fatFIRE and Nursing?

Kitiger, RN · May 11, 2023

https://www.ramseysolutions.com/

You should start with reading The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey.

I agree with most of what Dave Ramsey teaches. I do wish I had known these things 40 years ago. I could have been RICH. Really. If you want your money to grow exponentially, invest early. The more years you have to let it grow, the more you will have. I copied the following from his website:

"The Total Money Makeover is Dave's all-time bestselling book. It has helped millions of families get rid of debt and change their lives forever with its simple, practical seven-step plan. How does it work? By getting to the heart of your money problems: You.

Dave condenses his 20 years of financial teaching and counseling into 7 organized, easy-to-follow steps that will lead you out of debt and into a Total Money Makeover. Plus, you'll read over 50 real-life stories from people just like you who have followed these principles and are now winning with their money. It is a plan designed for everyone, regardless of income or age.

With The Total Money Makeover, you'll be able to:

Design a sure-fire plan for paying off ALL debt.

Recognize the 10 most dangerous money myths.

Secure a healthy emergency fund and save for retirement.

Positively change your life and your family tree!"

futur0_nurs · May 11, 2023

Thank you @Kitiger will definitely check this out!

RNperdiem, RN · May 12, 2023

From what I have read, a big factor in early retirement is being a high earner in the early part of your career, investing a lot of that money so it has time to grow, and living below your means.

For nurses who were able to take lucrative travel assignments while still early career had the chance to make a lot of money. Taking advantage of sign-on bonuses, overtime, critical staffing pay and maximizing shift differentials helps too. So does marrying a high-earner.

How doable this is depends on how early you want to retire. Life is unpredictable. An expensive divorce, health issues that keep you from working, or a change in the cost of living all matter.

Even if you aren't able to retire early, a healthy savings account provides security. There is a reason some people call savings their "freedom fund".

Tweety, BSN, RN · May 13, 2023

I have another plan that I've had the last 30 years of my life. One is to plan for retirement. I currently save and invest 15% of my salary and have done so for many years.

The other part of my plan is to enjoy life while I'm young. I'm not waiting until I retire to travel and do fun things. I save money and travel internationally once a year. I've been to see Machu Picchu, Ha Long Bay Vietnam, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Galapogos, the Greek Isles and many things. I'm going to see the Taj Mahal next year.

I won't retire young or rich, but I've found my niche and will retire comfortably having seen many things with many more to go.

The other caveat is the crash of 2008 and again the past 2020-22 has hit me hard and delayed retirement.

I met a man who waited until retirement to travel and he retired relatively young in his 50s and his wife died the year he retired, and it's heart braking to hear how his wife wanted to travel. I've seen this regret many times.

I'm 64 next week and glad I didn't surrender my youth to retire early.

Just another thought.

**CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN** · May 15, 2023

Tweety said:

The other part of my plan is to enjoy life while I'm young. I'm not waiting until I retire to travel and do fun things.

This is such an important piece of it. Life is all about balance I think. I'm a huge believer in living frugally and saving! But also, I have met people who are so focused on that, that they don't enjoy their day to day life. My husband and I are enjoying some fabulous experiences (we have traveled internationally, but we prefer shorter trips and things closer to home) NOW while we are 40 and healthy. He certainly hopes to retire relatively young, but good health and old age are not promised to any of us. It would be a shame to store every penny in an investment account, and then find yourself unable to enjoy it due to hard luck.

futur0_nurs · May 15, 2023

@Tweety - love the travel ideas, that's a good point. I think spending on experience brings so much more joy than spending on material things.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · May 17, 2023

Many facilities provide a 401k or 403b retirement fund match, some up to .50c for each dollar saved up to $5,000-10,000 (sometimes salary dependent)---place the MAX amount in it each pay.

After 15 years employment, my prior employer matched .60 up to 10,000/yr so retired with > $200,000 just in 403b.

401(k)/403b yearly limit increases to $22,500, IRA limit rises to $6,500 for 2023.

adventure_rn, MSN, NP · May 21, 2023

Tweety said:

The other part of my plan is to enjoy life while I'm young. I'm not waiting until I retire to travel and do fun things. I save money and travel internationally once a year. I've been to see Machu Picchu, Ha Long Bay Vietnam, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, the Galapogos, the Greek Isles and many things. I'm going to see the Taj Mahal next year.

I won't retire young or rich, but I've found my niche and will retire comfortably having seen many things with many more to go.

That's the thing I've never understood about the FIRE concept--if the goal is to live extremely frugally both before and after retirement so you can retire early, how exactly are you spending all of those extra retired decades? You may not be able to afford international travel or interesting hobbies.

To me it makes much more sense to take travel assignments or pick up extra shifts while you're young, put as much money as you can into your savings, then drop your hours down to 0.6 or 0.75 FTE so you can maintain your health insurance and continue to earn an income with a more laid-back schedule. Also, in nursing, as you gain more years of experience you should theoretically earn more money with annual raises, so as you age you'll make more money for the same amount of work.

Finally, I would be very hesitant to retire from nursing at a young age simply because I would want to keep my foot in the door. You may find at some point down the line that you are in a financial bind and need some money. It will be much harder to get a bedside nursing job if you've been out of practice for several years. I think it makes a lot of sense to keep an ongoing PRN job if only for the sake of keeping your practice 'current' and maintaining professional references.

Tweety, BSN, RN · May 21, 2023

adventure_rn said:

That's the thing I've never understood about the FIRE concept--if the goal is to live extremely frugally both before and after retirement so you can retire early, how exactly are you spending all of those extra retired decades? You may not be able to afford international travel or interesting hobbies.

To me it makes much more sense to take travel assignments or pick up extra shifts while you're young, put as much money as you can into your savings, then drop your hours down to 0.6 or 0.75 FTE so you can maintain your health insurance and continue to earn an income with a more laid-back schedule. Also, in nursing, as you gain more years of experience you should theoretically earn more money with annual raises, so as you age you'll make more money for the same amount of work.

Finally, I would be very hesitant to retire from nursing at a young age simply because I would want to keep my foot in the door. You may find at some point down the line that you are in a financial bind and need some money. It will be much harder to get a bedside nursing job if you've been out of practice for several years. I think it makes a lot of sense to keep an ongoing PRN job if only for the sake of keeping your practice 'current' and maintaining professional references.

I guess it depends on your individual goals. For some not working is simply the goal. Can't blame them nursing is hard emotionally and physically and getting out early makes sense.

My goal is to travel while I'm young and healthy, but that means working longer. There's a price to be paid either way since nursing is primarily a middle class job. I work a fair amount of overtime but don't kill myself and always take a vacation.