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Sounds like you are in a great situation. I'd echo the comment about trying to go into the Guard or reserves if possible, although I believe you might have to pay back any monetary incentives for leaving active duty once you start pulling in a reserve component pension (so I've heard)...

Congrats ATC Guy! Several people in my Guard unit got picked up recently off of an old bid from before all the government drama, and I assume you were picked up off of the same one. Good luck!

The ATC FERS pension is different from the regular FERS pension. In summary, ATC is 1.7% per year for the first 20 years and then 1% for each additional year. A controller is eligible for full retirement after either 25 years at any age or 20 years if at least 50, and 56 is the mandatory...

Sounds like a plan ATC Guy, and I have a similar strategy in mind (Air Guard ATC, FAA ATC, retire in 50s with two pensions and a seven figure portfolio in today's dollars, etc.). A couple of minor suggestions: One is that finding an open 13M slot in the Guard may be difficult, or it may be...

There are several ways in which you could utilize the boglehead concept, but the most tax efficient is likely using VWITX/cash to pay for the new car. To be clearer: The most tax efficient plan would likely be to use all $13k of cash plus $12k VWITX to purchase the car. The main question is how...

I don't have any concerns; I think you are definitely on the right track.:) If I am using the same numbers as you, I just feel that your expectations are very optimistic--especially if you are thinking in 2011 dollars. You may find this calculator helpful: Online Monte Carlo Retirement Planner

The numbers I was going off of were $23,000 in current savings and annual contributions of $38,400/yr. Given your assumptions for inflation/investment growth, I show you ending with a portfolio of about $1.2m real or about $1.8m nominal in 20 years.

It sounds like you are off to a great start. The only comment I have is that it appears you are looking at the future value of your investments in nominal terms as opposed to real terms. It also appears that you are assuming about a 9-10% nominal return. I would consider this a bit optimistic...

The military doesn't have the same physical standards for men and women right now, so why would they start having the same standards once integrating women into combat units/career fields? There are certainly areas of combat where women have performed as well or better than many of their male...

Nice breakdown of many of the issues Nords. Occupation definitely makes a difference. I was talking to a friend a couple months ago and he mentioned that within my previous career field prior to ATC there were only about 40 members with at least 15 years--out of a little over 1000 total...

Attached is a slideshow which goes into a little more detail on the exact proposal, for those who haven't seen it. Lots of interesting changes or potential changes for the military lately--repeal of don't ask, don't tell; attempts to integrate females into direct ground combat MOSs, AFSCs, NECs...

LOL, I and a good friend of mine also into ER were talking about doing something like this. Basically, just find the jobs with the lowest amount of responsibility and if we get bored or annoyed, we could just quit.

It's similar in the USAF for ATC as well. A typical rank breakdown for an ATC facility in the USAF: E-2 to E-4: line controllers/trainees E-5 to E-6: watch supervisors/senior controllers (controller in charge)/ in charge of training or standards and evaluations/assistant chief controller E-7...

Perhaps the USNR is organized much differently than the ANG, as I have never had to pay for lodging and lunch was always provided. This might be because I am enlisted, and I confess I'm not sure if officers in the ANG have to pay for their own lodging out-of-pocket. I've also never had to pay...

More than anything else, I think it is deciding exactly what you want for a career that is the biggest determining factor. Is being an AOF or an air traffic controller more appealing for a career? AOF--then stay USAF as a 13MX. Air traffic controller--then get out and try to become a GS-2152...

That's why the USAF needs to start appointing warrant officers again. I'm not overly interested in the commissioned officer route (although I have considered it), but I would be all over a warrant officer program. Since warrant officers are considered the technical experts of their fields, all...

I spent four years active duty USAF and have been in the ANG almost seven years; I have enjoyed my time in both. My four years on active duty where spent in an AFSC which is aligned with Army maneuver and SOF units, so my experience was more with Army quality of life than Air Force. I can tell...

Just to offer my opinion on the financial situation: I agree with those favoring cash flow for when you get out over paying down debt. If you can really buckle down and pay off all debt and save up about a 9-12 months emergency fund, that would be the ideal situation. However, since this would...

To the contrary, there are a lot of jobs out there that either involve controlling or are closely related. Where it's tough is getting into the FAA right now due to the federal budget issues, but at least they have not implemented a complete hiring freeze like many other agencies or departments...

The FAA has several sources to hire from: VRA (military ATC with applicable experience) CTO (applicants with an FAA issued control tower operator certificate) CTI (went to school for ATC) REINSTATE (prior GS-2152) RMC (retired military controller--no FAA benefits, just a paycheck) PUBNATS...

Something else to think about is the time in which it might take you to get hired on with the FAA. Right now, things seem pretty slow with some people waiting upwards of three years to get hired (so I've heard). As for me, I've had my application in for about a year with no bites yet (VRA and...

I wonder if mega corp's like to hire employees with large student loan debt as well? It seems like a fair amount of hires within my work area have six figures + in loans. I don't think anything could be more binding than $120,000 in student loan debt, a recently purchased townhome for $220,000...

I agree about waiting to see what the actual offer is. If it really isn't something that you can live with, than I probably wouldn't take it. Don't forget intangibles like getting your foot in the door which could lead to larger wages down the line. Nevertheless, if you really are unhappy with...

Yeah, I have to agree that the attitude of some of these people is ridiculous. From the article:

I suppose you can find anecdotal evidence to support either side of the argument. I spent four years active duty USAF and have been in the ANG for almost six years now. I much prefer the National Guard lifestyle to active duty. I am single, but I could not imagine having a family and being...