Key Takeaways
- Doctors face many financial challenges, including high student debt loads, delayed career starts, low starting salaries, and extended workweeks.
- Physicians are a good fit for the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) model, which works on the principle of saving aggressively to achieve financial freedom as early as possible..
Achieving financial freedom and retiring on your own terms requires a strategic plan. This is especially true for many doctors, who often accumulate a substantial amount of student loan debt and don't start earning high salaries until later in their careers.
Despite these hurdles, some physicians aspire to retire early. We explore how doctors manage their debt and save for retirement, as well as how others can adopt these principles to achieve financial independence.
Doctors: Breaking Down The Myths and Facts
There are many misconceptions about doctors, including that they're all wealthy. But this isn’t always the case.
It can take more than a decade to become a doctor in the U.S. Being in school for so long often leads to significant student loan debt, with the average medical debt load reaching $216,659 in 2025. It also means that most doctors don’t start their careers until they’re in their late 20s or 30s if they specialize.
Doctors have to complete a residency, which can take anywhere from three to seven years, depending on the area of specialty, with a first-year resident's salary averaging $63,000.
Many Face Significant Debt and Delayed Income
Physicians face many financial hurdles during their residencies. This includes the student debt load that accrues interest, as well as their living expenses. But their earning potential increases after they complete their residencies.
“It is the balancing act of having their income multiply overnight, while juggling large student loan debt, starting a family, buying a home, and being a great physician,” said Chad Chubb, founder and certified financial planner at WealthKeel.
Because of their late career starts, many doctors have to think about saving aggressively so they can achieve financial freedom, Chubb told Investopedia. This includes paying down their debt and saving for retirement.
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Smart Saving Rules Everyone Can Follow for Early Retirement
The late career starts and physical demands of the job can take a toll on many physicians. Financial burdens only add to that stress. One way doctors can enjoy financial flexibility is by participating in a movement called FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early). The goal is for doctors to save as much money as they can promptly after they complete their training.
“I generally recommend doctors try to maintain their resident lifestyle for two to five years after finishing residency training,” said Jim Dahle, a practicing emergency room physician.
Dahle, founder of the White Coat Investor, which provides physicians with personal finance resources, said doctors can retire early by using the difference between their attending physician income and their resident lifestyle to rapidly reach their financial goals.
This allows them to pay off their student loans, meet other financial obligations, save up for retirement, and avoid career burnout. According to Dahle, 25% of physicians reach their mid-60s with less than $1 million in net worth, which he considers “pretty pathetic” given that they’ve earned somewhere between $5 million and $15 million over the previous 30 years.
That may be because doctors don’t have the benefit of compounding working in their favor, unlike other professionals. That’s why Dahle suggests doctors start saving as early as possible. Chubb has a few key rules that doctors can follow to reach financial freedom and retire early.
Even if you’re not a doctor, you can also follow these tips to try and achieve early retirement, too:
- Run the numbers: Figure out how much you’ll need to cover your annual expenses when you retire, and multiply that by 25 or 30 for a rough total of how much you should aim to save. For instance, if you need $100,000 in expenses each year, you’ll need $2.5 million to $3 million saved for retirement.
- Start saving ASAP: For instance, when you’re younger and in training, you can probably afford to save 10% to 15%. If you wait until you’re older, you’ll likely have to put away more money.
- Use tax-advantaged accounts: Save in 401(k)s, 403(b)s, Roth individual retirement accounts (Roth IRAs), and Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), and max out your contribution limits whenever you can. If your employer provides you with a match, you get “free money,” and your contributions lower your adjusted gross income (AGI).