Free tools
Free Money Tools for Nurses and Healthcare Workers
The official calculators, lookups and loan programs worth bookmarking, sorted by what you’re trying to do. All of them are free to use.
Many of the most useful money tools are free, and most of the ones here are run by the government: the IRS, Social Security, the Department of Education and HRSA (the Health Resources and Services Administration), the agency behind the health workforce loan programs. They’re also hard to find. Here they are in one place, with what each one is for.
None of the links on this page are affiliate links. If that ever changes, the link will say so next to it, as our editorial policy promises.
- Our calculators
- Taxes and your paycheck
- Student loans
- Retirement accounts
- Investing and advisers
- Credit
Our calculators
These run in your browser and don’t send your numbers anywhere.
- FIRE number and timeline
Your target from what you spend, and the age you’d reach it at your current pace.
- Coast FIRE
The balance that could grow to your full number by the age you pick, even if you stopped adding to it.
- Extra shift after tax
What a regular, overtime or 1099 shift leaves you after federal tax, Social Security and Medicare.
Taxes and your paycheck
- Tax Withholding EstimatorIRS
Checks whether your employer is holding back enough federal tax, and builds a new W-4 (the form that tells your employer how much to withhold) if it isn’t. Worth running when you start picking up regular extra shifts, add a second job as an employee (a W-2 job), get married or have a baby.
- Form 1040-ES, estimated taxIRS
How to figure and pay quarterly tax on income with nothing withheld, like PRN app shifts, locums or other 1099 (contractor) work. Our 1099 guide has the 2026 due dates.
- Make a paymentIRS
Pay federal tax free from your bank account with IRS Direct Pay. Card and digital wallet payments work too, but the card processors charge a fee.
- Fact Sheet #17N: nurses and overtimeDepartment of Labor
When nurses are exempt from federal overtime and when they’re owed it. In its words, “Registered nurses who are paid on an hourly basis should receive overtime pay.” Last revised September 2019.
- Fact Sheet #54: the hospital 8 and 80 systemDepartment of Labor
How hospitals can pay overtime for hours over 8 in a day or 80 in two weeks, instead of over 40 in a week. Last revised July 2009. It matters for the overtime tax deduction for 2025 through 2028.
Student loans
- PSLF Help Tool and Employer SearchFederal Student Aid
Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) forgives what’s left on your federal Direct Loans after 120 qualifying payments while you work full time for a government or qualifying nonprofit employer. The tool checks whether your employer qualifies and lets you submit the PSLF form. Search by the employer on your W-2: a travel nurse employed by a for-profit agency works for that agency, not the hospital.
- Repayment CalculatorFederal Student Aid
Formerly called Loan Simulator. It compares the federal repayment plans your loans qualify for, with estimated monthly payments and total cost. Plans are changing (the Repayment Assistance Plan, or RAP, opened July 1, 2026), so run it again before you switch.
- Nurse Corps Loan Repayment ProgramHRSA
For registered nurses, advanced practice nurses and nurse faculty. Work two years at a facility with a critical nursing shortage, or as faculty at an eligible nursing school, and the program pays 60% of your qualifying nursing school loans, with a possible third year for another 25%. The 2026 application cycle is closed; HRSA posts the next cycle’s dates on that page.
- National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment ProgramHRSA
For nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, physician assistants, dentists and dental hygienists, among others, who work at an approved site in a Health Professional Shortage Area. NPs, CNMs and PAs in primary care can get up to $75,000 for two years full time; dentists and hygienists can get up to $50,000. The 2026 cycle is closed.
Loan rules are moving fast in 2026. Our student loan guide covers PSLF, RAP and the new borrowing caps, with an as-of date.
Retirement accounts and Social Security
- Government vs nonprofit 457(b) plansIRS
A side-by-side chart of the two kinds of 457(b). Read it before you join a nonprofit hospital’s plan: that money stays the employer’s until it’s paid out. For 2026 dollar limits, see which account first.
- Publication 969, health savings accountsIRS
The full HSA rules: who can contribute, how the limits work and what counts as a qualified medical expense. The current edition is for 2025 returns, so check 2026 limits on which account first.
- my Social SecuritySocial Security Administration
A free account with your earnings record and your estimated benefits. Check that every year you worked shows up, since your benefit is figured from that record.
Investing and advisers
- Compound interest calculatorSEC, Investor.gov
Shows how a starting balance and monthly deposits grow at a rate you choose. Try 5%, the after-inflation return our tables use, to see amounts in today’s dollars. Results can differ a little from our tables, which compound monthly.
- BrokerCheckFINRA
From FINRA, the brokerage industry’s regulator. Look up a broker’s or adviser’s work history, licenses and any disciplinary record.
- Investment Adviser Public DisclosureSEC
From the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). Look up investment adviser firms registered with the SEC or your state, and the advisers who work for them.
My take: look anyone up in both before you hand over money or agree to a fee, including an adviser who comes through your hospital’s retirement plan.
Credit
- AnnualCreditReport.comEquifax, Experian, TransUnion
The official free site for your credit reports from all three bureaus. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau says you can view them online for free once a week. Check them before you apply for a mortgage or car loan. My take: if you aren’t applying for credit soon, freeze it with each bureau. A freeze is free, and you can lift it when you need to.
FAQ
Are these tools really free?
Yes. The IRS, Social Security, Federal Student Aid, Department of Labor, HRSA, SEC and FINRA tools cost nothing to use (paying a tax bill by card is the one exception, because of the processor’s fee), and AnnualCreditReport.com is the official site for the free credit reports federal law provides. Be wary of look-alike sites that charge for the same thing.
Do any of these links pay FIRE in Scrubs?
No. Nothing on this page is an affiliate link. If we ever add one, it will be labeled next to the link.
Which tool should I use first?
My take: if you have federal student loans and work for a nonprofit or government employer, start with the PSLF Employer Search. If you pick up a lot of extra shifts or have 1099 income, run the Tax Withholding Estimator next. Then set up my Social Security and check your earnings record.
Can nurses get help paying off student loans?
Some can. PSLF forgives the rest of your federal Direct Loans after 120 qualifying payments at a qualifying employer. The Nurse Corps program pays part of RNs’ and advanced practice nurses’ loans in exchange for two years at a facility with a critical nursing shortage. Both have strict rules, so read the official pages before you count on either.
Keep going
Sources (checked October 20, 2026)
- Each tool’s own page, linked above. Repayment Calculator name change: Federal Student Aid article “Compare student loan repayment plans” (August 2026).
- Nurse Corps: HRSA Bureau of Health Workforce application page (last reviewed September 2026). NHSC: NHSC Loan Repayment Program page (last reviewed June 2026).
- Weekly free credit reports: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, “How do I get a free copy of my credit reports?” (last reviewed October 15, 2026).
- PSLF and the W-2 employer: 34 CFR 685.219 and Federal Student Aid’s PSLF employer tips.
We’re an emergency physician and a registered nurse, not financial advisors, CPAs or attorneys. This page points to tools and programs; it isn’t personalized advice. Program rules and dates change, so confirm details on the official site before you act.