SALARY
For those of you who are curious about CRNA salaries in an urban city, here you go! Since this is a personal finance blog, in the spirit of full disclosure, I have posted my gross annual income from my W2 and 1099 employment. Judge it how you like. Some may view this income as a substantial sum of money and yes, it is. However, when you combine living in a state with high taxes, residing in a city with a high cost of living, and a large student loan balance, well, what you have remaining dramatically decreases. But hey, I can’t really complain. I’m very lucky to be in a career that provides me with an opportunity to become financially secure.
STUDENT LOANS
Here’s a screenshot of my student loan balance over the years. The balance you’re seeing is from my undergraduate and graduate training combined. Oh, how I wish I had parents who could have helped me pay for school. I’m envious of the classmates and SRNAs who go through their nurse anesthesia program debt-free. I refinanced my student loans a few times. The first time was with SoFi because I could not fathom paying back my government and private loans at such a high rate. 3.5% through SoFi was pretty good. That was until I came across First Republic which was and is offering THE lowest rates you’ll ever find for student loans. Initially, I refinanced to 1.95% over 5 years because I was hell bent on paying my loans down. That was until I came across an incredible opportunity to purchase a rental property that has allowed me to increase my earnings in ways I can’t do on a CRNA income alone. As a result, I ended up having to refinance my First Republic loans to 2.60% over 10 years.
RETIREMENT
I have to say ever since I became a CRNA, I learned become more aware of my finances and the importance of planning ahead. No one ever really talked to me about money when I was growing up, so I never really understood the importance of saving for retirement. All of the information that’s posted on this site is information I picked up once I started working as a CRNA. And yes, I’ll be the first to admit that I’m sure there are major knowledge deficiencies and erroneous information (or rather, over simplified financial concepts being posted), but this site was never meant to be a definitive guide on personal finance. I’m just a guy trying to figure out how to survive in the modern world through finances. Moving on, when I started working as a full-time CRNA, I became more aware of tax-deferred retirement vehicles and pension contributions. My W2 employer offers a pension plan in which I have to contribute 7% of my gross income while they contribute 14% of my gross income to the plan. Additionally, there are 3 retirement vehicles my employer offers me access to: a 403(b), 457(b), and DCP. Next year, I plan on opening a SEP IRA in order to mitigate my tax liability from my 1099 income.
Life as a CRNA 