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Early retirement?
Posted by afazio.uk_887 on July 29, 2023 at 1:13 pm
Do you all know any Rads that have retired early?
I consider before 59.5 early as that’s when you can tap retirement account freely.
What do they do they for health insurance?
Most older Rads I know still work reduced shift…. Rads is such a good gig typically I don’t see that many early retirements. I do know a couple of older Rads that worked until death.buckeyeguy replied 1 year, 3 months ago 21 Members · 34 Replies -
34 Replies
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Quote from Waduh Dong
Do you all know any Rads that have retired early?
I consider before 59.5 early as that’s when you can tap retirement account freely.
What do they do they for health insurance?
Most older Rads I know still work reduced shift…. Rads is such a good gig typically I don’t see that many early retirements. I do know a couple of older Rads that worked until death.
“Some radiologists retire early, which makes no sense as the lifestyle of a radiologist differs so little from retirement.”
The Medical Student’s Survival Guide by Steven Polk
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Radiology has changed since Polk wrote that book. Its a painful non stop grind laden with liability and corporate/university control. Wait til the market turns again
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There will be few stories of rad early retirement. Few know how to build wealth. Some like it and have nothing better to do. Others are worried about giving up such a lucrative income and losing their title.
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I’ll be honest – the thought of no new incoming monthly cash flow and completely living off portfolio investments would take some getting used to….
I think it would be hard to give up Rads totally regardless of age, presuming health is good enough.-
Do what Im gonna do and have your younger high earning spouse keep working 6 more years until Im medicare. Well I need to run that by her first anyway but seemed like a good idea.
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I know a rad who retired ~10 years early. He considers it one of his better decisions. His wife had good health insurance for a number of years and then had to pay through the nose the last 3-4 years. If the cost of health insurance is holding you back, perhaps your nest egg isn’t big enough.
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Honestly Id want my wife to retire same time as me. But she refuses to even go half time now eventhough we have little kids. She wants to work til 65 minimum. I told her fine but I plan on retiring at 60 at the latest. I would like to go part time by 50. Of course we will see how investments and all that go. But if I hit 10 million liquid assets, Im done regardless of how old I am. 5 million seems dicey with uncertainty about inflation in the future. Anything over 10 million seems overkill unless you are a highroller spender or one of those psychological money hoarders
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^^ its not about the number or portfolio.
How much do you need every year to live how you want? Subtract social security and pension and multiply by 25x
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I did, in my 40s. It lasted a short time and then I went back but very part time. In my case I have very young children so I couldn’t really travel the way I wanted and had all the associated restrictions, so this was a way to keep a foot in the door, keep current and not become entirely obsolete in medicine.
Do you have any specific questions?
You may be interested in last month’s thread on this topic called
Radiologists who retired early: any stories? -
For me to retire completely, I would probably need close to 10 million right now. Im nowhere near that. The number will be less the longer I work. The big thing with me is young kids at home. Have to save for college, activities, travel, etc. for a radiologist without kids, early retirement should be a very viable option in the early 50s. Planning on Full-time another 8 to 10 years and then part time. At that point, I dont care what the number is. Im not working full-time for the rest of my life.
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Healthcare, private schools, college/grad school tuition, and expensive homes in VHCOL would be the major challenges to navigate for the radiologist looking to FIRE.
In my opinion, 40-45 with say 3M invested in liquid assets and a paid off or reasonable mortgage, is a good time to target cutting back. I think part time can be quite enjoyable, and can provide health care insurance. Most radiologists can achieve that. -
$10 million is a completely arbitrary number.
As I see it net worth matters very little into this decision. Simply because for every $1 million one individual may have $20,000 in cash flow and another individual may have $150,000 in cash flow after taxes. You cannot eat your net worth.
So you can have somebody with 2 million and somebody with 10 million and they both can live the exact same kind of lifestyle due to cash flow, and how much they pay in taxes due to the investments they choose.
If I’m honest when somebody talks about net worth as a target for retirement it makes me cringe because it tells me how little they know about finances and minimizing taxes.
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I will also add to allude some of the posts above that if you can’t imagine having a better life or enjoying your life after radiology you seriously should get some hobbies and interests in life. Learn a new language, travel, pick up a new skill, climb some mountains, fall in love with something.
Life is not meant to be lived behind the computer monitor reading bunion films and then paying 40 to 50% in taxes for every additional dollar you make. The world is a yuge place. This has never been more reinforced in my mind than after recently taking 6 months off of radiology in my thirties. I mean this from a place of caring.
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Quote from Re3iRtH
I will also add to allude some of the posts above that if you can’t imagine having a better life or enjoying your life after radiology you seriously should get some hobbies and interests in life. Learn a new language, travel, pick up a new skill, climb some mountains, fall in love with something.
Life is not meant to be lived behind the computer monitor reading bunion films and then paying 40 to 50% in taxes for every additional dollar you make. The world is a yuge place. This has never been more reinforced in my mind than after recently taking 6 months off of radiology in my thirties. I mean this from a place of caring.
While I agree with your overall sentiment, I think we should also appreciate that we are doing something that helps a crap ton of people, which provides a lot of satisfaction and purpose to a lot of us.
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Unknown Member
Deleted UserAugust 10, 2023 at 10:05 amFellas, you can have your cake and eat it too. See my post regarding a reasonable and maybe even excellent lifestyle possible at 0.8 FTE.
Enjoy your work, take care of people, keep up to date and intellectually satisfied, be involved in your practice. Also spend ample time with your family and friends, take care of yourself, enjoy hobbies (for a select few this latter stuff can overlap with professional but usually is separate). If you cant do all this then drop your hours or find a new position! You cant wait until retirement or even tomorrow to live the life you want.
Obsession over income, NW, whos making what are all distractions that may result in you working more than you want/need.
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Im feeling great at 0.8
I can travel as much as I want without the scarcity anxiety that Im going to run out of vacation days.
Theres also enough internal moonlighting currently available that when I am in town I can make back the 20% comp hit and then some
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Quote from Re3iRtH
I will also add to allude some of the posts above that if you can’t imagine having a better life or enjoying your life after radiology you seriously should get some hobbies and interests in life. Learn a new language, travel, pick up a new skill, climb some mountains, fall in love with something.
Life is not meant to be lived behind the computer monitor reading bunion films and then paying 40 to 50% in taxes for every additional dollar you make. The world is a yuge place. This has never been more reinforced in my mind than after recently taking 6 months off of radiology in my thirties. I mean this from a place of caring.
Amen brother. This stuff gets so silly, and I think it’s envy in part for those of us who do travel and realize the scam of working hard for a society in the US that actively hates the people who produce the most. Why would I keep working for people who want to give all the produce to incompetent, mass man voters? Ha, I’d rather arbitrage that disgusting hegemonic USD for people who behave like normal people, not spoiled, entitled Americans (most people).
The question here of course is, and it takes someone like me to cut through the BS, “do you have a family”?
If you don’t, of course you aren’t going to want to work, or work more, so some Democrat (commie) scumbag voter gets more of your hard earned cash.
Just sayin’
The writing is on the wall people. The productive people are checking out. Good luck in your big cities (yay diversity!) Better get bigger fences and guns. The faeces are gonna keep flying. Enjoy the dung hills.
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Unknown Member
Deleted UserJuly 31, 2023 at 5:21 pm
Quote from Waduh Dong
Do you all know any Rads that have retired early?I consider before 59.5 early as that’s when you can tap retirement account freely.
What do they do they for health insurance?
Most older Rads I know still work reduced shift…. Rads is such a good gig typically I don’t see that many early retirements. I do know a couple of older Rads that worked until death.
Well, I stayed until 59. Could have gone at 50 or 55, but I was having fun until 58, then ……things happened.
So – question – about health insurance. about 6 years prior, I bought insurance for my wife and I. Independently. The cost wasn’t as much as I expected, but as time went on it went up significantly. However – the company was taking the health care premiums out of my pay anyway, and that charge went away.Here was my thinking at the time: I am 54. I am perfectly healthy and insurable. If I buy insurance now, outside of the group, then I can’t have a situation where I have an MI, or a Ca, and become uninsurable and am now tied to the job by the insurance. So – I regarded the cost of insurance as the price of freedom.
I bought a separate policy for my wife (not attached to mine) because I learned if she was under my policy and I died, she no longer had insurance.I worked reduced shifts for some years. Always when it was convenient for me. Spent winters in the south. Then came north and worked 4-6 per month. Obviously, didn’t need the money. just to see friends, and help some people. I maintained my general capabilities though I have subspecialty. Especially mammo. (which I like). It is very important while you are working full time to retain your capability to do general work. Some friends decided to dislike general (I always cultivated the attitude that I couldn’t afford to dislike anything, and so I found something interesting in everything I did), and now, who needs a neuroradiologist part time?
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Unknown Member
Deleted UserJuly 31, 2023 at 6:00 pmPart time is the way to go. Cut back to 80% as soon as you can and make that the bulk of your career. At some point when you have enough savings can reduce hours even further and hopefully enjoy the work like Rolf Rad describes and keep working into later years.
Full time and then some in these high volume practices is a path to burn out and wanting to get out of the field entirely and retire early.
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Everyone has their own perspective, but I say work hard play hard your first 10 years out. Even working hard for ten years, you still have more time with your kids than a lot of people. Think of the traveling business type always on a plane and out of the house, the neurosurgeon always at the hospital or even the restaurant manager, always gone at key after school hours. We have it pretty good in rads even working hard. With that said, there is definitely a point to take a step back- when the kids are in competitive sports etc. Caveat is perhaps Im not out long enough to feel burnout. I dont hate going to work with the exception of the occasional weekend when its super busy and the weather outside is nice.
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Unknown Member
Deleted UserAugust 1, 2023 at 5:19 amWould be too bored to retire early. Approaching 50 and still have the motivation to work hard and make as much as possible however I realize I am not wired like most. I recently converted to 100% telerad and found a nice PP to work for as well as some “enjoyable” 1099 gigs I can titrate up or down as need be. Plan to work FT until kid is thru college and then will reassess. Wife is a physician and we live below our means – however I do like to drive nice cars and travel …
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Unknown Member
Deleted UserAugust 1, 2023 at 7:46 amIm with Dr77767 above. I think full time rads – full time physicians – today work too much to live a life that is rich with the things that take time. Too easy to just fall into the habit of working and spending, and having some nice vacations or possessions to make up for it. It has become the American dream, to be busy all the time. Little time for personal development.
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Unknown Member
Deleted UserAugust 1, 2023 at 8:51 amEasy money is addictive as crack. Keep working till your whole life has passed you by. You will sit there with your foley catheter, and cervical spine and quadruple bypass surgery, clicking away at the mouse like a rat clicking a lever
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If I could I hike a new place every day. Obviously, that requires money to travel etc and likely independent wealth, but its nice to think about it. Ive thought about taking a much lower paying nature-oriented job but, but I have many friends in those positions and many move around a lot, often not by choice and have constant financial woes and other job complaints. Money isnt everything, but it is a great security blanket. And financial independence is not the same as independent wealth.
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I think it is insane to retire early from Radiology.
It is without question an excellent career, probably top 1% worldwide.
My plan is to squeeze as much as possible out of this, and only fully retire if displaced by AI, otherwise 0.5 – 0.7FTE until I die.
I feel very fortunate to have landed in Radiology as I was gung-ho Ortho for most of my medical school career (even published an Ortho research paper).
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Quote from striker79
Easy money is addictive as crack. Keep working till your whole life has passed you by. You will sit there with your foley catheter, and cervical spine and quadruple bypass surgery, clicking away at the mouse like a rat clicking a lever
This is only true if you have a bad job. In that case, it is not easy money.
Easy money in Radiology is a decent schedule with plenty of time off, good benefits, 400-500k income, ample WFH, never feel stressed etc.
Those jobs are out there. Why retire early from such a life?-
I am also on the side of not retiring early. Beside the service to my own financial status, I view my job is also a service to society. Many retirees end up volunteer in many areas. I don’t see the trade off for myself by not doing my job/service and end up doing free services elsewhere. We, as radiologists, are heavily trained to do a service to patients. I spent 13-14 years in training starting in college to become rad attending. I have worked around that much time and financially stable enough that I don’t need to think about money again. Nor I need more time off to do vacations or hobbies. I spend plenty of time with my family and extended families.
Hey, one can even make radiology job a free service: work (part or full time), donate all your income after cost to charity of choice. It doesn’t take society 14 years to train a person to take care of stray dogs.-
Society trained you? I’ll give you some credit too. I completely understand your viewpoint and sacrifice — it’s highly admirable. But I don’t think there’s anything wrong with retiring early. You have one life to live and you don’t owe anybody anything.
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Awesome !
Quote from Hubcap
I am also on the side of not retiring early. Beside the service to my own financial status, I view my job is also a service to society. Many retirees end up volunteer in many areas. I don’t see the trade off for myself by not doing my job/service and end up doing free services elsewhere. We, as radiologists, are heavily trained to do a service to patients. I spent 13-14 years in training starting in college to become rad attending. I have worked around that much time and financially stable enough that I don’t need to think about money again. Nor I need more time off to do vacations or hobbies. I spend plenty of time with my family and extended families.
Hey, one can even make radiology job a free service: work (part or full time), donate all your income after cost to charity of choice. It doesn’t take society 14 years to train a person to take care of stray dogs.-
I am looking forward to a life of leisure where no one can tell me where I need to be, what or how much I should do, or have any responsibilities for the welfare of others who can sue you for doing your best.
Getting off the assembly line will be a reward for grinding it out all these years. Plus, no one knows how much is left. To each his own.
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Agreed with above, doing it for the love of the game ignores that elephant in the room; the bs lawsuit. Have seen couple guys in my group have to go through litigation for absurd things. Dont be like Tom Brady and loose Giselle for one more shot at the title.
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Quote from astone38
I am looking forward to a life of leisure where no one can tell me where I need to be, what or how much I should do, or have any responsibilities for the welfare of others who can sue you for doing your best.
Getting off the assembly line will be a reward for grinding it out all these years. Plus, no one knows how much is left. To each his own.
Yes, I am in agreement here. I wonder if people would still work if they were all of a sudden worth 20 million? That’s probably the more accurate question regarding working – Do you have to?
If you want the routine, or have a family and it’s just easier to be routine and stick around, then yeah, just go part time. Thankfully, BTC has made me a millionaire – few people realize it yet though.
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