Doctors typically retire later than the average American, often in their late 60s or even early 70s, with plans often centering around age 68, but it varies significantly by specialty, with surgeons often retiring earlier (around 61) and dermatologists/pathologists later (around 69). Many aim to retire when healthy enough to enjoy it, balancing financial readiness and passion for patient relationships, sometimes transitioning to part-time work to ease out.
Although physicians may intend to retire at the age of 60, they will in fact typically retire at around 69. Commonly-reported reasons include career satisfaction, a feeling of purpose, strong work identity and lack of interests outside of Medicine.
Lawmakers and professional regulators, perhaps implicitly recognizing the arbitrariness and unfairness in mandatory age retirements, have imposed no such requirements for physicians who are employees.
Forced retirement due to age is illegal under both California & federal law—with rare exceptions. You can't be forced to retire just for turning 65 or 70—that's age discrimination.
The majority of obituaries were of male doctors. Doctors who qualified in the developed world appeared to live longer (mean age at death of 78 years) than those who qualified in Asia (mean age at death of 70 years). White-European doctors lived significantly longer than doctors from other ethnic groups.
Radiologists die at around 75 years, succumbing to conditions such as respiratory diseases or cancers, while OBGYNs live to about 82 years. Those who work in public health live the longest – up to almost 84 years. Of course, this isn't a crystal ball and these figures aren't set in concrete.
Cardiac Anesthesiologist – $700K Annual Compensation.
Professions
If you started saving at age 30, you would need to save about $2,800/m to reach your goal of $4,000,000 at age 65. However, if you decided to delay saving for retirement until age 40, you would need to save about $5,775/m to reach that same goal of $4,000,000 at age 65.
A Sense of Duty
One reason for continuing to work beyond the retirement age is one's own sense of responsibility. Medical care is scarce, particularly in rural regions. Many doctors value the personal relationships they have built with their patients and feel committed to continuing to provide care.
A comfortable retirement in the Dominican Republic is feasible for $1,500-$2,500 per month, covering housing, food, utilities, transportation, and basic healthcare. This affordability is due to lower wages, less expensive local products, and a weaker currency compared to the US dollar.
Mean weekly hours worked across all specialties was 54.6 ± 6.4, ranging from 43.4 (Pediatric Emergency Medicine) to 71.1 (Vascular Sur- gery). At retirement, the mean estimated net worth for all physicians was $4,517,600 ± $1,793,095, ranging from $1,927,779 (Child & Adolescent Psychiatry) to $8,947,885 (Neurosurgery).
California law provides for a similar provision banning age discrimination, but explicitly allows for a professional medical corporation's bylaws or articles to have compulsory retirement clauses that require a physician employee to retire upon turning 70 years old.
The $1,000 a month rule is a retirement guideline suggesting you need about $240,000 saved for every $1,000 per month in desired income, based on a 5% annual withdrawal rate (5% of $240k is $12k/year, or $1k/month). It's a simple way to set savings goals, but it doesn't account for inflation, taxes, or other income like Social Security, so it's best used as a starting point, not a complete plan.
One-quarter of doctors in their 60s are not even millionaires. The chart from the prior year was even more stunning, as it showed 11%-12% of doctors in their 60s didn't even have a net worth over $500,000, and only 48% of doctors over 65 were multi-millionaires.