Why aren’t physicians ready to retire?

Physicians are not all that enthusiastic about retiring, according to a recent survey from CompHealth. In fact, the physician workforce is, on average, much older than the general workforce.

In fact, according to CompHealth’s survey, physician respondents—on average—plan to retire at 68 years of age compared with the national average retirement age of 63. The survey was conducted by Hanover Research for CompHealth, and included over 400 physicians aged 50 and older who were late into their careers. Physicians were prompted with several questions to gauge insight into their perspectives on working in the medical field. Response percentages outlined below may add up to more than 100% because participants were allowed to choose multiple answers.

Survey responses aligned with results from the 2016 United States Census, which reported that a full 30% of practicing physicians are 60 years of age or older, and the average age of actively licensed physicians in the United States is 51. 

The top three reasons physicians cited in their survey responses for wanting to work past age 65 were enjoying their medical practice (58%) and the social aspects of their work (56%), and a desire to maintain their existing lifestyle (50%).

Despite this, some physicians have reservations about working past age 65, with their ability to stay competitive being at the top of the list of concerns (38%), followed by worries about declining health (37%), their ability to provide quality patient care (26%), inability to keep up with new technology (23%), concerns about their spouses/partners (21%), and other factors (6%).

Career satisfaction is lower

Unfortunately, results from CompHealth’s survey also indicate that overall career satisfaction among physicians has declined over time. A full 59% of surveyed physicians reported that their career satisfaction has decreased since they first started practicing medicine. However, this negative finding may be mitigated by the fact that 82% of respondents said they are either satisfied or completely satisfied with their careers.

The physicians who were most satisfied with their careers were pediatricians, who reported 93% satisfaction, followed by radiologists/pathologists (92%), psychiatrics (85%), surgeons (82%), internists (77%), and obstetricians/gynecologists (71%).

When asked to look back over their careers on whether they would have done anything differently, 44% of responding physicians wished that they had kept a better work/life balance, while 34% reported that they wished they had begun saving for retirement earlier, 19% that they had chosen a different medical specialty, and 13% that they had chosen to work in a different practice type. Only 12% reported that they wished they had chosen a different career altogether. (The percentages add up to more than 100% because participants were allowed to choose multiple answers.)

Something to look forward to

When asked what they most looked forward to in retirement, a full 76% of doctors reported that they’d like to travel more, followed by 66% who wanted to be able to pursue other interest, 65% who wanted to dedicate more time to their personal hobbies, 65% who wanted to spend more time with their friends and family, and 48% wanted to be able to work part-time or volunteer.

Only 32% reported that the best thing about retirement was not having to work anymore, 30% said less stress/burnout, and 29% said more autonomy and control.

According to respondents, an ideal retirement would include financial stability (88%), more time for personal activities such as hobbies and travel (85%), more time with family and friends (75%), less stress (74%), mission/volunteer work (40%), and more time to focus on personal health (35%).

Something they’re not looking forward to

The loss of social interaction at work was the greatest concern about retiring for physicians, while the concern about the care of their patients was the least concerning. The second most common concern was a loss of purpose, followed by a fear of being bored/lonely/depressed, the inability to maintain their lifestyle, not feeling useful, and lack of savings.

Money matters matter

Thankfully, most physicians reported that they were financially prepared for retirement, with 83% reporting that they had taken steps to prepare for retirement. In addition, 70% reported that they had used employer retirements services, such as 401(k)s or pension plans to plan for retirement, while 62% had used a personal financial advisor.

Who has the greatest aversion to retirement?

Surgical specialty physicians (surgeons and anesthesiologists) were the least ready to retire. When asked whether they were excited about full retirement, only 53% agreed compared with 58% of internists, 61% of obstetricians/gynecologists, 62% psychiatrists, 63% pediatricians, and 78% of radiologists/pathologists. Surgeons also reported the highest satisfaction with their careers—88% were satisfied or completely satisfied.

Just over half (51%) of physicians planned to still work occasionally or part-time after retirement.

Confidence apparent

Among respondents, most were still confident in their skills and abilities to make meaningful contributions to medicine. A full 91% reported that they still feel useful and can still provide useful services to their patients and the community, and 89% reported still feeling that they were able to remain competitive in the healthcare field.

Ultimately, many physicians are hesitant to retire because they love what they do and will miss the people they work with. The most attractive things about retirement for physicians include traveling and having more time to spend on hobbies and with family. Not working wasn’t a factor most were looking forward to. And finally, physicians who are still working later in life still are confident that they can make contributions to the medical field. All in all, it seems that most physicians are social, confident, and in no hurry to retire.