A nursing shortage in the U.S. is causing many nurses to double up on shifts and make more money, and in return they are saving more for retirement than other working employees, research from Fidelity Investments found.
Twenty-two percent of nurses said they are allocating their extra income earned from additional shifts to their retirement savings.
The study also found that 90% of nurses reported participating in their employer-sponsored workplace plan, and despite the long hours, 44% are taking the time to actively manage their plan’s investments on an annual basis or more.
Nurses are contributing more to their 401(k)s and 403(b) plans then their peers across the tax-exempt and corporate sectors. On average, nurses have $64,000 in their retirement saving plans, compared to the $48,000 average balance among workers in the tax-exempt space and $62,500 among workers in the corporate sector workplace.
Ninety percent of nurses are also concerned about the medical costs in retirement. Nurses surveyed gave a fairly accurate estimate that healthcare costs would be around $185,000. Fidelity estimates a 65-year-old couple will need $215,000 to cover healthcare costs in retirement.
