Retired Doctor 1 year anniversary

JacksonD I want to read your blog!! I am a younger doc who wants to follow your footsteps, what is the link?
 
So when did you pay off your mortgage/kids college/etc.?
I am in the process of paying down my mortgage in 2-3 years, and finishing up college funding for 2 kids in 4-5 years myself. Then things will get a lot easier.
 
There is a sticky thread in the Other Topics forum called "PSA:I wrote a book or have a blog" where the OP can put a little something about his blog if he wishes.
 
Congrats ! I'm also a doctor (pediatrician), turning 50 this year. I've sort of reached my number but haven't found something to replace all that doctoring as yet. Did you miss the patient contact ? Did you consider reducing your hours but not completely withdrawing from patient care ? I'd be very grateful for your advice because I'm considering when (or if)to pull the trigger.
 
Thanks for the thread. I love to read these (both good and bad) as I am planning to retire in two years and have my concerns about how my RE will unfold. You are living my dream. I won't be able to live as lavishly as you but hoping that I have no problem enjoying what I want to do (golf & travel).
 
Retired Doctor now 18 months in

I am now 18 months into retirement and haven't missed patient care at all. Everyone writes that you shouldn't just retire but should retire to something. I didn't have any real plan with how I was going to spend my time but just decided that if I couldn't figure out something to do other than work then I was pathetic. I retired from seeing patients all the time to...not seeing patients. That was basically it. I was able to cut back practice a bit before I retired and that gave me confidence that I could do it. For the first few months after retiring my wife would ask me what I was going to do that day, my response was always "whatever I want to". She figured I said that because I didn't know what I wanted to do and some days she was correct. I was very happy just being able to wake up every day with a smile on my face and let the day unfold after years of having my time dominated by work.

After a period of unwinding, my goal oriented personality is coming back to the forefront but with new goals and activities of my own choosing. I am working with some med students to organize a local eyeglass recycling program. I have also been in contact with the university department of financial planning to help devise an educational program on personal finance for med students, residents, and other young doctors. One thing just leads to another as I am now able to be open to new ideas and adventures while leveraging the knowledge and connections I built up in my years as a doctor.

There are still plenty of days where I am not busy, but boredom is fleeting and I don't want to get overextended. Golf, triathlons, and travel still consume a fair amount of my time.

Early retirement has been a time of retaking control of my life and I am still fired up to see what kind of life I can create. I have absolutely no regrets for retiring early and on my own terms.
 
Jackson D said:
I am now 18 months into retirement and haven't missed patient care at all. Everyone writes that you shouldn't just retire but should retire to something. I didn't have any real plan with how I was going to spend my time but just decided that if I couldn't figure out something to do other than work then I was pathetic. I retired from seeing patients all the time to...not seeing patients. That was basically it. I was able to cut back practice a bit before I retired and that gave me confidence that I could do it. For the first few months after retiring my wife would ask me what I was going to do that day, my response was always "whatever I want to". She figured I said that because I didn't know what I wanted to do and some days she was correct. I was very happy just being able to wake up every day with a smile on my face and let the day unfold after years of having my time dominated by work.

After a period of unwinding, my goal oriented personality is coming back to the forefront but with new goals and activities of my own choosing. I am working with some med students to organize a local eyeglass recycling program. I have also been in contact with the university department of financial planning to help devise an educational program on personal finance for med students, residents, and other young doctors. One thing just leads to another as I am now able to be open to new ideas and adventures while leveraging the knowledge and connections I built up in my years as a doctor.

There are still plenty of days where I am not busy, but boredom is fleeting and I don't want to get overextended. Golf, triathlons, and travel still consume a fair amount of my time.

Early retirement has been a time of retaking control of my life and I am still fired up to see what kind of life I can create. I have absolutely no regrets for retiring early and on my own terms.
Click to expand...
You are obviously doing very well. How many years did you practice post residency and any fellowships?
 
haha said:
You are obviously doing very well. How many years did you practice post residency and any fellowships?
Click to expand...

I wonder if a proctologist gets the Fellowship of the Ring?
 
I practiced dentistry for 32 years before selling my practice in sept. last year. I am now teaching part-time at a local university and am loving it. No more administrative worries, personnel or insurance problems. Just go in to work with the students and leave.
 
Congratulations Doctor,

This is a semi retired private practice physician (They call us providers... these days) 57, work 3 days a week with frequent long vacations.
Sometimes I still find myself getting fidgety on days when I am not working, when I do not have a plan for that day.

Kudos.. to you to go cold turkey and finding loads of things to get yourself involved with, I find your blog nicely written & very informative.

I have a few things to learn from you Doc, and although I have reached my number, kids have left house and are busy with their lives in different parts of the country, I am still waiting to find something interesting to do before I cut the Chords to Medicine completely. Maybe... it will come in time....

Thanks for sharing and best wishes
 
Dear Jackson D

Thanks for your frank and honest reply. I don't have any medical colleagues of the same age who've retired yet and the earlier generation of doctors believed strongly in dying in the saddle. I couldn't agree more with the sentiment that if one was not imaginative enough to think of sometimes else to do, it would be truly pathetic. Learning a foreign language, keeping fit, travel and management of my portfolio are things that I know will occupy me. But, as you know, we docs have been always brainwashed to believe that our work should always come before anything else. Like "rkser" said, it's not easy to cut the chords to medicine completely....
 
simster said:
Dear Jackson D

Thanks for your frank and honest reply. I don't have any medical colleagues of the same age who've retired yet and the earlier generation of doctors believed strongly in dying in the saddle. I couldn't agree more with the sentiment that if one was not imaginative enough to think of sometimes else to do, it would be truly pathetic. Learning a foreign language, keeping fit, travel and management of my portfolio are things that I know will occupy me. But, as you know, we docs have been always brainwashed to believe that our work should always come before anything else. Like "rkser" said, it's not easy to cut the chords to medicine completely....
Click to expand...

Oh, I don't know. I went into medicine because back in the day when I was making my career choices, it was a socially acceptable way for a woman to become financially independent without having to resort to marriage. I never bought the Kool Aid. Just today someone asked if I missed it and I could honestly say "no".
 
I've been out for a year and a half too. I'm waffling over renewing my license. I feel somewhat guilty, but I sure sleep a lot better. My spouse got lucky with some stock options and we wound up pulling the plug a few years earlier than originally planned. I've found plenty to do during the day, but early arthritis has started to limit my mobility, so all in all I'm glad I quit when I did.
 
Thanks for all your helpful comments. Meadbh, AllDone - do you mind if I ask how many years of practice you'd put in before you decided it was enough ?

I find clinical practice OK most days, screamingly exasperating once in a while and maybe a few times a year, really rewarding.
 
32 years.
 
I was in practice 27 years and for the last few years the good parts were overcome by the hassles. It was a classic case of burnout. Cutting back to 4 days per week helped quite a bit at first but that didn't last too long. I realized how much better I felt when I was away from work so I finally got on with my new life.
 
19 years, I did some software engineering first. I liked IT because it was very creative, but there were a lot of divas in the field (really divos) and some issues with being a girl among all the boys. Medicine was more collegial, but I was starting to burn out and working with a guy who was really burned out. The money was not substantially different. Medical school was really, really fun and 2nd and 3rd year of residency were pretty good too. Intern year sucked.

My aunt, who is only a couple of years older tham me, flies to a medically underserved area for 2-4 days at a time a few times per month and seems hapoy with that.
 
AllDone said:
My aunt, who is only a couple of years older tham me, flies to a medically underserved area for 2-4 days at a time a few times per month and seems hapoy with that.
Click to expand...
I hope she's a medical professional and not some strange tourist with a sick idea of the perfect travel destination... :)
 
Today is the six week anniversary of my exit from medicine. Out and under age 55. Obviously it is still early, but I do not miss it at all. I have no trouble finding stuff to occupy me, and I am actually amazed how a day just slips right by. I am loving the freedom. I am studying a new language, going to museums for lectures and special daytime programs, cooking more and exercising much more regularly. I look good and feel even better. Check me out in a year. For now, everything that I had hoped is true. It is awesomely good.

I will say I have discovered something completely unexpected and a bit unpleasant. My wife (by choice, not necessity) is still a physician. Now, as the non physician spouse of a doctor, I have a new understanding and appreciation of the challenges of having a doctor as a spouse. It does serve as a regular reminder of why I am so glad to not be in medicine anymore. I hope she gets jealous and quits soon.

I completely agree with those who say that there is a "kool aid" that doctors drink that gets them hooked on the recognition, or the power or the calling or whatever that frankly never really took with me. Or it wore off really fast. And +1 enthusiastically that one who cannot find ways to challenge oneself is just PATHETIC. Absolute nonsense that an intelligent person in this day and age could not find any other distraction than those provided by medicine. Bah! And good riddance. Burned out? Scorched. 3rd degree.
 
Congratulations on the wonderful new chapter of your life. Your story is inspiring and I hope to be there soon. I am a relatively new physician, out in practice for 6 years. Although I do love my job and my patients, I do not like the daily grind and the schedule my family has to be on due to my work. I have young children and it breaks my heart that I cannot be as involved in their lives as I'd like to be now. I am hoping in a few years, before their high school years, I can pull the plug and not look back. I never really drank the Kool aid either since what we have now is sure a lot more than what my parents ever had. Hubby, who is not a physician, is planning to continue to work to support some of the "lifestyle" (this is his own choice since he likes "stuff" more than I do). When I went into medicine, I thought that I would work forever. Since having kids, my views have definitely changed. I want to spend more time with them and also be able to travel and do things with my husband before we are not able to physically. Thanks for the inspiring story and I will definitely check out your blog.
 
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