Retirement is one of the biggest lifestyle changes in anyone’s adult life. Anticipating the change can be daunting or exciting depending on how you view it! It represents a major shift in our schedule, habits, and the way we think. Though healthcare professionals do tend to work longer than most . A 2017 study found the average retirement age of physicians to age 68, compared with 63 for most Americans. As important as this change is, it doesn’t have to be overwhelming.
As a healthcare professional, there are three crucial steps that you should take to secure your retirement.
- Step 1: Define your retirement. There must be a clear picture of what retirement will look like for you.
- Step 2: Get your health insurance on the right track. Make sure you sit down with a professional and figure out how you will insulate yourself against medical bills.
- Step 3: Get your financial house organized. Be sure to consult with a retirement specialist about the best strategy for your retirement accounts.
Retirement for Healthcare Professionals: Clarified
Defining your retirement can seem challenging, but it isn’t nearly as difficult as it sounds! You’ve worked your entire life, and now you have earned the opportunity to do more of what you would like to do, and less of what you have to do.
As a Nurse or Physician, when you closed your eyes at night up until now, you may have had thoughts of the appointments you had today, the patients you are set to see tomorrow, or all of the problems you may have to solve. Now that retirement is approaching, it’s time to close your eyes and take a couple of minutes to visualize. What you would like your life to be like outside of the hospital or office? A 2018 AMA Survey indicated that only 6% of physicians consider themselves ahead of schedule in relation to their retirement planning. It’s time to get that number up!
This is where it gets fun!
Let’s consider where you want to be in 5, 10, and 15 years. Will you be on a beach, in a cabin in the woods, or will you be travelling the globe? While it can be tough to pin those things down, it’s a good(and very exciting!) problem to have. Simply put, as a healthcare professional you need to have goals in place to be able to set up your retirement accounts in a way to maximize your retirement.
Take a couple of minutes and write down your top 5 goals in retirement. When you know where you’re going, you give yourself the best chance to get there. Once the destination is figured out and you know what you’re striving towards, you’re able to plan accordingly.
Health Insurance for Healthcare Professionals: Options!
You have worked hard to give yourself the retirement you want to have. Now, it’s time to make sure we have the peace of mind to enjoy it! One of the biggest issues healthcare professionals encounter in retirement is having a health problem limit their lifestyle or erode their assets. Unfortunately, for most Doctors and Nurses, health insurance is no longer a part of your benefit package.
One of the problems I have seen time and again with retiring medical professionals is that they automatically sign up with a plan from the carrier that had provided the group coverage when they were working. This is not to say that this option won’t be the best option sometimes, but oftentimes it is not.
Health insurance in retirement isn’t one-size-fits-all.
Here’s an analogy to help clarify: just because a group of people all have high blood pressure, not all of them take the same prescription. Similarly, just because you and your co-workers had the same group coverage(employees usually don’t have an option here), doesn’t mean they should all have the same retirement insurance. No two people have the same situation with their health.
With the right guidance, you’ll know what insurance to look into whether you’re under 65 and don’t have Medicare available, over 65 and eligible for Medicare, and everything in between! Working with an independent professional familiar with your lifestyle as a healthcare professional to address all of these concerns will ensure you have the best plan for your specific situation.
Retiring Healthcare Professionals: Reviewing and Revamping Your Retirement Accounts:
The final step, and arguably the most important, is getting your financial house in order. Working in healthcare is demanding, and for that reason a lot of healthcare professionals do not have as much time as they’d like to educate themselves for the transition into retirement. With continuing education requirements for healthcare professionals and the increasing demand for nurses to have a bachelor’s degree, there just aren’t enough hours in the day!
That’s okay, it’s what I’m here for.
Meeting with a professional whose specialty is advising retired healthcare professionals is vital. Your advisor should understand not just the finer points of retirement planning, but also the specific needs and concerns that those who come from a background in healthcare have. Medical professionals work incredibly hard for their money, and you want to be sure that the financial advisor you’re working with has your interests in mind for your money. There are plenty of pitfalls and obstacles in retirement, but most can be avoided or at least planned for with the proper professional helping you.
To navigate retirement properly, it is important to speak with an independent professional who works with this every day.
Whether you’re a nurse, physician, or a PA, you understand the value in being organized and having a plan with processes in place. Retirement planning is not “one size fits all,” especially with so many variables in play.
Every decision must be made with the other factors in mind to prevent any decisions from being made in a vacuum. Working with an independent advisor helps keep everything under one roof so you can ensure all of your accounts are organized, and performing as efficiently as they can. This way, you will be able to put an action plan into place to make sure that you enjoy your retirement to its fullest.
Marc Hudson, Tim Alfieri, John Kohout, and Sara Hornick, investment advisor representatives of, and securities and advisory services are offered through, USA Financial Securities Corp., Member FINRA/SIPC. A Registered Investment Advisor located at 6020 E. Fulton St., Ada, MI 49301. Hudson Wealth Management is not affiliated with USA Financial Securities.
