Hello from Singapore

[simster]

Hi, I'm a 48 year old physician from Singapore - a tiny island at the tip of South-East Asia. I'm married with 2 teenage kids. Have been practicing for the past 25 years and running my own practice for the past 15. Planning to retire at 55 if all goes well.

I would like to ask if anyone's been so bored/dissatisfied with the retirement lifestyle that they've gone back to work i.e. not through financial necessity. Also,if it's been difficult to explain or justify your retirement if you've retired significantly earlier than your peers in college or in the armed services etc especially if you plan to still socialize with them post-retirement ?

Thanks in advance to everyone

 

[MichaelB]

Hi simster. Dissatisfied? Not yet. For me retirement gets better every day. Difficult to explain? Not at all, but it has been hard for some to understand. This has been discussed often here, you can find many threads that can help. Here are two

http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f29/dealing-with-others-perceptions-of-er-59887.html
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f28/fire-and-friends-51192.html

 

[braumeister]

Welcome!
Singapore is high on my bucket list of places I want to visit, so it's good to have you here.

This recent thread might also interest you:
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f26/burned-out-and-ready-to-retire-how-many-have-unretired-64355.html#post1264780

 

[Meadbh]

Welcome simster, from a fellow physician, who has just retired @ 55. I do think that most of our colleagues will do a double take and may not believe we are really retiring. I think physician culture and local culture have a lot to do with this. I have a good friend who is also a physician from Singapore and I imagine he would have a hard time detaching from work. I think the key is to develop interests and friends outside of work.

 

[obgyn65]

I agree with this.

I think the key is to develop interests and friends outside of work.

 

[Brett_Cameron]

I agree with this.

+1

 

[KMyer]

Welcome!
Singapore is high on my bucket list of places I want to visit, so it's good to have you here.

This recent thread might also interest you:
http://www.early-retirement.org/forums/f26/burned-out-and-ready-to-retire-how-many-have-unretired-64355.html#post1264780

I visited Singapore on a business trip and I highly recommend it. I was very impressed with the prosperity, beauty, safety, and cleanliness of the country.

 

[darly2004]

Welcome simster, from a fellow physician, who has just retired @ 55. I do think that most of our colleagues will do a double take and may not believe we are really retiring. I think physician culture and local culture have a lot to do with this. I have a good friend who is also a physician from Singapore and I imagine he would have a hard time detaching from work. I think the key is to develop interests and friends outside of work.

I agree as well. Although I am not close to retiring and have just essentially started my career, I am looking forward to what I can do with my time outside of work. I see lots of older physicians working well into their 70's. While I do enjoy my job, I have no desire to work into my 70's. As a mom of 2, I have found it hard to find work/life balance with a FT job. I look forward to the day I can spend most of my time with my kids, even if they will be older at that time, and with my husband. I think with physicians, so many years are spent on working towards getting the degree and training and so many hours are spent on building a practice, so that a lot of our identity is tied in with our career. I used to say that it would be cool to see my patients grow up and bring their kids to my practice down the line. I still think it would be great, but my desire to have more time with my own family has exceeded that. So, I don't think I would feel the need to justify my desires to retire early if I am so lucky to get to that point.