By Dr. Jim Dahle, WCI FounderInvesting is more about risk control than it is about chasing returns. When it comes to early retirement, most people are aware of the main risk—running out of money before you run out of time. This keeps some people in the workforce worrying longer than they probably should, and it is known as “one more year syndrome.” It's true that the numbers all look better a year or five years or, especially, 10 years later. You have more time to contribute to your retirement accounts, more time for compound interest to work its magic, a larger Social Security benefit (either from more contributions or from delaying the receipt of benefits or both), and less time left in life for that nest egg to support you.
There are non-financial risks, too. You might get divorced. Perhaps you and your spouse don't get along all that well, and when you retire and are now at home for an extra 40-60 hours a week, the relationship implodes. Maybe you get bored (although I suppose you could go back to work if that's really an issue). I've seen that happen every now and then. Maybe you lose the social contact that you were getting from work and become lonely and bitter. Or maybe you feel like you're not contributing anything useful to the world. These are all very real risks of early retirement, but we're not going to discuss those today.
However, there are also some risks, even unspoken risks, of NOT retiring early. Today, we'll discuss six of these risks.
#1 Early Mortality
People routinely plan to be retired for 30 years, like in the classic Trinity Safe Withdrawal Rate study. Early retirees figure they might need another decade or two added on to that. A 40-year-old retiree might need their portfolio to last 55 years. Or more. However, there is also the possibility that they die next year. Consider the classic graph/calculator titled “Rich, Broke, or Dead?”
The thing everybody fears, going broke, is just a tiny sliver of what could happen to people. The actual occurrence of this event is even more rare than this graph shows since most people will make adjustments long before they actually go broke. What should people fear? That big black thing. That's right: dying. Sure, the risk is pretty low in your early 50s, but it isn't zero. It certainly isn't zero in your 70s and 80s. The average life expectancy of a 50-year-old male is 30 years. That means half of them die in less than 30 years. If you're one of those who will die in 10-15 years but you saved and then spent in retirement as though you needed that nest egg to last 30, you definitely “oversaved.” You probably could have successfully retired five years earlier without any issues. If you knew you only had 15 more years on the planet, how many of them do you want to spend working full time and how many of them do you want to spend retired? Early mortality can be a risk of NOT retiring early.
More information here:
Functional Longevity: What Use Is Retirement If You Can’t Move and Think?
The Happiness Index: Mine Required My Own Version of Retirement
#2 Extended Morbidity
You know what else can happen? You can get sick, injured, or even disabled. I had a family member who was an active outdoorsman. He worked as an employee until 58 or so. Then, he stuck around working hard as an independent contractor “double-dipping” on his pension while getting paid more than ever before and saving up a substantial nest egg between 58-65 before fully retiring over the course of a couple of years. By the time he was fully retired, he could no longer do the things he loved to do, which he had been planning to do more of in retirement.
There are “seasons” in your life when you can do some things. If you don't do the things that apply to that season while you are in it, you can't go back and do them later. Consider reading books to your kids before they go to bed. That's a lot of fun at 6 years old. They're not interested at 16. You missed it. Likewise, you may want to do some things in your life that need to be done in your 40s, 50s, 60s, or 70s. If you miss them, it's too late. To make matters worse, the ability to do those things often leaves you unexpectedly. You hurt your hip at 52 and now you can't rock climb, ski, or play softball, even though you were planning to do those things into your 60s.
People come down with more and more medical problems with each decade of life. In my 30s, it was GERD. In my 40s, it was short arm syndrome (eventually my arms became so short I had to start wearing reading glasses) and chronic low back pain. What's going to happen in my 50s? Osteoarthritis? Heart disease? Diabetes? What about my 60s? Knee replacements? A-fib? A stroke? You just don't know. We all want “compressed morbidity.” That is, we want to be perfectly healthy until a month before we die at 98. Guess what? Most people don't get that. Our medical innovations over the last few decades are far better at keeping us alive longer than they are at compressing morbidity. Extended morbidity can be a risk of not retiring early.
#3 Dementia
While this one could have been included under #2, it can be so severe that it robs you of your long-planned retirement even if you have excellent physical health. It's a horrible trick really, robbing someone of their memories at the end of their long life when it is so much harder to make new ones. Maybe you've got 30 years of life left but only 18 without dementia. How many of them do you want to spend working? It's not like dementia only affects those in their 70s, 80s, and 90s either. Early onset dementia is becoming MORE common, not less common.
People used to fear uncurable infectious diseases like plague and polio. Now, people rarely get those and survive them when they do. But dementia remains stubbornly difficult to slow, much less cure. Dementia can be a risk of not retiring early.
#4 Time with Loved Ones
I had a partner who retired in his early 50s. He was pretty frugal, and he had a bit of a windfall from selling a small medical devices company so he could afford to retire. When asked why he was retiring early, he cited lots of reasons (including liability), but I think the main one was that his two kids were in high school and he didn't want to miss ANY time with them. Whether it's time with an aging parent, time with kids who will soon leave home, or just time with your spouse (unless you're lucky enough to work with them), time at work is time you're not spending with them. Losing time with loved ones is an unspoken risk of not retiring early.
More information here:
Are Physicians Who Retire Early Abusing the System That Made Them Rich?
Dealing with the Guilt of Early Retirement
#5 You May Lose Your Ability (or Desire) to Work
While doctors can generally find new work (at least within six months) if they somehow get fired, there are exceptions—especially if you lost your job for a reason that prevents you from getting another one but doesn't qualify for disability insurance benefits. Try getting a new job after multiple medical board complaints, a sexual harassment lawsuit, or committing a crime like doctoring medical records or assaulting someone. Malpractice insurance doesn't pay. Disability insurance doesn't pay. If you're not financially independent when it happens, you're up a creek without a paddle. If you're not aiming at early retirement, you spend more of your life exposed to financial risks that may or may not show up. You thought you had 10 more years to save for retirement, and now you don't.
You might also just become severely burned out. Or maybe you do become disabled, but you never could get disability insurance. While these are all risks of not being financially independent, that often goes along with early retirement and not just in the acronym FIRE.
Leif Dahleen, an early retired anesthesiologist, described it thusly:
“For the love affair [with your job] to last, two conditions must remain true.
First, the job cannot change in a way that causes you to love it less. Any change in your work schedule, obligations, compensation, benefits, or work colleagues that negatively impacts you can leave you feeling less amorous.
Second, you and the things you value and prioritize must remain indefinitely steady. The odds of this being true over a career lasting even a decade or two are on par with the chances that I fail to survive long enough to see this article published.
Think about who you were five, 10, or 20 years ago. What mattered most to you then? Who were the most important people in your life? How did you balance a career with family, hobbies, and other outside interests? How has that changed? Being excited about or even content with the job you’ve got is a lot better than despising the work you do. Just realize that as time goes on, the odds of remaining in love with your job will likely diminish. With a shred of luck and some proper planning, your relationship with your career will not be of the ‘’til death do us part' variety. It’s not supposed to be.”
Losing your ability or desire to work is a major risk of not retiring early.
#6 Lost Financial Benefits
Early retirees take advantage of an extended period of time between when they stop working and when they start collecting their Social Security, often at age 70. If you retire at 65, you only have five years before 70. If you retire at 50, you've got 20 years. What can you do in those 20 years? You can do very low-cost Roth conversions. You can take advantage of the 0% qualified dividends/LTCGs brackets. You can qualify for a PPACA subsidy. You'll spend more of your life in the lower tax brackets. You can pursue an encore career or side gig. Few traditional retirees are going to have the same benefits. Missing out on those is a risk of not retiring early.
If you're a high earner who has spent much time on this site, you already know, or soon will, that time is far more precious than money. You can get to the point where you have more money than you will need for the rest of your life, and time will become the limiting resource. Very few people on their deathbed regret not spending enough time at work. Retirement is often composed of “go-go years” (perhaps 65-75), “slow-go years” (perhaps 75-85), and “no-go years” (85-95). Early retirement allows you to double or even triple your “go-go years.” Missing out on that is a pretty big unspoken risk of not retiring early.
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What do you think? Are you planning on an early retirement? Why or why not? What do you see as the risks of retiring early and, conversely, NOT retiring early?
[This updated post was originally published in 2023.]
“It may not be one injury or diagnosis that slows you down but the aggregation of small annoyances that add up to you becoming incapable of doing the things you wouldn’t have thought twice about doing when younger.”
“I don’t know whether to be envious or sad when I hear that someone loves their job. Sure, it’s great to get paid to do something you thoroughly enjoy doing, but on the other hand, it’s an unrequited love.”
“Just realize that as time goes on, the odds of remaining in love with your job will likely diminish.”
“If your dream life consists of spending most of your days in a clinic, cubicle, or cath lab, perhaps your career has you living life to the fullest already.”
I loved this article. The folks that read my articles here know why.
My simulation said: At age 59 (April 2nd this year for me), it appears I have about an 11% chance of dying before age 69, a 33% chance of dying before age 79, and a cumulative 74% chance of dying before age 89. Sounds about right.
My largest likelihood bracket at 40% was the 79-88 year old bracket because I’m already about 59. As you say, that does not take health history, weight, habits, genetics, and fitness into account.
I’ve been living each year like it might be my last since I was about 50. If I die in the next year, I will have knocked many as many things off my bucket list as I could fit in comfortably.
I darn sure don’t want to leave many of my accumulated dollars on the table like many of the anecdotal retirees I have memorized.
All good points. “ I darn sure don’t want to leave many of my accumulated dollars on the table” – what about leaving some inheritance for the next generation is a boost before they r off to their own races in life?
Great article. Only issue I would have is I do not desire to have a few years of such little income to make cheaper Roth conversions or pay lower capital gains. That’s not a goal of mine. As much as I hate taxes, I want my income in retirement to be plenty high enough to do what I want when I want.
I would caution against confusing income with money.
Doing what you want when you want requires money. Income is a transfer of money that is (usually) taxed, and you don’t necessarily need or want too much of that.
It’s quite possible (and getting easier with tax brackets shifting to the right with inflation) to have a six-figure annual spend while paying zero federal income taxes. See The Taxman Leaveth: https://www.physicianonfire.com/the-taxman-leaveth-taxes-in-early-retirement/
If you want to spend multiple six figures, you’re most likely going to face some tax burden, but it all comes down to how much of your spending money is sourced from taxable income.
Cheers!
-PoF
Chat Rikki on the topic …
The prospect of retiring early is often met with skepticism and warnings of financial ruin, much like the Empire’s retaliation against the Rebel forces in Star Wars. However, what is often overlooked is the potential risks of NOT retiring early.
As we age, the risks of illness, injury, and death increase, much like a ticking time bomb set to go off. While we can take steps to protect ourselves financially through insurance products, we cannot guarantee that these events won’t impact our retirement plans, much like the difficulty of defending against the destructive power of the Death Star without a proper shield.
The best way to ensure a healthy and fulfilling retirement is to retire as soon as possible, much like a timely escape from the grasp of the Empire. The longer we put off retirement, the greater the chance that our plans for post-career life will not come to fruition, much like missing the opportunity to destroy the Death Star before it’s too late.
The Risks of Retiring Early
It’s important to acknowledge the potential challenges of retiring early, such as running out of money, receiving smaller Social Security benefits, and facing boredom. These risks can be mitigated by careful planning and forecasting, much like mapping out a strategic plan before entering into battle.
Retiring early also brings with it a sudden abundance of free time, which can lead to unexpected challenges such as strained relationships, social isolation, and dangerous hobbies. To avoid these pitfalls, it’s important to have a plan for how to spend your time and manage your finances, much like a well-equipped spaceship ready for any mission.
Ultimately, much like the choices faced by characters in Star Wars, the decision to retire early is a personal one that requires weighing the potential risks and benefits. May the odds be ever in your favor as you navigate this important decision.
I consider those risks more to be trade offs of not retiring early. Every decision has its opportunity costs. And adding those up versus the benefits, it surely sense for many, if not most, to retire much earlier than at full retirement age. But it is not for everyone. Making the argument to those of us who exceeded all our aspirations in the work world is like telling Tom Brady to retire when he was 35, so he’d have more good years left with his family. He would have looked at you like you were demented. He was living his best years right then. Being a star in business feels the same. You love it and until, or unless, the passion fades you don’t want to walk away. Clint Eastwood is still making movies in his 80’s. That’s what he loves. I worked until 60 for the same reason. And now I’m still living my best years, retired. Nice take on the prices you pay to not retire early. They are risks worth weighing.
Tom Brady’s decision to come out of retirement apparently played a major role in disrupting / ending the family life he had tried to protect. 35 would have been way too soon for him, but his life might be a lot different now if he had remained retired.
Cheers!
-PoF
Yea I was thinking maybe not the best example for the point Steveark was trying to make.
It looked like NOT retiring after his wife made it known that she strongly desired him to retire cost him his marriage….but there are reports they were having problems all the way back in 2015.
It’s tough to be a public figure. Lots of empathy there. I wish the best for both of them.
I do not accept the notion that, if you like your job, nothing can change at work without making you unhappy. Things change. That is life. Even if one is deliriously happy every moment at work, that hardly means that any change must be for the worse. Maybe you will find new things to like about your job even more as it changes.
My job today is far different than it was when I started working. More of those changes have been positive than negative.
I also do not accept the notion that everyone wants to retire early, avoiding the “risk” of “working too long”.
I do not want a long retirement. If all goes well, I expect to work to an age that will leave me a far shorter retirement than some on here desire.
If I hit 75 and am still in demand and the ravages of age have not rendered me unable to keep up, then I expect to keep working. In my field, it is possible, but it takes luck to be in good enough shape to do the job at that age. Too soon to tell whether I will hit the jackpot with old age health.
I do not have a long list of things I want to do that working interferes with. On the other hand, I definitely have professional goals that I cannot accomplish by not working.
As for the joy of low income years for Roth conversions, this means earning less money over a lifetime and paying lower taxes as a result. My financial goal in life is not to minimize the taxes I pay. Instead, it is to maximize my networth. If I quit long before RMD age, I will pay less in taxes because I will earn less money. The outcome will be a lower networth. That would be the opposite of what I want to do.
No. I do not agree that living life to the fullest means doing as little work as possible.
The work I do is part of my life. I did not abandon it when I could afford to retire and I have no intention of quitting simply for the sake of doing nothing.
You only live once. Do something useful with your life while you can.
Afan, I’m glad to see your ideas and goals to help me understand your perspective a bit better. I do think as far as this topic, we disagree on a lot. But, that’s OK.
Many in medicine do have a list of things they’d like to have more time for. By working l less, I have more time for hiking, swimming, cooking, yoga, travel, writing, reading, learning new things, etc. That’s why people want to win the lotto…to be able to have more “free time”.
“I have no intention of quitting for the sake of doing nothing”. Well, of course, neither do the rest of us that want to retire. That is not the outcome sought by most FIRE folks. Although I do like a day here and there of doing very little…
“Do something useful with your life while you can”. Leisure is useful. Travel is useful. Taking care of oneself physically and emotionally, and taking care of one’s family is useful. In medicine, when you are working, it’s “life or death” and the expectation is you will, at times, put it before your family, and your own well being. Many of us do this routinely…for years and struggle to find a balance.
Working half time is plenty for me. I’m glad to have more time for leisure. Time for freedom. More time to nurture my family and marriage. Time to consistently take the best care of myself possible.
Work until I die to be useful…in pursuit of “net worth”. Nope. The people at my funeral: “Yes, he was only 65, but look at his net worth.” I hope not.
As I have said before, “to each their own.”
I’m financially independent. But I’m still working.
I don’t want to change anything right now.
I’m the boss at work. I own the practice. I travel to far flung places multiple times each year. I meet with friends and we exercise outdoors every day. The work I do contributes to making so many lives better.
Why would I want to change anything when I am living the life I want to live and spending my time the way I want to spend it?
I think the docs and other professionals that own their own practice or business and are the boss have a nice situation.
Having always been an employee, I got used to the decisions of others affecting my life in major ways…not all good, of course.
Now, working half time from my basement at will and doing a few long inpatient weekends is the closest I’ve been to the captain of my own boat. I can choose to work more, or less at any time, I can take as much time off to travel as I want to, and it feels pretty good.
Having agency over your life and work schedule due to financial planning allows one to continue to work more or less by choice. This is a good place to be.
Employed white coats who have
I would have to agree with you. After all, it would seem strange for someone to devote himself/herself years of studying and training in order to retire early. No, rather one should work as long as possible in a badly needed profession , for the good of mankind. Otherwise that individual has taken up a valuable seat in medical school that would have been better occupied by someone truly devoted to medicine.
What about plumbers? Should they work until they can’t because there are so few good ones out there? What obligation do they have to society? Why is it different for docs?
I think I have said many things even more critical of the idea that one’s goal in life should be quitting work as young as possible. I feel sorry for people who have concluded that there is no gainful employment from which they can derive satisfaction. My reading of some of these posts suggest that they have not tried to find meaningful work. Some appear to be so wedded to the idea of work as endless drudgery that they have not even looked.
My work has changed in almost every way since I began my career. But it is better now than it was in the past. It is harder, the hours are longer and we have had discussions of how they are soon to become longer still. But it is also more interesting and more productive. I am happy with that tradeoff.
Will I work until I die, never retiring? Maybe. Luck of the draw with what kills me and when.
Would I consider it some sort of tragedy that I never made it to the promised land when I no longer had any work to do?
Not at all.
It might be a tragedy if I were to die far short of my life expectancy, but no less so if I were to retire before death.
I save for the future so I will have money should I need it and because I like generating income, saving and investing it. I do not do this to shorten my career. I read WCI to get ideas about money management, not to accelerate my retirement
Whether I retire or keep working until death depends on how long I live and how my health plays out. If I am still able to do my job, not so impaired by age or illness that I have to quit, then I will keep working until that changes.
Most of the things people plan to do in retirement or currently do now that they are retired fall into two categories:
1. Things I have interest in or intention of doing, now or in old age. Travel and eating at fancy restaurants are solidly in this group.
2. Things I do now and have no need to retire to pursue: hiking, exercise, reading.
I suppose if I were to retire I could spend more time on group 2. I am not sure I want to spend more time on group 2.
I am quite sure I would not want more time on group 2 if it mean reducing to zero my efforts on group 3.
3. My work. I am well paid but I do not do it only for the money. It is interesting. Far more interesting than lying on a beach or flying off to some remote destination.
My post was explicitly to point out that not everyone sees early retirement as a goal. There is a range of opinions about this. Which is why I posted.
Sorry if this offends you but I am puzzled by the reaction. Surely you know that not everyone agrees with you?
Happily married and both of us are still working.
Afan, I appreciate your view.
It’s quite different than mine, but that’s OK.
What is your specialty, if I may ask?
I think I got a bit toasty in mine (Psychiatry) by age 50.
It’s good that you and the other post above could stop work if you wished, but simply enjoy it very much. It’s a good choice to have.
Hey Leif. Don’t reject the idea of living to 116 just yet. All the research out there on reversing aging is incredible, some of it is producing amazing results in animal models. All I’m saying is don’t sell your scooter when you get to 115. 😂
Ha! I’ll hang on to that scooter.
I know people who are planning to live to 150. I’m certainly not opposed to longevity as long as the years are good. If there are proven ways to delay the aging process and how it impacts one’s energy, vision, hearing, strength, cognition, etc… I’m all for it. Just don’t listen to Peter Attia’s podcast while riding the scooter in traffic. You might not get to where you’re going, let alone 116 or 150!
Cheers!
Leif
Personally, I think working to adopt an outlook each day where you are living in the moment and prioritizing time for activities that encourage such mindfulness all while working is the best of both worlds. The retirement life isn’t all it’s cracked up to be – trust me – if you worried about money even a little you may find yourself worrying about your finances even more once it finally sinks in that you won’t be collecting any more paychecks. Also, the bittersweet truth of retirement is that you may not retain the health or vigor to truly enjoy it to the fullest (no matter how many marathons you run or kale smoothies you drink). Health or even LIFE in the future is not a guarantee – and life FEELS more valuable when you are being challenged and stimulated and those are superimposed against a background of a stabilizing routine. I recognize that not everyone wants to work til they drop and I’m not really advocating that extreme approach. Just offering a cautionary suggestion to those who dream of retirement. After the 9,000,000th hole of golf or the 5th cruise around the world it begins to feel like being forced to eat an entire chocolate cake. Sounds great at first but by the end you might find yourself wishing for a plate of broccoli…
Interesting article and the timing even more so as I am 56 and retiring in 56 hours. Thank you Jim for this blog and the role that this financial education has played in my getting to this point.
That’s an amazing accomplishment, Mihai. Congrats.
That’s wonderful, Mihai! Many congratulations to you!
Our pleasure.
I liked this post the first time around. Almost all of the people I know who have died were quite surprised by their deaths.
Only four were “ready to go” and their ages were: 95, 92, 80, and 79. All four of these lovely people were in some ways asking for their lives to be over, and three of the four had been “ready” for several years due to cumulative losses, disabilities, and notably decreased quality of life.
Only one of these four still lived in their own home at time of their death. All four had some dementia, with the younger two having been destroyed by it. None of them were still driving, and had an average “non-driving” decade. None of them had travelled abroad (or at all) for many years.
On the other end of the spectrum were the surprised:
Age 46: A doctor friend (father of three) killed by a drunk driver
Age 46: an avid runner (father of a young son) who died on a Monday at work where he sat
Age 55: a long time childhood friend that I knew for 50 years, died suddenly a few years after his marriage ended in divorce (another surprise)
Age 59: a long time friend who struggled with anxiety and alcohol
Age 61: a family member whose cancer was in remission for several years died unexpectedly while still working five days a week
Age 65: a colleague who died of lung cancer within months of the diagnosis whose main concern was “getting back to work.”
Age 67: a coworker who had just retired died of cancer two years in to retirement leaving behind her “million dollar pension”.
There are many more.
The problem will not be running out of money. None of these people ran out of money. Your problem will be running out of time or quality of life.
Own it, plan for it and assume it is true. If you do somehow get to 85-95 intact and are living the life with solid quality and are minimally restricted, you will have won the biggest lottery of life, and can laugh at the reaper. Good luck.
Thanks for the comment, Huckleberry. One thing that is part of your examples that is not mentioned, for emotional and political reasons, and also why you should retire or spend earlier than you realize, is if you are one of the people who chose to receive the experimental mRNA technology. In the next ten years, the mortality increase will be massive, it already is, but it’s low enough for people to shield themselves from admitting it. I’m sad that this had to happen, but it is yet another reality on the list of global depopulation, most of which has been set in motion and encouraged by various nations, states, actors, etc.
Either way, the post is a great one from JD, and the advice remains: get out of the rat race and enjoy the fruits of your labor, so that you don’t regret working forever without receiving dividends on the more important things in life.
I thought tin foil hats reversed the effects of the mRNA experimentation don’t they?
Everyone is admitting it, the injection from the UK was also taken off the market, Redfield is coming clean, Cuomo already did, they all totally contradict themselves … who exactly is wearing the tin foil hat here, JD?
Beautifully written, Dr. Dahle! I really needed to read this today. Time is so valuable, fleeting, and finite.
The time for your own, for your own health, your own interests, your own discoveries. That is a wonderful but scary benefit of early retirement.
I feel that one of the major disruptions to us being “happy” with our jobs is achieving financial independence. What I was willingly overlooking BEFORE achieving FI, thinking that “it’s not a big deal” was dealing with the jerks from administration, our often abrupt and unhelpful consultant colleagues, slow/unmotivated and sometimes not very smart residents, and oh, some of the patients.
AFTER FI, all of a sudden, it started really bothering me.
Anyone feels the same, or it’s just me?
First of all, congrats on FI! I think it boils down to sense of autonomy and controlling your time.
I worked as a W-2 and it got old very quickly. It became very difficult to prioritize family and hobbies over work and I had no autonomy or control. It made all the negatives you described above VERY bothersome. I switched to 100% locums and now I am in control of my time and have the ability to say no or stop and change my location/shifts if something isn’t working. I still deal with the same issues but they don’t bother me as much and I find that I help people a lot more because I’m coming from a place where I feel my time is appropriately valued. I’ve found that the abrupt/unhelpful consultant change their tune when you go the extra step to help them once or twice. I didn’t have the time to do that until I was in control of my own schedule. I don’t have to overlook the bad parts because now they happen a lot less.
That really bothered Leif Dahleen too, which was why he punched out of anesthesia at 43. I’ve noticed it a little, but mostly being FI has helped me enjoy my practice more.
Much of the concepts in this post are referenced in Die with Zero. I read the book a few months back (while on a cruise to Mexico) and really made me rethink things. I’d always been so worried about running out of money. If you read the posts on the WCI facebook group posters are admonished for taking any sort of risk that could cause them to run out of money. However, it made me realize that some of the expenditures of life are worth it.
I’d love to see a deeper dive into the book or perhaps a podcast with Bill Perkins. I feel like there are many docs who don’t have it together, but for the ones that do I think adapting a die with zero philosophy is better.
Here’s something else that directly relates to Die with Zero. https://www.whitecoatinvestor.com/the-seasons-of-your-life/
Megan, the podcast producer, has been instructed to get Bill on the podcast. No luck so far! We haven’t gotten Warren Buffett either.
I entirely agree that there are risks to not retiring early. Some people really do love their vocation, many tolerate it, and many are only in it for the paycheck. I’ve been in all three groups, and after spending several years in the latter, I decided to pull the plug and retire at age 42. We spend half the year traveling with our young daughter and are the happiest, most content that we’ve ever been in our lives.
Your points regarding early mortality and morbidity were very salient for us. Two of my grandparents died in their 40s, and my father-in-law died at 64. One of my brothers-in-law became totally disabled in his early 50s. We know very well that we don’t have the promise of being alive and well tomorrow.
Retiring early certainly resulted in me leaving millions on the table, but that was far less important to me than spending lots of time with my family doing what we all love and sharing our journey with others.
Smart (and more importantly, wise) man – happy to hear it, William.
Every time I read articles like this, I want to immediately resign and retire. I have so many things on my bucket list I would like to be doing that work is holding me back from. But something keeps me from pulling the trigger.
It must be partly financial — the health benefits, the deferred comp I would lose. Another worry is to give up on the training I have worked on for decades. I am not a medical professional, so a transition to part-time is really not feasible. My other non-bucket list involves professional learning that I can really only do while continuing to work.
So I remain in limbo, continuing to work while I recognize that I am losing precious time. Definitely is stressful.