Retirement planning at a glance:


• Retirement isn’t just about financial planning; it’s about reprioritizing your life.


• Don’t underestimate the importance of friendships, activities and family when making plans.


• Determine if and how you want to remain connected to your previous work.


• Consider legacies beyond the financial, such as photos and memories.


Related reading


• Exit strategy, part 1— Career-long retirement planning: The early-career IR (bit.ly/2zxxUSY)


• Exit strategy, part 2—Career- long retirement planning: The established IR (bit.ly/2JZZi19)


Listen to these articles at bit.ly/irqa-5


that your children, their parents, will appreciate your help and interest. As a warning, grandchildren can be addictive and may consume a substantial amount of your time.


Compiling a visual history Coming from a profession whose core skill is imaging, it behooves us to leave an accurate, digitized imaging record of ourselves and our families. All those photos, Super 8 films, VHS tapes and digital photo albums from our childhood, graduations, weddings, our children and professional accomplishments will all be part of the dumpster described above, unless you make an effort to sort out pertinent imaging and have them digitized. It’s amazing how much of life’s images can be stored on a small thumb drive— even more on cloud-based storage. The information is easily duplicated and distributed to our children and grandchildren. You will receive bonus kudos if you make the effort to script and film an interview with yourself, describing your heritage, your family and professional accomplishments. What an incredible legacy that could be to your descendants.


Travel We are looking to the future. At some point (hopefully soon) we will be ready to resume travel to those exciting places we see in those enticing travel brochures. While it may be inadvisable to travel to remote places in the world in this COVID era, consider a road trip to several of the amazing national parks here in the United States. We can promise you that you will not be disappointed.


Building a legacy Getting to know your grandchildren Should you be fortunate enough to have grandchildren, becoming more actively involved in their lives provides them with a great legacy. Sharing with them who you are and participating in their activities can be a lasting influence on who they become and on their outlook on life. And who knows—you may convince them to become an IR like yourself. At a minimum, we’re sure


Staying healthy During retirement, you are no longer under any obligation to be at a given place on a given day. We strongly recommend that you develop a similar commitment to maintain your physical and mental health. Joining a gym and committing to a minimum of 3 days a week of muscle and cardiac workout with or without a personal trainer will help ensure your physical well-being. Likewise, enrolling in courses at your local university or community college will help preserve your mental acuity.


Maintaining a relationship with IR Professional relationships While many of us believe that we are essential for our department to function, the reality is that, soon after we depart, the department’s collective memory of our existence rapidly fades and a new structure unfolds. Trying to maintain professional relationships when no longer practicing is difficult. If your intention is to maintain an association with your former


department, the time to develop this alternate relationship is in the year before you retire. For example, creating and participating in a voluntary mentorship or teaching program for residents and ancillary staff. It’s also important to consider malpractice or personal indemnity insurance for these activities. Will your existing carrier provide such insurance and who will pay for it. Will this insurance interfere with your tail coverage?


For some, continuing selected scholarly activities in retirement can be rewarding. Serving on your medical school’s admission committee or reviewing for professional journals are ways to stay in the loop.


Providing consulting services to industry Maintenance or initiation of consulting services once you are no longer practicing is very difficult, unless you have a long history of such activities and are well established in one or two companies. Industry prefers input from individuals who are on the front lines of practice and are closely associated with the current needs of physicians. The time to initiate these enquiries is in the last few years of your practice, when you have the attention of your local company representative. These individuals can facilitate connections within the company with whom you can discuss opportunities.


Service to the SIR Volunteering for one or several committees of SIR when you retire is an important consideration. It is not difficult finding a place for yourself within the many committees of the society. Your expertise and accumulated knowledge and experience will greatly benefit your younger colleagues and keep you connected to your passion for IR.


Retirement is a stage of life requires years of planning. And while there is no correct way to approach it, preparation is key. As with all complex procedures, before you begin you should be armed with as many facts and considerations as possible.


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