Comments on: Case Study: Should I Keep Working Even Though I’m Financially Independent?

By: Barb

Barb — Wed, 11 Apr 2018 12:29:56 +0000

I am an RN who worked until age 62 but only because I loved my work. Hubby and I reached FI decades earlier so money wasn’t a factor in my continuing to work. He is a retired surgeon who mostly loved his work but the stress of being on call for a large hospital system with a Level I trauma center wore him down and he retired long before me. Two years later I struggle with exactly the same guilt as the writer. RNs are in short supply and even though I’ve developed a lot of activities in retirement, I miss the patients and the intellectual challenge of work.

I’ve been looking at part time opportunities and I suspect the answer for me is going to be some type of work as an RN even if it is unpaid. I agree with the other comments that the writer might want to try part time work as a first step.

By: drmoneyblog

drmoneyblog — Mon, 02 Apr 2018 15:33:37 +0000

Hello HP!

This all goes back to “know thyself”. I reached FI when I was 36 years old. I just wanted to be home with my children. Although I am good at delegation, I realized that fitness and relationships are not things I could pay someone else to do for me.

So I was a young female family doctor who stopped practicing at 36 years old. In Canada, female GP’s are in HUGE demand even to this day. I recall the first time someone said to me “you wasted the government’s money to help train you”, I just about busted a gut laughing my head off. I had never heard of anything so insane.

I knew exactly what I would regret and that would have been missing out on my children while they were growing up. Now that my youngest is heading to university, I am happy to work more in Medicine.

Life is just NOT that binary.

By: Stranger in a Strange Land

Stranger in a Strange Land — Tue, 20 Mar 2018 09:51:35 +0000

In reply to Ted Yaeger.

Hey, Ted – I’d be interested to hear why you hated retirement and what you’ve done since then to deal with it.

I took an “early retirement” from a prestigious, well-paying job that I enjoyed and where I was well-respected when my non-American husband’s parent became sick. So, I moved to a European country where I didn’t speak the language and had no friends except my husband.

This was about 1.5 years ago and I still struggle with a lot of things regarding the move and leaving my job. I can passably speak the local language now, but have very few friends (and no close ones) and miss my friends and life in the US, although there are many good things about living here as well. Even though I don’t need to work, I’ve applied for many jobs but have not received even a call back. A large part of my problem that I miss feeling competent and like I’m making a significant contribution – my job was a significant part of my self-worth and how I thought about myself.

I would be curious to hear how others deal with these feelings when leaving the work force.

By: Gasem

Gasem — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 23:46:52 +0000

I don’t think there is this much philosophy involved. My experience is once you reach FI you work till you’re done. I retired once, and found I wasn’t done. I was stuck in the mode of being a human doing and not a human being. At some point about 4 years ago, we closed our practice and hired into a big corporate group who took over our previous contract and became salaried physicians. It was the beginning of the end. We shut down because managing a small group practice became too time consuming and legalistic and we didn’t want to leave the center where we were working uncovered much like this doctor. We built the place from scratch and felt obligated till we found a solution. Once found, thus ended the moral dilemma. Hire somebody else to be the manager. What I found was corporate medicine sucked, so I was done, and by design it was somebody else’s problem to provide continuity. I didn’t find “slowing down” to be practical at all. If you “slow down” somebody else just has to pick up your slack because the work never ends. If anything it increases and everything is interdependent. At some point I realized continuing to work was just inviting liability since I didn’t need the money. The patients continued to be cared for regardless. My ex-partner quits at the end of March, he’s done. The place has 2 new gassers. Life goes on. Now retired I am ecstatic. I do what I want, as much as I want, whenever I want. Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to loose. Grabbing your “career” so hard it has fingerprints, no matter the rationalization, is not freedom.

My sister has a corporate job. She turns in her resignation and FIRE’s tomorrow. She worked and now she’s done. She’s so excited it’s a total gas to listen to her prattle on. She just finished writing her first novel and she’s going to spend a year in Alaska. Chick’s got her some goals!

By: The Physician Philosopher

The Physician Philosopher — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 15:30:33 +0000

Great post, THP! I think your advice is spot on. When I am in my mid 40s in the same spot, I plan to kick out all the things I don’t love about my job and to focus on what I am passionate about in my job. I may even do things I don’t get paid for (i.e. resrarch).

Freedom is so important, and moral obligations can seem huge as physicians…but we are not the only ones that carry them. So do our employers.

It’s all about choices. Sometimes they can be tough, just like this one.

Thanks for the thought provoking post!

TPP

By: Martdoc

Martdoc — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 14:22:14 +0000

First, congratulations to the physcian for managing his money to reach FI in his 40’s. I don’t think he should feel a moral obligation to continue to work where he is, but the satisfaction he probably feels helping others and making a difference is important. The beauty is, he has choices. He can choose to continue working as much as he does now, not at all, or anywhere in between. There is no one right answer for any of us, but it is a great point to get to, to have the choice. I look forward to getting there.

By: jk

jk — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 13:48:57 +0000

KEEP WORKING BUT DON’T WORK AS HARD! i’m a physician as well and could have retired some time ago. but i like my work, in spite of the occasional stress involved. starting about 10-12 years ago, i made 2 huge changes in how i practice, though.

1. i take a lot of vacations. 2017 was a new record for vacation time – 13 weeks. i go on hiking trips, trips to visit family, foreign travel, whatever. i have a partner so i have built in coverage when i take time off, which makes it easier.

2. the weeks i work, i work less than i used to. about 10-12 years ago i was seeing 125 patients/wk. now when i’m working i see about 75. a much lighter load, less paperwork, fewer issues to argue about with pharmacy benefits managers.

as an aside, so far in 2018 i’ve experimented with taking some shorter vacations- creating 4-5 day weekends for some shorter trips. i’m not sure yet what i think about this structure, but i have the freedom to experiment.

By: hatton1md

hatton1md — Sun, 18 Mar 2018 13:47:19 +0000

Thought provoking post. None of us should feel morally obligated to continue working. Once financial independence is reached it becomes an individual decision. Started slowing down in my later 40s to the decision to retire completely in 3 months. Retirement needs to be individualized.

By: TheHappyPhilosopher

TheHappyPhilosopher — Sat, 17 Mar 2018 14:05:55 +0000

In reply to Physician on FIRE. Thanks PoF, much appreciated :)

By: Physician on FIRE

Physician on FIRE — Fri, 16 Mar 2018 01:07:40 +0000

You have a great talent for deconstructing a question and dilemma such as this one. Posing alternate questions and flipping the script shows how the way in which the question is framed can change the way we approach it. Nicely done.

Best,
-PoF