49yo Retired Military, and now what?

[Harris4crna]

If you continue to get a comments like that, just say, "Actually, I've finished that great career. There is so much more in life for me to do and learn."

Not military, but the stress of being a hospital pediatrician was taking a toll on mind, body, and spirit. My colleagues were envious when I announced my retirement. I only stay in touch with one of them now, three years later.

This is a great and every evolving group of people.

Thank you, definitely will use it as needed. Understand the toll on the mind, body, and spirit. I truly experienced this as well.

I made a decision to take an administrative position due to wanting a change after 12 years as a CRNA. Plus I desired this position, and I truly enjoyed it. I maintained skills for the first year in the local military hospital and moonlighting at a critical access hospital. When the pandemic hit, my position demanded excessive amount of time towards COVID relief. Added responsibilities such as caring for my father with Alzheimers and retiring from the Navy left minimal energy and time needed to return to the hospital. Since retirement, I have taken the time to complete a review course, research and interview for positions, but I'm realizing the effort needed to return after 3 year absence at my age may not be worth it physically, mentally and spiritually. Difficult decision, truly, but semi-retirement may be the answer. The transition has been difficult for sure.

Thank you for the warm welcome and sharing your experience.

 

[Nords]

Thanks for the tags, everyone!

Thank you for your post. I'm looking at Semi-R as well. I have been offered by a local university to work part time for 8 weeks per semester. It allows me to be of service and have purpose. I really would like to teach tactical medicine to SOF, but the opportunity has yet to be available.

Thank you, definitely will use it as needed. Understand the toll on the mind, body, and spirit. I truly experienced this as well.
[...]
Difficult decision, truly, but semi-retirement may be the answer. The transition has been difficult for sure.

Welcome, @Harris4crna, and thanks for following the site.

Let me know if you have more questions on details, but it looks as if you’re figuring things out. The key is to explore your interests and answer your “What if...?” questions through small experiments, and give it a couple of years in between any major life changes.

It’s difficult to avoid recreating the stressful work environment which you left, while finding a new activity that’s challenging, fulfilling, & sustainable. You’ll end up reassessing every couple of years, especially if the dissatisfiers creep into your routine.

One of my favorite books for figuring out life (not just retirement) is Designing Your Life. The authors suggest making a plan and then iterating on it as you go... and it’s sustainable for the rest of your life.

This Nords retired military guy was a frequent poster when I first joined here: https://militaryfinancialindependence.com/
Looks like he retired the same year I did.

We reached FI at the end of 1999, and I stayed until mid-2002 for an active-duty pension.

In retrospect, I should’ve gone to the Reserves just about anytime after 1992 (when we started our family). The finances would’ve worked out about the same and the quality of life would’ve been way better. At the time I was too ignorant, fearful, and chronically fatigued to make the time to figure out how the Reserves worked.

 

[Harris4crna]

Nord,

First and foremost, thank you for your time to respond to my post. Second, I have been following you and your journey since 2019. Truly has been a benefit in making decisions.

The timing of this post is coincidentally perfect at this moment. I spent this morning thinking how important is not to jump back into a stressful environment despite my desire to. I have spent a career in thr Navy working a high stressful job in the medical field. I continously seeked ways to stress my limits. Eventually this mindset drove me into the body, mind and spirit collapse. Fortunately, it occurred at the conclusion of a Navy career. This allowed a lifetime pension in concurrent with disability pay. So, time is on my side when figuring out, "what's next".

I will take your guidance fully and take my time. In the meantime take the opportunity to educate myself. I'll take a look at your reading recommendation, thank you. Small baby steps.

 

[rwdflynavy]

Welcome,

Fellow Navy retiree, I also retired at 49 after 28 years. I've stayed mostly retired and now work a couple part time gigs for fun. We left the DC area for the lower COL of southwest VA.

 

[Harris4crna]

Welcome,

Fellow Navy retiree, I also retired at 49 after 28 years. I've stayed mostly retired and now work a couple part time gigs for fun. We left the DC area for the lower COL of southwest VA.

Great, you are the first person I have met who retired and stayed retired from age 49 years all while living in DC. I live on Fort Belvoir Army base. Wife is still AD. She will be retiring with 30 years. Of course, I retired with 23 years. She is staying in to get that CDR pay which I am getting now.

We will most likely relocate to a military friendly state. Son is currently attending CSU in Fort Collins. Colorado may be a probable destination or my home state of Washington.

I am looking to work a few part time gigs as well. I no longer can do my primary job due to physical limitations. Retiring from the military is an easy transition, but accepting the fact I can no longer do my primary profession as a CRNA is difficult. I am looking into contributing in other means then working in the OR.

You enjoying your retirement? Any difficulty with the transition? Most seem to get post military employment.

 

[rwdflynavy]

Great, you are the first person I have met who retired and stayed retired from age 49 years all while living in DC. I live on Fort Belvoir Army base. Wife is still AD. She will be retiring with 30 years. Of course, I retired with 23 years. She is staying in to get that CDR pay which I am getting now.

We will most likely relocate to a military friendly state. Son is currently attending CSU in Fort Collins. Colorado may be a probable destination or my home state of Washington.

I am looking to work a few part time gigs as well. I no longer can do my primary job due to physical limitations. Retiring from the military is an easy transition, but accepting the fact I can no longer do my primary profession as a CRNA is difficult. I am looking into contributing in other means then working in the OR.

You enjoying your retirement? Any difficulty with the transition? Most seem to get post military employment.

I'm loving retirement. I keep trying to figure out how I used to work. Leaving the area and not being close to military was a bigger shock than you will feel, still being on-base and your spouse still AD.

The key is to find what gives you satisfaction without the stress of work.

I've been an avid photographer for about a decade and took a position (part time) as the education coordinator for a local historical society that runs the O. Winston Link Museum, a fairly well known photographer whose claim to fame was photographing the end of the steam train age in the southeast US from 1955-1960. I do presentations to retirement communities, schools, etc. on his work and the history of the region. All of this is at my own pace.

I've also gotten very involved in our church that started a Beauty and Arts ministry.

Virginia is surprisingly not vet friendly (too many of us) and you can find states that will be kinder to you and your benefits. The state is beginning to come around with a recent law that will begin to decrease the amount of your military retirement the state taxes. https://www.wric.com/news/politics/capitol-connection/virginia-cuts-tax-on-military-retirement-pay-but-several-states-go-further/

Speaking of the other VA, ensure you are working with a VSO to file your VA claim. Go through your medical record with a fine tooth comb and claim it all. The time for toughing it out is over, claim every ache and pain, even if it isn't currently a problem (I probably don't need to tell this to a medical type).

My dark secret is that I did take full time work for a year during COVID to work for my alma mater (Virginia Tech) in their admissions. The position was as the liaison to the Corps of Cadets for the admissions office. It was fun, but a lot of work and the pay was awful, so I left after a year.

I won't take full time work again.

Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions. You've already been tracking with Nords, so I know you've got things well in hand. He is a treasure!

 

[Harris4crna]

I'm loving retirement. I keep trying to figure out how I used to work. Leaving the area and not being close to military was a bigger shock than you will feel, still being on-base and your spouse still AD.

The key is to find what gives you satisfaction without the stress of work.

I've been an avid photographer for about a decade and took a position (part time) as the education coordinator for a local historical society that runs the O. Winston Link Museum, a fairly well known photographer whose claim to fame was photographing the end of the steam train age in the southeast US from 1955-1960. I do presentations to retirement communities, schools, etc. on his work and the history of the region. All of this is at my own pace.

I've also gotten very involved in our church that started a Beauty and Arts ministry.

Virginia is surprisingly not vet friendly (too many of us) and you can find states that will be kinder to you and your benefits. The state is beginning to come around with a recent law that will begin to decrease the amount of your military retirement the state taxes. https://www.wric.com/news/politics/capitol-connection/virginia-cuts-tax-on-military-retirement-pay-but-several-states-go-further/

Speaking of the other VA, ensure you are working with a VSO to file your VA claim. Go through your medical record with a fine tooth comb and claim it all. The time for toughing it out is over, claim every ache and pain, even if it isn't currently a problem (I probably don't need to tell this to a medical type).

My dark secret is that I did take full time work for a year during COVID to work for my alma mater (Virginia Tech) in their admissions. The position was as the liaison to the Corps of Cadets for the admissions office. It was fun, but a lot of work and the pay was awful, so I left after a year.

I won't take full time work again.

Feel free to hit me up if you have any questions. You've already been tracking with Nords, so I know you've got things well in hand. He is a treasure!

Very good information and advice post military career. I really don't mind living on base. I have enjoyed being around the younger generation. Keeps me young.

I received my decision letter for my VA claim back in June with 100% P&T disability rating.

Wife has one more duty station and we will be looking to homestead or not. This is still up for discussion. As far as work for me, well I truly would like to buy a house so if I work it would be for a purpose. Otherwise with dual pensions with disability I really don't need to work. I am learning to live with less.

Thank you so much.

 

[rwdflynavy]

Very good information and advice post military career. I really don't mind living on base. I have enjoyed being around the younger generation. Keeps me young.

I received my decision letter for my VA claim back in June with 100% P&T disability rating.

Wife has one more duty station and we will be looking to homestead or not. This is still up for discussion. As far as work for me, well I truly would like to buy a house so if I work it would be for a purpose. Otherwise with dual pensions with disability I really don't need to work. I am learning to live with less.

Thank you so much.

Since you are 100% P&T, states will provide much more benefits (Virginia included). The double pension certainly gives you plenty of freedom.

Enjoy!

 

[Musica40]

Same here

Welcome!

Quite a few of us here are retired military, so you're in good company. 21 years in the USAF for me.

Personally, I got antsy after less than a year out, and pursued a second career for about 12 years. Totally different from what I did in uniform, and I enjoyed it just as much as my military career (a lot). Obviously, that also allowed for a more comfortable retirement once I hung it up for good.

But there are many paths. Do a little searching on posts by fellow forum member Nords, whose track is more like what you're referring to.

I also retired from the Air Force after almost 21 years of active duty. I continued to work and just retired last Feb at 63 years of age. Personally, 49 to me is too young to retire, but to each his own. We retireees have the luxury of Tricare and a miltary pension to buffer us until we receive social security. I collect my first SS check next month. Hope you have plans for filling in all that free time.

 

[Global Wizzo]

Hi and Congratulations on your pulling the cord.

I left at the 20-year point and over the next 25 years worked primarily for three companies. I wasn't in the medical field and the operational skills gave me a lot of very diverse experience. They weren't directly transferrable to a similar position outside the fence.

If you can stay retired and want to do that great. I liked traveling and getting paid to work with customers worldwide so for the "civilian" work time, I traveled an average of 150 days a year worldwide. My wife and I still travel about 1/3 of the time.

If you have hobbies that keep you busy, great. Mine actually turned into more fulltime work. Things eating up too much time and I had to shed some of them. The old 80/20 rules apply 20% of the volunteers will actually work and contribute. Coming from the military, your mindset puts you in the 20%.

Since you want to make a clean break with the medical field, try not working for a while. If you decide you would like more money for later years, then dive back into the working world for 5-10 years and maximize the savings. The nice thing about being retired, if the job quits being fun or the boss goes stupid. You can easily walk away and do something else.

If you decide to look at options in the medical field, consider international sales, contracting, etc. Will get you some good travel and you might have fun. 20+ years in the Navy and you just might not like the options I mention.

Whatever you do, have fun and enjoy every day.

GW

 

[targatom2019]

Wow, congratulations. My profession doing anesthesia was stressful as well. I miss the skills, but not the stress.

My daughter got 2 years left to become a CRNA and he is currently in The Kaiser CRNA program. I know the schooling is very stressful for her. It's the long hours that stresses you out or it's a burnout like other professions ?

Congrats !!!!

I retired at 50 and never looked back, good to find a hobby you love or couple hobbies.

 

[Harris4crna]

My daughter got 2 years left to become a CRNA and he is currently in The Kaiser CRNA program. I know the schooling is very stressful for her.

Congrats !!!!

I retired at 50 and never looked back, good to find a hobby you love or couple hobbies.

Kaiser is a very good program. I have trained many and trained with many. I loved the profession for the 15 years I actively did it. I miss it dearly, but seemed life had other plans for me. I will be 50 next month. i could do hobbies, I can think of many to do if eventually i give my self permission to do them. Thank you

 

[SnowballCamper]

I retired from the Army in my mid 40s, and did some community college teaching for a year before full retirement. Now about five years later I'm still glad I'm not working. There is a period of adjustment. I too wonder why so many military retirees keep on working...some just never lived below their means, and some truly love the grind. I love doing what I want. Welcome to the club!

 

[Retire52]

Retired, retired from the Army @ age 48 after 27 years as an O6. DW also Army, retired with me as an O5. It has been five years of retirement for me, and I have had zero regrets in not having even entertained the idea of a bridge career. As one retiree said, getting a job is a great way to screw up a good retirement.

Once we knew our financials were solid, we pulled the plug. I am greatful for the 50 hours we each got back for the past 250+ weeks.

 

[imnontrad]

I know one retired military member who retired at 42 (nords, already mentioned) and parents of friends who established/sold their company and retired in their 40's (now in their late 80's).
They both stayed in the home they already owned and spent their time traveling and pursuing pathetic pursuits they liked. Nords also volunteers to help current military members to achieve financial freedom.
I retired later at age 62. I have a lot of activities to increase my physical health plus do several volunteer activities. Some days are even too busy! This year I will be doing several international Volksmarches plus trying out Space A travel.

 

[cnocmmz]

Greetings,

Retired from the US Navy at 49 years old. Along with retiring from a 23 year career in the military, I have decided to no longer work in my profession. Retiring from the military is an easy one, but from the profession that took many years of schooling has been difficult. I am coming to this community to align with others who chose to walk away from their profession young in life to pursue a career as a retiree.

I meet many who are in retirement age (>62yo), but don't meet many who walk away from career to retire after meeting FIRE (<50yo). Any regrets? Do you return? Love to hear from those retired from the military and DID not take on a second career. How has it been going. Love to hear your experience.

Hi...a retired CMC here......25 years active and then 12 years as a GS12 gov employee, then retired from that. DW did 30 years in the Benefits section of the NEXCOM system so she has her pension and SS as well. Invested well over the years and called it quits last year at age 61. Life is good and we have been traveling a lot in 2022. In fact, still over seas writing this response.
Would recommend traveling or doing whatever you want to while you still can because the world has changed since COVID. Since your DW is still active it does restrict your movement somewhat; however, planning is what makes it fun. Enjoy and thank you for your service CDR.

 

[BlueAFMom]

Welcome!

Retired from USAF at 49 in 2017 after 27+ years/0-6 and was also medical. After a string of admin/command jobs at the end, I too had not practiced my profession in the last years of active duty enough to transition easily into the civilian sector and really lacked the desire to do so but letting it go was mentally difficult. And, in hindsight, I was so burned out and exhausted at the end that I just wanted out and planned to figure out what was next when I recovered. I kept the credential for about 5 years until it would require significant time and $$ to renew.

In the meantime, I helped take care of my father (who passed 3 months after I left active duty), dabbled in helping my brother launch a start-up, and took a very part-time contract teaching position, filling my spare time with fitness and personal interests/hobbies. I entertained several career pivots but decided none were worth my ROI and that any pursuit was to fill a void that could not genuinely be filled with another career.

The biggest struggle (aside from finding my identity) has been figuring out where to live. We (my part-time-working husband and I) retired to my hometown, moving twice there in the first 2 years, temporarily relocated to FL to try it on for size (where we are currently renting) and will retreat back more north when our mountain/lake home is finished at the end of this year. We think this is it but time will tell!

The scarcity of like-minded individuals of similar circumstances definitely alters your social landscape but that has drawn my husband and me closer and we figure the age differences will take care of themselves over time.

Only after 5 years of reflection and pursuit, I can offer my thoughts based on what I have learned along the way. Accept the gift of financial freedom and be kind to yourself after serving selflessly in medicine and the military for 23 years. Being mindful, rested, and patient will help you find your way.

 

[mf15]

I salute all of you that stayed in.
In 1972 retired after 2 years in the Army, year in Korea DMZ. LOL
Left Korea,3 days later ETS. Was an mental adjustment for sure.
Oldmike

 

[ncbill]

I salute all of you that stayed in.

Ditto...I hope my kids can all go career as well.

Of course, the active duty one still owes around a decade to pay back flight school.

 

[Gumby]

Welcome aboard.

Like our friend Nords, I was a USNA grad and then a submarine officer. Unlike Nords, I surfaced for good the day my 5 year commitment was up. After a few years operating a commercial nuclear reactor, I went back to school and became a lawyer, a career from which I recently retired after 27 years. Interesting, when I look back on my working days, "naval officer" was my identity, "lawyer" was just something I did to make money. Weird, huh?

 

[Koolau]

Welcome aboard.

Like our friend Nords, I was a USNA grad and then a submarine officer. Unlike Nords, I surfaced for good the day my 5 year commitment was up. After a few years operating a commercial nuclear reactor, I went back to school and became a lawyer, a career from which I recently retired after 27 years. Interesting, when I look back on my working days, "naval officer" was my identity, "lawyer" was just something I did to make money. Weird, huh?

Most of us would qualify for "What a Long Strange Trip It's Been" status if we think about it. I had only one major empl*yer, but the stuff I did there seemed to have little to do with the c@reer path I planned, the education I received and the "promises" made to me by Megacrop. Eventually, I created my own path, enjoyed it for many years until Megacorp finally figured out that they had been duped (found out I was actually enjoying what I was doing.) They told me I was heading back to the "salt mines." I retired the next WEEK. It is good to be FI.

 

[Harris4crna]

Hi...a retired CMC here......25 years active and then 12 years as a GS12 gov employee, then retired from that. DW did 30 years in the Benefits section of the NEXCOM system so she has her pension and SS as well. Invested well over the years and called it quits last year at age 61. Life is good and we have been traveling a lot in 2022. In fact, still over seas writing this response.
Would recommend traveling or doing whatever you want to while you still can because the world has changed since COVID. Since your DW is still active it does restrict your movement somewhat; however, planning is what makes it fun. Enjoy and thank you for your service CDR.

Thank you for your service as well. Will definitely take your advice to travel. We have two trips planned this year. First trip will be to Portugal and the second will be DW's home of Okinawa. We love to travel for sure. Enjoy your trip.

 

[Harris4crna]

Welcome aboard.

Like our friend Nords, I was a USNA grad and then a submarine officer. Unlike Nords, I surfaced for good the day my 5 year commitment was up. After a few years operating a commercial nuclear reactor, I went back to school and became a lawyer, a career from which I recently retired after 27 years. Interesting, when I look back on my working days, "naval officer" was my identity, "lawyer" was just something I did to make money. Weird, huh?

Congratulation on your retirement. The military definitely has that influence on those who served. My father served only two years and he still talks about his time in the Navy.

I can identify with you and Nord. I did spend 1 month underway on the USS Ohio in 2016. Great opportunity to lead a surgical team onboard. Plan was to go underway again in 2017 on the Michigan, but an equipment casualty cancelled the deployment. Spent most of my time on surface ships, a deployment with the Marines and the rest of the time in the hospital.

My son is currently doing his undergraduate at CSU with plans to apply to law school at the end of the year. He is breaking the trend from a career in the medicine to a career in law. My daughter is a pharmacist. Anyway, thank you for the post, truly appreciate it.

 

[Harris4crna]

Welcome!

Retired from USAF at 49 in 2017 after 27+ years/0-6 and was also medical. After a string of admin/command jobs at the end, I too had not practiced my profession in the last years of active duty enough to transition easily into the civilian sector and really lacked the desire to do so but letting it go was mentally difficult. And, in hindsight, I was so burned out and exhausted at the end that I just wanted out and planned to figure out what was next when I recovered. I kept the credential for about 5 years until it would require significant time and $$ to renew.

In the meantime, I helped take care of my father (who passed 3 months after I left active duty), dabbled in helping my brother launch a start-up, and took a very part-time contract teaching position, filling my spare time with fitness and personal interests/hobbies. I entertained several career pivots but decided none were worth my ROI and that any pursuit was to fill a void that could not genuinely be filled with another career.

The biggest struggle (aside from finding my identity) has been figuring out where to live. We (my part-time-working husband and I) retired to my hometown, moving twice there in the first 2 years, temporarily relocated to FL to try it on for size (where we are currently renting) and will retreat back more north when our mountain/lake home is finished at the end of this year. We think this is it but time will tell!

The scarcity of like-minded individuals of similar circumstances definitely alters your social landscape but that has drawn my husband and me closer and we figure the age differences will take care of themselves over time.

Only after 5 years of reflection and pursuit, I can offer my thoughts based on what I have learned along the way. Accept the gift of financial freedom and be kind to yourself after serving selflessly in medicine and the military for 23 years. Being mindful, rested, and patient will help you find your way.

Thank you for taking the time to share your experience. This is truly valuable. I shared your response with my wife. She continues to be AD with expectations to continue until 2026 when she becomes eligible to retire with CDR pay. She will be 57 years old. Your experience is truly valuable.

I may have stated, retiring from the military was easy. I had orders to Walter Reed and the wife had orders to Fort Belvoir. We were not willing to make the commute and rent between locations. It simply did not make financial sense. Also, I had the responsibility to care for my father all while suffering from an autoimmune disorder. I do believe I had a good chance to pick up 06, but in the end I would have had difficulty serving the role. I believe it was time to retire.

I would have jumped back into the hospital prior to retirement to prepare for the transition back into the profession, but I too was burned out. The COVID responsibilities zapped all my energy. When I had time, the barriers was overwhelming. The hospital were transitioning to a new EMR, the OR limited their cases due to COVID and I was not allowed to work my moonlighting gig due to being out of the area. Extra time went to preparing for retirement and assisting the wife PCS from San Diego to Fort Belvoir since she left 6 months prior to my retirement date. With all this said, I am not making excuses, but stating the facts. I still believe I could have made time if I truly had the desire.

In the end, I believe it was meant to happen as it did. I am going to embrace the opportunity to seek a new identity. I will support the wife with her career. I will serve my profession by working part time teaching nursing school. I will serve myself by taking care of my mind, body and spirit. I just need to let go so I can truly focus my energy in the rightful direction. Again, I thank you for taking the time to share. I truly appreciate it.

 

[Hardatit]

I retired last year after 21 years in the Air Force at 39 years old. I have no plans to take another job. I lived off E-3 pay my whole time in and invested the rest. Made it to E-8. Paid cash for the house and property and we have no bills. Sitting pretty good between retirement and disablitly pay. I built an online business selling ATV parts back in 2011 that provides some extra income and I have one rental property. It's good to get up and do what I want everyday. I don't know how I had time for a job. I keep myself pretty busy. The wife still works but will probably quit this year. Life is good. Good luck and God bless.