What You Wish You Knew About Retirement!

Abraham Lincoln put it succinctly all those years ago: “And in the end, it’s not the years in your life that count. It is the life in your years.” We have all tried our best to fill our years with purposeful moments, with dedication to our profession and our families, often at great personal sacrifice. When it is finally time to “hang up the scrub cap” and focus on what matters to us, we must plan well, not only for retirement but for the period in our lives thereafter. While many plan their financial path to retirement well, working hard to set aside a nest egg, they fail to plan for their ongoing personal and social lives. In the following pages, as Drs. Rita Patel, Juhan Paist, Richard Himes, and Lalitha Sundararaman point out in the article “Preparing Others for YOUR Retirement: Challenges You Never Anticipated,” the longest-running study in the history of the United States dealt with the most pertinent question of all – What makes us happy? The answer was startling! It was not health, wealth, or even social status. It was personal and social connections. Hence, the authors state that making plans with your family and spouse and keeping them aware of your plans for and after retirement are crucial to a successful stress-free retirement. They even quote the U.S. Census’ surprising statistic that the instance of “gray divorce” in the age group of 50-plus is 75% greater than those who are married and in their 20s. Hence, retirement, they say, must be a new phase in your life with financial and personal fruition fully planned, rather than just the end of your professional life. Retirement should be thought of as a gradual transition for the retiree AND their coworkers. In the current scenario of workforce shortages, training your replacement, as happens in many successful large businesses, may be necessary to ensure a smooth and successful exit.

“For many of us, our profession is our identity, and retirement often causes a bipolar reaction. A part of us is glad that the hustle and bustle is over, and a part of us longs for it again.”

For many of us, our profession is our identity, and retirement often causes a bipolar reaction. A part of us is glad that the hustle and bustle is over, and a part of us longs for it again. However, the previously mentioned article by Drs. Patel, Paist, Himes, and Sundararaman, and “FASA: Retired Members Are Now Eligible to Apply,” by Drs. Arnold Berry and Kraig de Lanzac, emphasize that retirement need not be the end of involvement with the profession. The authors emphasize that mentorship, leadership guidance, and involvement in ASA activities in various committees can be avenues for continued involvement in the profession, albeit at a different pace. Drs. Berry and de Lanzac give us details about the FASA designation in their featured article. ASA awards the FASA in recognition of a member’s achievements and commitment to their specialty, and it is ASA’s highest designation. They clarify that, though this honor was originally only accorded to clinically active members, it is now offered to retired members who have achieved excellence in their chosen profession and service to ASA. They go on to delineate criteria for application and acceptance, giving useful links for the same in their article. They encourage everyone eligible to apply for a FASA, as it offers national recognition and credence to the applicant’s hard work and professionalism.

At the end of an extensive career and lifetime of compromises on the family and personal fronts, there comes a time when one takes a moment to peek through the looking glass. Without the pressure of the daily grind, this moment is often contemplative, nostalgic, and sometimes soul-searching. Was it all worth it? Should I have been a different type of doctor or maybe not a doctor at all? Were all those hours being awake at night worth it? In an entertaining online-only article packed with historical anecdotes, Dr. Andrew Herlich answers some of these integral questions in “Would I Do It Again?” He offers snippets of his own experiences and invites you to draw your own comparisons alongside his personal perspective. His essay is unique in that it echoes many older anesthesiologists’ sentiments, but also offers a viewpoint to younger doctors who are just starting out. It answers many life questions, choices faced, and troubles overcome (asamonitor.pub/4fAc4Ti).

So, is this Monitor issue only for our oldest and youngest members? Not at all! Dr. Aaron Tebbs, in his article “Catch the Wave,” talks about the increasing involvement of late-career members in all key activities of ASA. He states: “Affectionately referred to as the silver tsunami, the 60-69 and the 70-plus age cohorts have grown 70.4% and 50.3%, respectively, between 2008 and 2021” (ASA 2021 Member Value and Satisfaction Research, Final Report; 2021). It was found that these highly experienced ASA members wanted opportunities to serve, maintain connections with their ASA community, mentor the next generation, advocate for our specialty, and access quality medical education relevant to their career phase (ASA 2019 Retired Member Survey, Final Report; 2019). He says “it appears that this wave is not merely an age demographic, but a wave of enthusiasm and support for our specialty.” Realizing this gap, the Committee on Late Career and Retired Members was established in 2019 by Drs. Beverly Philip, Michael Champeau, and Linda Hertzberg, and is now one of the fastest-growing ASA committees. His article reports on committee activities and how anyone interested can contribute to and benefit from this committee. Younger members can learn from their older colleagues’ expertise and apply that knowledge to their own careers.