Are you able to put away money for your retirement?

[rn4ever?]

In these tough economic times, are you, with your nurse salary, able to put away money for retirement? (401k/403B, IRAs, etc.)

[caliotter3]

No. I can't pay my rent. I have no nurse salary.

[llg, PhD, RN]

Yes, most nurses I talk to are able to save a little -- IF -- they live frugally. Most find that the trick is to "pay themselves first." Have a little taken out of your paycheck so that it gets added to your retirement account BEFORE you get your hands on it. Then base your lifestyle choices on the income that remains.

People who fail to save often do it the other way around. They take their paycheck and buy all the stuff they want -- and then save only if there is anything left over. That doesn't work well as we can always find something more we'd LIKE to have if we have cash in our hands. So, "pay yourself first" ... and then live off the rest. The vast majority of new nurses I know can do that even if they have student loans to pay, etc.

The amount you contribute to retirement may be very small at first, but do it anyway. You'll get a tax break on the money you contribute and you might get some matching funds from your employer thrown in.

[WalkieTalkie, RN]

Yes, I put 5% (matched) into my work's 403(b). I also invest $50/month separately into a mutual fund, and occasionally I put money in a regular 401(K). In total, I probably invest about $300/month.

Try to invest in your work's IRA, especially if it matches up to a certain percentage of what you put in. It's essentially free money. My work IRA has grown nicely since its inception, despite the economy.

[oramar]

As a person who has started living on retirement income I can only say, "you better put something away for retirement". My husband and I did without so much stuff that I saw other people have so we could save for retirement. To those who say they are going to work till age 70 my question is, "what if you health give out?" Now for those who do not have a job I say, "as soon as you get one start putting as much as you can in your 401K or 403 B". If you have a choice between place with traditional style pension and and 401K take the traditional pension. If you change jobs, NEVER stick the money from your 401K in your pocket, always roll it over. Don't borrow against it to buy house or send your kids to school. People are going to fly up in my face about this advice but it is the way I always lived and I am NOT ONE BIT sorry. My baby boomer friends that partied and bought new cars every year and went sky diving and on cruises all the time are sorry but I am not. The nicest thing about the whole deal is that when you get in your fifties and the abuse from management starts because they want older workers out, you can just give them the finger. Retire and take it easy or do what ever you want.

[aura_of_laura]

Could I? Sure. But, being accustomed to the finer things in life (like food, and electricity, and health insurance, and a vehicle... okay, and the occasional trip to Europe), my retirement fund is nil. Heck, I'm barely twenty-four - I fill my responsibility quota just by not living with my parents!

Just call me the grasshopper in this fable

[RNKPCE]

That is one of the main goals of my working to put away the max for my husband and my retirement. I don't work enough to get the matching though.

[StNeotser, ASN, RN]

Absolutely, and I make it a priority. My money gets taken out before I get my hands on it.

Though I hope not to be doing floor nursing in my 60's I don't know if I'll be able to handle any kind of job until I'm 70.

[Baloney Amputation, BSN, LPN, RN]

Not so much when he was a nurse, but definitely now that my RN husband has gone back to truck driving (in our town, not over the road)....I'm serious. We both have 401Ks through our jobs and take advantage of them.

[llg, PhD, RN]

You'll get no arguments from me, oramar.

... and for those of you who think that everyone's retirment funds got wiped out by the recent/current recession, it's not true. Yes, I lost a considerable amount of money when my investments went down. But I didn't panic and kept contributing to my retirement account. As the markets recovered, I made a huge profit on those new contributions -- and my overall total in that account is now higher than it was 2 years ago when things started to go bad. :)

[SerenePeach]

I think you're never too young to start saving for retirement! I'm only in my mid-twenties, and although I'm not yet a nurse, I am saving for retirement by putting money into my company's 401k. I make a lot less than what a nurse would (~14/hr), so I'm not contributing thaaaat much, but a little bit every month helps. I'm also looking forward to growing my fund when I do start making more money.

I think someone made the point of putting aside the money before you touch your paycheck. That's the only way I've been able to save, because I know if it was in front of me, I'd spend it during a trip to Target or something.

[suni, BSN, RN]

i have a 401 K at work and contriubte 6% each pay. How do you do a mutual fund of 50.00 a month, i would be interested in that