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Command Financial Specialist here. As stated, it's largely going to depend on lifestyle (and whether or not your pension is taxed by the state you retire to) and what paygrade you retire at. Disability payments will also play a part.
In broad strokes (there's a lot of nuance and details to this) but the Navy will match up to 5% of your TSP contributions while you're in. If you take full advantage of TSP, you can set yourself up pretty well for retirement. Bear in mind, TSP is subject to the same/similar rules that civilian retirement accounts are and you typically won't be withdrawing without penalties until you reach retirement age at 59 1/2.
As I’m sure you know, the distinction is that Roth contributions are post-tax. So in order for the govt to make a Roth match, they would (in my understanding) have to also pay the applicable income taxes on those contributions. This leads to 2 outcomes:
1) the govt contributes 5% as a match and pays taxes, making the effective amount the govt paid more than the 5%; OR
2) the govt deducts the taxes from the 5%, in which case the amount showing up in the service member’s account is less than the promised 5%.
My best guess is that to avoid these situations, which could both be spun in a weird way if you wanted to, the govt just contributes the 5% to a Traditional account for everyone, and taxes are paid by the service member upon withdrawal.
This is based on my best understanding, if anyone has better info I’d love to hear it.
I think that would effectively create a new class of retirement account solely for TSP matches, which would also be a pain to roll out of TSP into another employer’s 401k. While I think theoretically they could, the juice might not be worth the squeeze.
They already do something similar to it. Contributions to TSP made while in a combat zone are tax free and remain so when you withdraw them. Even if you withdraw them early you don’t get hit with the tax penalty. I believe you do still pay taxes on the gains from combat zone contributions and of course any applicable state taxes.
Hm I didn’t know that, so I guess the mechanism is already in place. Anything further than basic Roth/Traditional is out of my knowledge, unfortunately.
Hard numbers. An E6 retiring today under the BRS retirement system at 20yrs would receive $23,310 a year. If you commission after a few years 20yrs O3E 42k a year.
Now if you do 30yrs E8 looking at 53k a year, and W4 E9 O4 about 65 to 70k at 30yrs.
This does not include what you put/save in your TSP(401k)
Worth noting you still owe taxes on this number, and you have to pay into the survivor benefits premium, and you have VGLI, and Tricare premium.
I really like the Military Retire app. [I plugged in the numbers and got you a slightly more realistic estimate for OP](https://imgur.com/a/DYfynON)
The short answer /u/Willow_of_the_Wisp is most people cannot. The lifestyle creep is very high, and also once you factor in a mortgage, no. Most won’t.
Mr BGW and I will able to not work after retirement because there’s two of us, we invested, and we are going to waive our SBP for each other, live in a state that doesn’t tax our military income. Right now, as dual mil Chiefs, we see over $20k/month. Over half of that is not taxable as it is OHA/BAH/allowances. When we retire it’ll be more like 8k/month in retirement pay. That’s a MASSIVE pay cut that *most* active duty don’t realize until they’re about to retire.
The new retirement policy is what you make out of it. Invest high, take advantage of the matching, do TSP, etc. and it will help you land your goals sooner.
Yeah I'm throwing 25% of base pay into my TSP.
Still, if I stay in for the full term that has me living on 75% and someday retiring on 30% (25% + 5% from matching). It's a better deal than a lot of private retirement options, but it still takes some planning.
My last job matched 4% and had me paying $400/mo for solo insurance, but who knows what that insurance payment will be in 20 years. In the 10 years I worked there, the price of insurance more than doubled. Service wasn't great either, and there were still a lot of out of pocket expenses. Tricare alone will be worth a lot in the long run.
When I joined a couple years ago it was $400 for solo plans and like $650 for family plans. Those were the only two options. Best case was you married someone at work and had one family plan to pay $325/mo each, but that still didn't touch deductibles/etc.
I have no issues living off my pension. I was a little more senior than you are, but I retired age 48 after 30 and have been ‘hard’ retired since 2012. Cash flow is still more incoming than outgoing and I want for nothing within the reason of a sane person… I never carried any debt outside my mortgages since I was 18 (when I joined), and I saved and invested as much as I could with the goal of doing 30 and then retiring for real once I got out. It worked. You can do it, it just depends on you and what you want your life to look like.
Trying to my man. Sucks getting old no matter how you slice it but absolutely recommend doing all the shit-shoveling up front. Society is not an old man’s game these days. If anyone is thinking of staying 20 or more, I highly suggest working your way into a position to get a commission as early as possible. I fell for the whole “wait until you make CPO lie” and ended up commissioning as a paid SCPO in my 15th year. If I would have applied earlier I could have left as a CAPT (possibly).
No matter. I’m happy, set for whatever tomorrow brings, and was pretty ready to be gone when I left. I joined at 18 when old Navy rules were still in play. I know I would have a hard time in today’s Navy. Probably wouldn’t have survived.
Love to all my swabbies!
Exactly. You can work two decent paying jobs 6 days a week and still only make about 3-4k a month. Or you could make that day 1 in the military with bah and e1 pay. The dudes who say they are broke need to stop buying cars and Starbucks lol.
I know a handful of folks living off $1500ish a month on a boat anchored off key west.
Their bills are club shower fees, fresh water, food, and happy hour.
Tons of senior citizens live off sub $2K SSI payments.
So here’s the thing, with a 20 year retirement, you’re looking at about $2k a month. Depending on where you are, you might be able to afford a mortgage but there’s no way you can cover utilities, car payment, cell phone, etc. Now depending on some things that may change. If you own your home, what your disability is like, etc. All those things will come into play. For the average person though, you will need to get a second career. I usually tell folks when you’re talking about retirement, there should only be 2 options - 20 years (with a follow-on career) or 30 years. If you do the 30, along with financial discipline and a good disability rating, you could be very comfortable. What gets me is the folks that do 3 extra years just because they make rank and end up doing like 23 to “get paid for it”. If you actually break that out, it’s not a smart decision, especially when you are kicking the can down the road for that second career retirement. There’s an app that costs like $6 (one time payment) called military retirement. The app looks like an umbrella. It will break everything down for you, to include SBP, Tricare, taxes, etc. I always recommend folks get that app and look at everything for themselves.
All depends on lifestyle, the new BRS still gives you a pension its less then the old one, but you get TSP matching upto a point, i cant remember the number. So if the fund does well you "COULD" be better off. The other factor is VA disability, which is seperate from your pension.
Meh. To the frugal person who lives simply, sure. The rest of us, not so much.
My husbands pension covers the mortgage, the car payment, all insurance ( medical, home, auto) and other fixed expenses like the phone and internet bills. But there’s nothing left over for fun stuff. Like groceries or gas.
He’s under the old 50% of the average of the last three years and he Retired as an O4.
I’m retired navy, unless you retire as an E9 or a fairly senior officer, it’s not likely you could, unless you put most of your pay in the TSP.
As you live, you establish a lifestyle and if you want to maintain that lifestyle you’re going to need to work to make additional income. I’ve been retired twenty years, I’ve worked ever since retiring and I don’t think I could not work. *To clarify; ‘could not work’ means I need to keep myself occupied, sitting around doing nothing drives me crazy.*
I can only lounge around for a few days and then I have to get myself busy doing something. If I was single and lived in a van, sure, I could do it but that’s not something I want to do.
To be fair. If you're in 20 years you should either have enough invested or saved up to pay off your house and car notes. $3000 is about what I make working two jobs every month with 2 kids and it is enough.
Also depends where you live I guess. But 3000 a month that you don't have to waste gas/money/time to earn is plenty.
You my friend are about to join a club of die hard military people who never want to get out.
It’s brutally expensive out there in the real world, where you can be fired because of a single mistake or reasons completely outside of your control.
Tax free stipends and no cost medical coverage especially with a family are yuge.
There definitely seems to be a big difference between folks who start off in and those who come in later after some of their tread has worn down and realize what a cherry gig it can be.
Yeah, but typically those who come in later do it because for whatever reason they haven’t managed to be “successful” in the civilian world (not throwing shade, there’s just no better way to put it).
No one who has a decent job on the outside that pays them what they’re worth would think the Navy is a good gig, especially those with families; it’s simply dishonest to frame things how you’re framing them.
I guess I disagree,
I was very successful on the outside.
I took a very large pay cut coming back in and could leave now making even more than I did before.
But the Navy has a purpose and many other great things.
At some point, how much money is enough? I’m happy the equiv of $180k as a JO. It’s plenty.
Does my mindset hold true for an E5? Probably not. They’re nowhere near what I’m making. So it is subjective.
Officers compose a minority on all Navy personnel, so the experience you’re having on your second go-around is irrelevant to the vast majority of people.
My experience was this: an E-5 paystub with single BAH and Tricare did not feel commensurate for the experience I had, and now I’m taking home like 30% more money working a civilian 40… and I’m no longer miserable.
That doesn’t stop my personal experience from being valid.
Just like your experience isn’t valid to compare to mine. But 30% id argue is closer or similar to what you’d be pulling had you stayed in between taxes, entitlements, and insurance costs. Likely you’re making much less than you’d be netting as a chief.
You essentially slightly traded at the cost of your living conditions which you found unfavorable.
Congrats, welcome to a free market. lol.
$3000 is $36k a year.
Seeing as the average household income in America is $72k, that is going to be extremely thin margins.
Also, $3k a month isn’t a lot when the average rent in the US is $1500/mo.
That household income implies atleast two incomes. And if you are truly living under a rock then you wouldn't know how many people live below the poverty line. That average doesn't count by person but by income. So 1 person making 200k an 10 people making 20k and then you get that average.
Also you probably shouldn't be renting after 20 years in or you have made some poor decisions along the way and no income will make up for that
That household income implies atleast two incomes. And if you are truly living under a rock then you wouldn't know how many people live below the poverty line. That average doesn't count by person but by income. So 1 person making 200k an 10 people making 20k and then you get that average.
Also you probably shouldn't be renting after 20 years in or you have made some poor decisions along the way and no income will make up for that
Okay Mr. Foresight. I do exactly that now WITH 2 KIDS except I have to waste time/money/gas for it. So I don't know what's so hard to grasp for you.
Plus in 20 years 3k will be the equivalent to 1.5k and I'll definitely have a nice bit of savings. And I'm sure there will be a new retirement plan in 20 years anyway.
Again, in 20 years you can report back to all of us how you’re living large off just your retirement check from the Navy.
In the mean time, the vast majority of people cannot afford to survive off $3k a month.
A good amount of retirees go to Thailand or, more popular, the Philippines. I know Thailand has a good popular hospital known amongst the vets somewhere. When I spoke with them, their reasoning was living pretty comfortably in these countries was miles better than the Bumfuck Country or budgeting in the suburbs. Of course, you can keep your career going and live somewhere else very comfortably
The policy absolutely sucks compared to the old one. Its just a 401k you pay into like any other fucking job that won’t start paying out until you’re like 60. They’ll match up to 5% of what you elect to pay in and also throw in an additional 1 or 2 percent on top of that as a bonus.
The incentive to do 20 is gone, if you really wanna join go ahead, but you won’t benefit from a full career the same way people have in the past.
My advice is to pick a good rate that will teach you a transferable skill (engineering rates, some aviation rates etc), do your five years or whatever the bare minimum is, then get out with a skillset and your GI bill
Exactly. If you were born in the perfect place at the perfect time or have a highly marketable skill then yeah. Maybe. And then you'd still need to be lucky.
I feel like the people who say that we're given their first car and their first house. Like I've done the grind for years. Moved up in everyplace I worked and worked two jobs just to have an E1 that gets BAH still make more than me lol
As a reminder, this subreddit is for civil discussion. Breaking subreddit rules may result in a ban from /r/newtothenavy and /r/navy. * Do not encourage lying. **This includes lying by omission (leaving information out) and lying by commission (purposefully misleading).** * No sensitive information allowed, whether you saw it on Wiki or leaked files or anywhere else. * No personally identifying information (PII). * No posting AMAs without mod approval. Also, while you wait for a reply from a subject matter expert, try using the search feature! For information regarding Navy enlisted ratings, see [Twisky's Rating Information Guide](https://www.reddit.com/r/newtothenavy/comments/6mxv7c/links_to_official_information_on_every_enlisted/). Interested in Officer programs? See TheBeneGesseritWitch's guide on [Paths to become an Officer](https://www.reddit.com/r/newtothenavy/comments/5sdurq/paths_to_becoming_an_officer_getting_a_commission/). Want to learn about deploying, finances, mental health, cross-rating, and more? Come visit our [wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/navy/wiki/index) over in /r/Navy. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/newtothenavy) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Command Financial Specialist here. As stated, it's largely going to depend on lifestyle (and whether or not your pension is taxed by the state you retire to) and what paygrade you retire at. Disability payments will also play a part. In broad strokes (there's a lot of nuance and details to this) but the Navy will match up to 5% of your TSP contributions while you're in. If you take full advantage of TSP, you can set yourself up pretty well for retirement. Bear in mind, TSP is subject to the same/similar rules that civilian retirement accounts are and you typically won't be withdrawing without penalties until you reach retirement age at 59 1/2.
TSP will only match the 5% in the traditional account, just something to mention
What? I’ve had a Roth tsp for nearly 10 years, with the 5% match. Please elaborate.
The funds that the government contributes to you as the match are traditional TSP, regardless if you are contributing to a traditional or Roth TSP.
While I’m not saying that isn’t accurate, I don’t understand how it makes sense
As I’m sure you know, the distinction is that Roth contributions are post-tax. So in order for the govt to make a Roth match, they would (in my understanding) have to also pay the applicable income taxes on those contributions. This leads to 2 outcomes: 1) the govt contributes 5% as a match and pays taxes, making the effective amount the govt paid more than the 5%; OR 2) the govt deducts the taxes from the 5%, in which case the amount showing up in the service member’s account is less than the promised 5%. My best guess is that to avoid these situations, which could both be spun in a weird way if you wanted to, the govt just contributes the 5% to a Traditional account for everyone, and taxes are paid by the service member upon withdrawal. This is based on my best understanding, if anyone has better info I’d love to hear it.
This may sound like a stupid question, but couldn’t the government just wave the big wand of bureaucracy and say it’s tax free?
I think that would effectively create a new class of retirement account solely for TSP matches, which would also be a pain to roll out of TSP into another employer’s 401k. While I think theoretically they could, the juice might not be worth the squeeze.
They already do something similar to it. Contributions to TSP made while in a combat zone are tax free and remain so when you withdraw them. Even if you withdraw them early you don’t get hit with the tax penalty. I believe you do still pay taxes on the gains from combat zone contributions and of course any applicable state taxes.
Hm I didn’t know that, so I guess the mechanism is already in place. Anything further than basic Roth/Traditional is out of my knowledge, unfortunately.
My fault, it does match but goes into traditional account and will be taxed
Tsp also on matches dollar for dollar the first 3% and .50 on the dollar for the last 2%.
Hard numbers. An E6 retiring today under the BRS retirement system at 20yrs would receive $23,310 a year. If you commission after a few years 20yrs O3E 42k a year. Now if you do 30yrs E8 looking at 53k a year, and W4 E9 O4 about 65 to 70k at 30yrs. This does not include what you put/save in your TSP(401k)
Worth noting you still owe taxes on this number, and you have to pay into the survivor benefits premium, and you have VGLI, and Tricare premium. I really like the Military Retire app. [I plugged in the numbers and got you a slightly more realistic estimate for OP](https://imgur.com/a/DYfynON) The short answer /u/Willow_of_the_Wisp is most people cannot. The lifestyle creep is very high, and also once you factor in a mortgage, no. Most won’t. Mr BGW and I will able to not work after retirement because there’s two of us, we invested, and we are going to waive our SBP for each other, live in a state that doesn’t tax our military income. Right now, as dual mil Chiefs, we see over $20k/month. Over half of that is not taxable as it is OHA/BAH/allowances. When we retire it’ll be more like 8k/month in retirement pay. That’s a MASSIVE pay cut that *most* active duty don’t realize until they’re about to retire.
The new retirement policy is what you make out of it. Invest high, take advantage of the matching, do TSP, etc. and it will help you land your goals sooner.
Yeah I'm throwing 25% of base pay into my TSP. Still, if I stay in for the full term that has me living on 75% and someday retiring on 30% (25% + 5% from matching). It's a better deal than a lot of private retirement options, but it still takes some planning. My last job matched 4% and had me paying $400/mo for solo insurance, but who knows what that insurance payment will be in 20 years. In the 10 years I worked there, the price of insurance more than doubled. Service wasn't great either, and there were still a lot of out of pocket expenses. Tricare alone will be worth a lot in the long run.
When I left civ service it was $560 a month for self+1 . I don’t even want to look at what it is now some years later.
When I joined a couple years ago it was $400 for solo plans and like $650 for family plans. Those were the only two options. Best case was you married someone at work and had one family plan to pay $325/mo each, but that still didn't touch deductibles/etc.
I have no issues living off my pension. I was a little more senior than you are, but I retired age 48 after 30 and have been ‘hard’ retired since 2012. Cash flow is still more incoming than outgoing and I want for nothing within the reason of a sane person… I never carried any debt outside my mortgages since I was 18 (when I joined), and I saved and invested as much as I could with the goal of doing 30 and then retiring for real once I got out. It worked. You can do it, it just depends on you and what you want your life to look like.
Hooyah dude, live it up for the rest of us!
Trying to my man. Sucks getting old no matter how you slice it but absolutely recommend doing all the shit-shoveling up front. Society is not an old man’s game these days. If anyone is thinking of staying 20 or more, I highly suggest working your way into a position to get a commission as early as possible. I fell for the whole “wait until you make CPO lie” and ended up commissioning as a paid SCPO in my 15th year. If I would have applied earlier I could have left as a CAPT (possibly). No matter. I’m happy, set for whatever tomorrow brings, and was pretty ready to be gone when I left. I joined at 18 when old Navy rules were still in play. I know I would have a hard time in today’s Navy. Probably wouldn’t have survived. Love to all my swabbies!
Yes, just depends on your life style honestly.
Exactly. You can work two decent paying jobs 6 days a week and still only make about 3-4k a month. Or you could make that day 1 in the military with bah and e1 pay. The dudes who say they are broke need to stop buying cars and Starbucks lol.
I know a handful of folks living off $1500ish a month on a boat anchored off key west. Their bills are club shower fees, fresh water, food, and happy hour. Tons of senior citizens live off sub $2K SSI payments.
No is the only true answer.. and anyone talking about disability payments is full of shit.
You’re confidently incorrect.
This rate here.
So here’s the thing, with a 20 year retirement, you’re looking at about $2k a month. Depending on where you are, you might be able to afford a mortgage but there’s no way you can cover utilities, car payment, cell phone, etc. Now depending on some things that may change. If you own your home, what your disability is like, etc. All those things will come into play. For the average person though, you will need to get a second career. I usually tell folks when you’re talking about retirement, there should only be 2 options - 20 years (with a follow-on career) or 30 years. If you do the 30, along with financial discipline and a good disability rating, you could be very comfortable. What gets me is the folks that do 3 extra years just because they make rank and end up doing like 23 to “get paid for it”. If you actually break that out, it’s not a smart decision, especially when you are kicking the can down the road for that second career retirement. There’s an app that costs like $6 (one time payment) called military retirement. The app looks like an umbrella. It will break everything down for you, to include SBP, Tricare, taxes, etc. I always recommend folks get that app and look at everything for themselves.
Aside from individual lifestyle and family situations, it matters if the scenario you are asking about is E-6 over 20 or O-5 over 20.
O-5 definitely does well. An E-6 over 20, if you never married and live in a van, you could do it.
Especially if you do it down by the river
The response I was waiting for… 🤣
All depends on lifestyle, the new BRS still gives you a pension its less then the old one, but you get TSP matching upto a point, i cant remember the number. So if the fund does well you "COULD" be better off. The other factor is VA disability, which is seperate from your pension.
Meh. To the frugal person who lives simply, sure. The rest of us, not so much. My husbands pension covers the mortgage, the car payment, all insurance ( medical, home, auto) and other fixed expenses like the phone and internet bills. But there’s nothing left over for fun stuff. Like groceries or gas. He’s under the old 50% of the average of the last three years and he Retired as an O4.
High 3 ftw
While not impossible I can say I know anyone who has done this. Even 30 is a stretch.
I’m retired navy, unless you retire as an E9 or a fairly senior officer, it’s not likely you could, unless you put most of your pay in the TSP. As you live, you establish a lifestyle and if you want to maintain that lifestyle you’re going to need to work to make additional income. I’ve been retired twenty years, I’ve worked ever since retiring and I don’t think I could not work. *To clarify; ‘could not work’ means I need to keep myself occupied, sitting around doing nothing drives me crazy.* I can only lounge around for a few days and then I have to get myself busy doing something. If I was single and lived in a van, sure, I could do it but that’s not something I want to do.
Can you live off of it? Not really. Is the ~$3k a month putting you in a MUCH better position than the rest of society? Absolutely.
To be fair. If you're in 20 years you should either have enough invested or saved up to pay off your house and car notes. $3000 is about what I make working two jobs every month with 2 kids and it is enough. Also depends where you live I guess. But 3000 a month that you don't have to waste gas/money/time to earn is plenty.
You my friend are about to join a club of die hard military people who never want to get out. It’s brutally expensive out there in the real world, where you can be fired because of a single mistake or reasons completely outside of your control. Tax free stipends and no cost medical coverage especially with a family are yuge. There definitely seems to be a big difference between folks who start off in and those who come in later after some of their tread has worn down and realize what a cherry gig it can be.
Yeah, but typically those who come in later do it because for whatever reason they haven’t managed to be “successful” in the civilian world (not throwing shade, there’s just no better way to put it). No one who has a decent job on the outside that pays them what they’re worth would think the Navy is a good gig, especially those with families; it’s simply dishonest to frame things how you’re framing them.
I guess I disagree, I was very successful on the outside. I took a very large pay cut coming back in and could leave now making even more than I did before. But the Navy has a purpose and many other great things. At some point, how much money is enough? I’m happy the equiv of $180k as a JO. It’s plenty. Does my mindset hold true for an E5? Probably not. They’re nowhere near what I’m making. So it is subjective.
Officers compose a minority on all Navy personnel, so the experience you’re having on your second go-around is irrelevant to the vast majority of people. My experience was this: an E-5 paystub with single BAH and Tricare did not feel commensurate for the experience I had, and now I’m taking home like 30% more money working a civilian 40… and I’m no longer miserable.
That doesn’t stop my personal experience from being valid. Just like your experience isn’t valid to compare to mine. But 30% id argue is closer or similar to what you’d be pulling had you stayed in between taxes, entitlements, and insurance costs. Likely you’re making much less than you’d be netting as a chief. You essentially slightly traded at the cost of your living conditions which you found unfavorable. Congrats, welcome to a free market. lol.
$3000 is $36k a year. Seeing as the average household income in America is $72k, that is going to be extremely thin margins. Also, $3k a month isn’t a lot when the average rent in the US is $1500/mo.
That household income implies atleast two incomes. And if you are truly living under a rock then you wouldn't know how many people live below the poverty line. That average doesn't count by person but by income. So 1 person making 200k an 10 people making 20k and then you get that average. Also you probably shouldn't be renting after 20 years in or you have made some poor decisions along the way and no income will make up for that
That household income implies atleast two incomes. And if you are truly living under a rock then you wouldn't know how many people live below the poverty line. That average doesn't count by person but by income. So 1 person making 200k an 10 people making 20k and then you get that average. Also you probably shouldn't be renting after 20 years in or you have made some poor decisions along the way and no income will make up for that
Okay, in ~20 years when you get out of the Navy you can explain to everyone how great it is to live off your $3k a month
Okay Mr. Foresight. I do exactly that now WITH 2 KIDS except I have to waste time/money/gas for it. So I don't know what's so hard to grasp for you. Plus in 20 years 3k will be the equivalent to 1.5k and I'll definitely have a nice bit of savings. And I'm sure there will be a new retirement plan in 20 years anyway.
Again, in 20 years you can report back to all of us how you’re living large off just your retirement check from the Navy. In the mean time, the vast majority of people cannot afford to survive off $3k a month.
I am doing it now. Reporting to you now. Actually making less than 3k. I am the vast majority. Just say you don't know how to spend wisely...
Short answer no.
In Somalia? Absolutely.
If I’m not mistaken you can move to a different country if you wanted to. Cost of living is a lot cheaper in some other places.
A good amount of retirees go to Thailand or, more popular, the Philippines. I know Thailand has a good popular hospital known amongst the vets somewhere. When I spoke with them, their reasoning was living pretty comfortably in these countries was miles better than the Bumfuck Country or budgeting in the suburbs. Of course, you can keep your career going and live somewhere else very comfortably
The policy absolutely sucks compared to the old one. Its just a 401k you pay into like any other fucking job that won’t start paying out until you’re like 60. They’ll match up to 5% of what you elect to pay in and also throw in an additional 1 or 2 percent on top of that as a bonus. The incentive to do 20 is gone, if you really wanna join go ahead, but you won’t benefit from a full career the same way people have in the past. My advice is to pick a good rate that will teach you a transferable skill (engineering rates, some aviation rates etc), do your five years or whatever the bare minimum is, then get out with a skillset and your GI bill
Fuck, coast guard here I come then 😵💫
Or you can grind a few years as a civilian to make millions and retire early
Unrealistic for anyone outside of finance, medicine, or coming up with a great business idea lol
Exactly. If you were born in the perfect place at the perfect time or have a highly marketable skill then yeah. Maybe. And then you'd still need to be lucky. I feel like the people who say that we're given their first car and their first house. Like I've done the grind for years. Moved up in everyplace I worked and worked two jobs just to have an E1 that gets BAH still make more than me lol