Health, income, and activities of retired physicians

Driven to retire mainly by changes in the health care delivery system, physicians nevertheless find it difficult to reduce their professional activities as they grow older. Retired physicians in a seven-county region of upstate New York were surveyed to discover how they were faring in retirement and to elicit information of possible value to doctors planning to retire. Good health and adequate income were the prime factors in successful retirement, along with active involvement in postretirement activities, especially nonmedical ones. Three quarters of respondents found annual incomes between $25,000 and $50,000 to be comfortable. All agreed that private investments must make up at least a third of this amount, supplementing Social Security, pensions, individual retirement accounts, and Keogh plan distributions. There was diversity of opinion on remaining active in medical affairs after retirement. A large majority of those who found retirement better than anticipated advised a clean break with medicine. Most of their colleagues who rated retirement about as expected or not as good as anticipated counseled continued involvement in professional activities.