool to do in retirement to see a bunch of bucket list places efficiently. How much does something like this cost? How did you decide on the company you went with? What are some options? Never even heard of it before but seems like a cool option for travel.
Love the series. Not sure anyone should use these as examples, but is so important to keep in mind the process , not the results. Markets and RE have been know to eventually disrupt.