Finish your degree. It does help getting a job. Go ahead and do your shore duty and try to save up some cash for the transition. It's much easier doing job interviews from a shore command. There seems to be a good number of jobs in the Southeast. Navy Nukes are highly sought after in the commercial Nuke field despite what you will read on this forum. My husband had no trouble getting job interviews but several wanted that bachelor's degree which he has and so that helped him land some interviews. Not sure of your rank but he is a Master Chief and our pay is going down significantly and that is including retirement pay so save some $$ and be prepared for a reduction in pay at first. Mainly b/c there is a significant tax difference after you get out so you need to not just look at gross pay. Look at your take home pay after taxes and the additional medical insurance premiums, car taxes, etc. to calculate your budget. My husband is taking a direct SRO position and his pay will increase after the first two years. I was working part time but will go full time in our new city to make up the difference in pay. I do wish we had saved up more $$ for the transition. Plus, we can't sell our house which will make us reluctant landlords. Somehow I thought retirement would end up better than this but things will be better in 2 years if he qualifies SRO. I also am not sure I would recommend retirement. The retirement pay is not worth the extra time and all the separation looking back plus you start over on the outside. Good Luck.