Using Travel Nursing to Retire Early

A great benefit of being a traveling nurse practitioner is you can use this opportunity to retire early. First, as a traveling nurse practitioner, your pay is higher than being a full-timer. Second, most Americans spend about 30% or more of their income on housing, and 15% or more of their income on transportation. As a traveling nurse practitioner, you can save tons of money on these costs since housing and transportation is provided for free.

So not only are you making more per hour, but you are saving money on the majority of your expenses. I know some travelers that keep their home empty while they are away traveling. If you do not want to sell your place, go ahead and rent it out because you are losing money by keeping it unoccupied.

As a result of being a traveling nurse practitioner, I am able to save 85% of my income! If I worked at a permanent job I would probably only be able to save 50% of my income or less.

In addition, as a traveling nurse practitioner you can find several ways to contribute to a retirement account. I often work with Comp Health that provides W2 pay. They offer a 401k and match. I make sure to max out my 401k with them and earn the few thousands of dollars in match each year.

When I work as a 1099 contractor, I contribute up to 25% of my 1099 net income to a SEP-IRA. This is a specific IRA for people that are self-employed. These contributions are tax deductible and lower my overall gross income and taxes owed. If you qualify for a Roth IRA or Traditional IRA, you can contribute up to $6000 per year in either of these accounts as well.

Due to my increased savings rate and being able to max out my retirement accounts each year, I foresee myself retiring early. Will discuss more in a later post!