Monica and I have been nurses since 2012 and 2013. Our net worth now sits at $753,405. Some people say that’s low after 12 years. Here’s the full story behind that number.
These rates are from September 2024, when this was first written. Pay changes every year, so check current rates in Map My Pay.
We didn’t take money seriously at first
We didn’t get serious about our finances until we decided to move to California. Before that, our spending was out of control.
By the time we got to California, we had $80,000 in student loan debt. We added $25,000 on credit cards to pay for the move. We bought a shiny new $76,000 Volvo XC90, because we thought we were living large. On top of that, we took out a $70,000 loan for the down payment on our house.
Yeah, we were nuts. If you’re thinking about a fancy car, read why luxury cars are not an investment.
From negative $200,000 to $753,405
When we first finished nursing school, our net worth was negative $80,000. After all that spending and buying our house, it dropped to negative $200,000.
Then COVID hit, and that’s when things changed for us. Monica decided we were done living in debt. She was tired of always feeling behind, so we buckled down for good.
I’ve always been the business type. I dreamed of being a millionaire in my 20s. I was the one who wanted to skip travel and invest every penny we earned.
Marriage is about give and take, so we made a deal. First we pay off our debts, save and invest like crazy. Then we can enjoy what we earned without feeling like we’re drowning.
Four years after COVID, we’ve turned our finances around. Our net worth is now $753,405.
We paid off over $128,000 of consumer debt in under a year, not counting our mortgage. You can read how we paid off $128K of debt. When you count all the debt we’ve paid off, we’ve grown our net worth by over $900,000.
How we compare to other people our age
We shared our net worth journey on Instagram, from new grad nurses to today. The comments filled up with people asking why our net worth isn’t higher.
Here’s what the data says. The Federal Reserve’s Survey of Consumer Finances, as reported by CNBC, puts median net worth at age 30 around $135,600. The average is $549,600, but the richest households pull that average up a lot.
It’s easy to scroll social media and feel like your progress is never enough. Monica and I have felt that too. After we paid off our debt, we made a choice: no more overworking ourselves.
Why our income is lower than it used to be
We do feel like we’ve made it. As of the end of August, our average W-2 income is $13,350.79 per month.
That’s the least we’ve made at our jobs since 2017, back when we were still nurses in NYC. Our hourly rates didn’t go down, though.
Before we left NYC, we each made about $50 an hour. Today I make $103 an hour as an ER staff nurse. Monica makes $133 an hour as a per diem nurse on a tele unit.
Our income dropped because burnout hit us hard after we paid off our debt and had our son. Our income is down 24% from our peak in 2019. Back then we worked only 26 to 30 hours a week, but most of those hours were brutal. We worked many 12- and 16-hour shifts in a row.
We cut our hours on purpose
After feeling so overworked, we chose to cut back. Now we average no more than 32.64 hours a week combined.
Monica has cut back the most. She averages just 15.36 hours of work per week. I average 17.27 hours per week.
When I look at these numbers, I believe we’re doing great. We work fewer hours than the average nurse and still bring in over $13,000 a month. If you want to do the same, read how to work less and earn more as a nurse.
Our business income keeps growing
We started our YouTube channel in 2021. That same year, we chose to focus on building income from a business.
Since then, our business income has tripled every year. This year alone, we’re averaging $7,242 a month from the business.
Add that to our W-2 income, and our total monthly net income is around $15,714. That’s after taxes on both.
If we keep this pace, our net worth can grow much faster than it would if we just picked up extra shifts.
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.