How well prepared are Australian dentists for retirement? A survey of practitioners aged 50 and above

Aims: To determine how financially prepared Australian dentists are for retirement. Methods: Information was collected in the Dentist Retirement Intentions Study from members of the New South Wales branch of the Australian Dental Association, all of whom were aged over 50 years. One way ANOVAs were used to test for differences between groups of variables. A forward stepwise multivariate regression identified predictors of the expected value of savings at retirement. Results: It was found that while there was variation in preferred retirement income, there was general agreement that this preferred retirement income would be achieved. Current assets mostly totalled between $250,000 and $2 million (Australian dollars), with 35% of assets held in the family home. However, 7% of dentists had no net savings or were in net debt. Half the surveyed dentists predicted their savings at retirement to be more than $2 million. Superannuation was the most commonly cited predicted source of retirement funding. Conclusions: Most, but not all, dentists are generally well prepared for retirement. They have a significant amount of wealth, which is above that generally recommended for a comfortable living standard in retirement in Australia, they have this wealth stored in easily accessed, high return assets, and they also intend to spend this wealth on financing their retirement rather than running down their capital.