Hello everyone,
I just graduated with a philosophy degree this spring and one of my big goals in life is to retire early.
One of the best ways to do this, as I see it, is to join the military as an officer (would prefer Coast Guard but hear its practically impossible to get into their officer candidate school, esp. as my GPA is a not so stellar 3.1), probably in the Navy.
I am single and do not plan to marry or have kids (for reasons unrelated to my ER goals). I figure as a single person in the military it should be very easy to save most of my income (is saving all but 1k/month inflation adjusted a very realistic goal as a single military member, assuming government housing is available?)
I have a net worth of around 300k currently (grandparents), 250k in public equities and ~50k in shares of a family limited partnership. Do not gain complete control of this until I'm 40 but parents (who are trustees) will probably let me take control over investment decisions when they realize I'm not going to head for Mexico and blow it all in 6 months. Currently with a wells fargo private banker. Do not know how many basis points he is paid for managing it. Even assuming it's very low, I'm not sure if this is really a better option than spreading it among a few low cost index funds.
Would I be completely miserable as a frugal naval officer for 20 years? I'm just out of college and have not grown used to a high-consumption lifestyle by any means, which is why I'm thinking 1k/month isn't all that bad assuming housing and food is taken care of by the military.
I just graduated with a philosophy degree this spring and one of my big goals in life is to retire early.
One of the best ways to do this, as I see it, is to join the military as an officer (would prefer Coast Guard but hear its practically impossible to get into their officer candidate school, esp. as my GPA is a not so stellar 3.1), probably in the Navy.
I am single and do not plan to marry or have kids (for reasons unrelated to my ER goals). I figure as a single person in the military it should be very easy to save most of my income (is saving all but 1k/month inflation adjusted a very realistic goal as a single military member, assuming government housing is available?)
I have a net worth of around 300k currently (grandparents), 250k in public equities and ~50k in shares of a family limited partnership. Do not gain complete control of this until I'm 40 but parents (who are trustees) will probably let me take control over investment decisions when they realize I'm not going to head for Mexico and blow it all in 6 months. Currently with a wells fargo private banker. Do not know how many basis points he is paid for managing it. Even assuming it's very low, I'm not sure if this is really a better option than spreading it among a few low cost index funds.
Would I be completely miserable as a frugal naval officer for 20 years? I'm just out of college and have not grown used to a high-consumption lifestyle by any means, which is why I'm thinking 1k/month isn't all that bad assuming housing and food is taken care of by the military.