Posts Tagged ‘” personal finance for nurses”’

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 | No 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 | 3 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 »

Buying Stuff: What are Your Budget Busters?

Tuesday, December 1st, 2009

The essence of marketing, is getting  you to spend your money.  You vote for a product with your dollars.  Billions of dollars are spent by companies all over the world to get  and keep your attention long enough to imprint their brand on your brain.

My job, here at the Millionaire Nurse , is to teach, cajole, berate, preach, and guide you to make better choices with your hard-earned dollars so you can learn to build your own personal wealth.  As yesterday’s post suggest’s, I also want you to learn to give, but that is another story.

What you and I fight every day, is  the huge number of choices we have to spend our money. Intersect those choices with the commercial entity that has become known as “the holidays” and we are all in trouble.

  • When we have a perfectly good cell phone, why do we covet a new one?
  • When our car runs great, why do we drool over the newest Mustang, Prius, or the Mini-Cooper?
  • When our jeans have no holes or only designer holes, why do we have to have a new pair?
  • What is it about the latest pocketbook, pocket knife, or pair of shoes that drives us into a spending frenzy?

The experts in brain function/psychology have tried to explain the chemical changes that occur in our brain that makes us feel better briefly when we buy the latest bauble, smoke that last cig., eat that chocolate, or have that third, fourth or fifth drink, but this isn’t a science blog.

So how do we combat these very real feelings of lust for stuff?

  1. Planning-write down your list of needs, strike through them if they are just wants-get your partner or friend to challenge you.
  2. Keep a spending limit.   Yes this means a Christmas list with dollar values by each name and don’t you dare spend more than you wrote down.  During the non-holiday season, do the same.
  3. Challenge your family to give time and not money to each others favorite charity.
  4. Pray for the strength to overcome your urges.   John 2:16 comes to mind:  “For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride in possessions—is not from the Father but is from the world.”

The essence of building wealth occurs when you get rid of all the bells , whistles and hype  is controlling spending and increasing income.  So do your part this holiday season.  Even if you cut your spending by 5%, you are making progress.

Let us know your thoughts on what works to help you get past those spending mantras that repeat endlessly through your mind this time of year.

If you want tips on saving money-Check out my free ebook at The Millionaire Nurse-in addition to the free e book, I will send you a mini-course on personal finance and info on credit card management and banking-free of course.

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Posted in Planned spending aka budget, Wealth building, personal finance | 2 Comments »

Twelve Ways to Not Become a Millionaire Nurse

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

Remember the song,  The Twelve Days of Christmas, listing all the things “my true love gave to me”.  I thought in honor of the season, I would give Twelve Ways to not becoming a Millionaire Nurse.

So here goes:

  1. Not paying attention to my money-no spending plan, budget, or clue of what to do.
  2. Paycheck runs out before the month does.
  3. Buy/lease a new car.
  4. Purchase any item without planning/study of item and how it fits into your budget.
  5. Not having an emergency account.
  6. Borrowing money for college, beyond the bare minimum, and not being able to pay the student loans off quickly. (Such as borrowing $100,000 for a job that pays $25,000/year-just doesn’t make sense, but people do it all the time.
  7. Carrying a balance on a credit card.
  8. Forgetting  those once per year bills and not saving for them- such as insurance,  or taxes.
  9. Shopping without a list/plan.
  10. Eating out/fast food daily.
  11. Borrowing money for routine purchases-not saving and paying cash  for the new “blank” that you really need.
  12. Not saving money for retirement, and building wealth.
  13. Wasting time-TV, online, video games, reading celebrity mags.

Yes I gave you a baker’s dozen just to see if you were paying attention.  Which to me is the number one thing that will help most folks manage their money-just pay it a little attention-give it some love as the saying goes.  Make it a priority in your life to learn about and understand how money works, how savings grow over time in an interest bearing account.  Learn what your money mistakes are and make a plan to deal with it.

And if you need Emergency Money Resuscitation, check out my free ebook.  I will also send you my free mini-course on personal finance.

Please let me hear from you about your most common problems involved in managing your money-I want to help, and the way to getting better is to admit the problem, so please make a comment or ask a question.

I have also posted this question-” What are your most common money mistakes ?” over at Cash Commons-check out those answers too.

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Posted in Planned spending aka budget, Quality of Life, debt reduction, personal finance | No Comments »

Emergency Money-Five Ways to Raise Money in a Hurry!

Wednesday, November 18th, 2009

One of my strongest recommendations for people trying to get out of debt, beside goal setting, and planning is the emergency fund.

See this post for more information about the super-duper emergency fund, that I recommend all  of you have and the reasons why.  For today’s post, I want to give you a few options for how to raise an emergency fund account in a hurry.

  1. For nurses, overtime is frequently available.  On one of the wards that I work, there was a sign about overtime available to work the night shift, because of a temporary nursing shortage on that wing.  Two or three extra shifts at time and a half, can raise a thousand bucks for a small emergency fund in a hurry.
  2. Sell books and text books.  See this blog post from Money Blue Book on helpful hints for those of you who haven’t sold any books online before.
  3. Have a yard sale-while this tried and true method for raising a few bucks may seem old hat, in this economy people are shopping more than ever for a bargain.  Go in with friends, and make it a fun day, in addition it will  help clean out a few closets.
  4. A second job-if overtime is not available-and these days those overtime shifts can be harder to come by, a second job working an extra weekend a month, or a couple of shifts extra on your off days-can help you pile up emergency cash.  Most nurses can find work in their field, but if not delivering pizzas or other short term work can help fill the coffers-remember this is for emergencies!
  5. Sell a toy-(no I didn’t say sell your boy).  If you have a Harley, boat, extra vehicle, jet ski ……. You get the idea.  Put it on the block.  Do an internet search to find out the going price and get it gone.  If you have no emergency money, you have no business with a toy or toys anyway-and you need to be working extra right now, not playing.

So look at the above list and find which way suits you to help build your emergency fund.  Maybe do some of it all-having a cash cushion or margin can be a life saver for those of you trying to work your way out of debt.  It can be the difference between just a bad day-having to dip into savings for a new set of tires, or an expensive medical emergency. Compare that to blowing weeks or months of hard work trying to lower your debt, then having to reach for the old credit card to pay for an emergency expense-then having to start all over.

Good luck!

For more ideas for “Emergency Money Resucitation” go to my website for my free ebook, packed with money-saving ideas.

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Posted in credit cards, debt reduction, personal finance | No Comments »

Black Friday-Will You Blow Your Spending Plan in a Moment of Frenzy

Tuesday, November 10th, 2009

Black Friday-the day the retailers look forward to all year long.  The Friday after Thanksgiving gives all the retailers a chance to celebrate or suffer, as it frequently sets the tone for the holiday’s profits or losses.  Last year saw a drop in holiday spending as the recession took hold, the first drop in years.  What does this holiday season of spending look like?

Those of us on the other end of the  professional marketers spear, who have to do our best to avoid over-spending during this day are in the crosshairs.  We will be bombarded by advertisements, and recommendations for who has the best prices.

Unfortunately this sort of hype works.  Who can forget the video shots of those riots a couple of years ago, where someone was killed by a horde of shoppers.

So how do we prevent  over-spending, while still enjoying the traditions of shopping on Black Friday?

  1. Make sure you have a spending limit and stick to it.  Maybe carry your money in cash (safely of course), leave credit cards at home-similar to what some gamblers do to keep from over gambling.  You can only spend what you take.
  2. Make sure you have a list with prices of your planned purchases.  Part of the fun of this day, so I am told, is the excitement of finding something you were going to buy, at a better price than you had planned to spend!
  3. To find the best prices, and decide where to shop, do your due diligence.  Scan the shopping ads, and do your online research.  See this earlier post where I reviewed several coupon sites on the web.  See this question at Cash Commons, a great new site for personal finance questions on this subject.
  4. Frequently the best buys are early in the morning-you can’t be everywhere at once-so pick your battles-based on the amount of savings of items you have on your must-buy list.
  5. Enjoy the company of friends and family, make the day an adventure, and don’t feel left out or depressed if you are not sliding that credit card through the slot every few minutes.

So let us hear from you folks out there, share with us your shopping stories.  Confess your sins if you spent too much-confession is good for the soul.  Also let us know if you hear about a specific bargain that you would think others would like to know about.

And remember, if you need “Emergency Money Resucitation” go to my website at www.themillionairenurse.com and for your free e-book, maybe it will help you get your mind on saving money here close to the holidays.

And remember to let your friends and co-workers know about this blog, so we can get the word out to potential “Millionaire Nurses” everywhere.

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Posted in Planned spending aka budget, Uncategorized, personal finance | 2 Comments »

What is a Millionaire Nurse?

Monday, October 5th, 2009

I am not making the promise that all those who follow my money management recommendations will become a millionaire.  Although that is likely-not because of any magic I provide, but because of the power of compound interest.  Saving monthly at the beginning of your nursing career, in both your retirement accounts and your own personal accounts, will, over a 30-40 year career result in multi-millions of dollars saved.

If you are starting your millionaire nurse journey later in your career, then, you may not reach seven figures in savings, but you will be much more comfortable in your later years.  You will build a cushion to protect yourself and your family from the ups and downs of real life.

The secret is in living within your means during that time, to allow those steady savings to build up without constant withdrawals for so-called emergencies-like a new car or boat.

In this blog, over time, I will discuss techniques and tools to help make this basic advice easier to follow.  I hope to also use the power of the connectedness of the web, to provide you nurses  great savings and money management tips being published daily.

So in summary, a millionaire nurse, may not have a million dollars in the bank-YET.  But the millionaire nurse is a mindset – not just a person-who understands money, and themselves.

Until next time,

Dr. Dean

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What is a Millionaire Nurse

Sunday, October 4th, 2009

My  blog is directed at nurses and their personal finances. My passion is teaching nurses and learning from nurses about managing their money and succeeding in building wealth.

Not just to have money, but to obtain freedom. The freedom to explore the world. The freedom to know that with life’s ups and downs, that they are not putting themselves and their family at risk by not building a sound financial support system.  The freedom to live their dreams, rather than being tied down by debt.

The current deep financial recession, along with all the hype about the proposed overhaul of the health care and health insurance system has all of us a little nervous.  With good reason.

I hope to accomplish this with sound, basic, and easy to understand financial and money management advice and support. occasionally a kick in the behind may be appropriate as well. I will try to identify great blogs, websites, articles and products that will help with these goals.

Their are a lot of great blogs, websites, books and other sources of information about learning and managing personal finances.  But none that I can find directed at nurses.  So this blog, and my other tools (soon to be published book-The Millionaire Nurse,  and website- www.themillionairenurse.com) will be directed at you nurses, using medical and technical terminology, to assist nurses in understanding financial information in a form that makes sense.

Please let me know your comments, questions, and any recommendations.

Thanks, Dr. Dean

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