You've spent your career taking care of everyone else.
Now it's time someone built a plan that takes care of you. If you're a nurse within five years of retirement, you're facing decisions about scattered 401(k)s, Social Security timing, and healthcare coverage gaps that most financial advisors don't understand — because they've never worked with someone like you.
Serving nurses and healthcare professionals across North Texas — Texas Health, Baylor Scott & White, Medical City, Cook Children's, JPS, and beyond.
If you're nodding along, you're not alone.
These are the exact things we hear from nurses in their first conversation with us. Not because they've done anything wrong — but because no one has ever helped them connect the dots.
That's not a plan. That's a starting point. Whether you have more or less, the question isn't how much you've saved — it's whether anyone has shown you how to turn what you have into a retirement paycheck you can count on.
Source: Fidelity Investments retirement data, 2024
Your retirement is more fragmented than almost anyone’s — and most advisors don’t get it.
Teachers have TRS. Government employees have pensions. Nurses? You might have a 401(k), a 403(b), an old account from a hospital you left eight years ago, and no clear picture of how any of it fits together. That requires a different kind of plan.
Scattered Accounts From Every Hospital You've Worked At
Nurses change jobs. It's the nature of the profession. But every move leaves behind another 401(k) or 403(b) with different funds, different fees, and no one coordinating between them. You might have three or four accounts across multiple systems — and no idea which ones are actually growing.
Pension vs. No Pension — And Nobody Explains the Difference
If you work at a government hospital or a large nonprofit system, you might have a pension. If you're at an HCA or another for-profit system, you probably don't. Some nurses have both from different jobs. The retirement math is completely different depending on which side you're on — and most advisors treat it the same.
The Healthcare Coverage Gap Before 65
You've spent your career providing healthcare. But the moment you stop working, your own coverage becomes your most expensive line item. COBRA, marketplace plans, retiree benefits that may or may not exist — the gap between your last shift and Medicare at 65 catches more nurses off guard than any other retirement issue.
Social Security Timing Is More Complex Than You Think
Unlike teachers, most nurses do qualify for full Social Security benefits. That's the good news. The bad news? When you claim — and how you coordinate it with your pension, your 401(k) withdrawals, and your tax bracket in early retirement — can mean a difference of tens of thousands of dollars over your lifetime. Timing matters.
I've sat across from nurses who gave decades to hospital floors, who picked up extra shifts, who rebuilt their lives after everything fell apart — and who still couldn't answer the most basic question: when can I actually retire?
It's not because they didn't save. It's because no one ever sat down and showed them how their 401(k) from one hospital, their 403(b) from another, their Social Security, and their personal savings actually fit together into a monthly paycheck. The pieces were there. The coordination wasn't.
That's the problem I solve.
Multiple accounts. Different employers. Zero coordination. That's not a plan — it's inventory.
Most nurses arrive at retirement with all the right pieces but no blueprint for how they fit together. The Retire Blessed Income Blueprint coordinates every source into one plan.
Almost every nurse I meet has the same situation: a 401(k) from their current hospital, a smaller account from somewhere they worked before, maybe a Roth IRA they started on their own, and Social Security they haven't thought much about. Five income sources, zero coordination. The Blueprint exists to turn that inventory into an actual paycheck.
Right here in Northlake. Not a call center. Not a 1-800 number.
My family lives here. My kids go to school here. When I say I understand what it means to be part of this community, I mean it — I'm raising my family in the same neighborhoods where you've spent your career caring for patients.
I work with nurses and healthcare professionals across the hospital systems that serve North Texas:
I'm not a national firm with a nurse marketing page. I'm a one-advisor practice in Northlake, and I built this specialty because the healthcare professionals in my own community — the people who take care of my family when we're at our most vulnerable — deserve a retirement plan that actually fits how their benefits work.
Five problems. One coordinated solution.
The Retire Blessed Income Blueprint uses the G.R.A.C.E. Framework — five pillars of retirement income planning, each applied specifically to how nurse retirement works.
G — Guaranteed Income Foundation
We start by determining what guaranteed income you have: pension (if any), Social Security, and whether an annuity makes sense to fill the gap. The goal is a monthly income floor that covers your essential expenses — the money that arrives whether markets are up or down.
R — Reserves for the Critical First Decade
Research shows that surviving the first five years of retirement without significant portfolio losses is the single most important factor in long-term success. We build a 2–5 year reserve from your 401(k), 403(b), and savings so your investments never get sold at the wrong time.
A — Asset Growth That Outpaces Inflation
If you don't have a pension with cost-of-living adjustments — and most nurses at for-profit hospitals don't — inflation erodes your purchasing power every year. We structure your investment portfolio to grow ahead of inflation so your retirement income still buys what it needs to in year 20.
C — Comprehensive Tax Planning
If you retire at 60 and don't claim Social Security until 67, you have a multi-year window where your income drops significantly — and that's the best time to do strategic Roth conversions from your 401(k) or 403(b). We also coordinate HSA withdrawals, Required Minimum Distributions, and tax bracket management to keep more of what you've earned.
E — Estate and Legacy Coordination
The SECURE Act changed how inherited retirement accounts work — your heirs may now face a 10-year distribution clock that pushes them into higher tax brackets. We coordinate your beneficiary designations, account titling, and Roth conversion strategy so your legacy transfers efficiently.
See the Full Blueprint ProcessThe nurses I work with don't have a savings problem. They have a coordination problem. And when you've worked at three different hospitals in twenty years, that coordination is more complex than almost any other profession.
— Christopher Swan, CFP® · MBAIt starts with a conversation.
The Swan Fit Call is a free, 20–30 minute conversation. No preparation required. No commitment expected. No pressure applied.
We'll talk about where you are in your career, when you're thinking about retirement, and whether the Blueprint process is the right fit for your situation. If it's not, I'll tell you — and if I can point you somewhere better, I will.
Good questions to bring:
- I have accounts at multiple hospitals — should I consolidate them?
- I don't have a pension. What does that mean for my retirement income?
- When should I actually file for Social Security?
- What happens to my health insurance when I stop working?
- Should I be doing Roth conversions before I retire?
- Is my spouse's retirement coordinated with mine?
Go deeper on the topics that matter most.
Most nurses qualify for full Social Security — but when you claim changes everything. Learn how timing coordinates with your other income sources.
Read MoreThe gap between your last shift and Medicare at 65 is the most expensive surprise in retirement. Here's how to plan for it.
Read MoreIf you're one of the nurses who does have a pension, small decisions now can significantly change what you receive for life.
Read MoreYou spent your career serving your patients.
Your retirement plan should serve you.
If you're a nurse or healthcare professional in North Texas — whether you're at Texas Health, Baylor Scott & White, Medical City, or any system across the region — and you want a retirement income plan built by someone who understands how your benefits actually work, I'd welcome the conversation.