Plan Early For Retirement

When done well retirement planning is made it can set you up for a life you never thought was possible. When done wrong, it can leave you short of travel money, covering your monthly bills and ultimately the question of where you went wrong.

Here are some things to consider now setting you up for the best success.

Procrastination – Don’t let it happen to you.
People procrastinate for many different reasons, one of the most prominent being that no one really wants to have that tough financial conversation. It’s understandable.

If you have not met with a financial planner and your are entering your 50’s as a dentist, now is to pick up the phone and make the call to schedule the appointment.

Because living in retirement isn’t ‘free.’
Many people assume that expenses will go down in retirement — and, for many, perhaps most, they do. On the other hand, there are changes in how we spend in retirement as well — and they aren’t always less.

A recent report by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) notes that health-related expenses are the second-largest component in the budget of older Americans, and a component that steadily increases with age. Health care expenses capture around 10% of the budget for those between 50–64, but increase to about 20% for those age 85 and over,” EBRI notes. And those spending shifts don’t take into account the possibility of a need or desire to provide financial support to parents and/or children.

You may not be able to work as long as you think

In 1991, just 11% of workers expected to retire after age 65. Twenty five years later, in 2016, 37% of workers report that they expect to retire after age 65, and 6% say they don’t plan to retire at all, according to the 2016 Retirement Confidence Survey (RCS) . At the same time, the percentage of workers who say they expect to retire before age 65 has decreased, from 50% in 1991 to 24% in 2016.

However, the RCS has consistently found that a large percentage of retirees leave the workforce earlier than planned — nearly half (46%) in 2016, in fact. Many who retired earlier than planned say they did so because of a hardship, such as a health problem or disability (55%), or changes at their employer such as downsizing or closure.

The bottom line: Even if you plan to work longer, the timing of your “retirement” may not be your choice.

Sooner you Start, the easier it will be

More than half of us try and calculate how much money we will need to have saved by the time we retire so that we can live comfortably in retirement, a level that has held relatively consistent over the past decade. To do this correctly, you must seek a Transition Specialist for your practice.

The bottom line is you need to have a plan for your retirement. And there’s no time like the present to start.

Give us a call to schedule an in office appointment at one of our two locations or a simple phone meeting can set your path to retirement success.

Premiere Practice Transitions is a highly-experienced dental practice transition firm that specializes in dental practice transitions. Our team of transition consultants draw upon the wisdom and experience from decades of assisting dentists in all aspects of practice operations.