Earn six-figures — mostly non-taxable — as a travel nurse

Anthony Swain, 32, and his wife earn six-figure incomes while traveling the country for work. They usually pay tax on only a fraction of their income. Such is the lifetime of a travel nurse. These health care professionals earn excellent pay — much of it non-taxable — filling temporarily open spots at health care facilities across the country.

And, because of an exodus of nurses through the pandemic, demand for travel nurses is robust, with some 20,000 more open travel nurse positions than at the moment last 12 months, in response to Adzuna, a job search engine. Average pay for travel nurses also soared nearly 50% from five years ago to just about $125,000 on average.

Furthermore an aging Baby Boom population almost guarantees high demand for nurses of all types for decades.

What’s travel nursing? Why do you have to care? What does it take to qualify, for those who’re not already a nurse? And where do you discover these jobs? Here’s an issue and answer look.

What’s travel nursing?

The principal difference between travel nursing and strange nursing is that travel nurses are assigned to temporary positions — often lasting about three months — outside of their home cities or states. By and enormous, they’re in a position to pick and select amongst assignments, opting to work in cities or facilities which are attractive to them.

Because this work is simply too distant from home to commute, travel nurses are also entitled to “per diem” compensation for food, lodging and incidental expenses (similar to dry cleansing and suggestions). That’s along with their hourly or weekly pay. And, generally speaking the per diem pay is non-taxable.

How much do you get in per diem pay?

That will depend on where you travel and your contract. Nevertheless, the General Services Administration publishes per diem rates that range from about $166 per day to well over $350 per day, depending on the town and state where you travel.

So, in a typical month, a travel nurse might earn $6,000 for the job and $9,000 for the per-diem (calculated here as $300 per day for 30 days). And, since the aim of per diem compensation is to provide help to get well additional work expenses that you simply wouldn’t normally have, this portion of your pay is tax-free.

Why would I care about this if I’m not already a nurse?

You wouldn’t, unless you’re unhappy or insecure in your current career. If either of those is the case, nursing is value considering.

Why?

Nursing is one in every of a handful of professions that has a reasonably low barrier to entry. You possibly can secure entry-level nursing positions after completing just just a few classes you could complete while working at one other full-time job.

To ensure, the best-paid nursing jobs require at the very least some college and more training. Nevertheless, many nurses complete each the academic and practical requirements while working, often with economic support from the medical facilities where they work.

And the demand for nurses is more likely to remain strong for a long time, which makes this a career that gives an incredible deal of job security. (The University of St. Augustine has a pleasant primer on the different types of nursing and the education and testing required.)

When not to think about nursing

That said, don’t consider nursing unless you’re in a position to handle the physical demands, which require you to be in your feet the majority of the day. Moreover, it is advisable to be empathetic and psychologically strong enough to handle coping with people who find themselves sick and, sometimes, dying.

You furthermore may should be good in a crisis. On this field, crises are actually about life and death and one could strike at any time.

Can I be a travel nurse as soon as I get a nursing degree or certification?

No. Generally, you’ll need at the very least one and, preferably, two years of practical experience to qualify as a travel nurse.

Explain the per diem pay again. You’re saying I wouldn’t pay tax on the $9,000 per thirty days — $108,000 per 12 months — in your example? What’s the catch?

You do have to follow a bunch of tax rules to determine that your “domicile” is way enough away out of your work you could’t simply go home to eat and sleep. And you will need to spend enough time on this “domicile” yearly to persuade the IRS that it’s legitimately your own home base.

You furthermore may have to only accept assignments of lower than a 12 months in states and/or cities away from your own home.

Furthermore, you’ll have to keep records showing that you simply paid for accommodations and food during these temporary assignments — in addition to records showing the expenses you paid for your own home.

So that you do need two homes. Does that eliminate the economic profit?

It could. But most travel nurses are smart enough to economize in ways in which make the arrangement work to their financial advantage. It’s best when your own home base is in a low-cost city or state and your nursing position is in a high-cost area, Swain explains.

Swain, for instance, says his home state is in a small town in Pennsylvania. In his home town, you may rent a 3-bedroom home for lower than $1,200. Meanwhile, he and his wife have worked in California, Washington, D.C., Maryland and lots of other high cost states, where per diem rates can hit $350 per day.

Because they each work in travel nursing and each get per diem stipends, they “economize ” by living together. And, because the per diem is non-taxable, they only pay tax on about 60% of their income. Higher yet, they’re using travel nursing to make a decision where they wish to permanently settle. Most jobs don’t offer that variety of geographic flexibility.

Where are you able to find travel nursing work?

Dozens of agencies across the country offer travel nursing positions. These agencies typically hire travel nurses as employees after which farm them out to health care facilities across the country which have a short lived need.

Some value noting:

American Mobile Healthcare, Cross Country Nurses, and Trusted Health. All three of those firms function agent/employers. So, nurses enroll, select and apply to nursing assignments offered through these agencies. The agency gets paid by the health care facility. The agency pays and employs the nurse.

That implies that nurses are more likely to get advantages, similar to medical health insurance and retirement plans, which could otherwise be unavailable for temporary employees.

Vivian Health is one other good option. This site is a health care marketplace where nurses can find each travel and native nursing positions posted by health care facilities and staffing agencies. This provides a substantially wider number of work options than traditional staffing agencies. To be specific, on a recent check, Vivian posted greater than 149,000 travel nursing openings vs. 6,400 travel nursing jobs posted at Cross Country Nurses.

1/11/2024