Retire by 30, thanks nursing!

Nurses General Nursing

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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?

Specializes in Accepted...Master's Entry Program, 2008!.

I don't understand what all the backlash is about. Things might very well work out for the OP. She may also find that she cannot stick to the original plan, and therefore has lost nothing. Right?

How about some additional support? So what if some people don't think it's realistic? I bet in 1903, most people thought it very unrealistic that people would regularly be flying about the country in jets. But here we are....

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Good heavens, people! A young person posts an optimistic plan, and so many jump all over him! Frankly, if I was the OP I don't think I'd ever frequent these forums again.

I'm sure the OP with modify his plans as he goes along. We aren't helping with some of the vitriol that's being tossed around here.

Oldiebutgoodie

:yelclap::yelclap::yelclap::yelclap::yelclap: Unfortunately Oldiebutgoodie, there are so many people in society who get a charge out of stomping on someone else's dream because they were either too late to think of it themselves or were too afraid to fail while going through with their own plans. And to those pessimists who continually use the word realistic, admit that you're just rationalizing for your own shortcomings in life and despise the notion of celebrating someone else's achievement or goals.

It is so much easier to pat someone on their back and say "good job" or "keep up the hard work" then to crtiticize them or chastise their efforts.

To the OP, I find your motivation outstanding no matter your reason for wanting to retire at 30 (when has that become a bad thing to shoot for) or for wanting to work so hard in a short period of time to be able to relax the rest of your life;) It doesn't matter the reasoning behind your decisions, it matters that you have positive support to attain your goals and that seems to be very difficult to come by these days, notice...

Supporting someone is a free act

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Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.
California nurses do. I work in Central California, and a large number of staff nurses here earn six figures.

And they pay about 6 times more for a home than we do in the south not to mention the cost of nearly everything is higher in California. It's all relative.

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Specializes in OB, M/S, HH, Medical Imaging RN.
9 years of hell to retire at age 30 and have total freedom for the rest of your life isn't all that bad.

Life could always be tougher. Like say, being an infantry soldier in Iraq wondering if you might die tomorrow.

Also, look at the lives of medical students and residents. Their life is total hell, and they have patients' lives in their hands too.

An infantry soldier (God Bless em) signed up voluntarily, was not forced to join. Same as medical students and residents, it was their choice.

Total hell for 9 years and then total freedom for the rest of your life is totally unrealistic unless you're planning on winning the powerball and many of those powerball winners are now broke :uhoh3: and a large majority of the rest are miserable with all that money.

The OP has not responded to any of this. The reason we all jump on it is because we all have different opinions and we like nothing better than a lively debate. The OP did ask us what we think so hey.....we're thinking

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Specializes in LTC.

I've only read the 1st page but here are a couple of thoughts off the top of my head:

  • You're very young - life isn't so easily planned out. You might think things will travel along in a nice, linear progression from point A to point B but life has a way of throwing us curve balls that are completely unexpected.

  • Working as a nurse just to build a retirement stash seems like you're only doing it for the money. Sure you want to do it as a nurse?

Just my thoughts. Now I'll read the rest of the thread.

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I'm pretty shakey at finance and business math, but what about the idea that you can't retire at 30 , because you're far more likely to keel over from a heart attack at 24, working hours like that.

I'll offer my own tribute to the late Ambrose Bierce:

Overtime (trans. Verb) : In the interest of paying off interest, investing time to your patients to a degree warranting the proportional risk of becoming one, yourself.

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And they pay about 6 times more for a home than we do in the south not to mention the cost of nearly everything is higher in California. It's all relative.

Not in Central California. Cost of living here in Fresno is low while nursing pay is high.

Also, cost of living is not a factor if you get free housing as a travel nurse.

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An infantry soldier (God Bless em) signed up voluntarily, was not forced to join. Same as medical students and residents, it was their choice.

I don't understand your point. Nobody is forcing the OP to do overtime.

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I should be good enough with 1 yrs experience, and $43 hr is totally do-able, i wont take any benefits, 401k, just straight cash, i wouldn't retire completely but i could work maybe 2 days a week and pay the bills with ease, and have lots of time to be a stay at home dad, do some volunteering, spend some time with the family, my concern is that i will probably burn out, only one way to find out..

The OP is a man. I think a few people missed that -

Where are you, OP?

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Specializes in Cardiac.
9 years of hell to retire at age 30 and have total freedom for the rest of your life isn't all that bad.

.

For whom?

The nurse or the patients who's lives are on the lines everyday because their nurse is too tired to commit to them fully?

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Specializes in LTC.

What does "total freedom" mean to you, mikethern?

I think it's great that the OP has an enthusiastic plan and seems willing to carry it out, if possible, but it seems like delusions of grandeur from the vantage point of age and experience. In other words, his statements read very much like the enthusiasm of someone not far out of adolescence. And not that that's a bad thing, it's just not a real indicator of how life will actually go for him. I imagine his goals will be tailored a little differently even at 23 as opposed to now. I would encourage him, if this is the path that he is sure he wants, to begin speaking with a trustworthy and knowledgeable financial planner now so that he can make the best choices possible.

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Comparing nursing to a soldier in Iraq is quite insulting. And not everyone comes back with PTSD, though none are the same after even one tour.

Please understand that I was, in no way, comparing nursing to being a soldier in Iraq. I have several friends and family members in the armed forces, and I myself joined the USAF after 9/11. The person to whom I responded brought up how horrible of a job being an infantryman is, and I was just saying that in their horrible job they have many aftereffects, as would a nurse working in an ICU (the OP said he wanted to do this) for 75+ hours a week. It is not the same as defending our country and being shot at, but you are seeing a lot of bad things in an ICU, you are under a lot of stress, physically and emotionally working that many hours a week, every week for 9 years, and that is the only point I was trying to make.

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