Physicians plan to work past average retirement age

Physicians may not be as eager to retire as the industry has been led to believe, according to a recent survey of more than 400 physicians age 50 and older.

Overall, physician respondents said they intend to retire at age 68, compared to the average U.S. retirement age of 65. About half (51%) of respondents signaled interest in working part-time or only occasionally after retirement.

The research was conducted by Hanover Research on behalf of locum tenens staffing firm CompHealth. The average respondent to the CompHealth survey respondents is 60 years old, works about of 45 hours per week, and has practiced medicine for an average of 28 years.

Out of the survey sample, 83% of physicians said they'd taken steps to prepare for retirement and 70% had taken advantage of employer retirement services such as a 401K or pension. A 2015 study from Fidelity Investments, however, showed that physicians on average save just 9% of their incomes for retirement, short of the 15% recommended by finance professionals.