Only 27% of surveyed healthcare employers tailor retirement education

Ninety percent of the healthcare organizations surveyed by Transamerica offer virtual one-on-one retirement and financial wellness meetings, and 66% offer in-person sessions, according to the insurer's Retirement Plan Trends in Healthcare survey of 100 organizations. Only 27% provide education tailored to specific employee groups, InvestmentNews reported.

Seventy percent of the surveyed organizations offer a 403(b), 52% a 401(k) and 28% a nonqualified deferred compensation 457(b), the survey found.

Advisors who serve physicians and healthcare executives say that gap is their opening. Evan Potash, an executive wealth management advisor at TIAA Wealth Management, said physicians reach peak earning years later than other high-income professionals after years of training, often carrying student loan debt. He cited a 2023 TIAA Institute survey of healthcare workers finding that 45% of retirement savers in the sector put away less than they otherwise would because of debt payments.

Iván Watanabe, managing partner at Opus Private Client, said medical training conditions doctors to give up autonomy at every step, from admissions and Match Day through residency and the first attending contract, and many then lean on colleagues for money advice. The survey data suggest where an advisor's work starts: ordering contributions across a 403(b), a 401(k) and a 457(b) that carry different tax treatment, while weighing debt payments against saving.