“When can I retire?”

One of the most common questions I get from Partner Physicians is this one: “When can I retire?”  As you might expect, the answer is different for everybody. An example fom my own family may help illustrate some of the factors involved and, ultimately, help you get closer to making a decision that’s wise for you.

I am fortunate to come from a family with a strong gene pool on both sides. My maternal grandfather lived into his late 90s, taking dozens of cruises and attending the theatre, all without any caregiving. My paternal grandmother thrived into her late 80s, living in a rent-controlled apartment in Hollywood where she spent her time reading, going to several weekly card games, and traveling when she could afford to. Both my grandfather and my grandmother made family and friends a top priority.

To some degree, both my grandparents’ activities in retirement was dictated by their respective wealth. My grandfather, the wealthier of the two, never worked another day after retirement. In contrast, my grandmother was financially stable but worked part-time for a decade after retirement to smooth the way. In both cases, I am certain that the way they lived their day-to-day lives had much more to do with who they were as people than with their bank balances. And from what I learned during the deep conversations I had with both of them near the end of their lives, despite the differences in their levels of wealth, it seemed that their levels of happiness were quite similar in retirement.

How does that translate into your own retirement planning? For starters, it reveals that one of the most important things you can do to plan for an ideal retirement is to define how you want to live your later years. Is experiencing retirement like my grandfather your ideal, never working another day after you hang up your white coat? Or, like my grandmother, are you happy to ‘stay in the game’ and continue working at some level as long as you are able? The choice is yours, but your plan will be vastly different if you choose a low-cost retirement in which you work part-time for many years, versus if your dream is to spend your retirement taking four cruises a year and being an active patron of the arts. Though most Partner Physicians I work with fall somewhere in between these two extremes, exploring your preferences now is an important step in helping you and your financial advisor answer the question at hand: “When can I retire?”

If you find it difficult to imagine what life might look and feel like in retirement, it can help tremendously to have a retirement mentor—a former colleague who has already retired and has five or six years of experience to share. Whenever I chat with retired clients about whether things are going as expected post-career, I find that the happier retirees are those who took the time to think carefully about their retirement choices long before making the leap.

I recommend kicking off this process by doing your research. Take some extended time off when you’re approaching retirement to experiment and see if your vision of retirement matches reality. You may find you absolutely love having leisure time in abundance—or you may realize that after four weeks of relaxation you’re stir crazy and more than ready to get back to work. If you find the latter to be true, you can always take advantage of the excellent benefit of working at a large physician partnership: the option of working up to 45% time, often seeing “same days” for as long as you choose. If you decide that semi-retirement is your dream, the partnership may help make that dream come true.

One lesson I have learned watching my clients transition in to retirement is to stay flexible. While it’s true at any age that circumstances beyond your control can have the power to undo the best laid plans, that is especially true in retirement. That said, one way to keep the financial unkowns at bay is to plan well early on and to build up a large emergency fund that is not included in your day-to-day cash flow. With emergency funds at your fingertips in case of a financial crisis, you can be free to enjoy more—or even all—of the things you are dreaming of in retirement.

It’s a lot to think about! That’s why I recommend working with an experienced financial advisor to create a written financial plan. This valuable tool can help you define your goals, explore your options, and build a solid path forward. (Watch for my January blog post covering the key components and true power of a written financial plan.) By planning and preparing for all reasonable scenarios, you can retire knowing that the time—and the dream—is right for you.