What Every Sharp Rees Stealy Physician Should Know About The Sharp Rees Stealy Retirement Plan

Introduction

Physicians at Sharp Rees Stealy Medical Group often ask whether their retirement package is competitive. The short answer: overall, it’s quite good—but understanding why requires looking beyond the surface. Here’s a quick, clear breakdown.

The 401(k) and the Missing Employer Match

The basic 401(k) plan at Sharp Rees Stealy Medical Group does not offer an employer match, and this is the first thing many physicians notice. Some view this as a drawback, especially compared to practices that offer dollar-for-dollar matching or profit-sharing inside the 401(k). However, this point does not tell the whole story because to our knowledge Sharp Rees Stealy makes significant employer contributions outside the traditional 401(k) structure.

Additionally physicians, while they are ineligible for matching contributions - they may be eligible for up to a 7% employer profit sharing contribution, to our knowledge.

Most matches are only worth 2-3% of pay and while it would be nice to have a match - Sharp Rees Stealy Medical Group makes up for this lack of a match in many other ways.

What Does vesting look like at Sharp Rees Stealy Medical Group?

To our knowledge employees are always 100% vested in employee and employer contributions. This is very generous and makes the Sharp Rees Stealy Medical Group Plan an excellent plan in our view.

Eligibility and Vesting: Easier Than Many Expect

The participation requirements are quite manageable. Physicians generally become eligible for the key employer-funded retirement plans and employer profit sharing contributions after two years of service at Sharp Rees Stealy, and vesting is relatively quick compared with many other medical groups.

Many physicians at Sharp Rees Stealy are in the 45–49 age range and have already been with the organization for five to ten years, showing that a large portion of physicians stay long enough to meet the two-year cliff and fully benefit from the stronger components of the retirement package.

The Money Purchase Pension Plan

Sharp Rees Stealy maintains a Money Purchase Pension Plan, a feature that is becoming rare in the medical group world. The company may contribute up to 18 percent of a physician’s compensation into this plan, according to our knowledge. and these contributions are entirely employer funded. For many physicians, this 18 percent employer contribution provides substantial value and more than offsets the lack of a 401(k) match. According to our calculations, a contribution this size might be as large as $47,000 a year employer contribution for the typical Sharp Rees Stealy physician who participates in the plan.

In our experience, this amounts to probably $15k or $16k more in employer contributions than the typical group plan for a fantastic employer - so this is really good.

Sharp sometimes has a reputation for paying below average compensation in salary for some physician roles - but it is important to look at the total package and not just cash compensation because a lot of physician employers that have below average cash compensation might be above average when other elements of the total compensation package are considered such as employer's contributions to your retirement accounts.

While we believe these numbers are accurate as of the time of this writing on 12/6/25, we cannot guarantee them. If you are considering going Sharp Rees Stealy Medical Group as a physician, we'd encourage you to ask Sharp Rees Stealy to give you a projection of what their cash balance, money purchase and profit sharing contributions might be at your expected compensation range. With that information you should be able to better evaluate your offer.

But like many San Diego physician employers - the retirement benefits are top notch and very physician friendly in our view which helps offset somewhat the fact that salaries in some fields of medicine may be lower in San Diego compared to other regions and San Diego is geneally a higher cost of living area. But with excellent benefits, Sharp physicians ages 55-65 should be able to retire comfortably in the near future in our view, if they make prudent and wise financial decisions, in our opinion.

The Cash Balance Plan

Sharp Rees Stealy also offers a Cash Balance Plan, a modern pension structure that builds a guaranteed account balance. The employer may contribute up to $10,000 per participant annually, according to our calculations, creating additional tax-deferred saving space and steady growth. When combined with the Money Purchase Pension Plan, this gives physicians access to multiple layers of employer-funded retirement savings—significantly more powerful than a simple 401(k) match.

So in short the lack of a match on a 401(k) is no big deal and in many ways the large amount of employer contributions are superior in our view, to the standard 401(k) match.

Investment Options and Flexibility

The retirement plan lineup includes low-cost index funds from reputable investment companies and a self-directed brokerage window for those who want broader investment choice. These options support both simplicity for hands-off investors and flexibility for physicians who prefer more advanced portfolio management.

Our Overall Assessment and Takeaway on Sharp Rees Stealy Medical Group's retirement plan (401(k) and 401(k) profit sharing contributions, money purchase pension plan and cash balance plan)

The Sharp Rees Stealy retirement package is a strong, well-designed offering. Although the 401(k) does not include a match, many physicians receive significant value through the pension and cash balance plans. Because vesting is quick and eligibility only requires two years of service, most physicians working at Sharp Rees Stealy long enough easily qualify. For many, the combined employer contributions can equal tens of thousands of dollars per year in additional retirement savings, far beyond what a simple match would provide.

The Sharp Rees Stealy retirement package is comprehensive, competitive, and particularly beneficial for physicians planning to stay at the organization for more than two years. With meaningful employer-funded contributions, quick vesting, low-cost investment options, and added flexibility through self-directed brokerage, it provides a strong foundation for long-term retirement planning. If you’d like help understanding how these benefits fit into your broader financial strategy, feel free to reach out.

If you are a Sharp Rees Stealy Medical Group physician and are withing 5-10 of planned retirement and would like to speak with a fiduciary financial advisor at D.R. Harris & Co. you can fill out the following form to request a 10 minute introductory phone call.

During this introductory phone call we'll talk briefly about your goals and what you are looking for as well as what you can expect from D.R. Harris & Co. and see if it makes sense to explore further about whether it might make sense to work together.

While D.R. Harris & Co. does not have firm minimums of assets, most clients who work with us who are between the ages of 55-65 do have close to $2 million in financial assets given that San Diego is a higher cost of living area and that is typically what it costs for many physicians to retire here.

For younger physicians, asset minimums are not as important but it is important that they are committed to saving and are looking for longer term working relationships with their profession advisors.

Disclaimer: This article is written for educational purposes only. While we believe the information in it is correct as of the time of its writing on 12/6/25, we make no warranties about the accuracy of the information in this article. The only truly reliable sources to rely on regarding employee benefits in our view, is your employer, your plan documents and the benefits people at work. We highly encourage you to do all your own research or talk to your own professional advisors before acting on any information that you read about in this article. Neither Daniel Harris nor D.R. Harris & Co. are your financial advisor unless you have a signed written advisory agreement with us and this is not individualized financial advice tailored for your circumstances.