After only 20 years, your gov. pension is 1/2 your salary for life!

Randy Oldman wrote:

In 2013 lawmakers set aside $436 million for the construction and maintenance of the M-1 Abrams tank, of which the Army currently has more than 2,300—with another 3,000 in storage, despite the the Army’s chief of staff telling the Associated Press he didn't want or need them.

In 2012 Defense Logistics Agency spent $733 million on supplies it already had too much of due to poor logisitics management.

Over $500 million in helicopters were given to Afghanistan’s military that the Afghans and US have stated they can’t maintain.

In 2012, a US Army sergeant with 20 years service made less than my company bonus. I think there are other areas of defense spending we should focus on before dragging people's pensions in to it.

AMEN.

Sadly though, whenever budgets cuts are proposed they always look at pay and benefits first.

You information is misleading. There are age requirements as well. I can't speak for the military (but I have never heard of anyone retiring at age 38 witha 50 % military pension). The military has ways of forcing people out before they hit 20 years in as well. For Federal Civilian employees, they have to work far more than 20 years to even approach a 50% pension. 30 or more years to do so. For Federal law enforcement, they can retire once they have 20 years of service and must be at least age 50. With 20 years of service, the pension is 34% and increases 1.7% per year for each additional year of service. So you need to work 30 years to have a 51% pension, however the mandatory retirement age is 57, so to reach the 51%, you would have to be employed from age 27 to 57. The state, local law enforcement, firemen, etc. have much better pensions (which explains why many states are in the red. They get a 50% pension after 20 years in (NYPD does this with no age limitations. So you can retire at ) and many states the pensions can reach 90% after 30 years of service. For full details, I could take pages, but my point being, federal employees have good pension, but the state employees do far better, as in some states, they can get 90 to 100% of their salaries as a pension (30 to 40 years of service). In 2003, the Police Chief of San Jose, CA retired and was drawing a pension of over $100,000 a year. He then became the Police Chief in San Diego and was paid close to $200,000. But CA state law, rules, etc. permit this.

Fed employees pay 1/3 of their health insurance costs (a good deal) while many state and local government employees pay little or nothing for their insurance. Want to rant about pensions and benefits, the state and local employees make out far better. Problem is, they are bankrupting the cities, counties and states because the benefits are too generous.

There are no age requirements for retiring from the military. You are eligible at 20 years. If you joined at 18, you can retire at 38 with 50% pension starting immediately. I've known plenty of guys that have done this.

joho wrote:

There are no age requirements for retiring from the military. You are eligible at 20 years. If you joined at 18, you can retire at 38 with 50% pension starting immediately. I've known plenty of guys that have done this.

Its funny that so many can't believe its true. My point is that this is VERY poor economics for the government. Its not an accurate reflection of the market. Kids with only a high school diploma and with no major emotional issues are ALL accepted into the military. Its the only career with such an open policy.

The discipline and the force has had some major quality issues considering the abuses in Iraq and reports of rapes and such. Unless there are major issues no one is kicked out.

Many of those who join the service do so because of limited opportunities.

U.S. Senator 1 term, get $185k for life

tired of leeches wrote:

Binks wrote:

Yet since 9/11 the US has been effectively losing or have lost the 5 major wars they have been involved in - Iraq, Afghanistan, Libya, Syria and now, Yemen.

Idiot. All these battles were won.

If Europeans once wake up to understand that the fight for Western civilization against Islam is an ongoing war for the last 1400 years, they would allocate more resources to their own defense. Then we wouldn't need to endlessly step up for them.

Idiot. Before US involvement, all those countries had stable secular governments. Now they don't. Your war against Islam was dead until you brought it back.

Am I Runner wrote:

U.S. Senator 1 term, get $185k for life

You are a troll.

Under both CSRS and FERS, Members of Congress are eligible for a pension at the age of 62 if

they have completed at least five years of service. Members are eligible for a pension at age 50 if

they have completed 20 years of service, or at any age after completing 25 years of service. The

amount of the pension depends on years of service and the average of the highest three years of

salary.

Ward wrote:

joho wrote:

There are no age requirements for retiring from the military. You are eligible at 20 years. If you joined at 18, you can retire at 38 with 50% pension starting immediately. I've known plenty of guys that have done this.

Its funny that so many can't believe its true. My point is that this is VERY poor economics for the government. Its not an accurate reflection of the market. Kids with only a high school diploma and with no major emotional issues are ALL accepted into the military. Its the only career with such an open policy.

The discipline and the force has had some major quality issues considering the abuses in Iraq and reports of rapes and such. Unless there are major issues no one is kicked out.

Many of those who join the service do so because of limited opportunities.

It's not poor economics at all. How many people do you think actually qualify for this? How would you feel with no military, or a very inexperienced one?

Regarding rapes, go fuck yourself. I guarantee the ratio of rape in the military is smaller than in your demographic.

Ward wrote:

Kids with only a high school diploma and with no major emotional issues are ALL accepted into the military. Its the only career with such an open policy.

But they don't all make it through 20 years. It's tough to do.

Concerned Citizen wrote:

But they don't all make it through 20 years. It's tough to do.

True. But they also have a ton of incentives for those who leave early too. That doesn't make financial sense either.

Let's be honest. If the military was a private industry it would not survive. There is just too much waste. All armed services should be combined for efficiency, that would be a good start. The numbers of service people should be cut down even more radically then it has been.

Ward wrote:

Concerned Citizen wrote:

But they don't all make it through 20 years. It's tough to do.

True. But they also have a ton of incentives for those who leave early too. That doesn't make financial sense either.

Let's be honest. If the military was a private industry it would not survive. There is just too much waste. All armed services should be combined for efficiency, that would be a good start. The numbers of service people should be cut down even more radically then it has been.

Why should the services be combined? They do different things; that's like saying the Infantry should be combined with Field Artillery.

Concerned Citizen wrote:

Ward wrote:

True. But they also have a ton of incentives for those who leave early too. That doesn't make financial sense either.

Let's be honest. If the military was a private industry it would not survive. There is just too much waste. All armed services should be combined for efficiency, that would be a good start. The numbers of service people should be cut down even more radically then it has been.

Why should the services be combined? They do different things; that's like saying the Infantry should be combined with Field Artillery.

On that subject, many people in my country (especially one of my aunts) still remember the Mighty Eight - the 8th US Army Air Force Bomber Command that flew out of this country on bombing runs over Germany during WW2.

Note, it was the Army Air Force, the responsibility for US military aviation was divided between the Army for land-based operations and the Navy, for sea-based operations during WW2.

The US Air Force only became an independent arm of the US military in 1947.

20 year retirements won't go away anytime soon. That is the most important retention tool. I could see them defer it until a later age, but even that would be risky for retentIon. The military already has a 401k type plan in the TSP that you can pay into.

The military is a mixed bag of intelligence. I've met some rocks, but most are average, a few are exceptional. Met an enlisted soldier with a BS in chemical engineering. Lots of officers with BS in chemistry or biology. Met a lot of West Point grads. A lot of people join out of family history, others for education or to pay off student loans. Most are of equal intelligence to any random person at an average college.

20 years is a long time to do anything.

Alan

Also...military doesn't accept just anyone. You need to be a HS Grad...I think they are still letting in GEDs. You have to pass the ASVAB. You have to meet ht/wt/bodyfat standards. You have to pass a physical fitness test. You also have to be free of health issues that seem relatively minor (heart murmurs, asthma, etc). 70% of 17-24 yr olds do not qualify for military service for various reasons.

20 years is hard. Once you get used to your job it changes or you move across the country. This depends on branch and job....but for me no day is like another. It's the exact opposite of the 9-5 monotony. Since being in Army I've done time in a "line unit" basically doing random tasks or prepping for random missions, I've done office work where I do data entry and put together excel sheets or power point slides, I've been in charge of other data-entry office folks, I've been in charge of $200k worth of equipment as well as training for that equipment, now I'm back in a "line unit" in charge of a private...so basically I'm a babysitter and "personnel developer" and "personnel trainer"....

...so when people ask me "what do you do in the Army?"....it depends on the hour of the day, day of the week, and month of the year...all of which is subject to change at the drop of a hat.

Alan

NCAA CEO Mark Emmert rides in a FREE Jet Airplane while student-athletes feed on Top Ramen and generic Walmart Diet Soda.

Hedge Fund managers are making over $1 billion (yes, billion with a B) per year via illegal front running which they euphemistically call "high frequency trading" and you're upset about vets getting a pension equal to 50% of the low pay?

simple wrote:

not sustainable wrote:

That's nothing compared to what police officers and fire fighters get. Their pension is based on their highest earning year. Every police officer I know abuses this. They get as much overtime as they want and rack up the hours so they get a pension that is double what normal people get. This is why every city and state in the country is bankrupt.

You ask people to put their lives on the line and you have to be willing to pay for it. Salaries for these jobs are not that good for the most part (there are exceptions) so the pensions make up for it. I agree it puts a large burden on the cities and states.

Most of the police that I know is very adept at using the system to their maximum benefit.

Really, do you think a salary of 6 figures is "not that good"? Every police officer I know in the Boston area owns a half million dollar home, 2-3 new luxury vehicles, buys Burberry bags for their wives, 10k+ engagement ring, complains that they had to pay 25k in taxes last year, etc.

The people who serve in the Armed Forces earn their pensions. Not sure why a person who serves 4 years and gets out doesn't get 4/20 of a pension payout, but still the individuals who go a full 20 have done a great service to our country.

Pentagon retirees who never shot a gun and did IT get to use golf courses at federal resorts FREE for life.