MoneyRx for CRNAs and NPs
Go behind the scenes with host Brett Fellows, CFP®, as he explores the unique financial opportunities and challenges facing Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetists and Nurse Practitioners on the path to financial independence. Each episode delivers expert insights and actionable advice to help you lower taxes, invest smarter, and retire on your terms.
Brett's firm, Oak Capital Advisors, specializes in high-earning CRNAs and nurse practitioners and is currently accepting new clients. From retirement income strategy and tax planning to Social Security timing, Medicare, and estate planning, they offer comprehensive financial planning that goes far beyond investment management. If you're ready to work with someone who truly gets your world, the link to schedule a discovery meeting is in the show notes.
MoneyRx for CRNAs and NPs
I'm a NP at 55 with $1.2M. Can I Retire in 5 Years?
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
Most nurse practitioners trying to answer the retirement question are using benchmarks that were never designed for them. The 4% rule. The 80% income replacement rule. Healthcare cost estimates built on worst-case assumptions. Used together, they can make a completely achievable retirement look years out of reach.
In this episode, Brett Fellows walks through an example, a 55-year-old NP named Diane with $1.2 million saved, to show exactly how three common planning beliefs were pointing her toward the wrong answer and how replacing them with the right framework changed everything.
Brett covers:
- Why the 4% rule was designed for someone retiring at 65 with Social Security starting immediately, and why applying it to an early retirement overstates what you need
- How the 80% income replacement rule nearly doubled Diane's perceived retirement cost by ignoring NP-specific work expenses that disappear at retirement
- Why healthcare costs before Medicare are almost entirely a function of taxable income, not health status, and how to use that to your advantage
- The account sequencing strategy that kept Diane's ACA premiums at $4,800 to $7,200 per year instead of $20,000
- How the years between retirement and Social Security can become the lowest-tax years of your adult life if you plan them correctly
- Why Diane retired at 60 instead of 65 with a 3.5% withdrawal rate and a portfolio still on track at age 85 and 90
If you want to know whether your number actually works for your retirement, visit oakcapitaladvisor.com to schedule a call. We work specifically with CRNAs and NPs.
#NursePractitioners #CRNAs #RetirementPlanning #EarlyRetirement #TaxStrategy
Key Timestamps:
(0:18) The question most NPs can't answer with confidence
(1:10) Meet Diane: NP, 55, $1.2M saved, no debt
(1:38) Why she believed she needed $2 million
(2:25) The 4% rule and why it was built for someone else
(4:19) The 80% income replacement myth
(5:32) NP work expenses that vanish at retirement
(6:07) Healthcare cost catastrophizing before Medicare
(7:18) How taxable income, not health status, drives ACA premiums
(8:09) Three beliefs, one wrong answer
(9:15) The three questions that actually matter
(10:22) The Nurse Retirement System: Step 1, map your real spend
(11:00) Step 2: Income sequencing and account order
(12:10) Roth conversions in the low-tax gap years
(12:35) Social Security at 67 drops withdrawal to 3.5%
(13:41) What the wrong benchmarks were really costing her
For more information and resources related to this episode, please visit the show notes.