In this section of The Long ViewBill Yount, practicing emergency physician and podcast co-host Up to Fidiscusses his biggest financial mistakes, how he found financial independence later in life, and the importance of planning for a smooth retirement.
Here are some excerpts from Yount’s interview with Morningstar’s Christine Benz.
Why Financial Independence is the Tonic Against Burnout
Christine Benz: I wanted to talk about your financial independence. It sounds like it was anticlimactic, but he also said that it was a great tonic against work burnout because you keep working. It sounds like you really love your job as a doctor, but can you talk about that, how empowering it was to cross that line and feel financially independent?
Bill Yount: An interesting question, and it is important, because I think that an independent financial doctor or at least one who has control of their finances and realizes that they will be independent is a good doctor. They don’t have the stress of going to work and earning more money to cover their finances, say, carelessness or health problems. I know the doctor’s solution is usually, OK, I’m going to get more money, work harder, get over my problems. No, that is not a good solution. That’s the hedonic treadmill solution, like we talked about before. So in order to avoid burnout while traveling, I reduced my working hours, and I changed the place where I lived, and I knew that my journey would be longer, but I knew that I had to save at least that level of money to cover our living expenses in 10, 12 years. But I worked a little, it helped me work longer, so I didn’t burn a candle with on both sides, and I was ready to work on 63, 64, 65 and be patient, but it came quickly, and it’s a tonic. Suddenly, I went to work—it’s funny—our financial officer said, yes, you’re successful, you’re financially free, and my wife looked at me and said tomorrow when you go to work, you won’t have any doubts.
And that is true. It’s still something I appreciate. I want to move, and I think retirement is a way to slide down a cliff. The one change I have made after three months of meditation and dieting is that I will cut two shifts. It’s a shift job, so I have the ability to do that, which is a little different than, say, a 9-to-5 corporate person, but I’m still clearing shifts, and it makes sense. It feels right. And there will be a point where I will probably continue to do three or four emergency medicine shifts, and I can discuss day shifts. Financial independence gives you power. You don’t have to be there, so you can have healthy conversations with your care. You are more than your patients. He is more than there for the workers. They ask me all these questions about how they can help with their finances. There are a lot of worries out there, so there is a lot of importance to stay but work in the right amount.
Wealthcare vs. Healthcare: Designing the Soft Sides of Healing
Benz: I wanted to ask about being a doctor specifically, but it would apply to anyone with a physically and/or mentally demanding job. What will your words say, you know? It’s time for me to leave, or you know, maybe I’m not in this part of medicine anymore?
Yount: As you discussed with Fritz Gilbert, there are many soft sides to retirement. That’s 80%. The numbers are 20%. It’s the Pareto Principle again, and you have to work on the soft sides that lead to retirement. You don’t want to be caught with your pants down like a layoff and no plan for how to spend your time. You have to start developing your hobbies, develop those relationships, leading up to retirement. Fritz Gilbert has 20 steps to help you get there in his excellent The Retirement Manifesto, but it’s a process. It’s a project, and you have to take it seriously, just like you take math seriously.
And for me, I’ll peel it back, say, four shifts. I am only going to discuss day shifts. It’s 12-hour shifts. They’re long. I’ve been doing nights, weekends and holidays for 30 years and I miss things. And let me just say, you know, I don’t want to miss Christmas this year because I have to work. I’m going to say goodbye, and I’m working towards that point in the next three years – I’m doing so diligently. And I can get to the point where it’s like, you know, enough is enough, because what happens is your life outside of work starts to detract from work. Your life is more intense outside of work, and in my case, it is Up to FI and wanting to work on financial health rather than physical health. Wanting to work on mental health and money, wealth management instead of health care. And I don’t want it to be an emergency for me to leave work.
When you reach your 50’s and 60’s, life suddenly piles up on your body and mind. And me with emergency medicine, if you ever watched The Pitt you understand, there is a kind of PTSD that goes along with this. And it’s almost building and leaving this – I look forward to that day, from my last performance. You know, I’ll be replaced as a wheel. I will put away the torch. But what keeps me going now is the work relationships, mentoring of younger colleagues as well as patients and the value I provide. But emergency medicine is a painful field. We deliver bad news. It is the worst day of a person’s life, a moment of great anxiety. And when you focus on financial health and health, you get a lot of gratitude – people say from our podcast, “You saved my life.” And that has nothing to do with physical health. So I’m looking forward to the next chapter.
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