Retirement Planning for Physicians

1. Retirement Planning for Physicians "Best wishes on your retirement. Enjoy a rest that's overdue. Take pleasure in the finer things that are awaiting you." - Judith Wibberley Unlike you and me, Physicians have access to wide variety retirement-planning tools and techniques and unique problems. In India medical practices are seeing a sea change not limited to corporatization, demanding service standards, compliance, decreasing wallet share and liability laws. Now a day more and more doctors are opting for regular and contract jobs amid high student loan and sky-rocketed cost of setting practice in urban centers. Hence we can look physician financial planning in 2 categories, One with Own Practice setup and another on regular job and consultation. Retirement Planning for Physician with Own Practice Setup Successful doctors and business owners are used to a greater income stream. They need a lot of help on retirement planning as Cash flow becomes a huge concern. It’s an Open secret; doctors have huge physical assets predominantly in real estate and gold. Incomes from those assets are not sufficient at all. Solo practitioner can identify & groom a successor well in advance like 3-5 years and serve like a consultant in the transition process. This way your employees & patients’ are well taken care of as usual; you can enjoy lesser working hours prior to retirement; and reap the value for years from the practice you have built through many years of toil and sleepless nights. Affiliated businesses they might own also are an excellent retirement source. Selling a practice to another solo practitioner may not be a lucrative outcome except the real estate value. Merger and selling to big corporate may not be an option for all. Whatever the choice, implementing could appear intimidating, which can lead to inaction. Retirement Planning for Consultants and Salaried: Even salaried doctors do run private practice in a small way. Protecting assets from lawsuits and creating a tax-efficient portfolio are important. Maxing defined contribution pension plan, disciplined investing from the start and creating a passive stream of income matters a lot. Both classes would be better off spending less and investing more. Needless to mention, get accustomed to the post retirement hobbies/activities like visiting places of worship, volunteering, etc well before retirement to avoid mental agony and restlessness. The key to retirement financial planning for physicians is to recognize that it is a process, not an event. Goals are achievable, but only through an executed plan. Wealth Traits Financial Planners, No. 9, Maven Projects Centre, Dr. Thirumoorthy Nagar 3rd Sreet, Nungambakkam, Chennai - 600 034. info@wealthtraits.com / www.wealthtraits.com