Uninformed, Clueless, or Frightened-The Three States Preventing You-From Being the Millionaire Nurse!

February 8th, 2010

Seth Godin, the internet marketing guru’s blog post today, is asking, “Are you uninformed, clueless, or frightened?”  And, bang, I thought, that is what many of my readers are.

Uninformed-you know you need to learn how to manage your money better, but just aren’t sure how to get started.  The first step, is just- Take the first step.  Read my blog, read the other personal finance blogs listed on the right, download the free e-book, Emergency Money Resuscitation.   Read my book, The Millionaire Nurse. Out soon I promise!  Go to the library, an investment in learning about your finances is a bargain!

Clueless: This is not judgmental.  This just means there are many folks, who need help with money management, that just haven’t realized it yet.  They have been living paycheck to paycheck for so long they think it is normal.  They have always had a car payment- so what?  They don’t understand the freedom it can bring to your life to have a financial cushion called savings and the Super-Duper Emergency Fund. All their friends are broke, so why should they be different.

Frightened- These are the people desperate for help, but are frozen.  The recently divorced single mom, trying to keep the lights on and food on the table.  The couple who just got their first collection call ever-”I have never been late paying my bills, but my husband just got laid off!”  Or, ” I don’t know why I bought that, I didn’t need it, but I have been working so hard-I deserved it!” Then you get home, and wonder, “Why in the hell did I do THAT?????

So where are you?  Let us know how we can help.  Let us know what your questions, fears, concerns, and needs are.

And thanks Seth!  And by the way, Linchpin-great read!

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Nursing School Loan Forgiveness-NELRP-Yes, That is Something Millionaire Nurses Would Do!

February 8th, 2010

Student loan forgiveness for nurses, from the feds, is available for 2010.  The deadline for funding in this years program is March 4th.  So if you know any nurses who may need this assistance, please send them a link to this post.

Loan forgiveness programs have been around for years.  I took advantage of a state program, similar to this, years ago-practicing 5 years in a rural community, for loan payback-They got their money’s worth-as I never left!!!!

The Nursing Education Loan Repayment Program or NELRP, as it is know by acronym loving bureaucrats, is a loan repayment program funded by the federal government to help with nursing shortage in under-served areas.

An overview of the program can be found here at the Federal Governments Health and Humans services site. A few points about the program:

  • You receive 30%/year of your eligible loan forgiveness for the first two years of service.
  • If you agree to serve an additional year, they will pay another 25% of your loan off-so if you serve three years, they will have paid 85% of your loans for you.
  • You have to work for what is known as a Critical Shortage Facility-these are public non-profit institutions that meet certain criteria.  They have to serve a population that is high in medicaid/medicare, critical access,  or indigent population.
  • The money you receive is wired to your account, and then has to be used for loan repayment.
  • Many types of student loans, such as Stafford, and private loans qualify.  Student loans for parents, do not qualify.

Cautions if you decide to apply:

  • If you hate nursing, and quit, the money with interest will have to be paid back within 3 years.
  • The money is considered income, so you will definitely need to be prepared for a higher tax bill-don’t wait to April 15th and realize your taxes are double what you thought.
  • If you transfer or move to another eligible facility, that is not a problem, but must be approved-IN ADVANCE!

A pdf file, with application and frequently asked questions, is located here. Like most government programs the application appears complicated.  So make sure you start your application process well in advance of the March 4th deadline.

You may want to talk to your nursing school, your student loan holder, and your potential place of employment to get additional information. Now if anyone has taken advantage of this program, please leave us a comment with your opinion about the program.

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Planning Valentine’s Day-The Millionaire Nurse Way!

February 5th, 2010

How do Millionaire Nurses celebrate Valentine’s Day?  With love and affection, of course.  Can you do that without going “Lady GAGA” with your money-I think so.

(I was going to wait till closer to Valentine’s to post this, but all the commercials trying to get you to spend money made me move publication up.)

So Millionaire Nurses, Here’s to

Valentine’s Day- The Millionaire Nurse Way:

You can still thrill

Your lover’s heart.

Without breaking the bank

Or buying high priced art!

Just use your brain-

A little imagination, my dear,

To make your love clear!

You can write a poem

Much better than this.

You can light candles, bubble bath, and soft music,

To start your tryst.

Don’t buy-

A box of chocolates

Charged on your card.

A piece of jewelry-

You cannot afford.

Now if you are debt free,

And have savings galore,

Then it’s ok to spend freely

On the one you ADORE!

Just remember,

That true love will shine through.

Don’t spend money, you don’t have

When hugs and kisses will do.

Happy Valentine’s Day,

To The Millionaire Nurses all over the world.


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Students and Graduates-Send In Your Books!

February 4th, 2010

You know, we frequently have real money, just sitting on a shelf.  We just don’t always think about it.

Imagine those two eyes on the stack of bills, on your shelf right now, staring at your back!!!!

Yes that commercial creeps me out too!!!

My Money Blog, had this post about Bigwords.

Bigwords is a textbook buying aggregator. You fill in the info about your books-ISBN number and condition, and it let’s you know which textbook buying site is offering the best price for that item.

Now, even if you don’t have textbooks to sell, you should go look at the website-it has to be eligible for the top-ten ugliest websites on the planet!  Maybe that is on purpose-not looking corporate when you are dealing with college students may be a plus.

Now a lot of you, are like me.  You spend all that time reading and studying text books. So you  think-”maybe I will need to look something up in it one day”.  So up it goes on the shelf,  never to be looked at again.

I don’t know about you, but when I need to look something up now, I go to the computer and google it or look at medical websites.

I had an old huge Pathology text from second year-it was used for years as a booster for my kids to sit on at dinner when they grew out of the high-chair-I thought that was an appropriate use-right under the diaper!!!

I did plug in an old Williams Obstetrics, 2001 edition that was on  my shelf to see what Bigwords would say about it.  I figured there would be no market for a book this old.  Textbook sites were willing to pay between two and four dollars for it, with free shipping.  The same books were priced on Amazon and other places for about $14 bucks on average.

So maybe I will clean off some of my shelf-space too!

So go sell those books, before they get too old to be worth anything.  Remember to decide what you will do with your new wad of cash before you get it.  Plan Your Spending-That is what Millionaire Nurses do!

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Change of Shift-Great Nurse Blogs!

February 4th, 2010

Change of Shift, a great collection of nurse blogs, and their stories all in one place is up at RehabRN.

Go, enjoy!

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Nurses, Are You a Valuable Customer?

February 3rd, 2010

I know a lot of nurses.  Some are quiet, hard workers, others are not so quiet hard workers.  The non-hard workers get marginalized pretty quickly in most nursing environments.  You know pretty quickly who you can depend on when the you-know-what hits the fan!!!!

But when nurses are out in the “real world” they have an inferiority complex.  Now, I know I am generalizing, stereo-typing and otherwise being politically incorrect.  But that is my observation having worked in health care for thirty years.

Why is that?

  • Is it because they are nurturers by nature-why else go into the field?
  • Is it because us Doc’s beat them down into submission?
  • Is it because they are completely burned out from taking care of too many patients, way to much paper-work, or too many night shifts?

And what does this have to do with “Millionaire Nurses”?

To be successful managing your money, you need to develop self confidence.  To do that:

  • you need to keep reading here, and elsewhere-learning all there is to know about personal finance.
  • You need to focus on improving your personal life, if there are issues that are keeping you from succeeding.
  • Develop goals and plans for your future.
  • Practice the “art” of self confidence.

Now how do you develop self-confidence, when you have none. Well, the same way you obtain nursing skills, by practicing.   The next time you have to meet  a business man or woman in public, say,  to get insurance, open a bank account, deal with an attorney-practice these techniques before you go.

  • Stand in front of the mirror, throw your shoulders back, and repeat what you are going to say. Use your diaphragm to project your voice through the top of your head.  Don’t yell, but make sure your words are clear.
  • Look the other person in the eyes as you speak, transfer your focus from one of their eyes to the other-this projects confidence.
  • Have your desires/plans written down, so you don’t get stage fright and forget what you are going to say.
  • Take time before you meet to study the topic-if you are going to  an insurance agent about car insurance, then read about it and get an idea of what your parameters are before you get there.  Know, in general about deductibles, collision, liability coverage.  Know what your car is worth.  Do the same for whatever topic you are going to be discussing.
  • If you feel the person is being dismissive, then use the feet God gave you to walk out the door.
  • Make sure the person explains every detail, until you understand it.  Don’t pretend by nodding your head.  They don’t expect you to be an expert-they will respect well thought questions.
  • Repeat the proposal back to the person, in your own words, to be sure you have a true understanding/agreement.

Now you may be scared to death the first few times you do this, but over time, your confidence will develop, and then it will not be acting!!!  To be treated as a valuable customer, you have to be seen as someone who is worthy of doing business with-no it isn’t fair, but what is……  If you understand how to manage your own money, that confidence will begin to shine, in everything you do.

In short,to be treated like a Millionaire Nurse, you have to ACT LIKE ONE!

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401-K Class 101-For Millionaire Nurses-Continued!

February 2nd, 2010

This is the third edition of 401-K class for nurses, (and whoever else may be snooping-thanks for snooping!).  Now I know you would rather read about fun stuff-you would rather watch American Idol, Dancing with the Stars, or whatever your favorite program is, than read about boring 401-K stuff-but let me ask you a couple of questions:

  • Do you think Simon Cowell is going to be there for you when you want to retire???
  • Do you think NBC or CBS and their advertisers care whether you spend your retirement time watching a 52 inch HDTV, in your paid for house with no debts,  or watching the 12 inch tv with rabbbit ears down at the homeless shelter????
  • Do you think your kids are going to spring for your world travels when you retire from 40 years working the night shift in the ER????

No, I didn’t think so, so keep reading-or go continue to be stupid, and not pay attention to this till it is too late-YOU HAVE A CHOICE!!!!!

I want to discuss ACTIVELY managed mutual funds this week, after discussing index funds in our last class.

Actively managed funds, are just as described, they are managed by a person or group that makes investment decisions on which stocks to purchase.

One of the most famous fund managers/ funds, when you read about this in investing books,  is Peter Lynch, a past manager of Magellan-a Fidelity Mutual Fund.This fund had stellar returns during his management-that some would say has suffered since his retirement.  This has become the “poster child” for avoiding single manager funds.

When he or she retires, or is hired by another company for a huge raise, then where will your fund be?

Now, manager choice may  matter a lot when you are doing your own investing, but frequently in 401-K’s, the choice of funds available  are limited, in number and type,  to just a few funds.

So you may not be able to choose between a single or group manager. But I think it matters to at least know this information.

You can usually look this info up for free, by joining “Morningstar” or some other investment information site.  You give them info about yourself, to sign up, and then you are able to look up funds, and get other information-that for the most part is not slanted towards any one fund company.

You can also find out about the fund in your “prospectus”. This is the document that you get at least once a year in the mail from the fund company that you own in your 401-k.  It probably goes in the “circular file”-if you are like most nurses.  Next time you get one,think of me, and at least read the page that describes the type of fund, look at the list of stocks in their fund holdings, and read the paragraph or two from the fund manager about the past year’s results.

Now the next step, as mentioned above is finding the type  fund, you are currently investing.  The different types are numerous and somewhat complicated- mainly because the fund companies try to have a product for everyone’s needs.

They then end up with so many different funds-no one knows what is going on.  But here is a list of several common “actively managed” funds you may find in your 401-k and a little about them.

  • Growth funds-consists of companies expected to “grow” or increase in value faster than the market.
  • Value funds-consists of companies that the fund manager thinks are bargains-(cost less than the stock is worth).
  • Income funds-consists of stocks that pay dividends-this means they pay a percentage of the value of the stock quarterly to stock-holders instead of keeping profits in the company.  Some feel this results in less volatility (rapid rise and  fall in stock prices).
  • Balanced funds-funds that may hold growth and income stocks- (some balanced funds also hold bonds, we will discuss bonds and bond funds in another post).

I found this list of mutual fund terms on the Securities and Exchange Commission website.  * Glossary of Key Mutual Fund Terms.

So, we come to the end of another exciting version of 401-k class for “Millionaire Nurses“PS

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Journey To Money Success-Has To Start Somewhere!

February 1st, 2010

A journey-the word has different meaning to each of us.  It can be a trip to see Grandma, it can  mean an adventure to a foreign land, or it can be a change in direction of your life.

Grabbing control of your money-when you have never really paid it any attention, is a most difficult journey for many.

You may have many reasons for your disdain for money:

  • You think money is evil.
  • Money management is for your husband/wife to handle.
  • You don’t think you are worthy of financial success.

The last one is most common.  Nobody else in your family or peer group has money, why should you.  Or, “Buying this little pretty, will make me feel much better, after my hard day at work!” so further in debt you go….

So, you are faced with a choice.  Continue to struggle with your money.  Or, begin to make changes-start your journey, by crossing the bridge above at sunrise.

  • From the dark into the light.
  • From debt into wealth.
  • From ignorance about your money, to enlightenment.
  • From a constant struggle to get by, to peace and contentment.
  • From wishing you could give more, to real giving  that can make a difference.

But the journey has to start with the first step.  That one has to occur in your brain.  You have to make up your mind to change, and that, my friends, is scary.  We always fear the unknown.  “If I have money, will I be changed?”  “Will I be a different person?”  “Do I deserve that?” ” What if I fail?”

I am here to help-Go for it!!!

Get started today, by joining The Millionaire Nurse.  Members will get:

  • my  FREE e-book,  Emergency Money Resuscitation, that is filled with tips on saving money.
  • A mini-course on personal finance.  Emailed over 6 weeks will be tips on credit card management and banking.
  • My new Millionaire Nurse Money Newsletter, which we are bringing out soon, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

All free, because my goal is to get you started on your journey to financial freedom.  Start today!

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Diseases and Your Money!

January 30th, 2010

I thought a good exercise for us medical professionals, and the medical professional wanna-be’s (yes, you know, the ones watching NCIS, CSI, House, ER and Grey’s Anatomy) to note the correlation between diseases and your financial health.

So let’s get started:

  • Anxiety:  Nothing like being broke to increase your stress level.  Palpitations-check.  Hyperventilation-check.  Panic attack-check.  That’s what happens when you’re out of money and you still have a week left in the month. Xanax, ohhh, Xanax….
  • Depression:  You know, no matter how hard you try, you have messed up sooooo bad with your finances, it will take a miracle to recover-”Now where is that bottle of Prozac?”
  • Diabetes: Soda and dessert, can shoot your sugar sky high, while screwing with your “miscellaneous fund” planned spending account.  A little financial “insulin”, we call “discipline” is the cure!
  • Heart Disease:  Double-cheeseburgers (see photo!), with super-sized fries, clogs your arteries, and causes a M.I.- with your food budget.  How ’bout a home-made salad, or a little no-fat yogurt, bought with a coupon of course.
  • Hypertension:  Your blood pressure, can’t handle those over-due credit card bills, and over-draft fees.  Instead of a beta-blocker, try a budget-buster blocker, or a cash-channel blocker.
  • Rhinovirus:otherwise known as the “common-cold”-your immune system is toast, when you over-dose on spending.  Nothing grandma can’t cure with a little chicken-soup, and financial common sense.
  • Cancer: Cancer begins as one baaaad cell, which splits to two, then 4,16,32,64….till it overwhelms the system.  Just like paying the minimum on a credit card balance-your balance continues to rise, till it kills your finances.  Planned spending, is like radiation  therapy for out of control shopping/spending!

So, let’s use our medical knowledge, to get our financial patient back to good health.

Do you have a financial disease, looking for a cure.  Let us know here, at “The Millionaire Nurse!” Click the link for your “Emergency Money Resuscitation!”

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Posted in Nursing Profession, Uncategorized, personal finance | 1 Comment »

Goals and Plans For Millionaire Nurse Success!

January 29th, 2010

Goal setting and planning are the foundation of becoming successful with your money management.

I am headed to a retreat today, focused on my medical practice to set goals, and plan for the next 5 years.

Making long range goals, then short term action steps to support those goals, is the key to managing your money.  So, you and your spouse, need to set aside a time soon, to plan.  Schedule a time, block out a few hours, get a baby sitter.   Turn off the TV, cell phone-get rid of all distractions.   Use a pad or even a white-board and put your dreams and aspirations in black and white.  Review your financial situation, and what needs to happen with your money to support your goals.

If you want an advanced degree in nursing, plan your career around going back to school, begin to save the money for tuition or the decrease in income that will occur when you are taking classes.

Don’t just wake up one day-decide to go back to school-quit your job-borrow two gurneys full of money-and put your family in financial trouble, because you were too selfish, lazy, or stupid (use your own adjective)   to plan.

I will soon be introducing a template to help with goal setting and planning, to help families with this step.

So don’t let another day go by.  Stop what you are doing and make an appointment with yourself, and whoever else needs to be there.  Do a little thinking and brainstorming before that day comes and be prepared for negotiation.  Your plans have to mesh with your partners, if you are not single.  This can sometimes be difficult.  So be prepared to give a little.

If you can’t come to agreement on all items-save those for a later discussion, after each has had a chance to think it over.

And if you are single, all you have to do, is convince yourself-how easy is that!!!!

So, plan your own version of a retreat today.  Repeat it every year. Review your goals, and plans at least several times per year to make sure you are on track.

Good luck-and don’t bother trying to find me today-I an unavailable…..(yes- sometimes I follow my own advice!)

Let us hear your suggestions, and plans for goal setting.

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