Hello from somewhere in the middle of the US!
I’m halfway through my cross country road trip. For those that may not know, I’ve left my assignment in DC and am making my way to the western United States. Where exactly? Well….maybe I’ll say that later, but for now I’m keeping it under wraps. In DC, I could easily blend into the crowd, what with the 7 bazillion military units there and the people (and traffic!). My new location is not nearly so congested.
I’m typing this from a hotel room where I have LITERALLY no cell service or data. The guy at the front desk insisted I was the first person to ever report this problem, which I find hard to believe considering I not only have to leave my room but also the property just to get 4G 🙄
If you are reading this on June 24th 2018, that means I have left the hotel and figured out how to use my hotspot, and that I took a break somewhere to upload this. Who knew I’d use a road trip to figure out technology?
Alright, enough about me. Let’s get to the shared post! Just one today since I’ve already rambled on and still have to figure out how to make the internet happen.
What Would Make You Not Retire Early?
Think Save Retire – 27 April 2018
Obviously I talk about early retirement a lot on here, and it’s possible some of you think that means I don’t like my job. That’s pretty common in the FIRE community, I know. But in my case it could not be further from the truth. I’ve mentioned a few times that I love my job, and unlike a lot of my friends I’m not eagerly anticipating the point where I can drop retirement paperwork. If I get to stay until I’m eligible for a military retirement, I might (probably will) end up working beyond that point. I’ve had a really interesting career and I can see it continuing.
But there are some aspects of military careers that just make early retirement more logical. First and foremost, Congress sets limits on how long we can stay in at each rank. Unless I make a really, really high rank (which would require me wanting to make that high rank) I’m going to be retiring from the military before a “normal” retirement age. That’s typical for military folks. Late 30s to mid 40s is when most military retirees leave the service.
It’s just that most then get another job…and I have no interest in doing that. I don’t plan to sit on my couch once I retire – far from it! I have lots of plans that will keep me busy. But I don’t want to go work for money somewhere else.
Second, the pension just makes early retirement so much more feasible, if you plan for it. If you are used to spending 100% of your paycheck then the pension might seem like a huge pay cut, but if you’ve carefully controlled your lifestyle inflation for years to closely match what your retirement income would look like, well…it becomes pretty easy.
In this post, Steve asked a bunch of people what conditions would have to exist to make them stick around after they no longer had to work for money. If you like the idea of financial independence but struggle with the idea of retiring early, this post is for you. Think about what conditions you need in place to consider sticking around after you no longer have to. Here are some of mine:
1. I wouldn’t be forced to retire. Thanks Congress!
2. I would have more control over my career. You might think in the military that you get more control over your career the higher up in rank you go. lolololololololol no. And they really like to give you the crappy less desirable jobs right before retirement, because they know nobody is going to get out a year before qualifying for the pension.
(I actually do know one person who got out – voluntarily – at 19.5 years. Ask me that story over a beer sometime)
3. Likewise, I’d like to work less so I have more time to pursue other passions. This is not really an option. I’m not talking about becoming a Reservist. A Reservist still works full time hours, they just might not do it year-round. I’m talking about working less hours. If I could work 10-20 hours per week, 40 weeks per year, I could see myself staying in the military indefinitely. But that’s not how it works. I’m okay with that for now and not going to complain! But because it’s not an option, I won’t stick around forever.
Ohhh!! I do so want to know where you’re heading! I have a couple of ideas, but of course, there are so many places it could be!!
I can’t believe someone quit at 19.5 years! Though I can!
Good luck on the rest of your move!
Thanks Liz! And yeah it was pretty mind boggling when I heard it, but when he explained the story to me it made perfect sense for him and his situation.
i’ve been looking at tax brackets and trying to decide if i should convert some IRA/401k dough into roth dough now that we’re down to the 12% bracket. i don’t know if we’ll ever see a better rate than that. there’s this article i read on the subject http://time.com/money/5097654/make-this-one-change-to-your-retirement-account-now-tax-experts-say/
exciting stuff, like watching grass grow.
I find it hard to believe that we will be able to sustain these rates for long, much less see them go down. I think everybody should take advantage of this opportunity if they can.
Thanks for the link!