For many advisors, working with physicians is a dream come true. Doctors tend to be affluent, intelligent and in real need of financial help. They can also be a great source of potential referrals, particularly among their fellow doctors.

It's no wonder that a growing number of financial advisors are attempting to develop a niche working with doctors and other medical professionals. But as many of these advisors have discovered, there is more to working with physicians than meets the eye.

"Doctors view money differently than other types of clients," says Ben Utley, a CFP and president of Physician Family Financial Advisors in Eugene, Ore. "They focus less on investment strategies and more on comprehensive planning. For advisors to succeed, they need to develop an approach and a core set of skills to address these issues."

Just what skills does an advisor need to work with doctors? There are probably as many answers to that question as there are financial advisors. Nevertheless, there are several key areas on which advisors might want to focus.

Asset Protection

With few exceptions, physicians by the nature of their work face substantial liability risk. If you ask doctors about their most pressing financial concerns, asset protection will likely top the list.

Asset protection planning is a broad term encompassing any planning-related strategy designed to safeguard a client's assets from possible creditors or litigants. Strategies can be simple, like ensuring a doctor has an appropriate umbrella insurance policy, or complex, such as creating family limited partnerships or offshore asset-protection trusts.

"Most doctors are aware of the liability risks they face," says Ronald Paprocki, who, along with his partner Joel Blau, runs physician-focused Mediqus Asset Advisors in Chicago. "They want an advisor who can explain the universe of available options and advise them on which are the most appropriate."

Many advisors who cater to medical professionals have by necessity developed a particular expertise in asset protection planning. However, for advisors who do not have the time or resources to tackle this complex area on their own, there are other options. "While we have internal expertise in the area of asset protection planning, we also partner with outside accounting and legal experts who focus on complex strategies like domestic and foreign asset-protection trusts," says Mary McGrath, executive vice president and portfolio manager for Cozad Asset Management in Champaign, Ill.

Retirement Planning

Owing to the one-two punch of managed care reimbursement cuts and skyrocketing business-related costs, many doctors today find themselves working harder for less money. As a result, many are seeking guidance on how to achieve financial independence, so they can slow down or even leave medicine entirely.

"Physicians are less satisfied with their career choice today," Paprocki says. "Managed care issues have put a squeeze on many doctors, increasing their workload, decreasing their compensation, and reducing their professional autonomy." Indeed, a recent survey of 3,016 physicians by healthcare consulting firm Merritt, Hawkins & Associates found that roughly 40% of doctors would not choose to enter the medical profession if they were deciding on a career again, up from less than 15% two decades ago. An even larger percentage would actively steer their children away from the medical field as a possible career choice.

While helping physicians plan for retirement is in many ways no different from helping other clients, there are a few unique twists. "Doctors often have an inordinate amount of their retirement investments in a qualified plan, which puts a premium on tax planning," McGrath says. "Moreover, doctors generally do not have a pension plan. This requires them to start planning earlier and to save additional amounts outside of their qualified plan in order to have enough money to retire safely."

Another unique retirement planning issue is the amount of debt many physicians shoulder as a result of their extensive and expensive educations. A recent study by the Association of American Medical Colleges found that more than 80% of medical school graduates have student loan debt ranging, on average, from $100,000 to $135,000. Nearly 5% of graduates owe more than $200,000.

"Many new doctors have an enormous amount of debt when they first enter practice," McGrath notes. "This can be a big challenge from a planning standpoint, even though physicians often reach higher income levels more quickly than people in other professions."

Business Planning

Another area in which physicians have unique needs is business planning- particularly given the rapidly changing regulatory and reimbursement environment. For example, in addition to their medical duties, many physicians must negotiate employment contracts with junior physicians and other staff, grapple with complex business taxation issues, evaluate benefit packages and insurance plans and run daily practice operations.