Travel nurse retirement savings: track your $24.5K ceiling

How do travel nurse retirement savings limits follow you?

Travel nurse retirement savings limits follow the worker, not the hospital: the IRS combines 2026 employee 401(k) and 403(b) deferrals under one $24,500 ceiling, while a governmental 457(b) has its own $24,500 ceiling. New payroll systems often do not see money deferred at earlier assignments.

Ingrid had 6 employers in 5 years. Each payroll system treated her as new, but her 401(k) and 403(b) payroll deferrals, money held back from each paycheck, still counted toward the same calendar-year limit. The new payroll department will not usually add prior employer totals for you.

Set up a contribution tracker before enrolling. List the employer, pay period, amount deferred, account type, match deadline and account login. You add the total, not the hospital payroll office. If you worked for more than 1 employer this calendar year, total every 401(k) and 403(b) payroll deferral before setting the next contract’s election; track a governmental 457(b) in a separate column.

Midflorida Credit Union starts investment management reviews with this small record. One page of employers and amounts shows us which savings are invested on purpose and which are simply sitting in a portal you forgot the password to.

• Each account’s balance
• Investment choices and annual charges
• Current employer status
• Named beneficiaries
• Vesting status for employer money
• Whether the account accepts incoming money

During a 13-week contract, save through the last paycheck

A short assignment can still provide a useful payroll saving window, but the election must be set early enough to reach the final paycheck. First, read the new account’s eligibility and match notice. Then add year-to-date deferrals from earlier payroll stubs and divide the remaining limit by paychecks left. Confirm that payroll actually started the election, then save the final pay stub and the plan contact.

A solo IRA is for net self-employment earnings. It does not apply to hospital wages reported on an IRS Form W-2, even if the contract felt independent. Agency paperwork and your tax filing determine the answer, not the job title.

A Roth IRA can be a separate option after you check modified adjusted gross income, or MAGI. For 2026, the IRS says the Roth IRA phaseout for single filers runs from $153,000 to $168,000; actual MAGI decides whether and how much can go in. The 2026 IRA limit is $7,500, or $8,600 at age 50 or older, and that cap is shared by your traditional and Roth IRAs together.

Catch-up years change the math. The IRS permits an $8,000 workplace-account catch-up at age 50 and older in 2026. At ages 60 through 63, the higher catch-up is $11,250. If you expect to stop working in 10 to 15 years, build the tracker now, while the payroll elections are still small.

The payroll sequence

IRA choices outside hospital payroll

What changes at the end of each assignment?

After an assignment, save the final pay stub, account statement, beneficiary record and any notice about rollover or distribution options before the employer portal closes. Ask the plan administrator which deferrals count together, whether the account is a governmental 457(b), whether a rollover is allowed, whether after-tax money is present, and how a move changes beneficiary access for a spouse.

Your CPA can confirm the tax treatment; Midflorida Credit Union can help sort the account list before any transfer paperwork begins.

• Which workplace deferrals share the same IRS ceiling?
• Is this account a governmental 457(b)?
• Does the account permit a rollover now?
• Is any after-tax money in the balance?
• Would a move make beneficiary access harder for a spouse?

Ingrid’s remaining $6.5K decision

Ingrid has 7 small workplace accounts plus an IRA, and the decision is not automatically to move every account. She is 46, single, rents, and has $510K: $210K in the 7 workplace accounts and $300K in her IRA. Her next choice is about this year’s saving, then she can research consolidation without rushing it (hypothetical, round numbers).

She already deferred $18K into 403(b) accounts this year. The IRS combined 401(k) and 403(b) limit is $24.5K, so $24.5K minus $18K leaves $6.5K. Her final 13-week contract could take $500 from each weekly paycheck: $500 multiplied by 13 equals $6.5K.

The '$18K already deferred' row is where the calculation flips from guessing to a $6.5K payroll election. This table also separates a W-2 assignment from true self-employment and flags the records worth keeping.

Payroll deferral or Roth IRA cash

The consolidation choice waits

Midflorida Credit Union and a short record

Midflorida Credit Union can review the contribution tracker, account list and contract paperwork with a travel nurse who has $500K or more in investable assets. The discussion can separate what payroll must correct, what a CPA should confirm and which old accounts are worth researching before any move.