Retire by 30, thanks nursing!

[ThePrestige]

Ok check this out, i have a plan to retire by the age of 30:

I'm 21 yrs old and about to graduate a ADN program

i will spend 1 year gaining experience in the ICU, then i will spend the next 8 years as a per-diem or traveling nurse, working no less then 60 hrs a week, 11 months a year.

so heres the math:

40hrs X $43hr = $6880 month

20hrs X $65 hr = $5200 month

total (net income) $8100 month

$2500 month living expenses so $5600 month to invest

Starting with $5,000 and depositing $5,600 monthly over 8 years (at a rate of return 12%, compounded monthly and taxed at your marginal rate of 28%), you will save $769,593.Initial balance:$5,000Total deposits:$537,600Total interest earned:$315,268Total taxes paid:$88,275Total Saved: $769,593

Now i understand that 769K will be different due to inflation 8 yrs from now, so we will say 669k so at 10% a year $66,000 a year!

Now for 8yrs i will work my ass off and be traveling and have little social life, but at age 30 i will never have to work again, and i will probably never want to in nursing cause i will be burnt out, but i think it would be worth it, what do you think?

[MrsCannibal]

I personally cannot believe this thread is still going strong...wow.

[lasko]

Working 60 hours per week puts you and your patients at risk.

[sziq1]

Even if you retired at forty you might be stretching it. As one person posted several million may be a better bet. Retiring at 40 is still a really great age to retire, people these days are working well into their 60's and 70's so working a little longer than age 30 is still a really good deal!

Just be careful and don't burn yourself out. who knows you may get into it and really love it and not want to retire!

btw the RN's working for HBR(home based registry) are making 54.00 an hour at my facility just outside chicago! But they dont get any benefits so unless they have a spouse or some other source to get their healthcare and retirement it really isn't a deal.

[tmcdaniel]

wow!

i guess i am old fashioned but i thought that nursing was about caring. i guess this younger generation is all about the money. they should choose a higher paying career if that is the case because nursing pays well in regards to money but pays much more in making a difference in people's lives and the way you feel at the end of the day.

i think your post says a lot about "what you are all about honey"

good luck making your financial dreams come true. there are plenty of holes in your theory and i feel for your patients if you are trying to work that many hours and are all in it for yourself.

[mikethern]

wow!

i guess i am old fashioned but i thought that nursing was about caring. i guess this younger generation is all about the money. they should choose a higher paying career if that is the case because nursing pays well in regards to money but pays much more in making a difference in people's lives and the way you feel at the end of the day.

i think your post says a lot about "what you are all about honey"

good luck making your financial dreams come true. there are plenty of holes in your theory and i feel for your patients if you are trying to work that many hours and are all in it for yourself.

i wonder how enthusiastic you will be about nursing when you injure yourself on the job or catch a disease from a patient or get sued by a patient.

although there are a lot of patients who are sick and could not prevent it, the fact is that most of our patients are sick because they neglected their health. why do most diabetes patients have diabetes? because they are overweight and do not exercise. why are most cardiac patients sick? because they eat junk food and don't exercise.

i take good care of my patients, but i only feel sorry for the ones who took care of their health and still got sick or injured. i "care" less about patients who didn't give a crap about their own health.

[mikethern]

if you retire by 30, what will you do in your 40's? it's really boring being retired, i mean, how much golf/shopping/ travelling/ sleeping can you do? it's much better to carry on working 60-70 hrs weeks (including holidays) and then when you die at the age of 47 from overwork/ bad heart/ bad feet all your relatives will be very happy with you. look how much you left them in your will!! on the other hand, maybe you intend to retire at 30 by marrying a very old and rich 82 yr old???:[:idea:/font]balloons:

financial independence is about having the freedom to retire when you want to. if you enjoy the unhealthy career of nursing, do it forever! the fact is that someday when you are not so young, you may not enjoy nursing anymore. if you spent your whole life buying fancy cars and spending your whole paycheck as soon as you get it, you won't be able to quit nursing even if you want to.

if a perso can't think of a better way to spend time than nursing, then one have a serious lack of imagination in my opinion.

[marilynmom, LPN, NP]

To the OP:

I say go for it! I think it is wonderful you are thinking about and investing in your future. Gosh, even if you can't retire by 30 just think of all the money you will have saved! I would love to retire early as well :)

I can think of PLENTY I would be doing if I retired early--I can't believe people are on here saying how boring it would be, or whatever! Things like spending more time with my family, reading books, gardening, volunteer work, etc. are wonderful ways to spend my time.

Good luck!!

[mikethern]

I can think of PLENTY I would be doing if I retired early--I can't believe people are on here saying how boring it would be, or whatever!

Good luck!!

Many people who say that retirement would be boring are people who are rationalizing to cope with the fact that they can't afford to retire.

[RussA, BSN, RN]

Good for you...thinking ahead. Between now and then, social/family life comes into play. Have you thought about getting your BSN and joining the military? After 20 years, you get 50% of your base pay with annual increase rate annually, and you pay a very low premium for healthcare. Plus the traveling to different countries is exciting.

[tmcdaniel]

I wonder how enthusiastic you will be about nursing when you injure yourself on the job or catch a disease from a patient or get sued by a patient.

Although there are a lot of patients who are sick and could not prevent it, the fact is that most of our patients are sick because they neglected their health. Why do most diabetes patients have diabetes? Because they are overweight and do not exercise. Why are most cardiac patients sick? Because they eat junk food and don't exercise.

I take good care of my patients, but I only feel sorry for the ones who took care of their health and still got sick or injured. I "care" less about patients who didn't give a crap about their own health.

Well then perhaps you are in the wrong line of work. I have worked in a hospital labor and delivery unit for over 2 years and I don't see things the way you do. There are also many different areas of nursing for one to go into. People who are sick need help and it doesn't matter why they are sick or what they have. If you use Universal percautions and practice what you learned you should have little to worry about. If you are worried about getting sued then make sure you do things by the book, do plenty of accurate charting and if you get called into deposition, have a good attorney. You are probably at more risk of losing a lawsuit when you don't care about people and make mistakes.

[Jo Dirt]

I agree that I could think of a whole lot of other things I would rather do than nursing. A whole lot more. Two nurses I work with are in their 70's and can't make it on social insecurity so they are still working. One of them is currently out of commision because of a stroke and it is unlikely she will be able to come back. She was working 6 and 7 days a week because she liked money and liked to spend it. She hated work. She was the biggest sourpus I've met in a long time. I just wonder what she could have done differently to still have her money and not have to work. Now, she is back depending on her children and social security.

Thing is, I drive a junky old car, live in a junky paid for house, my clothes are so old they are falling apart...I still don't have any money. I'm putting away in a mutual fund every month but by the time it gets to amount to anything I'll be too old to enjoy it.

Kids are expensive.

[Spitfire1500]

I currently work around 60 or 70 hours per week most weeks and I can tell you that it is not sustainable. I have been doing this for around three or four years and have come to realize that it cannot be done week after week after week. I have to take periods off of my second job to kinda "ddetox" from nursing.

Another problem that I see is your plan to work ICU right out of school as a new grad. There is a lot that you have to learn with regard to critical care. I have been out of school for 16 years and so do not know exactly what they are teaching now, but I actually learned critical care on the job over several years. I really don't think that one year is enough time to prepare one to do travel nursing ICU since you may be placed in situations that you are unfamiliar with which could compromise patient safety.

Just my two cents.