Rich Nurse Guide – How to Become Rich as a Nurse

Nursing is an admirable and rewarding field that provides a good, steady income. While nurses won’t make 7-figure salaries, there are ways to learn how to be rich as a nurse. If you want to learn how to become rich on a nurse’s salary, keep reading!

You became a nurse because you wanted to help people who were living through medical challenges, right? But no one who becomes a nurse wants to live their lives barely scraping by financially.

Nursing certainly provides a good, stable income. But with the median salary of a new RN sitting at around $64,000, if someone asked you “are nurses rich?”, I’m guessing what you’d probably say. After all, you’re probably able to pay your bills, pay off debt a little at a time, and maybe splurge on a vacation now and then.

That’s not exactly the level of income that many people consider to be rich. How could a nurse living on a nurse’s salary even think about becoming rich? That’s not possible, right?

If you’re a nurse who wants to learn how to be rich as a nurse, this post is for you. I’m sharing some tips today to help you make smart financial moves so that you can benefit from your nurse’s salary more than you ever thought possible.

How To Become Rich As A Nurse

You already know how to make good money as a nurse: complete your schooling and get your certification as an RN. That’s the first step! But there are things you can do to learn how to make more money as a nurse. Then, with some sound financial strategies and planning, you can become rich as a nurse.

I think it’s important to mention that nothing I’m sharing is a “get rich quick” strategy. It will take time to build your wealth, but with these tips, you find yourself with a net worth of over a million dollars much faster than you may think.

Earn The Most You Can As An RN

Becoming an RN is just the first step. Once you become an RN, spend some time mapping out a plan that you want to implement around pursuing a specialty. Those who work in nursing specialties earn significantly higher salaries, which makes achieving your goal of becoming rich as a nurse much easier.

Advance Practice Nurses and Other High Paying Areas

Nurses have been conditioned to think that the only way they can earn more money is by going back to school. In some cases that is true. There are several career paths including advanced practice registered nurse positions that can only be obtained by master’s (and above) prepared nurses. However, there are other high-paying nursing careers you can pursue as well.

The highest paying nursing specialty is a nurse anesthetist. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary of nurse anesthetists in 2020 was $189,190. This specialty field and other Advanced Practice Registered Nurse (APRN) areas all earn 6-figures. When you compare these figures to the $64,000 of a new RN, it’s easy to see how making more helps you reach your financial goals faster.

Other high-paying nursing specialties include:

  • Nurse Practitioner ($114,500)
  • Nurse Midwives ($111,130)
  • Neonatal Intensive Care Nurse ($102,487)
  • Nursing administrator (100,980)

While earning 6-figures isn’t necessary, it does help make meeting your goal easier. Additionally, whether you currently earn 6-figures or not, try to do anything you can to bump your salary. 

Here are some ways for nurses to make extra money: 

  • Work the night shift
  • Pull an occasional extra shift
  • Keep up with your certifications
  • Add additional certifications to your resume
  • Work in critical care areas (ER or ICU)
  • Work as a travel nurse
  • Earn an advanced degree
  • Move into management
  • Negotiate your salary.

There are tons of ways to make extra money as a nurse.

Craft Your Dream Career

If you’re ready to learn the negotiation skills you need to learn how to love being a nurse again, Crafting Your Dream Career is the answer you’ve been looking for.

Rich Nurse Guide - How to Become Rich as a Nurse - Whole Life Nurse Crafting Your Dream Career

Make Smart Financial Investments

Start learning about smart investments early in your career. In addition to earning as much as you possibly can, investing any extra money you have in a savvy investment strategy will yield huge returns over time. 

Invest money wisely in some low-risk options that have good ROIs (Return on Investment), such as:

  • Continuing Education (advanced degrees, financial expertise, additional certifications,)
  • Retirement (your 401k)
  • Assets (stocks, bonds, real estate, etc)

Even if you don’t have huge chunks of change to spare for investing, consistently investing small amounts – whatever you can – will have a major impact on your financial wealth.

Plan For Retirement

If your employer offers a 401k plan, don’t mull it over. Instead, immediately start investing in it. Your contribution will come out of your paycheck automatically so you’ll never miss it. But the invested amount plus any interest will compound over time and eventually equal a HUGE amount of money.

Also, many employers will match your 401k contributions up to a certain limit (usually a percentage of your income, like 4%). If you possibly can, max out your contribution to the highest level that your employer will match. It’s like receiving free money that you can use when you retire and will significantly benefit your financial future.

Another benefit is that any contribution you make to this account is tax-deferred. That means you don’t pay taxes on that money until you start drawing it out after you retire. And once you retire, you’ll be “earning” less in income, so even though you will be taxed, you’ll pay less in taxes overall!

Be Careful With Your Expenses

Nurses who make more than $100k annually may be tempted to splurge on nice things. However, just as interest compounds when you save money, it does the same thing when you have debt. That could cost you dearly.

Pay off debt like student loans as quickly as possible

Limit unnecessary expenses. It’s ok to splurge on small things once in a while, but if you really want to become rich as a nurse, avoid taking on unnecessary debt or splurging too much.

Start A Side Hustle

If you haven’t quite hit that 6-figure mark or you’re just wanting to boost your savings, there are a few ways that nurses who want to make extra money can do it. I’m a big fan of starting a side hustle, or looking into business ideas for nurses. That could look like a few different things:

  • Become a health coach
  • Offer yourself as a legal nursing consultant
  • Work as a substitute teacher in schools
  • Tutor nursing students
  • Make crafts and sell them online
  • Start a blog or online business
  • Become a home health educator
  • Become a CE provider and contract with education companies
  • Write a book
  • Become a consultant

Learning how to be rich as a nurse isn’t rocket science and won’t happen overnight. But these 5 savvy financial strategies of earning the most you can as a nurse, making smart investments, planning for retirement, keeping a close eye on expenses, and starting a side hustle make it definitely possible to become rich over time.

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2 thoughts on “Rich Nurse Guide – How to Become Rich as a Nurse”

  1. I’m sorry But who is making only $64k a year as a nurse. I make $170k and I don’t even have an associates degree. Just a diploma working home hospice and per diem in the hospital.

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