Posts Tagged ‘” personal finance for nurses”’

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Nurses and Money Problems!

Tuesday, November 9th, 2010

Do You Have Money Problems?

What are your money problems?

Do you fear reaching the end of the month, with more bills to pay than income?

Do you fear reaching retirement age and not being able to enjoy it-cause your savings won’t support your current lifestyle?

Do you desire the freedom to go back to school, change careers, start a business, but think that’s impossible on a nurses salary?

Do you want to give  generously to others, and are frustrated your current financial status won’t allow it?

Do you want to improve your retirement savings, but don’t know where to start? What to invest in? What are safe investments, and what are risky?

What are bonds, bond mutual funds, stock and stock mutual funds?  And what the heck is an Index Fund?

A Nurse and His/Her Money

You are a nurse, and understand medical terminology, but financial lingo has you confused.

You make good money, and wonder where it all goes…

A recent survey of nurses showed financial issues to be their number one  concern.  Higher than work place issues, emotional stress, or the state of nursing.

My Passion-Helping YOU With Your Money

My passion, my dream, and now my reality is to be able to help you  manage, and yes even succeed with your finances.  In a much more substantial way than I can by writing blog articles-even great blog articles……

And now I can!

Learning About Personal Finances

I did a survey of over 100 nurses and asked them how they would like to learn about personal finances.

The overwhelming majority said it needed to do the following things:

  1. It needed to be online, and available at a time of your convenience.
  2. It needed to cover: getting out of debt, learning to save, retirement, and decreasing monthly expenses.
  3. It needed to be interactive.  It has to allow questions and answers, and give and take.
  4. It needed to be video based, and easy to follow, in step by step fashion.
  5. A Q&A call/teleconference each week to answer new questions that may come up.

Online Personal Finance Course

My staff and I have been working hard over the past 6 months to find a format, and to produce the material that would satisfy these strict criteria.  And, if I do say so myself, we have succeeded.

The course will be held over a 4 week period, but you are free to do the work, (yes I said work) on your own time.  It will be in module format, mostly videos, with templates, work sheets, and action steps to help you get the most from the material.

And best of all, there is absolutely no risk for you.  If you aren’t completely satisfied after the first two weeks of the course, an email will get you a total refund!  No questions asked… Well, I might ask you what you didn’t like, just so I can improve the course, but you won’t have to answer to get your money back.

Who should take this course?

Anyone who wants to improve their relationship and success with their money.

Anyone who wants to succeed with their financial goals of getting out of debt, buying a home, saving for kid’s college, or being able to give and help others.

Anyone who wants to learn how to get the most out of their 403b, or 401k.

Who is this course not for???

  • Anyone who is not ready to change their relationship with money.
  • Anyone who is not ready to put in the work necessary to learn basic financial principles.
  • Anyone who thinks this is a get-rich-quick scheme…
  • And finally anyone who isn’t ready to learn the basics of  why they aren’t already succeeding with their money.

So let me know if you are ready to change your life, and the life of your family.

If you are ready for more information, go to this link, to opt in, by giving me your email address to receive a free video “Seven Steps In Seven Days to Identity Theft Protection.”

This video is just a sample of the extensive course material we have ready for you.

Opting in (giving us your email address) will get you on our list to get you more details about the course.

The sign-up period will be limited-so don’t put this off.  And because I want to be able to interact and help the participants in a meaningful way, the class size will be limited as well.

So don’t be left out!

Again, you can sign-in with your email address here: bethemillionairenurse.com

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Posted in goal setting | 1 Comment »

Dr Dean: Teaching Nursing Students The Basics!

Monday, September 13th, 2010

Speaking to nurses and nursing students-my favorite activity!

I had the privilege of speaking to another nursing class last Thursday, September 9th.  The senior class at SW GA Tech/Wiregrass section invited me to talk.  I shared my passion for teaching personal finance to nurses, and suggestions for learning to build wealth, even on a nurses salary.

Their instructor, Darlene Ridley, RN MSN was gracious to share a little of her teaching time.  The class is getting ready for a major test, so I was honored to be given a few minutes.

My focus was on teaching planning and goal setting, both for life and money.

I also shared the principles and mindset needed to become successful lifelong learners. I also gave a few tips on ways they can save money right away, and bored them with my M&M story.

I have attached a video shot by my assistant and nephew, Andrew-on my Flip Video.  The editing was done quickly by me, with a little technical difficulty along the way.  The video is not Oscar material, but I promised the class they would be on the World Wide Web, so here they are:

Best Wishes!

We had a few laughs and I hope they learned something. And of course, their favorite part was the giveaways.  Hey, they are students after all!!!

Thanks again to the class. I wish them the best of luck in their studies. I know they will go far!

I was featured in a few round-ups and carnivals this past week.  Thanks to the Hosts for including me.

The Yakezie Carnival at Engineer Your Finances.

Len Penzo’s Black Coffee Round-up, one of my favorites! Something about Pigs and Lipstick??

And The Penny Frugalista, had a Remember 9/11 Round-up.

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Posted in Nursing Profession, Personal Finance 101 | 2 Comments »

A Reader Question: Help This Nurse Please!

Friday, September 3rd, 2010

A Nurses Financial Question:

A nurse reader emailed me recently with a question.  They had a buyer for their home, and wanted to know what to do with the money that would be coming in.  They are concerned about the current economy, and wanted to know the safest place to put the money.

Of course, I was ready to pounce.

My Initial Financial Suggestions:

  • Make sure you pay off your credit cards, your car.
  • Make sure you are careful when purchasing your next home to get a good buy.  Put at least 20 % down and finance for no more than 15 years……
  • Make sure you have life, and health insurance, and are building a college fund if needed…..The usual stuff!!!

The Nurses reply:

Well didn’t I feel like a fool when the reply came in:

  • They live in another PAID FOR home.  They have another rental property, PAID FOR!
  • They have no credit card or car debt, or any other consumer loan.
  • They own land with planted pines-PAID FOR!
  • They have a lake home- bought when a friend was going under- at a great price.  They have a small mortgage on it.  The mortgage is being taken care of by renting the lake home and their other rental.
  • They are not fully funding their 403b, or IRA’s. (finally, something I could work on!)
  • Kids are grown and on their own.

I wrote back-“What the hell do you need me for-you need to be writing The Millionaire Nurse Blog!”

This couple both work in the health care field, her husband is in allied health as well-so we aren’t talking about huge salaries.  They just live conservatively.    And invest their money in what they can see, and understand.

This is exactly what I am trying to teach.  Anyone can become “wealthy” by today’s standards, if they take the time to have a plan.  Put money aside month by month, and let the money grow.

Dr Dean’s Recommendations:

Now I certainly had  further advice for them, in the “for what it is worth” department:

  • Develop a more formal plan for their money-know where it is going before they get it.
  • Use their 403b’s to gain the match from their employer.
  • Know where their IRA’s fit regarding their overall investments. Not just forgotten.
  • Diversify:  Someone who has most of their net worth tied up in real estate, needs to make sure their other investments, in their IRA or 403b,  aren’t in a mutual fund,  heavily invested in real estate.
  • Make sure they have an estate plan, with a will and durable power of attorney.
  • Make sure they have identity theft protection.
  • Make sure the rates they are paying for insurance are competitive.

In short, make sure they are covering the small details, before they become big problems.

Reader Questions:

I also offered to put their situation out here, on the world wide web-so other financial experts can help me make suggestions.

Anything I have left off?  What do you think?

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Posted in personal finance | 2 Comments »

Nurse Over 50: Needs Personal Finance Transplant!

Thursday, August 12th, 2010

Nurses Financial Summary:

Let me introduce Nurse Shawna.  She has been an RN for 15 years. Before nursing school, she worked in a manufacturing plant.  Once the plant closed and the jobs went overseas-she went back to school- being the first in her family to go to college.

She is making the national average nursing salary of $53,000 per year as a nurse manager.    She has enjoyed the comfort a good job has brought to her family, and combined with her husband’s salary-they are doing quite well.

However, she just had her 55th birthday. She had an epiphany on  her birthday-she didn’t want to work forever.   She and her husband recalled that commercial, where the couple is on the phone talking about how their friends had to sell their home in retirement-as they didn’t have the money to keep it.

For the first time in years-Shawna began to think about their long-term financial future.

Her employer,  a large city hospital, matches up to 3% of her salary in a 403b.  But Shawna is only contributing 1%.  Her last child had just graduated from college, and was finally off the payroll.   He has gotten a job, even in this environment-hallelujah!

Prior to his graduation, Shawna and her husband had been doing what a lot of people do, sacrificing their future for their kids’ college.

They had opened IRA’s on the advice of a friend years ago, but hadn’t put anything in them for several years.

Financial Fast Facts for Shawna:

  • Home mortgage- 20 years left on a 30 year mortgage at 6%
  • 403b-Hers-3% match-she is only having 1% taken out of her check-Account balance $75,000
  • 401k-Her husband-he is matching 2%-balance $125,000
  • IRA’s-traditional combined balance of $1500
  • With the youngest out of college and getting a rein on their spending-they are going to have free cash flow of at least $1,000/month.

Nurse Shawna and her personal finances:

What can Shawna and her husband do, to “catch-up” on their retirement savings?

I will write a follow-up post next week, on the catch-up scenario, but welcome reader suggestions or questions in the meantime.

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Posted in Retirement savings | 5 Comments »

Nurses-Dealing With Life and Death!

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

Nurses

I came across this story from ICU Nurse about the care of a dying patient.  Please take a moment and read this beautifully written story, taken from just one shift in an ICU somewhere in this country.

Multiply that incident by thousands, and you can understand the degree of stress, and dedication required to do this nursing job day in day out!!!

Sometimes it is easy for a few of my readers to forget that this blog is dedicated to nurses.  My focus and passion is to help nurses to improve their personal finances.  Studies show that money problems are the number one concern of the majority of nurses.

Study after study show that stress is a significant cause of lost work time-and obviously stress from money problems plays a large part of that.

Some have asked me, why focus on nurses.  The financial information you provide is true for all professions-personal finance is personal finance.

Well, I would answer that this way-”why are we drawn to different professions as a way to make a living?” ” Why do some become nurses, others a police officer or fireman?”  “Why is one an accountant, and another a software coder?” “Why do some folks become wealthy and others stay broke?”

My answer is we are all human, with human foibles and varying personalities .  We think differently.

Nurses, in general, think differently than most.  They are usually giving people, and therefore don’t always pay attention to their own best interest.

As a physician I get to go to the hospital and deal with similar serious issues.  But for the most part Docs are lucky.  We get to breeze in and breeze out while the nurses have to “explain to me what he just said in English” when the family is shaking their head after we leave the bedside.

The nurses are the tip of the spear-so to speak.

So, if I can help nurses lives become easier, by helping them to understand  how to take care of their money, then I feel all this time at the keyboard is worthwhile.

It is really satisfying  to see a light of understanding hit someone who really had no clue-

  • what the advantages of putting matching money into a retirement account.
  • Or the magic of consistent investing and compound interest.
  • The understanding that by changing their behavior towards money, they can make a lasting difference in their life and the lives of their children.

With all the hoopla over health care, and politics over the past 12 months, it is easy to forget there are real human beings, who dedicate their lives daily to give to others.  I think continued references to the “broken health care system” makes those working in the trenchs feel, that their efforts are in vain or at least unappreciated.

So take a moment, if you run into a nurse, to thank them for their service.  You never know when it might be you laying on that gurney, in a skimpy hospital gown, scared to death!!!!

So for those of you who don’t understand why all the nursing references here at The Millionaire Nurse Blog-get over it.  And for you non-nurses who continue to read in-spite of my health care bent, then thanks for your patience and support.

Check out this video on Critical Care Nursing, courtesy of You-Tube!!

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Posted in Nursing Profession | 6 Comments »

The Millionaire Nurse Goals

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2009

Many of you have read the About the Millionaire Nurse page above which gives an overview of the origin of this blog and my mission.

I want to spend a few minutes of your time on my goals and techniques:

  1. Motivate: I want to give my readers the reasons to go to the trouble, yes I know it is a lot of trouble, to get a handle on their finances.
  2. Educate: I want to give my readers the tools  to help them reach their financial goals.
  3. Castigate: If you need  embarrassing, yelled at-yes I will even stoop to using guilt-to get you motivated.
  4. Masturbate: Yes, it rhymed,  I needed to wake you up, and thinking about personal finance is sometimes something you do when you are alone, and in the dark too.
  5. Renovate: If you are like me, what you are doing now, may not work as well as it should.  Be open to new, different and improved ways to manage your money.

I think that is enough of that.

So what are the main barriers to my effort?

I think the main barriers are twofold:

  1. Getting the word out-you can’t help those who don’t know you exist-so send the link to this blog to all your friends and co-workers.
  2. Earning your trust-this I can only do by providing you with information that you find useful/helpful in your quest to get your family/personal finances in control and helping you to learn to build wealth. I will try to be consistent and persistent.

Seth Godin,  the author and leadership guru, in his blog this week, had a post on “The People you should listen to.”  I agree with his assessment that many people listen to folks whose agenda is different from yours-so be careful  who you select for this honor.

If there is anything I can do to help satisfy your concerns about my agenda, then let me know.  This is a two-way street and I am open to suggestions and constructive criticism.

And if you need immediate help, check out my FREE e-book on “Emergency Money Resuscitation” and you will also receive a free mini-course on personal finance.

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Posted in Introduction to the Millionaire Nurse Blog, Uncategorized | No Comments »

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