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
Why High-Earning Nurses Leave Money on the Table in Retirement
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You've worked for decades, maxed your 403(b) every year, and built a solid balance. But what if the structure of those savings is quietly setting you up for a six-figure tax problem in retirement?
This episode follows Dana, a CRNA with 22 years at the same hospital and $1.4 million saved. She did everything the articles told her to do. What she found out in the first planning meeting was that doing everything right in a single account is still a problem.
Brett walks through the three reasons high-earning nurses arrive at retirement with a tax structure they can't control, and the three concrete moves any nurse can make in the next 90 days to get back on track.
Brett explores:
- Why having 96% of savings in one pre-tax account creates a retirement tax rate the IRS sets for you
- The hospital plan features most nurses never use, including a 457(b) that could have added $200,000 in contributions
- The eight-year window between retirement and Social Security that is the cheapest tax opportunity of a high-earner's life
- How to audit your hospital plan, redirect future dollars, and draw a conversion calendar
- What the Tax Diversification Reset looked like for Dana and Marcus, and how it saved their household $190,000 in lifetime federal taxes
If you have a growing balance in your plan and no real strategy for how it gets taxed in retirement, this episode is for you.
Key Timestamps:
(0:18) Risks of long-term concentration in a single pre-tax account
(1:23) Shift of financial control from the retiree to the IRS
(2:32) Distinction between missed contributions and missed financial flexibility
(3:38) Financial exposure of households with large pre-tax balances
(4:54) Institutional incentives that promote the default retirement structure
(6:03) Impact of Medicare IRMAA surcharges on retirement cash flow
(7:38) Unlocking overlooked features in complex hospital plan documents
(9:13) Identifying the low-tax planning window before required distributions hit
(10:58) Gaining control through tax-aware ordering and account types
(12:53) Three concrete steps to audit hospital plans for new options
(14:53) Mapping the conversion runway to minimize future tax brackets
(16:08) Lifetime tax savings achieved through strategic asset repositioning
For more information and resources related to this episode, please visit the show notes.