22 considering military career

[FinanceGeek]

Over the years I've known a number of people who served in the military via enlistment or ROTC, put in their 20-25 years, and "retired" at the tender young early 40s years with a modest pension of ~$50k/yr and lifetime VA healthcare.

Seems like a better deal than us civvies get nowadays, but only if you really enjoy the military and can tolerate their "move me every few years" lifestyle.

FWIW, I think in absolute terms one can "do better" in the private sector since the salaries are higher than gummint work, but only if you can get into one of the professions and save alot, or hit it off in a self employment situation.

[samclem]

dreamin22,
I've been thinking about this thread for a few days.
Imagine if somebody started a post like this: "I've recently become aware that a young lady in our town might positively respond to my proposal of marriage. I think we are compatible--I like many of the same things she likes, and from what i know she's a nice lady. Furthermore, her family is well off, and I think that her parents would help us to retire early once i prove to them that I'm a good husband. Anyway, what do you guys think--should I marry her?"

We'd all be asking you how you felt about her--are you in love? Do you have the desire to be with her all the time? What is it about her that makes you want to dedicate your life to her? If you don't know her well enough to be crazy about her, then maybe you should give this some more thought.

It may seem ludicrous for anyone to compare a job/avocation/calling to a marriage, but I think many who have joined up (in ANY service) would say that the parallels are significant. If you don't have a fire in your belly to do the things that are part and parcel of this life, then you probably need to learn enough to either ignite such a fire or you would be best off to find something else that would allow you to accomplish your financial goals in another way.

[Gworker]

If one didn't have "that fire in their belly." I think they would have a hard time completing OCS. I don't know about the other services but I know the USCG OCS is very demanding. They would probably weed you out if you didn't want it. Being a military officer is a way of life, it's not just a job.