NURSES LACK TIME & ENERGY
- The standard 9-5 workday doesn’t exist in the nursing world. As rewarding and fulfilling as your career is, it doesn’t negate the fact that being a nurse can be physically, mentally, and emotionally exhausting. Many times, you work 3 12-hour days or over 40 hours a week.
- So, when you do finally get time for yourself to kick back and relax, the last thing you want to focus on is something taxing like your finances.
- You already struggle with your weekly to-do list, so thinking about planning for something like retirement, which seems so far away, becomes less crucial than the fires you need to put out that are in front of you right now.
- However, it is vital you start planning and investing in your nursing retirement now so that you have the time and freedom when you are ready to retire. Working with a financial professional who is knowledgeable about the challenges nurses face and is empathetic to your unique concerns as a nurse, can help you focus on your future self - and sleep better at night.
NURSES LACK RELEVANT FINANCIAL EDUCATION & GUIDANCE
- The more knowledgeable someone is about investing and financial planning, the more confident and empowered they are to take control of their financial future. However, most nursing programs don’t offer courses related to financial literacy or personal finance specific to nursing, leaving you to figure everything out independently.
- Add things like paying down your student loan debt, housing expenses, and childcare and college planning for your children into the mix, and it’s easy to become overwhelmed with everything you need to balance.
- So, where do you even begin? What is the best retirement plan option for you? How much should you invest into your 401k or 403b? How will you repay your student loans in the quickest way possible?
- Do you have retirement benefits available to you? What is the average pension for someone who is a nurse? At what age do most registered nurses retire? Will your life insurance deliver the financial horsepower necessary if your spouse were to pass away before you?
- There is a multitude of options available to you. That’s why it’s vital to work with an experienced, independent financial advisor who understands nurses, outside of your employer, whose loyalty is first and foremost to you and not the company for which you work.
NURSES HAVE UNIQUE CIRCUMSTANCES THAT ADD TO THE FEAR OF OUTLIVING THEIR MONEY DURING RETIREMENT
- Unlike other industries, many nurses are responsible for covering the costs of necessary items out of their own pockets. These additional expenses can account for a large portion of your regular earnings or savings, from replacing scrubs and worn-out shoes to stethoscopes and paying for parking. And when you combine those additional expenses with today’s inflation and rising costs, it’s like “pouring salt into an open wound.”
- Women make up the vast majority of the nursing workforce; therefore, many of you also deal with the everyday challenges women face when it comes to retirement planning, on top of the unique challenges you already face as a nurse.
- On average, women tend to live longer than men. And we are witnessing longer lifespans in women than at any time previously in history. As a result, your money may need to last 20-30 years longer in retirement than previous generations. Even with modest annual inflation, traditional living expenses such as housing and utilities can double in less than 25 years.
- And with the gender pay gap, women earn an average of 82 cents for every dollar earned by their male counterparts, which can create a difference of more than $590,000 in the total income earned by women in their lifetime compared to men.1,2 For women of color, that gap becomes even more expansive.
- Another primary contributor to this contrast in pay is that women are more likely to be the ones to take time out of the workforce to be caregivers for their parents, children, and other relatives, resulting in lower lifetime earnings and less retirement and pension savings.
- These challenges are authentic for you as a woman, but don’t let the statistics rattle you. Working with a financial professional who recognizes and understands the myriad of exclusive worries and challenges women face when planning and preparing for your retirement can alleviate much of those anxieties.
Sources:
1.. 5 Facts About the State of the Gender Pay Gap. U.S. Department of Labor Blog, March 19. 2021.
2. “Just How Bad Is the Gender Pay Gap? Brutal, When You Look at a Lifetime of Work,” Time, April 2019