American Middle-Class: Do CRNAs Qualify?

Last week I posted an article about how average earning CRNAs can reach financial independence (FI) 10 years after graduation. Here is a link if you missed it. There were multiple objections to the feasibility of this statement.

For this post, I would like to channel my inner Michelangelo and verbally sculpt an image showcasing the incredible potential of the average CRNA income…and what the middle class actually looks like.

A 2023 survey from The Washington Post found that almost 90% of Americans claimed to be middle class. How can 90% of a population claim status to a class status held by 50% of people?

I hypothesize many of the objections from the last post were because CRNAs are in that 90% who classify themselves as middle class, when statically, we fall elsewhere. I’ll admit to being in the 90% claiming generic middle-class status. Everyone wants to belong to a group. Blend in.

Well, I’m sorry to say, an average CRNA income sticks out for the better in most circles.

I’m infinitely grateful for being in a profession I find rewarding and purposeful. I’m equally grateful for the financial aspect of said profession. Both were a conscious decision upon choosing a career path.

I run my personal finances pretty radically. Radical interventions for significantly abnormal results. When I write blog posts, I’m mindful to use words suggesting things are possible. I avoid words like “should” and “must” because I realize my financial lens is an unpopular—and typically undesirable— one.

But let’s not mistake undesirable for unrealistic. No one wants to live below their rung on the socioeconomic hierarchy.

My Objective

TFC blog posts are generally 2,000-word posts about my experiences, my way of thinking, or general personal finance information. I am not forcing any actions or ways of thinking. We all have different backgrounds, experiences, and life philosophies that guide our decision making. And I fully support actions guided by those principles.

I know money is a significant source of stress for many. This causes significant internal and external distress. Something I wish upon no one, hence my feeble attempt at sharing my experiences on the world wide web. The only personal finance guarantee I have is that the unexpected will show up regularly.

If I read a 300-page book and find 1 or 2 pearls, that was time well spent. This blog works the same way. The average read on my blog posts is between 6 and 9 minutes. If you read a couple blog entries and discover a single concept you can add to your financial cocktail, it may have been worth the time.

FI in 10 Years

This blog post examined the national average cost of living with someone making the average CRNA income of $203,000. Nothing more, nothing less. Just an oversimplified way of saying if you live like the average person with an above average salary, you can set yourself up in a rather short period of time.

I apologize to the thousands of readers that I did not consult each of you to apply your specific life situation to the scenario, which appeared to be a major source of contention for a few of you.

Despite the data being from the 2021 Bureau of Labor Statistics, it did not satisfy everyone. I recognize the data is aged, but it is the most current national data, and the concept remains the same.

I will accept fault for underestimating average national housing costs, which after some digging through the very lengthy and dry dataset, is reported to be almost $1,900 per month. However, this does not change the overall cost of living, just the portion allocated for housing.

I do my best to be accurate and precise but fall short more than I care to. I appreciate folks reading closely and fact checking my work. (Less of fact checking and more using anecdotal evidence, but nevertheless, credit where credit is due.)

Let’s examine the controversial United States Bureau of Labor Statistics dataset from last week:

I stand by the “FI in 10 years” claim for a few reasons. The dataset, despite being slightly lower than the expected 2023 value, is the best available. Big assumption on my part, but I’m assuming it to be in the ballpark for 2023 data.

It accounts for a spouse and children.

Also note this is mean data, not median data. The median spending would be lower. I suspect those living on next to nothing or experiencing homelessness do not have the means to complete the BLS data. The data is again, skewed to the right. An overestimate.

One can dispute this data as you wish, but to say this is unrealistic for a national average is far from the truth. There are 200,000,000 people in this country who disagree with you. These numbers are their reality.

I never said, don’t spend money. I said, live a middle-class lifestyle while you are trying to get ahead. Grow your lifestyle as your net worth grows. Your investments offset your expenses.

Location

There are a great deal of factors at play, one of which being location. Yes, the cost of living is higher in New York, LA, or any major city compared to a rural southern or midwestern location. I fully acknowledge location plays a major factor in this equation. Fortunately for you folks, I found some data on a couple of these areas. Read on my friends…

Reaching FI

FI means your money works hard enough to cover your cost of living without any additional earned income; it isn’t a forced retirement. It means you can work as you please. Any income is gravy.

It’s a ratio between the cost of living and how hard your money is working for you. That’s it. Those who retire early via the FIRE movement usually continue to work in some capacity because they feel purpose in their work. Peace of mind sets in because earned income is no longer a factor.

This post was about putting your income to work early and seeing the results compound. Even if your timeline isn’t 10 years, the principles are the same.

My FI goal is age 35. Will I make it? Probably not. Too many moving parts. Will I quit working at this time? Definitely not. I’m an undiagnosed workaholic. Maybe not anesthesia forever, but something to get me out of bed in the morning.

So what if I add a few years or even double my timeline? It’s better than ignoring my financial situation until I’m sick of working and have nothing to fall back on. That is the objective with FI.

If you are worried about always living for the future, change the timeline. Make your timeline 15 or 20 years. Maybe a work hard, play hard approach is a consideration. So many viable options. And nothing is keeping you from modifying the plan as you go along.

I’m just here to throw ideas out to the CRNA community.  

Spending

There are two types of “middle class.” There is a middle-class net worth and a middle-class income.

Here are net worth figures from The Federal Reserve:

Yahoo Finance writes in a November 2022 article that “around 10% of retirees have $1 million or more in savings.” That’s far fewer than I anticipated.

A Gallup survey from 2022 found the average age of retirement to be 61. They state the age of retirement has slowly been increasing over the decades. This may be attributed to the increased cost of living and the reliance on benefits acquired at age 65.  

Here are average income figures from the United States Bureau of Labor Statistics:

Average annual earnings by age

And just for fun, income by education per the US BLS:

And the biggest reality check, household income by percentile:

This shows the average CRNA single handedly qualifying a household for the upper class in MOST areas. I feel I must give the disclaimer that this does not apply in New York, LA, or Hawaii. Still really solid money, but not the top dog.

I found data suggesting cost of living compared to the national average is increased in California, New York, and Hawaii by 1.42x, 1.48x, and 1.93x respectively.

I don’t have data to support annual CRNA incomes for these areas, but know, cost of living isn’t 10x the national average. I acknowledge there are areas within these states that may be crazy expensive, but you get the idea.

If living in a high-cost area is what you want in life, then that’s the price of doing business. FI isn’t as important, so it goes on the back burner. It’s not so much about the timeframe to FI, but the idea of putting money to work early. Even if only a little bit.

Speaking of putting money to work, this is how much of their income the average person saves. Currently 4.3%:

Recessions are a time where folks start saving a bunch and paying down high interest debt. Savings rates were above 20% during peak COVID periods.

That was transient as savings rates are low and credit card debt is at all time highs.

I searched for current data on savings rate by net worth, but didn’t find much worth documenting. I would suspect the savings rate to increase slightly as disposable income increases.

It’s common for one’s cost of living to increase just as quickly as income, so I wouldn’t expect a significantly higher savings rate. Most live up to their income.

And what is the point of these vanilla charts? To sculpt the image of the middle class. When I hear it isn’t realistic to live a middle-class lifestyle, I see plenty of people doing it. Mrs. TFC and I do it. Choose your comparisons wisely.

I learned a great deal from the commentary last week. Feedback is always appreciated. Best wishes and thanks for reading!