How to Plan for Your Career Transition

The Grand Teton & String Lake – 2022

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Plan Now, Prosper Later

The transition from your career is a major life event for which it is critical to prepare well in advance. 

Early on, you will recognize that the magnitude and scope of the challenge is significant. As a result, you will realize that to achieve a successful transition you will need to devote focused effort over a significant period  of time. Inevitable, initial questions will arise, such as:

• What should I do? 
• When should I do it?
• How do I do It? 

The First Step of the Path 

To begin, there are three major concerns for which preparation is essential.

The first of these is to prepare yourself personally, for the next great phase of your life. As you do so, it is important to keep in mind that your spouse and in unique ways, your family, are also going through a transition.

The second concern is to prepare yourself professionally.

The third is to prepare your practice, whether you are solo practitioner, in a group or otherwise employed.

A Triad of Plans: Methodology

It is very useful to develop a triad of plans that represent a methodology to achieve these goals. They are:

The Post Career Lifestyle Plan _TM

The Post Career Financial Plan _TM 

 The End of Career Transition Plan _TM

These three plans focus on your personal, professional and practice matters. They are distinct but complementary plans that are customized to address these concerns in a logical, practical sequence. 

Here, the focus is on the first of these.

First Things First

The creation of your Post Career Lifestyle Plan is about preparing yourself personally. It also addresses the needs and desires of your spouse and perhaps your family. It is about describing your aspirations that comprise your dreams of how you want to live your lives after you transition from practice.

This is the most enjoyable and valuable thing to do first.  Not only is it rewarding in his own right, but it also forms the basis for subsequent decisions that you will need to make.

It is valuable to be aware that in the absence of this type of planning, it is not possible to develop a financial plan to determine whether or not your financial resources will support your desired lifestyle. 

Without the firm foundation that these two plans will provide you, you are likely to experience significant impediments to your progress. They are borne of uncertainty, indecision and hesitancy.

Practical Matters

These are some helpful, sample questions that you may want to ask yourself as you develop your Post Career Lifestyle Plan. They represent a variety of important matters you should address.

I suggest that you begin by writing down the answers to these personal questions individually. Later, discuss them with each other.  As you go through this part of the process together, your creativities will emerge in the form of new questions and answers that will help you develop your plan.

• Do I want to end my career completely or undergo a gradual transition?
• To what degree do I need to continue to feel fulfillment of my purpose in life, such as I felt during my career?
• What are some ways in which I can continue to fulfill that need?
• How do I satisfy my desires to have fun?
• What interests or hobbies would I like to resume or begin?
• How do I want to live? What environment fosters my remaining active?
• Where is that place that when I am there, I feel in the moment?
• What type type of weather and seasons do I prefer?
• How accessible is the means to travel to and from home(s)? 
• Is practical access available to family, nature, recreation, services, supplies, etc.?
• How accessible is medical care? Routine care? Acute care? Long term care?
• What about state residency status? Voluntary vs. automatic by statute.
• State income tax liability? Property taxes?
• Do I have children with special needs that require my support? What are they?
• Do I have parents with special needs that require my support? What are they?
• What preparations can I undertake well in advance in order to avoid last-minute overload?
• What is the date certain that I will complete my Post Career Lifestyle Plan.   

On Sunsets and Sunrises

We sometimes think of the end of our career as though it were a sunset…and in certain ways it certainly is. Nevertheless, it is heartwarming to recognize that the sunset of our career is also the sunrise of the rest of our lives. This is very much like the sun, which it is preparing to rise even as it sets.

This process is usually a joyful experience as well as a challenging one. 

Congratulations for taking the first steps to achieve renewal and fulfillment in the next great phase of your life!

Updated: July 19, 2024

PS: Would you like to learn more about how to transition from your practice? I would like to assist you. I provide practice transaction services that are tailored to your specific needs. Click here to request an introductory conversation.

If you would like to learn about another way that I can guide you, check out this brief video that describes my unique online course: 

 The Practice Transition Course for Physicians. _TM 

Splendor – 2009

Gulf of Mexico, FL