A Kaiser nurse who invests the extra salary could retire with more than a UC nurse, even with a smaller pension. I didn’t see that at first. A comment on one of my videos made me run the numbers again.
These numbers are from March 2025, when this was first written. Pay changes every year, so check current rates in Map My Pay.
Where this started
A few weeks before this, I posted a video comparing the Kaiser and UC Davis pensions. You can read the full breakdown in why nurses at UC Davis never quit.
I thought I had it all figured out. UC Davis had the better pension, but Kaiser paid a higher salary. It seemed simple, but it turns out I missed something big.
The comment that changed my mind
Jake, a nurse I know, left a comment that stopped me in my tracks. He asked what would happen if the Kaiser nurse took that extra $54K in salary and invested it. He thought they would come out way ahead.
That got me thinking, so I ran the numbers. The results were not what I expected.
Kaiser’s pension is smaller. But when that salary difference gets invested, it’s not even close.
It’s not just salary versus pension. There is a hidden factor most nurses miss. It’s the reason the Kaiser nurse could retire with more money than the UC Davis and UCSF nurses combined.
I break it all down step by step in the video below, including the final numbers that shocked me.
Why most nurses miss this
Most nurses focus on the pension because it feels like a sure thing. It is, but there’s a catch.
When you make $80K to $100K more a year and you use that money wisely, the pension becomes the smaller part of your plan.
The Kaiser nurse could end up with over six figures a year in investment income on top of the pension. It just takes one smart money move.
Most people don’t think about it that way. That extra income usually disappears into lifestyle creep: a bigger house, a nicer car, more trips. We’ve been there.
This is why it matters so much. The Kaiser nurse who invests the extra income wins by a lot.
What to do with this
You don’t need to work harder to win. You need to know how the game works. Most nurses never figure this out, but the ones who do retire richer and sooner.
If you want to run your own numbers, start with the UC vs Kaiser pension calculator. If retiring early is your goal, read why nurses need to learn about FIRE.
Your next move
See what you’d take home, then make the move
Map My Pay shows what nurses take home after taxes and rent at 465+ hospitals and in 21,000+ cities. It’s the app I co-founded so you can compare cities before you pack a single box.
The Nurses to Riches Accelerator is the plan Monica and I used to go from $37 an hour in New York to $143 an hour in California: license, city, hospital, and what to do with the money after.
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Written by Jason, RN. I went from $37 an hour in New York to $143 an hour in California and paid off $128K of debt in under a year. I share our numbers in the Nurses to Riches newsletter and on YouTube.