Financial Independence Update 2023

A reader requested I give an update on my financial independence journey for 2023. I had written back in 2022 that I reached financial independence and they thought it would be cool to see where I am today, one year later. 

Financially, my net worth has grown $280k in 2023, even with the market being down and recovering over the last several months. I had the mindset that I didn’t want to invest that much in 2023. I figured I would let compounding do its work. Instead, I focused on saving cash so I could buy another property or two in the near future. I still maxed out my 401k, IRA, and HSA for the tax incentives. I did not contribute further into my brokerage account. 

My goal for the year was to only work 6 months. Did I reach this goal? Nope. It was harder than I anticipated to work less. I started the year with a 3-month assignment in FL. Then I took 3 months off to travel to Europe and spend time with family. Afterwards, I had another 3-month assignment in CO. But I ended up extending for an extra month (making it 4 months) since they were in need and I was not burned out. I then took November off to be with my boyfriend. I was hoping to take December off too but I allowed a site to convince me to work with them starting that month. Thus, I ended up working my usual ~8 months per year. 

There are several reasons it was more challenging than I thought to cut down working to 6 months per year. The first reason is – feeling guilty. When a site is desperate for my help and I do not feel burned out, and they are flexible, I am more inclined to agree to work. I feel guilty saying “No I can’t work because I just want to do nothing”. Haha. It’s so easy for me to show up to work and prescribe that patient a medication to help with their depression; place the referral they desperately need for a neurologist; or treat a simple UTI.

Another reason it was hard to only work 6 months is that I do not like to take more than 3 months off at a time. Since I worked so hard to gain my NP skills, I do not want to lose them. The 3 months off period is the sweet spot for me to keep up with my skills and not need a refresher. I know medicine can be like riding a bike, it will all just come back to you once you start practicing again, but I like being sharp and quick on my feet. 

The third main reason is that I am accustomed to being a high earner. Sure, I have enough money to sustain me for life in investments. But it is harder than I thought to give up the mental aspect of having a large paycheck hit your bank account each week. Even though I only spend 10% of my income each year, I like knowing that I have enough income to provide me with options. 

I realized that being a nurse practitioner is a bigger part of my identity than I expected. It would be hard for me to give that up completely and I see myself forever having “one more year syndrome”. (This is when you keep saying you will retire next year, but when next year arrives, you push it off to next year). Fortunately, nursing is so vast and flexible, that I can continue doing it forever even in a limited capacity. That’s what is amazing about being a traveling NP, I can work as little or as much as I want. 

As I am continuing to work, I am trying to get myself to “spend more”. Since there isn’t much I really want, I initially thought “spending on time” was the way to go. Meaning I would work less to utilize my free time more. However, I calculated that even if I don’t contribute another dollar to my investments I would have $14mil by the time I am 60 years old. Even with inflation I would not need all of that money, so it is a wake up call for me to start spending more now. 

I started in 2023 by treating myself to a monthly $100 massage. This clearly won’t break the bank. I do love cars but right now there is no point of me buying one since as a traveling NP, I am provided a rental car for free. In fact, I haven’t had a car for 5 years now. This has allowed me to save $60,000 which I have invested and has grown into $120,000 already. By the time I am 60 years old, this saving/investment will grow to $1mil. $1million just for not having a car payment for 5 years! When I do need a car again, it will be a luxury/sports car that I will purchase cash. 

My next plan in 2024 is to purchase a personal property that I can use when I am in Miami. Normally I stay with family because I thought it was wasteful to have a property I would rarely live in. But I am highly considering purchasing a condo on Miami Beach that can also serve as a “vacation property” to my family/friends when I am away. I am hoping that my boyfriend will be able to move to the USA by the end of next year. It would be nice for us to live in Miami Beach so that he can adjust more easily to life in the USA. It’s a big transition living in urban Europe to suburbia America (such as having to use a car to drive everywhere vs just walking or taking the metro).

2024 will be a redo – I will try again to only work 6 months out of the year. Let’s see how I do 🙂 In the meantime, I decided that a way to potentially reduce how much I work is by asking for a higher hourly pay. In the past, if I really wanted to work in a specific location, I was flexible and would accept a lower hourly rate. Now I am going to have a minimum hourly rate, and if the site and agency are unable to meet that, I will just turn down the job completely.

Additionally, I have started doing financial coaching on the side. I only accept a handful of clients per a 6 month commitment. I do charge for it, not because I need the money, but because I believe clients are more inclined to stay committed if it is costing them. It only takes a few hours of my time per month, and I enjoy helping others work towards their own financial independence. I realized by my peers that what is now common sense to me regarding finances, a lot of people are clueless about.

My Worst Nightmare

After my assignment ended in Colorado, the following day I was driving to the airport to finally go home. While driving on the highway, it started to snow. It was the first snow of the season so it was very wet. The speed limit on the highway was 75 mph but since I was nervous about driving in snow I slowed down to 55 mph.

Suddenly, ahead of me, multiple cars had come to an abrupt stop. So, as I tried to hit the brakes, the car spun out of control on the snow/ice and I ended up in a ditch on the side of the road. Fortunately, there were no major trees nearby so I didn’t hit anything. I was completely fine, no injuries. I was also lucky that there were no cars or semi-trucks behind me when my car spun out of control. That would have been another story.

I was stuck in the ditch because it was too steep and icy for my car to drive up on. I called the car rental company for road side assistance and they sent a tow truck to help me. While waiting for the tow truck, a firetruck stopped nearby. Many other cars ended up in a similar situation in that same area near me. The firemen were checking to make sure there were no major injuries.

They said it was dangerous for me to remain in my car on the side of the road so they brought me to a nearby truck stop. They told the people that worked there what happened and everyone was really nice. The employees offered me coffee and asked if I needed anything. An elderly couple asked if I needed a ride anywhere. I was very touched.

Fortunately, the tow truck had been close by and were able to pull out my car from the ditch rather quickly. The car was still drivable – there had only be some damage to the front bumper. It was an hour later and I was still 30 minutes from the airport so I had missed my flight. But I was glad I was still able to drive the rental to the airport.

I think I was in shock during that first hour. Because as soon as I got back in the car and started driving to the airport, I started crying. And I cried for hours. During the few seconds the car spun out of control and I ended up in a ditch – I thought to myself “oh no, if I end up in the hospital my family will have no idea what happened to me”. By Gods good grace, nothing happened to me but I was still affected by all of the adrenaline and finally crashed.

I was a bit mad at myself for extending my assignment because this is exactly why I never want to live in snow. I am not accustomed to it nor do I want to be. And I had felt “trapped” when I was stuck in the ditch in snow, freezing, not sure how long I would be down there.

I am soo grateful it was not for long. And of course, that I walked out of there unscathed. I am also grateful for the rental company (National) for helping me promptly. I am grateful that my agency paid for car insurance so I didn’t have to pay for the car to be repaired nor for the tow truck.

Not to be dramatic but I have a little PTSD from the accident. I can drive perfectly fine. But anytime I am mildly cold even indoors, it brings me back to the accident. This was my worst nightmare but I am glad everything turned out well. I will definitely continue to avoid working in cold places and I won’t be persuaded to extend.

Is Pay Everything?

When searching for a locums assignment, there are various factors that can influence which job you choose to accept. Certainly, pay is very important and one of the main reasons nurse practitioners leave their permanent jobs to become a traveler. But is pay everything? Working as a locums nurse practitioner for the past 8 years, I have learned that depending on your season, is what you choose to prioritize.

Sometimes I choose to prioritize location. For example, last summer I chose to prioritize working in a new location that would be fun. This ended up being in Colorado. Although the pay wasn’t as high as I would like, I sacrificed the pay to be somewhere I wanted. I have done this several times by prioritizing to work in Florida or close to home.

Sometimes I choose to prioritize pay. This may be after taking a sabbatical or when wanting to quickly save up for something in particular, such as a down payment for a house. In this case, I am open to working in the locations that tend to pay more. These locations tend to be Northern California, Washington, New York, Maine, and Arizona.

Sometimes I choose to prioritize mental health. If I am feeling burn out but not ready to take a break, I will decide to select an assignment with a low patient volume. Typically, with a low patient volume, the pay will be lower. Versus if I am not burned out but looking for higher pay, I may be willing to seeing a higher patient volume.

Sometimes I choose to prioritize experience. For example, one time I had the opportunity to work in an employee health clinic for American Airlines. The pay was decent but I had other assignment options that would pay more. I ended up choosing to work with American Airlines because it would be a new experience and my first time working in employee health. I was curious to see what it would be like and build my skills working in a different setting.  

I decided to write this post because I get emails on a regular basis saying one of my readers found the perfect assignment except the pay isn’t as great as they would like. I always encourage negotiating, but I think you should choose the assignment based on your “season” at that time, and not always based on pay.

I am glad to see that the hourly rate and salary for nurse practitioners has increased significantly over the past 10 years. When I started working as a nurse practitioner in Florida 13 years ago, the average NP salary was closer to $90,000/year. Now, I know many nurse practitioners in Florida (with only a few years of experience) making $125,000/year.

The same goes for working as a locums nurse practitioner. When I started locums, the average hourly rate for a primary care nurse practitioner ranged from $55 to $70 per hour. Nowadays, I never see agencies offering that $55-65/hour range. These days, the average hourly rate for a locums primary care nurse practitioner ranges from $75 to $100 per hour. Of course, this varies by the state and practice setting. As stated above, Northern CA and NYC will pay closer to the $100/hour, whereas Southern states will pay closer to the $75/hour. Urgent care and ER settings will pay more than a primary care outpatient clinic.

Would love to hear your perspectives, feel free to comment below!

Extending in Colorado

So midway through my assignment in Colorado I was asked if I wanted to extend. This extension would be from October to December. I said no right away because I avoid places that snow (coming from Florida). They said they were open to me extending for as little as I wanted, even if it was just a few extra weeks. I asked around to see if it snows in October, and they said it may snow very lightly but usually melts right away. This is do-able for me so I decided to extend for an extra month.

My agency offered me an extra $5/hour for my extension. For one month, it’s just an extra $800, but I can’t complain. I like this assignment a lot so I didn’t mind extending for free. Especially because it would give me the opportunity to take November and December off like I like to do for the holidays.

Since school started, it has gotten a bit slower. I am only seeing about 8-10 patients per day now. I am enjoying fall, seeing the leaves change color. It’s cold in the morning and at night but pretty hot in the day time. No regrets.

Living in an Extended Stay Hotel

I have been living in a Holiday Inn Express during my Colorado assignment. The apartment provided by the site wasn’t available because they had another locums in it that kept extending his stay. I had a friend visiting from Florida one weekend, and I wanted to stay in Denver that weekend.

In the past, while staying at a hotel, I have the agency book me a different hotel (similar in cost) in a different town for the weekend, when wanting to explore. Pretty much, I would check out of my current hotel for the weekend and check in to another hotel in a different town. It usually isn’t a big deal since the agency/site are paying for a hotel anyways.

When I asked my agency if they could book me a hotel in Denver for the weekend, they said no because they have to send the hotel receipt to the site and they wouldn’t approve it if it’s in another city. I told them that was strange because I have done this before with another agency. They confirmed that it could not be done. I told them since I wasn’t able to move into the apartment like I was supposed to, could they at least do it as a courtesy.

The agency ended up agreeing to pay for one hotel night in Denver for that weekend. It worked out because I didn’t need to check out of my current hotel and could leave my things there.

After staying at the Holiday Inn for 6 weeks, I checked out for 1 week since I was going on vacation. When the hotel points hit my account I was surprised. I made 230k points in those 6 weeks alone! I already have plans to use these points for a trip in Asia next year. In Asia, I can easily book a hotel in that brand (such as the Intercontinental) for 10-20k points per night. So 230k points would give me at least 2 weeks worth of hotel nights abroad.

Living in a hotel without a full kitchen hasn’t been as bad as I thought. I can still cook up some meals on my hot plate and I am a queen of left overs. Earning a ridiculous amount of hotel points has been a bonus, and I am looking forward to earning more points during my stay. 

Top 6 Things to do Near Denver, CO

Colorado is an amazing state with all kinds of landscaping and scenery. Denver is a great city to work in because you have access to many outdoors activities within a 1 to 2-hour drive. These are my top 6 activities I enjoyed doing while working outside of Denver, Colorado, that I highly recommend!

  1. Garden of the Gods – This free park is located in Colorado Springs with 300 foot sandstone rock formations. There are multiple walking trails, wildlife, and even rock-climbing opportunities. Be sure to go in the morning so you can find parking. It is free to enter, but if you are interested in a tour you will have to pay and make reservations.

2. Red Rocks Park and Amphitheatre – Located in Denver, the naturally made amphitheater is a popular site for concerts and other events such as yoga. The red rocks park has 868 acres of geological marvels and wild life. There are opportunities for hiking and biking.

3. Rocky Mountain National Park – This national park is 1.5 hours north of Denver. It costs $30 per vehicle to enter, and during peak times such as the summer months, a reservation time permit is required. The mountain ranges are enormous and never ending. Plan to spend at least half a day at this park because it takes 3-5 hours just to drive through all the windy roads. There are some hiking trails but it can get difficult to breathe once you reach the summit. We saw some elk while we were there which was awesome. I recommend going at 6am because it is less crowded and you do not have to wait in line at the viewing points. I also recommend staying in Estes Park, CO before or after to make the drive more comfortable.

4. Glenwood Springs – This cute town is about a 2 hour drive west of Denver. They have a large natural hot springs pool that is enjoyable during colder months. The entry fee is a bit steep at $47 per adult, but is definitely worth it. You also have beautiful views of the mountains.

5. Day trip to Colorado Springs – Colorado Springs is a 1 hour drive south of Denver. I actually like it better than Denver because it has a gorgeous back drop of mountains and even red canyons randomly in the city. There is an opportunity to go on a hot air balloon there, and they have other tourist sites such as Caves of the Wind and Manitou Dwellings. Caves of the Wind is an underground cavern and Manitou Dwellings are Native American homes built into canyons. Check out Red Rock Canyon for more hiking.

6. Day trip to Boulder, CO – Boulder is about a 30 min drive north of Denver. Pearl Street area is a popular destination there. It’s an artsy area with shops and plenty of interesting dining options