By David Alemian

I’m a member of the California Association of Rural Health Clinics (CARHC). I recently attended their annual conference and enjoyed 2 full days of absolutely terrific educational seminars, speakers, and networking. One of the seminar topics that caught my attention was the topic of physician recruiting. Nationwide, there is a huge shortage of physicians and the problem is getting worse. It’s called the “Graying of Physicians” because there are more physicians retiring than there are coming out of medical school. To compound the problem, people are living longer. As people get older, many develop chronic illnesses, which puts even more stress and pressure on an overloaded medical system.

The law of supply and demand tells us this is very good news for physicians, because the need for physicians is greater than the supply. All of this puts physicians in an excellent position to negotiate for better retirement benefits. Don’t settle for a 401(k) or 403(b), because on average those types of plans run out of money in about 12 to 14 years, then what do you do?

Ask for retirement plan that uses a life insurance policy as the primary savings vehicle because it will give you a lifetime income stream to provide you with the comfortable retirement you want and deserve.

The good news for employers is, they can finance this type of plan, and the bigger your organization the easier it is to finance it.

The power of financial leverage will level the playing field for organizations who are forced to compete for the talent they want. The ability to offer attractive retirement benefits with a long vesting period will attract physicians and healthcare executives to your organization and retain them over the long term. The lower turnover rate saves money, stabilizes operations, and helps with the delivery of better healthcare.