Soon I left both my clinical and lecturing activities at the medical college to devote myself wholly to my private practice, a decision I have never regretted.
My care of patients, both in office psychotherapy sessions and inpatient settings at hospitals and geriatric centers, became my prime concern and my great pleasure and honor of service. Teaching is a meaningful endeavor and I am indebted for the opportunity I was afforded, but attempting to heal and mitigate pain and suffering was my true calling.
After a number of years, like many practitioners who find the business of their profession overwhelming the desired aspects of their labors, with less time to devote to the work they love and more needed for administration, I began to tire of the interference of insurance companies and the loss of patient confidentiality. When insurance officials’ meddling began to deny adequate patient care, I knew it was time to call it quits.
I was unable to adapt to the new way of doing things: placing the best care of a patient secondary to the whim of an insurance decision. This is not what I signed up for. I grew weary of the pressure placed on me by officials to cut corners in administering care. So I severed my relations with those who caved in to the rationers of care and reached deep within myself and realized I was burned out. What I loved dearly had been taken from me and it could not be regained, so I decided that after fifty years of being involved with the delivery of health care, it was time to retire.
ADJUSTMENT
In all honesty, if I couldn’t financially afford to retire at the time I did, because I no longer could abide by the rules that were forcing me to compromise my integrity, I would have had to adjust to doing things against my conscience. How many of you readers have to do just that? Having to comply with commands from supervisors that you know are just not right, or even absolutely wrong, to make some deadline, meet a quota or keep within budget? That is why it is so important that you are financially secure later in life so that you cannot be bullied into sacrificing your integrity for a paycheck. Money cannot buy happiness and only in a pet store can it buy love, but it surely can give you a sense of freedom and independence.
The thought of having to compromise my principles to appease some official of an insurance company making a huge salary while patients are being deprived of adequate care raised my ire. If I had to do things that way I knew I would have trouble sleeping at night.
PASSION
It’s easy to sense the passion in the words I use to express the vehemence I feel toward those who forced me to leave a practice I adored. You see, I never wanted to stop working at my labor of love. Fortunately, I had planned for retirement in case it became a necessity, but I never really expected it to happen. I feel as though I was forced out; it’s as if I were fired from my job. Therefore, I can relate to anyone who has actually been fired against his will. I was given a type of a pink slip too. I know how it feels. I can commiserate.
When you have devoted yourself to a cause or a company for many years as I had and suddenly find out that you no longer belong, through no fault of your own but because they changed the rules, it’s painful to realize the game is being played at a lower level. There I was, in my clinical prime and fueled by years of experience, forced to retire because I wouldn’t lower my standards. I hope that all of you out there who want to excel at what you do, if you are called upon to compromise your integrity, have gained the wherewithal and the courage to thumb your noses at mediocrity.
IMPORTANCE
Respect what you do. An honest job, no matter how menial, fulfills a purpose. However, if you don’t feel your work is important to you, you are in the wrong line of work, no matter how glamorous it may seem to others.
Many years ago I was discovered to have a fine tenor voice and offered a scholarship to train with a famous vocal coach. I sang for a number of years at his studio and he obtained some roles for me in local productions, until it came time for me to make a career choice. Did I wish to make a career in music or pursue a life in health care? Among the most important factors which swayed my decision was my need to feel the importance of my work. I wanted to do something that mattered. Finally, I decided that to help others in their time of need and disability was more important, in my estimation, than entertaining an audience with song. Feeling important to yourself is crucial. It makes you feel as though you count. You are a contributor, a useful member of society.
Losing the work that is important to you, especially when it is ripped from you through no fault of your own, because of some ill-advised decision of a superior, change of company policy or government miscalculation, can be agonizing and demoralizing if you have no backup plan. Possess a retirement backup plan, especially if you have reached middle years.
EXPENSES
You must always know the extent of your expenditures, yet many people have no idea of what their budgetary limitations are. Only when they max out their credit cards do they appreciate the amount of their debts. Bankruptcy is a credit wrecker and should be avoided at all costs, if retirement is in future plans. Some resilient souls may overcome a bankruptcy with a strategic comeback, but the interim phase is usually painful and best to be avoided. Try the best you can to know where every penny goes, so you can know when you can truly afford whatever luxurious items you may wish to purchase. Always keep your assets and liabilities in balance. Run your household so that all necessities are paid for first before budgeting for other items. Save today so you can spend another day.
SAVING
Although the formulas for timely saving and investing for specific situations, time periods and retirement needs will be addressed in great detail in the next part of this book, let’s discuss some basic fundamentals now.
It is important to indoctrinate each child into the habit of saving. At a young age, perhaps in the first or second grade of elementary school, the parent should physically take the child to the bank and open a savings or money market account in joint ownership, so the child can appreciate having money set aside in his or her own name. Over the years such an account can be added to and earmarked for specific purposes, such as school tuition, birthday parties, weddings or the like. In periods of low interest rates, as soon as feasible, this account can be augmented with higher-interest-bearing investments, always bearing in mind that the non-bank investments do not carry the guarantee of the federal government and therefore are more risky.
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