Career Path > Navy:Getting Out

Getting out with Thomas Edison BSAT and MBA

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hamsamich:
30k a year for the same ret. plan!  I know that one is BS.  My dad has been saving just a couple thousand a year since he was 35.  He's taken some hits in the stock market but he still has around 400 thousand in his 401k at age 60 besides his pension and other savings.  If he would have saved 30k a year he would have millions by now.  I was in the nav for years on fast boats late 80s early 90s as ELT.  They were always trying to tout that "your navy benefits are worth over 100k a year".  There are some good ones, but 100k, what a crock.  Maybe if you used every single thing they offer 7 days a week, 24 hours a day.  Those people (recruiters) have an agenda and you are the prize.  Stop listening to them.  Should you count all your time at sea as 24 hours a day and calculate a payrate per hour based on that?  If you worked that much OT in the real world you would make way more than 88k a year.  I suggest, since this is a HUGE decision, that you write down a list of negatives and positives.  pos/neg for Navy and pos/neg for getting out.  BE HONEST with yourself and assign each with a score of importance from 1 to 5.  For instance, spending much more time with sons maybe a 5, but spending more time with wife might be a -2.  Who knows.  But be honest!  Don't BS yourself.  You can make over 100k a year in the commercial world as an AO, RO or SRO within 3 years at some plants, and if you are disciplined you can put 5k a year away easy, but if you can't handle doing that and you know it, then stay in the Navy.  Now is the time to get serious and honest.  Be sure to take into consideration the rising cost of health care also, especially if your family or you have any health problems.  Rate the health care you've received in the Navy and compare it to what you will get on the outside.  My buddy ET1 Paul who is retired with 21 years is actaully paying the navy for some of his family's health benifits, which I thought was strange, so watch out for that.  There are pos and neg for getting out and staying in, now is the time to make an informed decision.

shayne:
I remember the stay Navy Calculator.  As E-6 over 10 years, my military compensation was around $60k/yr and I would have to make $70k/yr outside of the Navy for the same compensation.  However as I looked at my LES, I figured I was at $36k/yr with all allowances.  So I never really liked it.  I knew what my takehome was and knowing that I could find a job outside of the Navy bringing in the same amount each paycheck was important.  Now that I'm out, I bring home more money every paycheck, max out my 401k ($14k this year), have better medical/dental plans than the Navy offered, and I don't work as many hours.  So if the Navy is correct in their calculator, my $60k/yr job now (40 hours) wasn't as good as I had it in the Navy, which is not true.

I did the pros/cons for each as noted above and found getting out was my decision.  My quality of life outranked the pay I made in the Navy, so I looked for a job that paid as a minimum the same per paycheck I made in the Navy.  I know my quality of life is much better than I had it in the Navy at prototype as an instructor (no desire to go back to sea either).  I would recommend doing the pros and cons for each and make a decision.  It worked for me.

bbishop:
Thanks for the advice guys.  I did the pros and cons you talked about.  The only significant pros I came up with were the pension, the bonus, job security, and status as a Cheif.  The bonusses are $60K for the first 3 yrs. and then $100K for the next six.  I came up with a hundred cons.  Anyone who has been to sea knows what those are. I've decided to ask for a 4 month extension past my EAOS so I can finish my MBA at Charleston Southern.  I'll go to some job fairs in the Spring and try to get some interviews at some plants in the Southeast.  In August, if the money looks decent (over $60K/yr), I'll get out.  If the extension doesn't go through, I'll finish my MBA online or draw unemployment and GI Bill money while I finish. I'm still not sure if they are going to pay me for Chief or if my DD214 will say I was an ETC.  My Master Chief thinks you have to have two years left on your contract in order to be officially advanced and paid.

Already Gone:
Back in the old days, they wouldn't even frock a chief unless he had enough time remaining to cover two years after the date of advancement.  For some guys, that meant 2 and 1/2 years from frocking to EAOS.  I remember one ET1 who carried that Boot Chief book for a month and gave it back.  He didn't want to extend to meet the 2 years.  They made him pay back the uniform allowance.  Fortunately, he hadn't spent it all on new khakis and could sell all the stuf he did buy.
The money thing is way overrated.  Even a guy with an MBA can probably see my point.  If you like what you are doing, keep doing it.  If you are miserable, then who cares about money?  What I'm saying is, don't lock yourself into something you hate because you couldn't find a job that paid enough.  You can make less money for a while and still be happy.  Odds are that with an MBA, you'll find a way to increase your income by doing something that you enjoy.  Good luck.

bbishop:
It looks like they are going to approve the extension so that I can finish my Masters.  I also found out that there is no minimum time required to advance to Chief unless you are approaching retirement and you want your retirement pay to be at the higher pay grade. 

I have one more question about benefits.  My wife and I had our second boy last week.  Can anyone tell me how much health insurance will be for a family of four if I'm working at a plant in the Southeast?

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