Overtime money

dolphinRN · Dec 2, 2004

We are paid every two weeks and I found that it was better to work no more than 24 hourd of overtime a payperiod or Uncle Sam got most of it back in taxes. I did start out working overtime to pay off some bills a while back, but when you have a family......

allmynez · Dec 2, 2004

How many people have worked overtime hours to pay off bills: houses, cars, credit cards? I'm just wondering if it's really possible to make enough money in OT to do these things. If you have, how many hours have you worked in one week?

Of course it is possible, it is just up to u if u want to deal with it. I'll give you an example. I worked at a very prestigous LTC facility. The nursing aides here make about maybe 16-18/hr, Lpn 22-25/hr, RN 28-32/hr. It is a big competition in this place if you not driving a nice car something must be wrong the way they act. Go in the parking lot mercedes , bmw, lexus, trucks. I mean the aides on my shift alone one has a toyota seqouia, one a lexus, one a bmw all at least 2002, working two jobs just for car. I 've known people who work basicaly 2 ft jobs 7-3 one place 3-11 another to buy a big house, pay off school or just live a certain lifestyle. Even the companion on my floor has a mercedes truck. So it must be worth it. One time I worked 22 hours of OT they say taxes but it wa worth it because my one paycheck was like two. And if u want to figure out how much taxes they would take out go to adp paycheck calculator and see how much you would get paid.

NurseGuy_in_06 · Dec 2, 2004

We are paid every two weeks and I found that it was better to work no more than 24 hourd of overtime a payperiod or Uncle Sam got most of it back in taxes. I did start out working overtime to pay off some bills a while back, but when you have a family......

Sorry to burst your bubble but the government does NOT get most of your ot back in taxes. If the tax bracket you are in is the 35% tax bracket then you still keep 65% of the ot earned. I will take 65% of $1000 over 100% of nothing every time. :smokin:

sheliamd · Dec 2, 2004

Sorry to burst your bubble but the government does NOT get most of your ot back in taxes. If the tax bracket you are in is the 35% tax bracket then you still keep 65% of the ot earned. I will take 65% of $1000 over 100% of nothing every time.

I totally agree......It's nice to have a job with the OT option. I'm just worried that someone will put a stop to OT.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Dec 2, 2004

i've worked up to 5 12-hour shifts in a week to pay for graduate school and the nest egg with which to leave my abusive ex-husband. i was tired all the time, but at least i was out of the house when he was home, which is probably what saved my life!

NurseGuy_in_06 · Dec 2, 2004

I totally agree......It's nice to have a job with the OT option. I'm just worried that someone will put a stop to OT.

Thankfully a nursing shortage = the need for ot. Maybe not in every hospital but probably 95%. Anyone out there work in a hospital that did not need someone to work ot in the last 2 months?

ktwlpn, LPN · Dec 2, 2004

...It's nice to have a job with the OT option. I'm just worried that someone will put a stop to OT.

As long as we are short of nurses we won't have to worry about that.We typically work 8 hr shifts-I have several co-workers that work 12 hour shifts their entire schedule-and get time and a half for the extra 4 hours.The administration did away with the 12 hr shift option as a "cutback" last yr.They still have not figured out that they are spending MORE money.I work with a nurse that works back to back double shifts EVERY weekend....We can pretty much get as many hours as we wish....I don't go looking for any OT-if they ask for help I will stay now and then when I can..

llg, PhD, RN · Dec 2, 2004

Sorry to burst your bubble but the government does NOT get most of your ot back in taxes. If the tax bracket you are in is the 35% tax bracket then you still keep 65% of the ot earned. I will take 65% of $1000 over 100% of nothing every time.

Thank you. I am tired of people who exaggerate the taxes they have to pay. Even the people in the highest tax bracket in the US pay lower taxes than most Europeans.

People who distort the truth about taxes give the younger nurses the wrong impression. Some of them really belive that the govenment takes "most" of the OT money and that is simply not true. Nobody pays more than half their income in taxes. As someone who tries to help the younger generation make intelligent decisions about their careers, it really bothers me to hear people distort the truth and give them false information.

Thanks again,

llg

PJMommy · Dec 2, 2004

I try to work an extra 12 hr shift each week -- or two in a payperiod. And yes, it is financing my Christmas shopping this year and I paid for a vacation in August off of overtime. My regular pay is what I budget -- and the OT pay is for all for the extras or for paying things off. We get OT and extra per hour money for extra shifts -- so 1.5 pay for OT plus another...anywhere from $6-$20 an hour based on census. When I worked an extra shift on a holiday - I received about 2.5 times my base pay per hour.

However....with all that said - I would never rely on OT to make ends meet. Although I can *usually* get OT, there have been plenty of times when I would have liked to work extra but the patient load wasn't there to accomodate extra hours. There are just certain times of the year when census is high and other times when it is low -- it's a very interesting phenomena and based largely on the type of unit you work on.

NurseGuy_in_06 · Dec 2, 2004

Thank you. I am tired of people who exaggerate the taxes they have to pay. Even the people in the highest tax bracket in the US pay lower taxes than most Europeans.
People who distort the truth about taxes give the younger nurses the wrong impression. Some of them really belive that the govenment takes "most" of the OT money and that is simply not true. Nobody pays more than half their income in taxes. As someone who tries to help the younger generation make intelligent decisions about their careers, it really bothers me to hear people distort the truth and give them false information.
Thanks again,
llg

You are welcome. Another distorted myth: you can save money on your taxes by spending/donating money. Using the 35% tax bracket again as an example: If you donate/spend money just to save taxes you will save 35 cents for every dollar you spend. So you spend $1.00 and you save 35 cents, therefore you are 65 cents in the hole. The dollar you spend comes off the taxable income, not the taxes owed. So instead of paying 35% taxes on say $100 you would pay 35% taxes on $99. Sounds complicated but it isn't. Anyone who says they are saving money with a tax shelter is either mistaken or is truly rich. There are ways but they are few and complicated. The only proven way to make money is to spend way less than you make. By the way, the information is free. :)

dolphinRN · Dec 3, 2004

Maybe what you are saying about the taxes is true, but I have had many people show their pay stubs where killing themselves by pulling a ton of overtime did not benefit them anymore than limiting to a few shifts a pay period. Maybe it had something to do with what status they claim when they are hired. That is why I limited mine, but especially because of family.

I agree that if I couldn't afford a particular house or car without overtime, I wouldn't risk it. To pay off schools or other bills faster or for extra around the holidays, yes.

My concern about the people that work all the overtime is that they don't overdo it to the point where they are so exhausted that they start making a lot of errors. That is what i feel needs to be watched more than what they are doing with the extra money. Patient safety- and your own.