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Ep. 97: How COVID-19 Has Affected the Economy and CRNA Retirements
The CRNA profession has been a stable and financially secure career path for many years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has created havoc for Americans everywhere. This has forced many of our peers to take a hard look at their finances and evaluate what changes they need to make to protect everything they’ve worked so hard for.
We had the opportunity to speak at the recent NCANA/SCANA Virtual Meetings about this topic, which is one we care quite a bit about. As a Certified Financial Planner for CRNAs, Jeremy understands the concerns people are having and has worked with clients to develop plans that protect them from the ups-and-downs of the market.
Here’s why this topic is so important. The average CRNA over the course of their lifetime will earn a little less than $5 million. That’s a significant amount of money and gives you the chance to have a great life after you’ve finished working. From what we’ve seen at CRNA Financial Planning, the average amount that they retire with is $1.2 to $2 million. That can be plenty for some but maybe not for others. It all depends on lifestyle and needs.
So what’s happened in 2020?
Back in February, we were sitting at the lowest unemployment rate in our history at 3.5%. Then the pandemic hit and changed all that. The big jump came in April of 2020 when we went from 3.5% to close to 15%. It created a massive problem for the economy.
There are wide-ranging effects from consumer spending dropping significantly to national debt rising to taxes. And then there’s the mental health concerns that have risen over these past six months.
All of these things impacted nearly every CRNA on the work side. No one envisions a career that doesn’t involve being a CRNA but this pandemic has forced people to think about other avenues for work.
That’s not a decision anyone wants to have to make so what can you be doing to protect yourself the next time we have a major event like this?
It all starts with managing your income and expenses better. Be prepared and live within your means. We see a lot of people with great salaries who don’t save as much as they could.
The people that have really felt the financial anxiety from this pandemic are those that are getting close to retirement. During this discussion, we’ll lean on Jeremy to tell us about the ways he works with clients to build a plan, but here are the things you need to be thinking about if you’re nearing retirement: taxes, interest rates being low, healthcare costs, and Social Security.
[3:05] – Background on where we’re recording and what we’re talking about.
[5:09] – How much will the average CRNA make over their lifetime?
[6:44] – The impact of COVID on the economy
[9:59] – Consumer spending
[13:37] – This is different than 2008.
[15:12] – Taxes
[19:00] – What is GDP?
[20:24] – Healthcare changes
[26:19] – CRNA work during the pandemic
[33:05] – Worries for people nearing retirement.
[36:09] – We’re seeing people look to retire earlier than planned.
[39:30] – What can CRNAs do to improve their financial situation?
[44:13] – How can I make my portfolio pandemic-proof?
[46:55] – Thoughts on the continuing rise in CRNA salaries.
[49:32] – What could the government do differently?