Retirement is a milestone that many Americans consider a foregone conclusion; a time when you finally have the freedom to do all of those things you put off due to your career, children, mortgage payments, etc. However, few Americans are adequately prepared for what it will take to be able to retire in this day and age. As more than 10,000 Baby Boomers reach the age of retirement each day, understanding what retirement will mean for you is an important concern. A study conducted by Boston College’s Center for Retirement Research found that, as of 2010, American workers aged 32-64 were “$6.6 trillion short of what they need to retire comfortably.”
Additionally, while a majority of individuals believe their living expenses will decrease during retirement, the harsh reality is that “65 percent of retirees saw their costs rise,” according to a recent Genworth study. As a medical professional, for a good portion of your career you likely focused on repaying those daunting student loans; working diligently to get out from under that burden before even beginning to think about putting money away for retirement. Then you bought a house, or the kids went to college, or the car broke down. Something always seemed to come up that required your primary attention. You may have also established a private practice.
According to Jim Rhea, DMD, “I established a private practice in a state-of-the-art office with the help of large, high interest loans. I thought little about retirement. Actually, it was so far distant that I didn’t think about it at all.”
If you are just starting your career, or still have a number of years before retirement, great! Think about when you want to retire, the lifestyle you would like to have, how much money you will need to save to reach that goal, and get started. There are a number of tools at your disposal, including an online retirement calculator to make this process more manageable.
On the other hand, if retirement is quickly approaching and you find that you are not ready to hit the beaches or golf courses just yet, locum tenens may be a great solution to supplement your retirement income. Locum tenens placements provide the flexibility to continue practicing, without the administrative hassle that accompanies many private practice or employment environments. Covering the gamut of medical specialties, locum tenens placements can include consultative, surgical, or diagnostic roles.
