travel time 401

What are the references for hours of work and compensatory time off for travel (commonly referred to as travel comp)?

a. Hours of work for travel:  5 U.S.C. 5542(b)(2) and 5544(a)(3), along with 5 CFR 550.112(g), 551.401(h) and 551.422 are the references.  Those references cover both exempt and non-exempt employees.  A summary of the rules from these references is available at the following Office of Personnel Management (OPM) web site: http://www.opm.gov/oca/worksch/HTML/TRAVEL.asp. b. Compensatory time off for travel:  5 U.S.C 5550b and Subpart N of 5 CFR 550 are the references.  OPM’s guidance on compensatory time off for travel for eligible employees is available at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact-sheets/compensatory-time-off-for-travel/.   

Who is covered by the hours of work for travel rules and eligible for compensatory time off for travel benefit?

 All employees are covered by the hours of work for travel rules except members of the Senior Executive Service (SES) and Presidential appointees.

When does the travel time start and end?

Official travel for temporary duty (TDY) and travel authorizations (TAs) purposes begins at the time when the employee leaves his/her office or residence and ends when s/he returns to his/her office or residence.  However, the travel time that is eligible for compensatory time off for travel begins when an employee departs his/her office after normal duty hours or in the initial terminal and ends when the employee reaches their destination (hotel of TDY work site) and the return trip beginning with the departure time from their hotel or TDY work site to the time they clear the terminal at their home (or alternative TDY site if the trip involves multiple TDY locations).

Should an employee be compensated while traveling when a flight is delayed or cancelled?

Delays that are uncontrollable by the employee, e.g., due to weather conditions, are treated as excused absence (administrative leave) just as if weather conditions cause the closing of a facility.  However, if an employee misses a flight because of negligence, e.g., overslept or lost his/her ticket, then the employee must accept the responsibility for any consequences that may result.  No additional compensation is warranted in the latter situation.

DOE authorizes the following amount of excused absence (administrative leave): 

“Usual waiting time” begins when the employee is physically in the terminal, including waiting in line to check in and/or clear security, but not time in the parking lot or traveling from the parking lot to the terminal.  Waiting time for a delayed or cancelled flight or train is credited for non-duty hours up to the time that the employee is notified of the cancellation, but no more than 2 hours for a domestic flight or 3 hours for an international flight, reduced by any time for rest and/or sleep or personal use, e.g., shopping in a terminal.  Since “the extended waiting time that is outside the employee’s regular working hours is not creditable waiting time”, the maximum creditable waiting time, for whatever reason, is 2 hours for a domestic flight or 3 hours for an international flight.  If the cancellation occurs at the initial departure terminal, then the employee’s travel time back home (reduced by the employee’s normal commute time) or to his/her hotel may be credited for compensatory time for travel if travel occurs outside the employee’s regular duty hours.  If cancellation occurs at an intervening terminal, then the travel time to and from a hotel for an overnight stay is creditable time if it occurs outside the employee’s regular duty hours, but the time at the hotel is not creditable because it is regarded as personal time for rest and/or sleep.

a. Hours of work for travel:  5 U.S.C. 5542(b)(2) and 5544(a)(3), along with 5 CFR 550.112(g), 551.401(h) and 551.422 are the references.  Those references cover both exempt and non-exempt employees.  A summary of the rules from these references is available at the following Office of Personnel Management (OPM) web site: http://www.opm.gov/oca/worksch/HTML/TRAVEL.asp. b. Compensatory time off for travel:  5 U.S.C 5550b and Subpart N of 5 CFR 550 are the references.  OPM’s guidance on compensatory time off for travel for eligible employees is available at http://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact-sheets/compensatory-time-off-for-travel/.  

“Usual waiting time” begins when the employee is physically in the terminal, including waiting in line to check in and/or clear security, but not time in the parking lot or traveling from the parking lot to the terminal.  Waiting time for a delayed or cancelled flight or train is credited for non-duty hours up to the time that the employee is notified of the cancellation, but no more than 2 hours for a domestic flight or 3 hours for an international flight, reduced by any time for rest and/or sleep or personal use, e.g., shopping in a terminal.  Since “the extended waiting time that is outside the employee’s regular working hours is not creditable waiting time”, the maximum creditable waiting time, for whatever reason, is 2 hours for a domestic flight or 3 hours for an international flight.  If the cancellation occurs at the initial departure terminal, then the employee’s travel time back home (reduced by the employee’s normal commute time) or to his/her hotel may be credited for compensatory time for travel if travel occurs outside the employee’s regular duty hours.  If cancellation occurs at an intervening terminal, then the travel time to and from a hotel for an overnight stay is creditable time if it occurs outside the employee’s regular duty hours, but the time at the hotel is not creditable because it is regarded as personal time for rest and/or sleep

When does an employee have to report to his/her office or alternate work location when returning from travel on a regular workday?

An employee should return to his/her designated work location when there is at least 1 hour left in the employee’s workday after arriving at that work location, unless the employee is eligible for a rest period as a result of a long trip (see Q&A 6 under Exempt Employees).

When is an employee expected to depart from a hotel when driving back to his/her office or residence?

An employee should depart the hotel by the time the employee would normally begin his/her workday on a regular workday.  If the employee does not depart by that time, then the time between the beginning of the normal workday and actual departure time should be charged as leave or leave without pay (LWOP).

a. Hours of work for travel:   All employees are covered by the hours of work for travel rules except members of the Senior Executive Service (SES) and Presidential appointees.    b. Compensatory time off for travel: All employees are  eligible for compensatory time off for travel except the following: the Secretary, SESs, employees covered by other forms of overtime compensation, including law enforcement availability pay, and employees on intermittent work schedules.  SL/STs, Schedule Cs, student employees, prevailing rate (wage grade) employees, and all excepted service pay plans are eligible.  

A DOE conference includes an evening reception on the first evening that begins after the employee’s normal work schedule for the day. Is the time at the reception considered duty time and subject to overtime when the employee traveled during normal duty

No, as the purpose of the reception is to provide an opportunity to network and socialize, rather than an event that involves the performance of work.  Also, the answer to the next question applies.

A DOE conference includes an awards ceremony dinner following a full day of seminars. Is the dinner considered to be overtime when the employee is expected to attend?

First of all, the conference is considered training.  As such, activities associated with it are normally prohibited from the payment of premium pay (overtime is a form of premium pay) in accordance with 5 CFR 410.402(a) and the awards ceremony does not satisfy the exception for training at night described at 410.402(b)(2).  Thus, the dinner is not considered additional duty hours eligible for overtime.

What is the Department’s procedure for an employee to request that compensatory time for travel be credited?

An employee must provide adequate documentation, such as on the attached worksheet (Attachment 1), to his/her timekeeper and/or certifying official in accordance with local procedures.  Submission of the documentation presumes that credit is requested.

How should an employee request to use earned compensatory time off for travel?

It may be requested on an electronic SF-71 (use “comp time-travel”) or by checking the block for “Compensatory time off” on OPF Form 71 and annotating in the Remarks section “for travel”.  Time will be charged on a first-in, first-out basis.

Additional Information

• Exempt Employees
• Non-Exempt Employees

5 CFR § 551.422 - Time spent traveling.

(a) Time spent traveling shall be considered hours of work if:

(1) An employee is required to travel during regular working hours;

(2) An employee is required to drive a vehicle or perform other work while traveling;

(3) An employee is required to travel as a passenger on a one-day assignment away from the official duty station; or

(4) An employee is required to travel as a passenger on an overnight assignment away from the official duty station during hours on nonworkdays that correspond to the employee 's regular working hours.

(b) An employee who travels from home before the regular workday begins and returns home at the end of the workday is engaged in normal “home to work” travel; such travel is not hours of work . When an employee travels directly from home to a temporary duty location outside the limits of his or her official duty station, the time the employee would have spent in normal home to work travel shall be deducted from hours of work as specified in paragraphs (a)(2) and (a)(3) of this section.

(c) An employee who is offered one mode of transportation, and who is permitted to use an alternative mode of transportation, or an employee who travels at a time other than that selected by the agency , shall be credited with the lesser of:

(1) The actual travel time which is hours of work under this section; or

(2) The estimated travel time which would have been considered hours of work under this section had the employee used the mode of transportation offered by the agency , or traveled at the time selected by the agency .

(d) Except as provided in paragraph (b) of this section, an agency may prescribe a mileage radius of not greater than 50 miles to determine whether an employee 's travel is within or outside the limits of the employee 's official duty station for determining entitlement to overtime pay for travel under this part. However, an agency 's definition of an employee 's official duty station for determining overtime pay for travel may not be smaller than the definition of “official station and post of duty” under the Federal Travel Regulation issued by the General Services Administration ( 41 CFR 300–3.1 ).

Drive Time Calculator

How to use drive time calculator, estimated time of arrival, travel time to home, meet the creator of the drive time calculator.

The drive time calculator – also known as the travel time calculator, is our innovative tool created exclusively for drivers. It helps you find out the estimated time of arrival (ETA) at your car trip destination and determine the fuel costs of the journey.

So, if you are planning a vacation trip with friends in a seaside resort or would like to estimate the travel time to home by car, check out our drive time calculator!

Our drive time calculator covers every aspect of your trip: it calculates the total time needed to complete your journey, predicts your arrival time at the destination, and determines the overall cost of the drive, including the cost per person.

To accurately determine your arrival time and the total driving duration, follow these steps:

Before entering any values, choose your preferred units of measurement , where applicable. For instance, you can opt for imperial or metric units when specifying distances. This selection will determine how the calculator interprets your inputs.

Enter the total distance of your trip.

Specify your average driving speed during the trip.

Enter the total duration of breaks you plan to take during the journey.

Specify the departure time , day, month, and year.

Upon entering these details, the tool will calculate the total driving duration and exact arrival time based on your input.

If you're interested in determining the costs associated with your trip , use the second section of the calculator and follow these steps:

Specify your car's fuel consumption rate .

Indicate current fuel price .

Input the number of passengers traveling with you.

The calculator will subsequently determine the total drive cost and the cost per person based on the provided information.

For example , consider a scenario where you must drive 140 km (87 mi) at an average speed of 80 km/h (50 mph). You plan to take a 30-minute break, and your departure time is January 22, 2024, at 7:00 pm. In this case, the calculator would compute a total drive time of 2 hours and 15 minutes, estimating your arrival at the destination on January 22, 2024, at 9:15 pm.

Moreover, if your fuel consumption rate is 8 liters per 100 kilometers (62 miles) and the fuel price is $0.90 per liter, the total cost of your journey would be $10.08. If you're traveling with a companion, you could split the cost, resulting in $5.04 per person.

🙋‍♂️ If you need to be at a specific destination by a particular time and are wondering when to depart, our calculator has you covered — it works in reverse, too! Here's how to use it:

Input when you intend to arrive at your destination in the variable arrival time .

Enter the total distance you need to cover.

Specify the average driving speed you plan to maintain.

If you plan to take breaks during the journey, enter the total duration.

The calculator will determine the optimal departure time , ensuring you reach your destination as planned!

Have more questions about the estimated time of arrival? Keep reading.

Estimated time of arrival (ETA) is the time when a vehicle, ship, aircraft, or cargo is expected to arrive at a particular place.

For example, a particular cruise bus may have an ETA calculated based on the expected average speed on a particular road. The travel distance is simply divided by the speed to roughly estimate the arrival time. This method does not consider any unexpected events (such as car accidents on the road or bad weather conditions) that may occur on the way to the driver's destination.

Visit our speed calculator to learn more about how to calculate speed.

Let's assume we are driving home with friends from a winter vacation in the mountains.

The distance to our home city is 850 km .

We are driving with an average speed of 110 km/h .

We will make three short 15-minute breaks and 1-hour long dinner break, which gives:

Total time of breaks = 3 × 15 min + 1h = 1h 45min

We will start the trip on the 21 February 2018 at 10:00 am.

Now, the most interesting question – when will we be at home? Let's calculate the total drive time:

Total drive time = (distance/average drive speed) + total breaks time = 9h 28min

Arrival time: 21 February 2018 at 07:28 pm

Now, we want to know how much this journey will cost us. With our drive time calculator, the answer to this question is very simple!

• Let's assume that our SUV car takes 9.5 liters of fuel per 100 km.
• The gasoline price is €1.22 per liter.
• We are traveling as a group of 4 friends -> Number of passengers = 4

The answer to the question is below:

Total drive cost = (distance/100) × car fuel consumption × fuel price = €98.52

Drive cost per person = total drive cost/number of passengers = €24.63

Super! Now, we know all we need – the exact travel time to home with an estimated arrival time and how much each passenger needs to pay for that journey. Let's start the engine! 🙂

We also have a great tool called traffic density calculator that helps you analyze the traffic on any road.

Check out the gas calculator , too, if you need to estimate the fuel cost for a drive.

I'm Filip, the mastermind behind the drive time calculator, and I'm a biomedical and electrical engineering graduate from AGH University of Krakow.

My motivation to develop this tool emerged during a road trip, where the challenges of planning a long journey, including costs and time uncertainties, became evident. In response, I envisioned a solution — a tool that calculates travel duration and considers essential factors like fuel costs. The outcome is a user-friendly tool designed to simplify journey planning , whether for extended trips or daily commutes.

Why trust this tool? We put extra care into the quality of our content so that they are as accurate and reliable as possible. Each tool is peer-reviewed by a trained expert and then proofread by a native speaker. If you'd like to learn more about our standards, please check the Editorial Policies page .

How do I calculate the average speed for my trip?

To calculate your average speed for your trip, you must note the trip distance and drive time or travel time and follow these steps:

• Subtract the total time used for breaks from the drive time.
• Divide the trip distance by the difference obtained in step 1.
• The value calculated is the average speed for the trip.
• Verify your result with our drive time calculator.

How fast can I reach Boston from New York driving at 60 mph?

It'll take 3 hrs 35 mins without any breaks. Allowing for a 15 min break, it'll take you 3 hrs 50 min. Here's how you can calculate this answer:

If you take the I-90 W, Boston is 215 miles from New York.

Divide this distance by the average speed to get drive time without breaks:

215/60 = 3.5833 = 3 hrs 35 min .

Add a 15 min break to drive time for a convenient and safe drive to get a total drive time of 3 hrs 50 mins .

Verify with our drive time calculator.

How do I calculate mileage of my vehicle?

To calculate the mileage of your vehicle, follow these steps:

• When refueling, note the initial odometer reading and the amount of fuel you're filling.
• When you stop for fuel again, note the final odometer reading .
• Subtract the initial odometer reading from the final reading and divide the difference by the amount of fuel used.

How far can you drive in one day?

Assuming you drive for 8 hours in a day at 60 mph, with 15 min breaks every 2 hours and an hour-long lunch break in between, you can drive 390 miles . To calculate this answer, follow these steps:

Calculate total break time :

15 min + 60 min + 15 min = 1 hr 30 min .

Subtract this from 8 hours to get 8 - 1:30 = 6 hr 30 min .

Multiply this time with 60 mph average speed to get the distance traveled:

60 × 6.5 = 390 miles .

Verify this result with our drive time calculator.

BMR - Harris-Benedict equation

Shoe size conversion.

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Availability of Sick Leave for Travel to Access Medical Care

The purpose of these FAQs is to make clear that Federal employees may use sick leave for travel time associated with accessing medical care. 

1. May sick leave be used to cover travel time to a location where a Federal employee will receive medical examination or treatment?

Yes. An agency must grant sick leave to an employee for the employee to receive medical examination or treatment. 5 CFR 630.401. Accessing that medical examination or treatment typically involves travel, and that travel can be covered by sick leave to the extent that the travel time occurs during the employee’s tour of duty established for leave-charging purposes. While such travel will generally be short distances—for example, to and from a local doctor’s office or hospital—an employee may find it necessary to travel longer distances, including out of state, to obtain medical care. In such instances, sick leave may be used to cover necessary travel time.

2. May sick leave be used to cover travel time for a Federal employee who accompanies a family member to a location where the family member will receive medical examination or treatment?

Yes. An agency must grant sick leave to an employee for the employee to provide care to a “family member” (as defined in 5 CFR 630.201(b)) receiving medical examination or treatment, subject to applicable annual limits. 5 CFR 630.401(a)(3). An employee’s travel time in connection with a family member’s medical care would be covered by sick leave on the same basis as described in Question 1.

OPM has explained this previously in a FAQ : “ May I use sick leave to take a family member to a medical appointment? The intent of OPM’s regulations governing the use of sick leave for family care is to allow an employee to provide physical care and other assistance to a family member, as appropriate. This may include, for example, providing transportation and/or accompanying a family member to a health care provider’s office or to a hospital or other health care facility.”

3. When should an agency advance sick leave to a Federal employee?

When an employee has not accrued sufficient sick leave to meet the employee’s needs, an agency may grant advanced sick leave. This sick leave can be used for the employee to receive medical examination or treatment or for the employee to provide care for a family member receiving medical examination or treatment, subject to applicable annual limits. 5 CFR 630.402. An employee’s travel time in connection with accessing this medical care would be covered by advanced sick leave on the same basis as described in Question 1.

4. How should a Federal employee request sick leave?

An employee should request sick leave within such time limits as the agency may require. 5 CFR 630.404. An agency may require employees to request advanced approval of sick leave for medical examination or treatment. If the employee complies with the agency’s notification and certification requirements (see Question 5 below), the agency must grant sick leave.

5. What type of supporting evidence must a Federal employee submit for the use of sick leave?

An employee should provide administratively acceptable evidence for the use of sick leave. 5 CFR 630.405. An agency may consider an employee’s self-certification as to the reason for the employee’s absence as administratively acceptable evidence, regardless of the duration of the absence. For an absence in excess of three workdays (or a lesser period when determined necessary by the agency), an agency may require the employee to provide a medical certificate or other administratively acceptable evidence. A medical certificate simply means a written statement signed by a physician or other practitioner certifying that the employee received an examination or treatment; it need not contain details regarding the medical examination or treatment. 5 CFR 630.201(b).

6. In addition to sick leave and advanced sick leave, what other options are available to a Federal employee who needs to receive medical examination or treatment?

An employee may be able to receive donated leave through an agency’s Voluntary Leave Transfer Program (VLTP) or Voluntary Leave Bank Program (VLBP). Under VLTP (which agencies must administer), an employee may receive donated annual leave directly from another employee. Under VLBP (which agencies are not required to administer), an employee may receive donated annual leave if they are a leave bank member.

To qualify for leave under these programs, an employee must be experiencing a “medical emergency,” which means the employee or a family member has a medical condition that will require the employee to be absent from duty for a prolonged period that will result in a substantial loss of income due to the unavailability of paid leave. 5 CFR 630.902, 5 CFR 630.909, 5 CFR 630.1009, 5 CFR 630.1002. The employee must exhaust their available paid leave and be in leave without pay status for at least 24 hours before receiving leave under VLBP / VLTP. An employee may use leave under VLBP / VLTP for necessary travel to access medical care on the same basis as described in Question 1.

In addition, an employee is entitled to 12 weeks of FMLA leave during any 12-month period for certain qualifying circumstances, including the existence of a serious health condition that makes the employee unable to perform any one or more of the essential functions of the employee’s position, or to care for a family member who has a serious health condition. 5 CFR 630.1203(a). An employee may use FMLA leave for necessary travel to access medical care for an employee or an employee’s family member on the same basis as described in Question 1.

For more information concerning sick leave and other forms of leave available for the healthcare needs of a federal employee or an employee’s family member, please see OPM’s website .

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Travel Time

Time spent traveling during normal work hours is considered compensable work time. Time spent in home-to-work travel by an employee in an employer-provided vehicle, or in activities performed by an employee that are incidental to the use of the vehicle for commuting, generally is not "hours worked" and, therefore, does not have to be paid. This provision applies only if the travel is within the normal commuting area for the employer's business and the use of the vehicle is subject to an agreement between the employer and the employee or the employee's representative.

Webpages on this Topic

Handy Reference Guide to the Fair Labor Standards Act - Answers many questions about the FLSA and gives information about certain occupations that are exempt from the Act.

Coverage Under the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) Fact Sheet - General information about who is covered by the FLSA.

Wage and Hour Division: District Office Locations - Addresses and phone numbers for Department of Labor district Wage and Hour Division offices.

State Labor Offices/State Laws - Links to state departments of labor contacts. Individual states' laws and regulations may vary greatly. Please consult your state department of labor for this information.

Driving Distance Calculator

Driving distances between two cities.

Travelmath helps you find driving distances based on actual directions for your road trip. You can get the distance between cities, airports, states, countries, or zip codes to figure out the best route to travel to your destination. Combine this information with the fuel cost tool to find out how much it will cost you to drive the distance, or compare the results to the straight line distance to determine whether it's better to drive or fly. You can print out pages with a travel map.

Maybe you want to see the driving time instead? Or if you're driving a long distance, you might want to check the midpoint of your trip to find a hotel.

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Travel Nurse Pay – 401K and Retirement Planning

401Ks are yet another travel nursing pay benefit that many travel nursing agencies offer. As recruiters we found that many travel nurses addressed 401Ks as important variables in our original conversations and then never utilized them. This is an undesirable approach. You may potentially pass up on good agencies because they don’t have a benefit that you aren’t going to use. You may also select an otherwise poor performing agency because they offer a benefit that you aren’t going to use. Like many other aspects of the pay package, there’s a lot you need to be aware of when determining how important 401Ks are for you.

Find your next travel healthcare job on BluePipes!

Before we begin, I must point out that I am not a licensed financial adviser. The details I provide here are for informational purposes only. I am not making any recommendations. You should consult with a certified professional to discuss your specific circumstances. That said, I was formerly a licensed stock broker and principal, and I do have a firm grasp on financial issues.

Travel nursing 401k: tax deferred considerations

A 401k is a type of retirement savings account that lets the individual make “tax deferred” contributions to the 401k account. Tax deferred means that the individual is not required to pay Federal Income taxes on the money contributed to the 401k. For example, if a traveler made $50,000 in a year and contributed $7,000 to a 401k, then their taxable income would be $43,000 assuming they had no additional adjustments or deductions.  This is the first potential benefit of the 401k; you’re able to save the money without having to pay income taxes on it. If you have a large income tax burden, then this is a great benefit.

However, if you don’t have a large income tax burden, then this is not much of an advantage at all. This is because there may be better options out there if you don’t pay a lot in income taxes. You see, “tax deferred” means that you don’t have to pay taxes on the money now, but you do have to pay taxes on it later when you withdraw it. The fact that you don’t have to pay taxes now may not really matter if you’re already paying really low (or no) income taxes because you have a low taxable income and/or a lot of deductions.

Free: Universal Job Application and Credential Management for travelers.

Many travelers fall in to this category. This is because they typically receive a large percentage of their pay from tax-free stipends . Therefore, they tend to have lower taxable incomes . Furthermore, travel nurses may qualify for other tax deductions that will drive their taxable incomes even lower . As a result, many travelers will have a very low, and sometimes no, federal income tax burden .

If you find yourself in this situation, then you could invest your money in a Roth IRA instead of a 401k. A Roth IRA is another type of retirement savings account that allows you to contribute post tax dollars now, but withdraw them later without paying any taxes. As a result, you may end up paying much less in taxes with the Roth IRA than the 401k in the long run. Keep in mind that the annual contribution limit for a Roth IRA is currently $5500 and it changes periodically. So if you choose to go with a Roth IRA and intend on investing more than $5500, then you’ll want to also have a 401K. This way, you can make your additional retirement contributions to the 401K.

Travel nursing 401k: employer match considerations

There is another potential advantage to 401ks that must be considered. 401ks are a type of retirement account known as “defined contribution plans.” A defined contribution plan is one in which the employer can make specified annual contributions. For 401ks, this is commonly referred to as “matching.” The employer will essentially give the employee some extra money in the form of a retirement contribution.  For example, the employer will contribute $.25 for every dollar that the employee contributes. This may not sound like much, but that represents a 25% return on your investment and it’s free of risk to boot! This is a huge advantage in the investment world. Matching is a huge advantage for 401ks. I can’t stress this enough.

Free eBook: How To Negotiate Travel Nursing Pay

Unfortunately, while many agencies advertise that they have matching contribution benefits, you’ll be hard pressed to find one with realistic requirements to qualify. This is typically the result of “vesting periods” that are unrealistic for travel nurses to meet. A “vesting period” is a period of time before the employer contributions are actually owned by the employee.

For example, the agency will say that they have 25% 401k matching, vesting after 1 year. This means that you’d have to work with the agency continuously for a full year before the matching contributions were actually released to you. This is just one example and you’ll see that different companies have different “vesting schedules.” Because travel nurses tend to move from company to company in order to land ideal travel nursing jobs , they rarely meet the vesting requirements. In any case, you’ll want to know everything about the company’s matching and vesting schedule before making any judgments.

Again, I’m not providing advice and I recommend that you seek the advice of a qualified licensed financial professional. That said, my experience tells me that the vast majority of travel nurses will not utilize 401Ks by choice despite the fact that they treat them as important. Furthermore, the single biggest advantage of the 401k, the employer match, is hardly ever realized in the industry. Moreover, travel nurses will most likely not realize much benefit from the 401k tax deferment feature. The reason is that the typical traveler has very low income taxes because they’re getting paid a relatively lower taxable wage and have tax deductions that reduce their taxable income even more.

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Therefore, the 401k typically becomes important when you have maximized your Roth IRA contribution. The maximum Roth IRA contribution for 2012 is $5500 for individuals making less than $183,000 per year. As a result, travelers concerned with retirement investing would be wise to determine how much they’re interested in saving each year and splitting that up accordingly between their Roth IRA and 401k.

Managing Your 401K(s) as a Travel Nurse

At this point, you may be wondering what happens to all that money that’s getting contributed to your 401K. Typically, 401Ks are administered by an investment company. This means that the investment company holds and tracks the money for the employer and employee by establishing individual 401k accounts in the employee’s name. The money is put in to the employee’s 401k account where the employee can invest the money in any number of available investment vehicles. Typically, the employer and the investment company have agreed on a set of investments that will be made available to the employee. Typically, these investments will include a very low risk money market fund, and a host of mutual funds with varying investment strategies and levels of risk. The employee then decides where the money will be invested. This may be accomplished over the internet or on the phone with the investment company.

As mentioned previously, travel nurses can expect to switch agencies at a higher rate than permanent employees would switch employers. Therefore, if you decide to make 401K contributions, then you’ll want to have a plan in place for when you switch companies. If you don’t have a plan in place, you could end up with 401k accounts all over the place.

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This is fine if you’re okay with keeping track of all these accounts, but there’s another disadvantage aside from the organizational issues. As mentioned previously, 401k accounts typically have a very limited set of investment options and more options is always better than limited options. When you leave a company, you’re able to transfer the 401k to an investment account with unlimited options. Chances are very good that you’ll be charged less in management fees and be able to find investment options with higher returns and lower risk.

To accomplish this, you can set up a 401k rollover account with a brokerage firm of your choice. You can choose a traditional broker, or an online broker like E*Trade. In any case, you’re going to establish the 401k rollover account and complete the required transfer documentation. The broker you choose will help you with all of this. It typically takes 6-8 weeks for your 401k investments and/or funds to be transferred from your old 401k to your 401k rollover account. Once the transfer is complete, you can invest the funds as you see fit and you’ll have one central location to manage your funds.

As always, your comments and feedback are welcome!!

Related posts:

• Travel Nursing Pay – Qualifying for Tax-Free Stipends and Tax Deductions: Part 2: Maintaining Temporary Status In our previous blog post we laid out the criteria under...
• Should You Know Your Travel Nursing Pay Before Submission? Many travel nurses wonder whether or not they should negotiate...
• Travel Nursing Pay: Flexible vs. Rigid If you’ve discussed travel nursing pay with multiple agencies, then...

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Distance between Miami and Moscow

Flying non-stop from miami to moscow.

How far is Moscow from Miami? Here's the quick answer if you have a private jet and you can fly in the fastest possible straight line.

Flight distance: 5,741 miles or 9240 km

Flight time: 11 hours, 59 minutes

Because of the curvature of the Earth, the shortest distance is actually the "great circle" distance, or "as the crow flies" which is calculated using an iterative Vincenty formula. For a long distance, this appears as a curve on the map, and this is often the route that commercial airlines will take so it's a good estimate of the frequent flyer miles you'll accumulate as well.

This is a fairly long flight, so unless you have a Gulfstream G650 or your own Boeing or Airbus, you might be booking a commercial flight. In that case, your travel time would really need to include how many minutes to get to your local airport, wait for security, board and taxi on the runway, land at the other airport, and get to your destination. Scroll down to see a more realistic calculation that takes into account all these factors to get a more accurate estimate of your actual flight time .

Miami to Moscow airports and flights

In the quick calculation above, we assumed you had a private plane and just wanted to know the time in the air from city to city. But for most of us, we're going to be flying on a commercial airline (whether it's first class or coach). So that means we really need to account for all the extra travel time getting to the airport, waiting for our flight, and making it to the destination.

To give you a better estimate of real-life travel, we've put together a flight itinerary with actual airports. Eventually you'll be able to customize this plan, choosing your own airports and flights. But for now, here's an example we've selected to give you an idea of how traveling might work between airports.

Departure airport: Miami International Airport (MIA)

Arrival airport: Vnukovo International Airport (VKO)

With the airports selected, we can estimate the travel time to and from the airport, based on how far the airport is from downtown.

Getting to the airport: 18 minutes

Getting to your destination: 52 minutes

Now finally, let's look at an actual flight from MIA to VKO on Transaero Airlines and figure out how long it would take to fly including take-off and landing, and time to taxi on the runway.

Commercial flight time: 11 hours, 59 minutes

So now we can finally get an idea of the total travel time from Miami to Moscow including time spent getting to/from the airports, an estimated wait time of 2 hours at the airport for TSA security lines and waiting at the gate, and the actual flight itself.

Total travel time: 15 hours

Plan a trip to Moscow

Trippy has a ton of information that can help you plan your trip to Moscow, Russia. Start by reading the Trippy page on where to stay in Moscow . A great place to eat might be Pushkin Cafe . Trippy members can suggest things to do in Moscow like The Moscow Kremlin . Check out some of the questions people have asked about Moscow like Best Russian cuisine restaurants in Moscow . Click the button below to explore Moscow in detail.

How far is it the other way?

The distance is the same either way if you're flying a straight line. But for a real trip, there can be plenty of differences so go ahead and check the reverse directions to get the distance from Moscow to Miami , or go to the main page to calculate the distance between cities .

If you happen to know Miami, don't forget to help other travelers and answer some questions about Miami!