Retirement planning: DIY or professional adviser?

For many physicians, retirement planning falls into the same category as taxes and legal paperwork: important, complicated and easy to push aside while focusing on patient care. Yet doctors face unique financial challenges, from high student loan debt early in their careers to fluctuating reimbursement, practice ownership issues and concerns about preserving wealth later in life. That raises a critical question: Should physicians manage their own retirement planning or leave it to financial professionals?

Some doctors prefer a hands-on approach, believing they can research investments, monitor markets and make informed decisions on their own. Others argue that retirement planning has become too complex to navigate without expert guidance, especially when it comes to taxes, estate planning and long-term wealth preservation. Financial advisers can offer experience and perspective, but they also come with fees and varying levels of expertise.

Ultimately, physicians must decide how involved they want to be in shaping their financial future — and whether the value of professional advice outweighs the confidence and control of managing it themselves.

In this episode of The Financial Checkup, Bryan Jepson, M.D., CFP, discusses whether your retirement planning is best handled by you or a professional adviser.