Military vs. Civilian

[Lazarus]

Well, If I had it to do over again. I would have stayed in the AF till 20y. Didn't want to then but I think it would have put me on the road to ER sooner.

[OAG]

I would point out a couple of facts.

The Military pays into SSA (since about 1950 something) therefore the years count towards the 35 SSA uses (and they add "credits" for early years of service to bring up the level).

The big thing in ER is Medical Insurance which is not my worry (Tricare is about $230 a year or $460 for Family; until 65 when only Medicare part B is necessary to get Tricare for life (basically, full coverage with NO copayments, full portability etc)).

Or course I speak from personal experience having enlisted at 17 years old (as a HS dropout) and "retiring" at 21 years of service and 38 years old (as a College Graduate (BS Business) and as a CW4 (Chief Warrant Officer). Could have actually retired on the money but did work at whatever I wanted to do, went back to school under "GI Bill", worked in Real Estate, did property mangement, worked for the govenment as a contractor, lots of other stuff. Now I consider myself fully retired. New car in garage, new $350K condo, enough in the bank to live well enough on. and $0 Debt (no mortgage, etc). My biggest gripe is TAXES, both RE and Income; but that is the price of freedom and a small price to pay at that.

PS: that 1979 Retired Check has almost trippled in value (current dollars). And SS adds about 75% more to the kitty.

[JPatrick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Old Army Guy I would point out a couple of facts. The Military pays into SSA (since about 1950 something) therefore the years count towards the 35 SSA uses (and they add "credits" for early years of service to bring up the level).

I don't really understand how that adding credits works.* Can you enlighten me ArmyGuy?

[Nords]

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Originally Posted by Old Army Guy (and they add "credits" for early years of service to bring up the level).

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Originally Posted by JPatrick I don't really understand how that adding credits works.* Can you enlighten me ArmyGuy?

It's answer #454 at the SS website-- military wage credits.

The final incarnation of the program ran from 1978-2001 and added up to $1200 to your SS wage numbers in exchange for earning at least $3600/year. There were earlier versions of the program going all the way back to 1940.

The program ended in 2002.

[JPatrick]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords It's answer #454 at the SS website-- military wage credits. The final incarnation of the program ran from 1978-2001 and added up to $1200 to your SS wage numbers in exchange for earning at least $3600/year.* There were earlier versions of the program going all the way back to 1940. The program ended in 2002.

Interesting--Thanks

[jclarksnakes]

PsyopsRanger
....I spent almost 21 years in the army flying helicopters as a warrant officer. I had enlisted for WO flight school and Vietnam. The US pulled forces out of VN while I was in flight school but I had already decided that I liked flying helicopters so much that I wanted to stay in. The post VN years were tough to make rank. I saw many good officers get passed over and booted out. I retired as a W4 in 1993. I have friends who totally retired after 20 to 30 years in. Only a few of them totally retired at 20 to 22 years without substantial savings. Those few who are doing it without savings or other sources of income do prove that someone can retire on $25,000 per year but they are not living the ER life that would work for me. I went back to college and got a degree in nursing and work parttime at that. I could have FIRE'd before my 50th B'day but I still like going to work so I am staying at it a while longer. It seems to me that you are in the army at an ideal time for career advancement. I cannot imagine that your skills and experience will not be needed for many years to come. You are at the point where your decision to stay or go is important. The decision a few years down the road will be heavily biased towards staying because you will have so much time invested. With your training and experience you can do well working in the army or outside it. The COLA'd military pension and Tricare are great but you could probably do as well or better in the right job outside the army. By saving and LBYM you will be ready for an ER either way that you go. The factor that matters the most is what you WANT to do.
jc

[al_bundy]

military and civilian is really hard to compare since there are so many jobs in the military that pay at diferent rates and some jobs don't transfer at all. I spent 8 years in the army and left because my math showed that a 401k is worth more than army retirement.

I was a communications tech and went into IT in civilian life after playing with computers in the army. if i was artillery or armor then i don't know what i would have done. i also noticed that a lot of career military people don't do anything except work in something government related all their life. Either as a government employee or selling insurance or something else outside a military base.

[Scrooge]

Quote:

Originally Posted by al_bundy military and civilian is really hard to compare since there are so many jobs in the military that pay at diferent rates and some jobs don't transfer at all.

Back in the late 1990s, I read a couple of articles comparing what people with comparable skills were making in the military and in the private sector. Some of the numbers were in the same ballpark, but in certain cases there was a great deal of difference in compensation, up to 100% (!). Sometimes you were clearly better off in the military, sometimes it was the other way around.

[Arif]

Quote:

Back in the late 1990s, I read a couple of articles comparing what people with comparable skills were making in the military and in the private sector. Some of the numbers were in the same ballpark, but in certain cases there was a great deal of difference in compensation, up to 100% (!). Sometimes you were clearly better off in the military, sometimes it was the other way around.

Back when I was in the Army (geez that make me sound old) the Army Times would publish a full spread article comparing jobs in the civilian sector vs. military. Even the jobs that you think wouldn't correlate were compared. For instance, a tanker would be compared to a mechanic. Not always exact but they made an effort. Those articles always got me thinking about life after the military. It was key in making the decision to compete for a slot in the Finance corps instead of say Infantry.

[Bimmerbill]

You mean my 21 years in Artillery have no worth in the civilian world?

[Nords]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bimmerbill You mean my 21 years in Artillery have no worth in the civilian world?

Hey, with your artillery skills and my torpedo knowledge the synergy has to be worth something.

Maybe we should start a website...

[rs0460a]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Nords Hey, with your artillery skills and my torpedo knowledge the synergy has to be worth something.

Like "Surf & Turf Fireworks"*

[Bimmerbill]

Hey, I was trained in naval gunfire too. Suprisingly accurate, or so they say. I've never adjusted fire on the big guns.

[Arif]

You mean my 21 years in Artillery have no worth in the civilian world?

Nah, with all that math (mils instead of degrees) you guys had to learn you could of been a mathematics professor.

[razztazz]

Quote:

Nah, with all that math (mils instead of degrees) you guys had to learn you could of been a mathematics professor.

No. With all that math he could HAVE been a math professor

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by razztazz No. With all that math he could HAVE been a math professor

As long as you are going to regress into the dismal world of grammar and spelling, I think it only fair to point out you left off a period at the end of that sentence.

Oh yes, you also left off a smiley face.

[razztazz]

Quote:

As long as you are going to regress into the dismal world of grammar and spelling, I think it only fair to point out you left off a period at the end of that sentence. Oh yes, you also left off a smiley face.

Who are you, Helen Crump? The "." was at worse an oversight that had no impact on the meaning of the sentence.

And I wasn't smiling at the time (PERIOD!)

[REWahoo]

Quote:

Originally Posted by razztazz Who are you, Helen Crump? The "." was at worse an oversight that had no impact on the meaning of the sentence. And I wasn't smiling at the time (PERIOD!)

I always thought it was “at worst”, not “at worse”. I did a little research and found this:

http://www.writersdigest.com/mbbs/fo...=1337&posts=21

If reading that doesn’t get your goat, I’m not sure what will. (Please read it before you unload on me.)

[Bimmerbill]

You are right. *Artillery used to involve slide rules and books upon books of tables dealing with ballistics. *We even took into account the rotation of the earth, based on time of flight of the projectile. *

It's pretty much computerized now tho. *I don't even think they teach the old fashioned "manual gunnery" anymore. *

Mils are for artillery, degrees are for infantry ;-)

One of my favorite quotes: *Artillerymen see two types of people in the world. *Other Artillerymen, and targets.

[Arif]

Quote:

No. With all that math he could HAVE been a math professor

Uh oh didn't know my english teacher was still alive and stalking me.

Just imagine me in Panama spreading all this bad grammer around.