Week 4: Future Expenses

I want to be a Nurse Practitioner in either California, Oregon, or Washington. I would make an annual salary of about $110,590; $107,560; or $111,000 respectively (www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes291171.htm ; http://www.healthecareers.com/article/nurse-practitioner-salary-by-state/173003).

To become a nurse practitioner, I would spend about $20,000 to $30,000 per year, totaling up to between $80,000 and $120,000 (http://www.rnprograms.org/rn-program-cost/) on my first four years of education, and about $18,000 (in-state) or $31,000 (out-of-state) on the two year masters program (http://www.midlevelu.com/blog/how-much-does-it-cost-become-nurse-practitioner). This would total up to approximately $98,000 to $151,000, which could be paid off within two years.

If I planned on living in Tacoma, the approximate total of my future expenses, each year, would be $119,538 . I gathered this information using zillo.com, honda.com & previous knowledge/records.

I want to save $300/month for my rainy day fund, $500/month for retirement, and $1,000/month for any future children's college funds. If I save $6,000 each year for retirement, I will have $198,000 saved by the time I am 65 years old.

Completing this has made me think about how much it actually costs to live. You don't really think about how much money your parents are spending, saving, or using to pay off bills and loans, but this gave me an opportunity to think about it. It also gave me an opportunity to think about what I want in my future and how much those things will cost as well.