Nurse Wealth 101

James Porterfield

Hi! I'm a Travel Nurse on the pursuit for Financial Independence

I’m a Travel Nurse on the pursuit for Financial Independence.

  • Nurses deserve wealth as much as or more than the next celebrity

    James Porterfield

    Ever heard of the saying “You won’t be a good nurse if you’re doing it for the money”, or “People don’t go into nursing for the money”. Do you believe this yourself?

    I went into nursing with the ideal, “I will put my effort into doing some good into the world”. It still resonates within me. When I ask myself, “Why did you become a nurse?”, I can say to myself “Because I have the ability to help humanity”, and that gives me hope to change lives and do better each shift. It’s nice to get the grateful patient (or pleasantly confused hehe), so that you come away from a busy shift knowing you made a difference. The reason I believe people say “Don’t do it for the money” is that it takes a special nurse to deal with difficult situations and be grateful for what we’ve been given. Nurses are virtuous and if you are doing it for the good of humanity, that will make you a better nurse than if you were doing it to be greedy for money.

    But wait.. can’t you be a good nurse AND make good money?

    Two ways I look at money:

    Money is a tool, nothing more nothing less. Someone once said “Money will make you more of who you are. If you are a bad person, you will do more bad. If you are a good person, you will do more good”. So wouldn’t it make sense to have the option to make more of who you are? Wouldn’t the ideal good person try to make as much as he/she can to help change the world in the best way possible?

    Money equals time. Think of the life force you are giving to time spent fulfilling your work schedule. Wouldn’t that money be spent to good use? If you are investing money, you are investing into your future for some of the time you spent at work, but the money you invested compounds. Compound interest makes it so that eventually, your money grows to more than you put in all together. That eventually means less time working, and more time devoted to what moves you.

    I live two simple rules: To be able to afford a lifestyle I want by acquiring assets that will help pay for my lifestyle, and to be able to do it sooner rather than later. No inflated lifestyle now. Delayed gratification. Don’t quit until you are insanely proud of yourself.

  • Affordable Travel Nurse Rentals

    James Porterfield

    Housing is one of the biggest expenses most everyone has. Us travel nurses must duplicate expenses (rent or pay down a mortgage in our home state), and pay for a place in our travel destination every month to be eligible for our tax free stipends. It makes sense to control this number as reasonably as possible to keep more cash in your pocket. Some agencies will help set you up in a short term rental but will not pay a housing stipend. My advice is to find your own housing and pocket the difference. After all, most of my wealth has come from the stipend these days. Here are the choices I have made in the past couple of years.

    Albuquerque Furnished Finder

    This place I found on Furnished Finder on my first contract. It is a one bed, one bathroom rental for $1500/mo. I didn’t do great on affordability with this one, but it was safe and comfortable. This unit was part of a fourplex in Albuquerque, NM. About 9 minutes away from the hospital. October 2022-April 2023. Two 13 week contracts. Contract: $2600, $2800/week.

    Belmont Furnished Finder

    Out of respect for the tenant, I did not include inside pictures of this apartment. It is a room in a house type I found on Furnished Finder, with roommate. This apartment was located in Belmont, CA and I paid $1350/mo for 6 months and $1400/mo for 6 months after. Pretty great for 30 minutes from San Francisco! My roommate was respectful of my space and I had a parking space in the parking garage nearby, a room, and a bathroom for myself. About 15 minutes away from the hospital. May 2023-May 2024. Two 6 month contracts. Contract: $3100/week.

    Louisville Furnished Finder

    This place is a room in a house in Louisville, KY. The door had a keypad, shared kitchen with four people and shared bathroom with one person. This place was affordable at $700/mo. About 15 minutes away from the hospital. June 2024-January 2024. One 13 week contract, one 18 week contract. Contract: $2400/week.

    Rapid City Furnished Finder

    This place was found on Furnished Finder, and is part of a remodeled motel in Rapid City, SD. This is where I’m staying these days and currently I’m paying $995/mo. It is close to everything. About 8 minutes away from the hospital. 13 week contract, looking to extend to October.

    As you can guess, I have found success on Furnishedfinder.com when I am looking for short term stays. These days, I look for companies with track records who post furnished short term stays and then go to their external website to apply for residence. If you use Furnished finder for your stay, it is harder to contact a tenant (independent, not part of a company) and better to let them contact you. You can sign up to get notified when a tenant contacts you to stay in their rental. In my experience, it is faster this way, and generally easier.

  • Order of Investing for Beginners

    James Porterfield

    1. Save $1,000.

    If you don’t do this first, everything else is pointless. Most Americans can’t cover a $1,000 emergency without using a credit card. Save $1,000 for small emergencies and leave it in a High Yield Savings Account. Do a Google search for High Yield Savings Accounts, my favorite is Ally Bank.

    2. Pay off all debt except your mortgage

    Consumer debt is keeping Americans poor and living paycheck to paycheck. We have become too comfortable with robbing our future selves and keep ourselves stuck paying for things we purchased in the past. You could be getting 10% on your money in the stock market, but lose 23% paying interest on a credit card (the average interest rate these days). Make the minimum payments on all debt, and focus your income on paying the smallest debt first. Psychologically, this gives you fast wins and leads to greater momentum as you are paying down your debt. This method is called the “Snowball Method”, and is the method I used to tackle $13,000 of credit card debt.

    3. Build your emergency fund to 3-6 months of living expenses

    Once you are out of debt above 8% and still have your $1,000 emergency fund in a HYSA (High Yield Savings Account), increase that amount to 3-6 months of living expenses. For me, I don’t include things like subscriptions, dining out, and entertainment in my monthly number because if an emergency were to happen, I would cut those things out. For me, $3,000 a month will pay for the basics like food, housing, transportation. Multiplied by 3 is $9,000 and 6 is $18,000. Your emergency fund is for emergencies or expenses you didn’t expect, not for expected expenses you can prepare for (that includes car repairs).

    4. Get your employer match on your company sponsored 401K

    If your company offers a match, go get your free money. Ask your HR department if your company offers this, and my bet is that they do. If you are not taking advantage of a 401k match, you are leaving free money on the table. For example, if you are making $50,000 a year and your employer is offering a 4% match on your salary, that means if you contribute 4% of your income, which is $2,000, you will get a free $2,000 from your employer toward your 401k. The money you put in is pretax money and reduces the amount of taxable income you report at the end of the year for tax season.

    5. Max out your Roth IRA

    If you don’t have a Roth IRA, it is easy to open one and start contributing to it. My favorite brokerages are Fidelity, Vanguard, and Charles Schwab. The max amount you can contribute to this account is capped at $7,000 for 2024, and $7,000 for 2025. You contribute after tax money, or money that you are paid with after government taxes, health insurance, and 401k are taken out. Common beginner investor mistakes are not investing the money once you have funded the account. You must choose an investment with the dollars you used to fund the account. By the time you retire, all the withdraws you take out at retirement is tax-free.

    6. Max out your 401k

    The max you can fund your 401k is $23,000 in 2024, and $23,500 in 2025. Now I know what you’re thinking. That’s a lot of money! Yet, the majority of millionaires who have invested consistently become millionaires in their 401k. Because you contribute pretax money to your 401k, your taxable income at the end of the year is further reduced. If you made $50,000 this year, you will only get taxed on $27,000 of earnings. This year marks the second year I have maxed my 401k and those tax reimbursements were big last year!

    7. Max out your Health Savings Account (HSA)

    This only applies to you if you have a High Deductible Health Plan. This helps you save on taxes in 3 different ways. Just like the 401k, the HSA lets you contribute to the account pre-tax and lowers your taxable income. And just like the Roth IRA, this account also offers tax free growth and tax free withdraws for medical expenses. For 2024, the max you can contribute for self-only coverage is $4,150, and for family coverage it is $8,300. For 2025, the HSA contribution limit is $4,300 for individual and $8,550 for a family. Just like the Roth IRA, you must choose the investments in this plan. At least $1,000 of your money must remain in the cash portion of this account.

    8. Invest in a Taxable Brokerage Account

    There is no limit for how much you can contribute to this account, but you are subject to capital gains tax. If you sell assets for a profit, short term capital gains, or assets held less than a year, are taxed at the same rate as your ordinary income, and long term capital gains for assets held greater than 1 year, are taxed at either 0%, 15%, or 20% which is based on your taxable income. The higher your income, the higher your long-term capital gains tax rate. Personally, I would not withdraw from this account unless I have been invested for at least 5 years. For those wanting to retire early, this account is a great bridge account to float you before you can start withdrawing from retirement accounts.

    9. Pay off your house

    Why is this last? Because if you have been prioritizing investing your income, returns in the stock market typically gives you a better return than paying off your home. If your interest rate is above 6%, however, it gets more difficult to justify doing this so late and you may consider paying off your home earlier than step 9. Additionally, if you are older than 45 years old, then paying off your house becomes more important. Based on the historical returns of the S&P 500, if you are 20, every dollar you invest has the potential to become $88.35. If you are 45, every dollar you invest has the potential to become $4.46 (Source: Moneyguy.com/resources).

  • Side Hustles for Nurses

    James Porterfield

    If you are a nurse and you’re looking to get out of debt or increase your income, picking up a side hustle can potentially become a lucrative way to do so. Everywhere on the internet, I see people saying that one income source is too close to zero, and that adding more income streams will give you more security and stability. Here are five ways nurses are using their expertise to increase their income.

    Freelance Writing

    Nurses who have great communication skills can become a health content freelance writer. Nurses are unique in this space because having “RN” after your name on the internet gives your article credibility and bumps the article up on the Google search algorithm, making it marketable for clients. Nurse freelance writers often write for companies like WebMD, Aetna, Men’s Health, AARP, the list goes on.

    This is something I am pursuing currently, and while it takes awhile to start earning money from this option, you can certainly make enough from doing freelance writing to replace your bedside job. There are even some nurses who make $100,000-$200,000 dollars annually! This job involves marketing yourself online, seeking out clients, managing an LLC, and of course, basic writing skills. If you are looking for ways to get started, I used RN2Writer.com and signed up for their course. The easy to follow 16 week course includes coaching and helpful modules that help beginners become full fledged freelance writers! Another option is Savvynursewriter.com. The creator has built a community around freelance writing that looks appealing.

    Private Duty or Home Health Nurse

    Home health nurses care for patients in their homes. Demand for home care continues to grow meaning many opportunities for home health nurses. This is something I have done in the past, caring for one child as a pediatric home health nurse. I did this part time, while having a full time acute care job. It helps to have a job that gives you the ability to create your schedule so you can reliably work at your second job as a home health nurse. I met a travel nurse who worked as a home health nurse between contracts in California, so it is also an accessible option.

    PRN or Per Diem Nurse

    Per diem nurses work on a temporary basis for as little as one day. Hospitals or other healthcare facilities may hire PRNs to cover busy times. PRN jobs typically pay more because you forgo having to pay for health insurance. You can check indeed and apply internally or download an app like ShiftMed, NurseIO, or ShiftKey to search and pick up a shift. Be prepared to get little to no orientation as I believe many of these options expect you to hit the ground running. Choose a specialty that you are already familiar with or have been working for some time now. If it were up to me and I was a staff nurse, I would have several PRN jobs alongside my full-time position.

    Health Tutor or Instructor

    Nursing school is challenging (as we all know), but if you’ve already graduated and earned your RN license, you can become a tutor to help fledging nursing students succeed. In many instances I have seen, you need a BSN (Bachelor’s Science in Nursing) as a minimum requirement and in some instances a good GPA. If you love working with students and have a teaching mindset, google “NCLEX tutoring” and send them an email or look at job boards. Expect to make $20-$35 an hour.

    Telehealth Nurse

    These nurses provide care remotely using videoconferencing, phone, or chat technologies. They may conduct virtual health assessments, communicate with patients about medical conditions, and recommend when to seek in-person care. Strong communication skills and the ability to use technology help. The average telehealth nurse salary was $83,000 in February 2024 according to Payscale. There is a possibility of working from home, but with strict adherence to HIPAA compliance, I have seen more of these companies require you to drive to the office.

  • Triple Your Income: Travel Nursing

    James Porterfield

    “Real change is difficult at the beginning, but gorgeous at the end. Change begins at the end of your comfort zone” – Roy T. Bennett

    I became a registered nurse during COVID at the end of 2020. It was difficult seeing people at their darkest hour, hospitalized for days with no end in sight, and when it did end, they either got better or got put in body bags for the morgue. Eventually, COVID started letting up and we got the usual type of patients on the unit. I worked on a busy 30 patient neuro stepdown unit. Ratios were 4:1, and I was on my feet constantly on my feet for most nights. When I had downtime, I charted and occasionally chatted with co-workers.

    We started getting better staffed, and I noticed there were several travel nurses hired for night shifts that I worked. At the time I had a part time job as a pediatric home health nurse, and wanted to learn about ways to increase my income while working a normal 36 hours a week like most of us do. Amanda (name changed for privacy), was a new travel nurse to our unit, and I asked her about what she liked about travelling.

    At that time it was October 2021. She said, “I made $186,000 dollars so far this year!” My eyes widened when she said that and I couldn’t believe it for a second. Here, I’ve been working two RN jobs, on track for $86,000 for the year working 50-60 hour weeks. Bear in mind, I was paid $37 dollars an hour at my full time job, with a $5 differential pay for night shift and an extra $5 for weekends. I was proud of my accomplishments, but this was on another level! At that moment I was a little jealous. Later that year, the nurse manager gave me my annual review and said I got a raise of $0.10. I remember her smirking and almost laughing. When I asked why so little, she said “Oh that is just what the standard raise is everywhere in the area”. WHAT! Like a smack to the face, I looked for how to plan my exit from staff nursing and looked up to travel nursing. If I didn’t like it, surely I could get my old job back.

    When I got 2 years of experience as a PCU/stepdown nurse, I specialized and got my PCCN (Progressive Care Certified Nurse), and bet on myself. I used an App called Vivian to search contracts and quickly landed one. I haven’t looked back.

    Since then I tripled my income. From $60,000/year in a low cost of living area as a staff nurse to $179,000 in 2023 as a travel nurse. Triple. The. Income. So what’s different? Funny thing is, the work isn’t different than staff nursing. It has actually been easier.

    I’ve been a travel nurse for 2 years now. Here’s what helps:

    1. Prepare to be alone for most of your contract unless you are great at making friends or you are travelling with company. Other travel nurses I know travel with their significant other or make friends with roommates. As for myself, I bring a gaming laptop so that I can stay connected with friends while away. I got out of my comfort zone and made a lifelong friend at my first contract!
    2. Sign up for grocery cards at the local grocery store and gas loyalty cards at the pump. You can use apps like GasBuddy or Upside to get cash back for your gas! This can help, especially if you are travelling a higher cost of living area, such as California.
    3. Use Furnished Finder to find a place to live. Most places I stay, I pick up a roommate, or live in a room in a house. This helps keep your housing costs low. I am able to save 50% of my income even in California in part because of this hack. For me, it is worth the tradeoff.
    4. Have reliable transportation and regularly maintain your vehicle. I have a used 2012 Toyota Camry that is in great condition. I am not afraid of spending my money to keep it well maintained. When I am back home, I renew my car registration and update my car insurance when I visit a new destination. I use the CARFAX Car Care App to easily keep track of recommended service and when to add a service when it is time to act. Having AAA service gives me peace of mind and I recommend for older cars when on the road.
    5. Have a compact license or apply for one. When I originally applied for licensure, I had a choice to choose between a multi-state license or single state license. Having a compact license allows you to work in 37 states and growing. Oh, and go get your California license. I have mine and went to the Bay Area in 2023 and 2024. Worth the $500, especially for those California staffing ratios.

    Overall, travel nursing is pretty great. I get to see new places and discover what’s great about America. I get to save more money to reach my goals faster. I get to work on my own terms, and not be beholden to workplace politics. And did I mention the pay?

    Picture 1: San Francisco

    Picture 2: Albuquerque