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If anyone's goal is to earn a lot of money they shouldn't be joining any branch of the service.
It can certainly be enough income to invest with.
I was able to use my Navy income to buy apartment buildings at different duty stations. By the time I reached retirement we had built a collection of four properties.
I've thought about joining the Navy before when I was 20 but my life was kinda going OK then and didn't really wanna commit to something like that. Now I am reconsidering it and think it might be the time in my life for the commitment. Also because our gov spends so much on defense spending the benefits of service can really add up. Pays off student loans (only got about 7k worth), get GI bill, tuition assistance while in the navy possibly.
One question I had about pay was if you make 1500 a month, how do you even spend it? Couldn't you theoretically save like 80-90% of it easily. You live on a ship, food and housing are paid for. What exactly do you even spend $ on in the navy?
Also if I did join I would be interested in the finance/accounting stuff probably.
I've thought about joining the Navy before when I was 20 but my life was kinda going OK then and didn't really wanna commit to something like that. Now I am reconsidering it and think it might be the time in my life for the commitment. Also because our gov spends so much on defense spending the benefits of service can really add up. Pays off student loans (only got about 7k worth), get GI bill, tuition assistance while in the navy possibly.
One question I had about pay was if you make 1500 a month, how do you even spend it? Couldn't you theoretically save like 80-90% of it easily. You live on a ship, food and housing are paid for. What exactly do you even spend $ on in the navy?
Also if I did join I would be interested in the finance/accounting stuff probably.
Living on a ship you normally don't have a choice on that one, but trust me you will want to escape every once in a while. So you have a mediocre place to sleep, it's better than a box but a lot of times your shipmates respect your privacy less than the public does a bumm's cardboard box on skid row. Food you will really only want to eat out of the galley twice a day. Think about going to golden corral everyday for 3 years, you get tired of it pretty quick. Even a cold ham sandwich is much better. You will need a car, and insurance. Think $250 to $400 a month plus $100 for gas. Liberty calls, you are only gonna be in Thailand once in your life.
The other bit you can save I saved about a 1/3 of what I made and spent it in college.
I've thought about joining the Navy before when I was 20 but my life was kinda going OK then and didn't really wanna commit to something like that. Now I am reconsidering it and think it might be the time in my life for the commitment. Also because our gov spends so much on defense spending the benefits of service can really add up. Pays off student loans (only got about 7k worth), get GI bill, tuition assistance while in the navy possibly.
One question I had about pay was if you make 1500 a month, how do you even spend it? Couldn't you theoretically save like 80-90% of it easily. You live on a ship, food and housing are paid for. What exactly do you even spend $ on in the navy?
Also if I did join I would be interested in the finance/accounting stuff probably.
The $1500/month your looking at is 'base-pay', during most of my career base-pay was 1/3 of my paycheck. It is all of the other little pays that add up.
Within the Navy are many communities. Gator freighters, air-crew, sea bees, tin cans, carrier groups, divers, submariners, etc. Each different community tends to have it's own separate bases, or if they must share a base they will have separate corners of the base. So we rarely mingle.
Depending on which community to get into, will largely determine which bases you go to, and if you ever go to any foreign ports, and which ports you go to.
I completed an insane number of deployments, though I have only been in three liberty ports. Whereas there are many other sailors who would visit 20 [or more] liberty ports each deployment.
I have known sailors who served an entire career and never made any deployments. Others [like myself] who averaged being deployed 7 months of every year.
For some sailors deployments are not a big break from their otherwise daily routine. For others deployment means no mail, no TV, no radio, no internet, no contact with anyone outside of fellow crewmen for 6 months at a time.
I always knew 2 years in advance my deployment schedule, carved in stone.
But I knew many others who could pull into port, and with an hour notice suddenly be gone again for 3 months. No schedule at all.
It is hard to make generalizations about deployments in the Navy.
If you focus on budgeting and investing, then there are great opportunities for you to invest. Because you can earn pretty good money, and you can live like a miser.
The Navy sent me to budgeting classes and tax-planning classes, and made my a Financial Specialist. So that among all of the other hats I wore, I also provided financial counseling to other crewmen. But who went to those classes and got certified was all volunteer. I was interested in it, so I got it. It became one of my extra duties.
Anyone who is interested in that could do likewise.
If you are interested in the finance/accounting stuff, then you could pursue that separate from your rating if you desired to.
You are correct, that you could save and invest 80-90% of your salary if you were motivated to do so.
I had a wife and two children, I was able to support them and invest.
The $1500/month your looking at is 'base-pay', during most of my career base-pay was 1/3 of my paycheck. It is all of the other little pays that add up.
Within the Navy are many communities. Gator freighters, air-crew, sea bees, tin cans, carrier groups, divers, submariners, etc. Each different community tends to have it's own separate bases, or if they must share a base they will have separate corners of the base. So we rarely mingle.
Depending on which community to get into, will largely determine which bases you go to, and if you ever go to any foreign ports, and which ports you go to.
I completed an insane number of deployments, though I have only been in three liberty ports. Whereas there are many other sailors who would visit 20 [or more] liberty ports each deployment.
I have known sailors who served an entire career and never made any deployments. Others [like myself] who averaged being deployed 7 months of every year.
For some sailors deployments are not a big break from their otherwise daily routine. For others deployment means no mail, no TV, no radio, no internet, no contact with anyone outside of fellow crewmen for 6 months at a time.
I always knew 2 years in advance my deployment schedule, carved in stone.
But I knew many others who could pull into port, and with an hour notice suddenly be gone again for 3 months. No schedule at all.
It is hard to make generalizations about deployments in the Navy.
If you focus on budgeting and investing, then there are great opportunities for you to invest. Because you can earn pretty good money, and you can live like a miser.
The Navy sent me to budgeting classes and tax-planning classes, and made my a Financial Specialist. So that among all of the other hats I wore, I also provided financial counseling to other crewmen. But who went to those classes and got certified was all volunteer. I was interested in it, so I got it. It became one of my extra duties.
Anyone who is interested in that could do likewise.
If you are interested in the finance/accounting stuff, then you could pursue that separate from your rating if you desired to.
You are correct, that you could save and invest 80-90% of your salary if you were motivated to do so.
I had a wife and two children, I was able to support them and invest.
I think the financial specialist designation would be something I would be interested in. Helping others with their finances and saving for their future in an efficient way.
I was wondering when you said base pay was only 1/3rd of your pay, what was the other 2/3rds then?
I got two responses and 1 said he saved 1/3rd and the other said 80-90% is possible, that is quite a difference.
I was wondering when you said base pay was only 1/3rd of your pay, what was the other 2/3rds then?
I got two responses and 1 said he saved 1/3rd and the other said 80-90% is possible, that is quite a difference.
Other 2/3d:
For most, the components are:
Base Pay
Food Allowance
Housing Allowance
Some communities/specialties get extra pay for what they do:
Sea Pay (for all the time away from home)
Hardship Duty Pay (for really difficult duties)
Language Pay
Flight Pay
Airborne Pay
etc.
etc.
The key is the special pays are tied to either your particular specialty, a particular duty, or a very specific skill you have-that is often tied to specialties. Not everyone can get them. "Choose your rate, choose your fate."
1/3 vs. 80-90%:
Dude, that's human nature. Some people that make $200K a year complain they can't pay bills; some that make $40K are investing.
A good rule of thumb is every promotion you get or longevity raise, you take 1/2 of the net and bank it automatically every month, and the other 1/2 you increase your lifestyle-travel, cars, better hourse, etc. That way you get the fruits of your hard work, but are still increasing your automatic investment. Some like to say they'll bank it all; I never could. And if you say you'll save/invest what you have left at the end of the month, well, you'll never have anything left.
I think the financial specialist designation would be something I would be interested in. Helping others with their finances and saving for their future in an efficient way.
Also is the tax-filing and tax-planning aspect.
Quote:
... I was wondering when you said base pay was only 1/3rd of your pay, what was the other 2/3rds then?
Often Navy bases really suck, All the navy wants at a base is piers and warehouses. So do not go in the Navy looking for pretty bases. Or even for nice housing. The Navy prefers to pay it's sailors to go out and to find their own housing. [Likewise Navy bases usually tend to offer very little in the context of nice-things for family members. Wives and kids tend to live in the local community, going to local schools, shopping in the local community and whatnot.]
Few bases have enough barracks to house their single sailors, so even as a single person it is common to go off-base and rent an apartment to live in. The Navy prefers to not deal with maintenance of barracks [BEQs].
I never saw any base that had enough housing for all of their married sailors. A short supply and a long waiting list is common.
As a result you get paid for these things.
During most of my career, I got:
BAQ [BAH / BOQ];
BAS,
COLA / VHA,
Sub pay,
Career sub pay,
Sea pay,
Career sea pay,
Sea pay kicker,
Female separation pay,
All in addition to base pay.
The Navy's SRB is the highest. Everytime you Re-Enlist they are offering a bonus for re-enlisting. It changes depending on what your rate / NEC is. If your job is hard and requires a lot of schooling, then your SRB is higher. The cap when I was in was $60k. The highest I got I think was only $45k, that is every four years. As you stay in longer eventually you age-out from the peak 'zone' so you get less and less. There are a three of these 'zones'. [like one Re-Enlistment bonus might only be 80% of your peak, and then 60% of your peak, and then you retire.] The year I retired they raised the SRB cap to $90k.
The Navy routinely sees tax-free service. In my community it is common to serve for decades where your salary is completely tax-free. I was tax-free from 1983 until I retired in 2001.
Quote:
... I got two responses and 1 said he saved 1/3rd and the other said 80-90% is possible, that is quite a difference.
Yes, I saw both ends.
From my observations, most sailors do not save a penny. Regardless of how much you pay them, they will drink / party all of it away before the next pay-day.
Which was where being a 'Financial Specialist' came into the picture, I had to counsel guys who were always broke and who got into problems with debt.
On the other hand, there is a small percentage of sailors who do focus on accumulating wealth. Take active control over your tax-filing, keep a written budget, invest in shelters, etc.
It is possible [even while supporting a wife and children] to invest 80% of your Navy income.
... The key is the special pays are tied to either your particular specialty, a particular duty, or a very specific skill you have-that is often tied to specialties. Not everyone can get them. "Choose your rate, choose your fate."
1/3 vs. 80-90%:
Dude, that's human nature. Some people that make $200K a year complain they can't pay bills; some that make $40K are investing.
A good rule of thumb is every promotion you get or longevity raise, you take 1/2 of the net and bank it automatically every month, and the other 1/2 you increase your lifestyle-travel, cars, better hourse, etc. That way you get the fruits of your hard work, but are still increasing your automatic investment. Some like to say they'll bank it all; I never could. And if you say you'll save/invest what you have left at the end of the month, well, you'll never have anything left.
Very good post
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