do travel nurse make LOT'S of money?????

[AmandaWIRN]

I travel with RN Network- they have been great to me. Where in WI are you from???

[shanRN]

I have a question for the more experienced travelers - I have a stable, very good paying job right now, but the very busy ER I work in is severly understaffed and I am burnt out! It really has gotten to the point where the $ is not worth it so I am looking for a job that I can make about the same, hopefully in a better environment...

So my question is how does the whole tax benefit thing really work. I am currently being offered almost $40/hr, but being told that only $15 of that will be taxed and the rest is considered "housing" allowance that I don't have to show receipts for & there is obviously no "free housing" or extra housing allowance. I can see how that is beneficial for taxes but it almost seems too good to be true so I am skeptical. It seems like some of these recruiters will say anything to get you. If I do this for a number of years how does it affect my social security if it looks like I'm only making $25k/yr? Maybe that's not something I should worry about?

I really don't know what to do at this point. Any advice or if someone has had a really good company they've worked for, let me know who they are! I don't want to make a really big mistake by leaving a good paying job, even if it does suck right now! :frustrated:

[AmandaWIRN]

I would stay away from companies who are going to take housing off your hourly rate, I think it's shady. Personally, I prefer to have my hourly rate be fixed, with only insurance & taxes being deducted from my checks- housing should then be included free. I feel like there would be too much room for them to come up with other deductions that way, and it'd be easy to end up having your check nickled & dimed away.

[donnarn7994]

NO!!!!! If you read the post from giedre11 summed it up best of all!

[cutiern]

amanda,

what is the name of your recruiter? if you don't mind me asking...

thanks!!
cutiern

[AmandaWIRN]

amanda,

what is the name of your recruiter? if you don't mind me asking...

thanks!!
cutiern

Sent you a PM!

[HeyFraydo]

You have to consider the housing and other reimbursements as well as the cost of living to make a more accurate comparison.

Depends how you market yourself and negotiate. There are low paying assignments and high paying ones. Independent contractors or subcontractors CAN make more if they play the game right. I know I definitley made alot more as a Traveler compared to my perm job in NC. Plus the ability to Travel while getting paid and the ability to take off some time when you want is valuable.

CJ Travel NurseToolbox :luck: