Hacker News Reader

Comment by yters | Hacker News Reader

The other part nkh didn't mention is you can retire after 20 at half pay. If you make Lt Col by then (not so hard), that'll be about $45k free yearly income at age 42 for the rest of your life.

Plus, it's quite easy to then get a military contracting job. That, with the secret clearance you'll have as an officer, pays pretty nicely.

View on HN

If you make Lt Col by then (not so hard)

I have a lot of friends who stayed at Westpoint, and served at least two tours in Iraq or Afghanistan. They would argue with you over the "not so hard" part of the argument.

My fiance's brother has done multiple tours in both Iraq and Afghanistan as part of the IED group. From the experiences he's been able to share, "not so hard" could only be written by someone without active duty military experience. I would never want to see the things our soldiers see or have the experiences they do.

They do a great service for our country; and honestly, can end up fairly well off if they manage to survive 20 years + land an additional job after retirement at 38+.

45k is a good chunk of change to have every year for free. That can pay the mortgage in most places pretty easily even in places that are really expensive you only need to work a little bit to cover the mortgage. Is insurance covered as well?

I wonder why you call it "$45k free yearly income", since you would have pissed 20 years of your life away. Not exactly "free".

Pissed away 20 years of your life making great money? Even as enlisted, if you aren't an idiot or an alcoholic, you should be able to sock away far more savings than private sector counterparts at a similar level of education and ability.

This is true. I know a guy who worked his way up the ranks from enlisted to officer who had saved a million by his mid thirties. He was frugal, but not extremely so.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com