In 1986 I was just about broke, about to be homeless and had just been kicked out of a Junior College for bad grades (apparently 0.0 is a bad GPA - who knew?). In desperation I did what many before me had done - went to the recruiters office. When the recruiter asked me what I was looking for I answered "dinner and a bed." He was just making small talk as he scrambled to get a contract in front of me because I was the easiest sell in history. At the time I was determined to do 3 years in this crappy job and tell the Army to kiss my ass. But something funny happened over the next 20+ years. Instead of low pay, long hours and crappy benefits, somehow the Army has become the best job in this country with pay and benefits that are fair, progressive and ethical.
"no one gets rich in the Army"
"If I want to be rich, I would not be a soldier"
"They say that in the Army the pay is might fine. They give you hundred dollars and take back 99"
Anyone who has spent more than about a week in the Army/military has heard some version of the above and for along time I believed it. I remember getting my first "Leave and Earnings Statement (LES) and thinking "Who the $%^$ is FICA? And AER? What happened to all that money they promised me?" Between taxes, Army Emergency Relief, GI BIll, Old Soldiers Home, SGLI and about 10 other things it really did seem like they took back $99 of each $100.
When you are 19 and single you dont think much about "benefits" and "deferred compensation" so as far as I was concerned the $327 I got for my first month pretty much sucked. $11 bucks a day? I was making $6.50 an hour, 40 hours a week with some overtime as a dishwasher before I joined and as far as I was concerned I was making $.45 an hour now. But what about those "benefits"?
I earn 2.5 days of leave a month - 30 days a year. I didnt think about it at the time but the reality is that I get paid for 12 months even though I am only required to work 11. What a sweet deal! When I was 19 and stupid all I could think about was how weekends and holidays still counted as leave for military but civilians only had to count M-F. For some reason the older guys didnt complain as much as us newbies and I couldn't understand why until I learned about "training holidays" and "four day passes." One of the most amazing things about the Army is the ability for commanders to unilaterally declare a day off. 4th of July coming up? Lets add an extra day. Thanksgiving? No need to com back on Friday. Do something really good? Take 4 days off (never mind two of those are Saturday and Sunday). When you add up all the Federal Holidays, training holidays and passes, another 30 days is gone. And those leave days are earned by everyone equally. From the lowest private to the highest general, everyone is the same from the first day. Got to love equality.
I have the best retirement on the planet. OK maybe crongress critters and crooked CEOs do better but I have the best for anyone working an "honest" job :) Military retirement includes both a defined benefit and defined contribution component - a rare thing these days. The defined benefit portion is simple - do 20 years and you get 50% of you base pay (truth in lending there is an option that gives you cash at 15 years and 40% at 20 but no one takes that). Every year you stay after 20 you get an additional 2.5% all the way to 40 years where you max out at 100%. Considering you can join at 17 in theory you could retire at half pay when you are 37 or 100% at 57! The downside is that until you hit 20, you get nothing. Its a system that rewards sticking to it and its one I like (helps to be on the good side of 20!). The defined contribution side is a typical 401K (Called TSP) but with no matching. Congress authorized matching but has never funded it and while I dont like missing out on free money, I like not being told where I have to invest (See Enron employees forced to put match into Enron stock). TSP has an insanely low expense ratio meaning what I put in is mine!
Both on active duty and in retirement, we have excellent medical benefits. Long and short, its free on active duty and almost free retired. Tricare has taken its lumps over the years but all in all it is pretty darn good. I have personally had excellent medical care over the years although some of my peers have horror stories. Prescriptions are free for active duty and between free and $15 for family members/retirees. Dental for family members and retirees is not great but getting better and for active duty its free. For all the crap Obamacare has gotten, most people would kill to have the "government run" medical care I get. And unlike many insurance programs, preventive care is not just authorized, for us its mandatory. Between cost savings and maintaining readiness, the military knows preventive care works and ours is excellent. One more thing - we have no sick leave in the military. If you are sick you need to get better. If that is one day or years doesnt matter. You get paid just like any other day. You even earn your 2.5 days of leave. I remember the days (before joining) when getting sick was a double whammy of a medical bill and lost wages. Now if I am sick, I go to the doctor without a thought.
Military pay is incredibly progressive. Basic living expenses - food, shelter and duty uniforms - are tax free income. What a novel idea that you should not be taxed for the cost of being a living person with a job. If you buy your groceries on post you get them at cost plus a very small "tax" to maintain the facilities. Again the progressive notion that food should not be a profit center. Other pays - combat, hazardous duty, separation, etc are also tax free. Pay is 100% equal between men, women, minorities, etc. And the difference between the very lowest and very highest is about 15X.
Education is stressed from day one in the military. The average soldier spends one year out of 5 in some kind of formal education/professional development. Between the GI bill and tuition assistance, every soldier is afforded the opportunity to get an advanced education at little or no cost. I did 1/2 of my undergrad degree in night school paying 25% plus books. The other half was not only 100% paid for but I received book money and living expenses. Later I was afforded the opportunity to get a graduate degree. My only cost was books and of course I still received my full time pay and benefits (I estimated this at ~$350K benefit). The Army knows that educated soldiers are better soldiers....and better citizens. Even if the Army doesn't benefit directly, the nation benefits and that if good for the Army.
Military pay is good. Not Wall Street good but more than enough to live comfortably. But as I approach retirement, I realize that the "deferred" potion that is my retirement is far more valuable than my normal pay. My retired income will be roughly $6000 a month and it will be adjusted annually based on inflation. In addition, I will have medical care for the rest of my life, access to military facilities and a host of benefits available to veterans. Add in what is in my TSP (401K), IRA and (possibly) Social Security and I can actually retire, not "quit one job and get another." By my estimate I would need to purchase a $2.8 million annuity to generate comparable lifetime income with inflation adjustments and what private insurance would cost. What that means is that over the course of my career the Army will have forced me to defer $2.8 million of my pay to ensure I had the ability to retire and not worry about how to feed and house myself. Since my medical care is covered for life I never have to worry about choosing between food and medicine, home or health. What a progressive idea! Imagine what this country were like if EVERY job were structured the same way.
If I retire as planned I will be 49. I have a goal of collecting more retired pay than active duty pay and I intend to do it. My immediate plans are to fill my day as a photographer but I have thought about teaching too. What ever I do it will not be work because it will be what I choose to do, not what I have to do. I love what I do now and barely consider it work. How many people can say that?