Planning for partial retirement can be tricky

The reasons for this trend vary: Some partial retirees need to prolong income to support their lifestyle, but others simply enjoy their work and don’t want to stop.[2] Can you participate in this trend? Possibly — but it takes planning. To help you clarify your goals and how to reach them, consider drafting a partial retirement plan.

Having a ‘planned duration’ helps

The process of retiring, especially partially, is complicated for dental professionals, largely because of their practices. If you’re the owner of a private practice, a partial retirement must be planned well in advance, and generally is more successful if there is a planned duration.[3] But whether you’re negotiating with partners to scale back, looking for possible buyers to take over your practice or considering moving into an entirely different part-time job, planning is crucial.

Consider the following questions and discuss them with your business and life partners. Then share the answers with your accountant and/or financial professional.

• Do you want to change jobs, or stay at the same job and reduce hours?
• Have you made a financial plan that takes into account the reduced compensation resulting from fewer hours?
• Have you spoken with your financial advisor to prepare for partial retirement?
• Have you communicated your plans to your life partner and your business partners?

Once you’ve discussed these questions with all the players, the next step is to sit down with your accountant or financial professional and draft an actual plan for your proposed retirement. This plan should cover financial matters, including how much you expect to earn and how that will cover your living expenses; work responsibilities including scheduling, such as on-call hours, regular hours worked and patients taken on; the expected duration of this arrangement; how a change in work habits will affect the ownership of the practice; and a clearly stated plan for the eventual transition to complete retirement.[4]

All of the above goes double if you’re in a solo practice and plan to eventually sell or hand down your practice to the next generation. Preparing a business for sale takes years if you want to get the best price, and both you and your patients will benefit from long-term planning.

Nicholas Spanakis, group practice manager with PNC Bank, can be reached by phone at (866’0 356-6916 or by email at nicholas.spanakis@pnc.com.

Disclosures

The third-party trademarks referenced in these articles are owned by and are the registered trademarks of their respective third-party owners. There is no affiliation, sponsorship or endorsement relationship between PNC or its affiliates and any such third party.

PNC is a registered mark of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (‘‘PNC’’)

This article was prepared for general information purposes by McMurry/TMG, LLC and is not intended as legal, tax or accounting advice or as recommendations to engage in any specific transaction, including with respect to any securities of PNC, and do not purport to be comprehensive. Under no circumstances should any information contained in this material be presented be used or considered as an offer or commitment, or a solicitation of an offer or commitment, to participate in any particular transaction or strategy or should it be considered legal advice. Any reliance upon any such information is solely and exclusively at your own risk. Please consult your own counsel, accountant or other advisor regarding your specific situation.

Neither PNC Bank nor any other subsidiary of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. will be responsible for any consequences of reliance upon any opinion or statement contained here, or any omission. The opinions expressed in this article are not necessarily the opinions of PNC Bank or any of its affiliates, directors, officers or employees. Banking and lending products and services, bank deposit products, and Treasury management products and services for health care providers and payers are provided by PNC Bank, National Association, a wholly-owned subsidiary of PNC and member FDIC.

Lending and leasing products and services, including card services and merchant services, as well as certain other banking products and services, may require credit approval.

This article was published in Dental Tribune U.S. Edition, Vol. 10, No. 3, March 2015 issue. A complete list of references is available from the publisher.