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  #1  
Old 03-31-2008, 04:54 PM
Gunnys TJ Gunnys TJ is offline
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Life: Post military retirement

Tomorrow is my 33rd birthday. Lately it has been hitting me that the military portion of my life is coming to an end. I joined the Marines when I was 17 and have already reenlisted out to my 20 year mark just a bit over 4 years from now. This boards members, for the most part, are a bit senior to myself, so I thought I would ask some opinions from you all.

I'm a family guy with a wife and two kids. My retirement will bring in about $3,000 a month after taxes +3% each year for inflation starting the first day after the month I retire plus ful medical benefits for the family. Basically my house will be paid for and we will have great medical insurance. I plan to work for 30 years after military retirement to pay the house off, then use the retirement to actually retire on.

Here's my dilemma. As much as I have enjoyed the military, it's not something that I care to continue dealing with on the civillian side. I wil have done my time in my opinion. There are MANY contractor and government jobs I could take and make a healthy 6 figures on top of my retirement with the education and experience I have collected over the years. BUT..and it's a big but..my real passions in life is spinning wrenches. I just love to get dirty working on cars.

Having spent my entire adult life in service, I think maybe it's time to do something I love for the next part of my life. I'm getting ready to step into some uncharted waters soon. My family is on my side 100% either way.

My basic question is: If you didn't have to worry about a house payment or retirement and were just working to put food on the table, would you turn down the bigger check for doing something you actually enjoy?
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Old 03-31-2008, 05:23 PM
speaceman speaceman is offline
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You take the bigger check, do it for awhile, build up a nice nest egg, then go do what you want to do for the rest of your time until you retire.

That way you have a nice cushion to work with in case things go to crap somewhere in the middle there.

(I am not nor have I ever been in the military, so maybe my opinion won't count, but that's the way I'd do things, if I were looking at your situation.)
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Old 03-31-2008, 05:30 PM
Gunnys TJ Gunnys TJ is offline
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Quote:
Originally Posted by speaceman View Post
You take the bigger check, do it for awhile, build up a nice nest egg, then go do what you want to do for the rest of your time until you retire.

That way you have a nice cushion to work with in case things go to crap somewhere in the middle there.

(I am not nor have I ever been in the military, so maybe my opinion won't count, but that's the way I'd do things, if I were looking at your situation.)
No, that's exactly what I'm looking for. I have been paid 2x a month like clockwork for the last 16 years. I see what you're saying, but, financially, I have very few worrries after retirement.

Congrats on the new addition by the way!
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Old 03-31-2008, 05:35 PM
speaceman speaceman is offline
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Thank you. Good luck with your decision.
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  #5  
Old 03-31-2008, 05:41 PM
Dome Dome is offline
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I'm about to retire in 5 weeks. I'll be 62, if it were me I would look for something to do that I enjoyed. 30 more years is a long time to work in a job you don't enjoy. Find a good paying job with retirement bennies. Good luck in what ever you do and thanks for your service to your country.
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  #6  
Old 03-31-2008, 08:18 PM
DanB98TJ DanB98TJ is offline
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Take the retirement, find a career that you will enjoy, not just another job that you will hate going to every day. There are more important things than money - family and sanity especially.

I retired in September after 20 years with local/county government. I had planned on staying until at least 25, but wasn't happy with how things were going, and couldn't see doing another five weeks, much less five years.

I started a new career in October, doing something completely different and that I enjoy - something I more or less stumbled into, but it has been great! It doesn't pay as much, but combined with my retirement income it's a lot more than I was bringing home before, and the stress level is much, much lower.
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Old 03-31-2008, 08:57 PM
Gunnys TJ Gunnys TJ is offline
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Originally Posted by DanB98TJ View Post
I retired in September after 20 years with local/county government. I had planned on staying until at least 25,

Yeah, I wouldn't do over 20. After that I would be working for half pay, considering I would be getting the other half if I wasn't there
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Old 03-31-2008, 09:18 PM
igofshn igofshn is offline
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I retired from the Navy 11 years ago, I now work for the DOD doing what I did in the Navy. I actually enjoy what I do. 31 years of the same job and I will retire from it in 9 years so that will give me 40 years. I am an Air Traffic Controller. With my retirement I will make over 100K this year. some people say money isn't everything, but I say it is probably the most important thing in life other than family. A 20 year military retirement is not enough to live on. When I retired I wanted to have at least the same life style as I did in the military. Mine is better. When i retire from this, I want my life style to remain the same. It will probably be better. At this point in time, you don't need a job. you need another career with benefits os some kind. Not so much as medicla but a retirement. You don't want to retire again and worry about what you will do for your well being.
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Old 04-01-2008, 05:17 AM
John John is offline
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My wife just retired from the Air Force and is looking to go to school now for something else to do, fortunately it will mostly be on the VA's dime since she's been medically retired. So she'll spend the next 6 years in school to pursue her career after the military.

You're an officer I take it? No enlisted persons base pay could give them $3K a month in retirement
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Old 04-01-2008, 06:50 AM
Gunnys TJ Gunnys TJ is offline
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Originally Posted by John View Post

You're an officer I take it? No enlisted persons base pay could give them $3K a month in retirement
Enlisted. This is based off only one more promotion (Theres no reason I wont get two, but you never know) an me doing 22 years vice 20 for an extra 5%. A good portion (20% or so) of this will be tax free due to hearing loss, injuries over the years etc.

http://www.defenselink.mil/militaryp...gh3Result.aspx

edit. Link dont work. But yeah, I rounded, its actually $2850 per month.
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Old 04-01-2008, 07:31 AM
igofshn igofshn is offline
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its actually $2850 per month
Are your figuring your allowances in this??? You are saying your base pay is $5700 per month??? That is a little high based on current pay scales.
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Old 04-01-2008, 08:01 AM
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That's what I keep thinking too. E-9 with 22 years is 5,185.80
http://www.airforce.com/careers/paychart/index.php

And getting some of it tax free from the VA is dependant on what percent they find you disabled, it's not a sure thing by any means.

The wife is smack dab in the middle of all this right now and it's an eye opener.
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Old 04-01-2008, 08:14 AM
ABQ TJ ABQ TJ is offline
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regardless, I envy you...

Not many people can do what they please at the age of 40-ish for the rest of their lives.
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Old 04-01-2008, 08:32 AM
igofshn igofshn is offline
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A good portion (20% or so) of this will be tax free
20% disabled does not get 20% tax free. It gets you about $230 taken out of your retirement, and then the VA gives it back to you tax free. You get a savingings of about $30 a month.
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Old 04-01-2008, 08:38 AM
John John is offline
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http://www.vba.va.gov/bln/21/Rates/comp01.htm#BM04
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Old 04-01-2008, 12:41 PM
Gunnys TJ Gunnys TJ is offline
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Originally Posted by John View Post
That's what I keep thinking too. E-9 with 22 years is 5,185.80
http://www.airforce.com/careers/paychart/index.php

And getting some of it tax free from the VA is dependant on what percent they find you disabled, it's not a sure thing by any means.

The wife is smack dab in the middle of all this right now and it's an eye opener.
I am not retiring today. There is a minimum 3% pay raise per year that is factored in.

http://www.defenselink.mil/militaryp...px?calcType=h3

Anyway, I'll concede that my retirement will be $2500 to get back on topic.

I still have quite a few years, but I like to have a plan and goals. I have a buddy who retires in 2 months and he's unsure of what he wants to do Not gonna be me.

This was the original question andwhat I'm looking for feedback on:

My basic question is: If you didn't have to worry about a house payment or retirement and were just working to put food on the table, would you turn down the bigger check for doing something you actually enjoy?
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Old 04-01-2008, 12:59 PM
igofshn igofshn is offline
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My basic question is: If you didn't have to worry about a house payment or retirement and were just working to put food on the table, would you turn down the bigger check for doing something you actually enjoy?
NO.
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Old 04-01-2008, 01:45 PM
igofshn igofshn is offline
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What exactly do you do in the corp?
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Old 04-01-2008, 03:31 PM
speaceman speaceman is offline
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From seeing what some of my parent's friends are going through, I'd go for building the nest egg first.

Some of my parent's friends planned on retiring on "x" amount of money and for various reasons, "x" is far less than they actually need now.

What's working another 5 years of something you aren't too excited about after doing 20 already, if it means you ACTUALLY get to work doing what you want after that no matter what happens?

Anyway, that's the way I look at it. The people my parents know that have had to go back to work are not very happy.
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Old 04-01-2008, 04:08 PM
igofshn igofshn is offline
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Agree completely. i will be retiring in 9 years. i will be 59 and will have worked at the same profession for 40 years. As I figure it now, I will have more income retired than I did working. I do not want to ever work again.
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Old 04-02-2008, 05:30 AM
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Ideally my wife wants to land a civil service position since her time in service will count toward retirement from that too. So she'll do another 10-15 years of that and draw that additional retirement check from that. Then she can just work part time if she needs something to keep her from being bored.
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Old 04-02-2008, 09:37 AM
ken white ken white is offline
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I retired after 20 years in the military as an E-9 and you will definately need to work if you plan on keeping your standard of living. While I was in the military I went to school nights and eventually finished a Masters Degree so I could build an even bigger retirement nest egg. I plan on really retiring as soon as I can pull money out of my retirement accounts without being penalized. Doing something you enjoy is also better than taking a job for just the money... Good luck and being proactive is always better than being reactive.

Take care,

Ken
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Old 04-04-2008, 07:29 AM
Matt N Matt N is offline
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Thumbs up Yes, go for it.

Quote:
My basic question is: If you didn't have to worry about a house payment or retirement and were just working to put food on the table, would you turn down the bigger check for doing something you actually enjoy?
Maybe I'm having a mid-life crisis but for me the answer is simple. Yes, absolutely I would. Isn't that what life is all about: passion, chasing your dreams, acting on your desires, your own plan?

I don't ever want to be old, frail and look back on my life thinking; "I should have", or "what if?"

One and a half years ago at age 40 I quit a well paying career in the media to become an artist. It's a tough transition, I miss many luxuries and I've only sold 4 paintings, but I'm more fulfilled and happy than I've ever been. I'm pursuing something that's been in the back off my mind since I was a teenager and to me that's worth it.

If in a couple of years for some reason I find that it's all too much of a struggle and I'm not enjoying it, I can always do a u-turn and slip back into "normal" job, but at least I can be content in saying that I gave it an honest go.

Go for it, make your dream a reality and do it sooner rather than later. If you don't, you may only have regrets.
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