how much do people in armed forces make on average?

[OnePingOnly]

You can't beat their retirement system. After 20 years of active duty, you can collect retirement based on your rank. At 20 years, you collect 50% of your base pay plus annual cost of living adjustments (roughly 3.0%-3.8%). For every year you spend active you get 2.5% of your base pay but 20 years is the minimum to begin. So if you do 30 years, you get 75%of your base pay in rank towards retirement.

 

[dakels]

I think they deserve more, especially hazard/combat pay. Still though, with the tax breaks, benefits, and expenses paid. They can probably net a lot more then the average person making twice that money. I still don't think it's good, but it's not bad, especially if you are fresh out of high school with no higher education, money, or training. I still think they deserve more but I'm just clarifying that the low amount they are salaried is not comparable to a civilian who has many more expenses and a much higher cost of living.

 

[HannibalX]

I've heard rumors of the Military giving signing bonuses up to $70k to pay off debts.

 

[rudder]

Originally posted by: looker001
Not as much as you will make in corp world.

But after a career in the military you can draw retirement pay and be able to work at a job you really enjoy.

 

[Proprioceptive]

Here is the total compensation anyone on active duty can expect to be paid. This included tax benefits, average BAH, and other factors.

 

[Insomniator]

Originally posted by: dakels
I think they deserve more, especially hazard/combat pay. Still though, with the tax breaks, benefits, and expenses paid. They can probably net a lot more then the average person making twice that money. I still don't think it's good, but it's not bad, especially if you are fresh out of high school with no higher education, money, or training. I still think they deserve more but I'm just clarifying that the low amount they are salaried is not comparable to a civilian who has many more expenses and a much higher cost of living.

We can't be encouraging people to join the military just because of the money. If they made 300k a year and everyone joined just for the money we'd have a really crappy army, and a lot of really unhappy people.

Also I'm sure many people in the military wouldn't be the types to 'make it big' in the corp world, so military pay is better than what they would normally get.

 

[Viper Frag]

Originally posted by: Insomniator

Originally posted by: dakels
I think they deserve more, especially hazard/combat pay. Still though, with the tax breaks, benefits, and expenses paid. They can probably net a lot more then the average person making twice that money. I still don't think it's good, but it's not bad, especially if you are fresh out of high school with no higher education, money, or training. I still think they deserve more but I'm just clarifying that the low amount they are salaried is not comparable to a civilian who has many more expenses and a much higher cost of living.

We can't be encouraging people to join the military just because of the money. If they made 300k a year and everyone joined just for the money we'd have a really crappy army, and a lot of really unhappy people.

Also I'm sure many people in the military wouldn't be the types to 'make it big' in the corp world, so military pay is better than what they would normally get.

I don't know about that, serveral of my collegues and peers hold degrees from Harvard, Princeton, MIT etc.. I'm sure they could make it in the corporate world. Remember the Officer Corps is full of intelligent people. Don't just base your judgement on the enlisted personnel. Although some enlisted personnel have extremely bright minds so I am not disregarding them.

-VF

 

[LS21]

Originally posted by: dakels
I think they deserve more, especially hazard/combat pay.

would you support it with your tax money?

 

[hanoverphist]

Originally posted by: Turin39789

Originally posted by: looker001
Not as much as you will make in corp world.

Lots of people make min wage in the corp world

i make more than 80% of the techs and admins that work for the IT dept my ex wife works at. they are corporate goobs, im independent contractor goob.

 

[dakels]

Originally posted by: LS21

Originally posted by: dakels
I think they deserve more, especially hazard/combat pay.

would you support it with your tax money?

I certainly would. You're asking the wrong guy because frankly, I'd pay 50% taxes if that meant my money was being used for some good causes like better care and support for troops and veterans, better educational funding, better government medical assistance, etc. Its a complicated subject though. I would prefer a smaller military budget but more of that budget allocated to human resources and not as much R&D on fantastic and arguably unnecessary new projects. I've always been a supporter of the people who make up the armies. Just not a supporter of the people who send those armies to war.

 

[Viper Frag]

Originally posted by: dakels

Originally posted by: LS21

Originally posted by: dakels
I think they deserve more, especially hazard/combat pay.

would you support it with your tax money?

I certainly would. You're asking the wrong guy because frankly, I'd pay 50% taxes if that meant my money was being used for some good causes like better care and support for troops and veterans, better educational funding, better government medical assistance, etc. Its a complicated subject though. I would prefer a smaller military budget but more of that budget allocated to human resources and not as much R&D on fantastic and arguably unnecessary new projects. I've always been a supporter of the people who make up the armies. Just not a supporter of the people who send those armies to war.

Well said. :beer:

-VF

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: looker001
Not as much as you will make in corp world.

Guess it depends on what you're doing. If I were still active duty, I'd be making just a bit under $100k right now with about $20k of that tax free (housing and food allowances). Granted, that's for an officer (O-4). Enlisted, particularly junior, make far less. Senior enlisted around retirement age can almost match the high salary.

It gets different with senior officers and senior enlisted, however, because they will generally have military housing and possibly other perks (general [flag] officers get official cars, senior commanders may have assistants and even cooks, etc).

Some of the value of military compensation is not monetary -- free medical care (you get what you pay for), access to the Commissary which is generally cheaper than civilian grocery stores, low cost life insurance, and then the 50% pay in retirement if you stay in 20 years.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: JRussellDMD
You can't beat their retirement system. After 20 years of active duty, you can collect retirement based on your rank. At 20 years, you collect 50% of your base pay plus annual cost of living adjustments (roughly 3.0%-3.8%). For every year you spend active you get 2.5% of your base pay but 20 years is the minimum to begin. So if you do 30 years, you get 75%of your base pay in rank towards retirement.

Dont forget that you start collecting those retirement checks the month after you retire. Only counts for base pay though. Still, on my current path I can retire as at least an O-4 when I turn 45 and immediately receive checks for $3500 a month adjusted for inflation for the rest of my life.

 

[DJFuji]

If you're going to join for money, don't go to the Marines. Pay is the same but you work 100x harder with crappier accommodations. You join the Marines because you want to fight and kill, not because you want a paycheck.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: wiredspider
They get all sorts of other benefits though, like 10% off at some stores..

This ham gum is all bones!

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: Brainonska511

Originally posted by: Dear Summer

Originally posted by: wiredspider
They get all sorts of other benefits though, like 10% off at some stores..

I'm sold!

I can finally buy that ham gum.

Damn it, too late!

 

[EGGO]

Originally posted by: wiredspider
They get all sorts of other benefits though, like 10% off at some stores..

Free housing and utilities.

 

[BladeVenom]

There's also the military PX, not having to pay taxes especially on tobacco and liquor makes them a lot cheaper.

 

[Tiamat]

Not too badly. My coworker is a capt. in the army w/ 3 years and was bringing in 73k per year. He took a pay cut to work at USPTO as a civilian.

 

[AndrewR]

Originally posted by: BladeVenom
There's also the military PX, not having to pay taxes especially on tobacco and liquor makes them a lot cheaper.

I only considered the PX/BX a benefit before I actually went to one. Poor selection, poor prices, and the only way they can possibly compete is by touting the tax free aspect. Even then, the prices are merely mediocre and often still poor. AAFES (who runs the PX/BX system) is one of the most poorly managed organizations in existence. Seriously.

 

[jjzelinski]

Originally posted by: AndrewR

Originally posted by: looker001
Not as much as you will make in corp world.

Guess it depends on what you're doing. If I were still active duty, I'd be making just a bit under $100k right now with about $20k of that tax free (housing and food allowances). Granted, that's for an officer (O-4). Enlisted, particularly junior, make far less. Senior enlisted around retirement age can almost match the high salary.

It gets different with senior officers and senior enlisted, however, because they will generally have military housing and possibly other perks (general [flag] officers get official cars, senior commanders may have assistants and even cooks, etc).

Some of the value of military compensation is not monetary -- free medical care (you get what you pay for), access to the Commissary which is generally cheaper than civilian grocery stores, low cost life insurance, and then the 50% pay in retirement if you stay in 20 years.

The disparity between pay structures of enlisted and commissioned folks is enormous. An O-3 makes more than a CMSgt and only 1% are authorized, by law, to ascend to that rank. an O-1 makes more than a MSgt whose average time in service is ~14 years. This disparity in pay is still predicated on a 4 year college degree, but more precisely, when it's obtained. Plenty of enlisted folks have Bachelor's degrees or higher, however they attained them once they had already enlisted. The good news is that if you've completely busted your ass to earn that eighth stripe, you might be allowed to fetch a cup of coffee for some Major at some point in your 16 hour day.

The biggest issue with military pay is the total absence of monetary incentive. No matter how hard you work and no matter the results of your efforts, you will remain pigeon-holed on a very, very narrow path as your career progresses.

In the case of the Air Force, there is quite literally one route for career progression; memorize a bunch of arbitrary air force/military trivia and do well on your WAPS (promotion) test. Since the performance rating system is utterly broken, mediocrity is rewarded identically to outstanding performance which neuters this filtration element of the promotion system. As far as incentive goes, even if you do make rank you can expect ~$150/mo increase in pay from one rank to the next.

The moral of this story is "if you're interested in a career that entails placing yourself at great bodily risk, separating yourself from your family for at least 6-12 months out of every 20, being treated as culturally inferior to those that finished their college degrees a year or two earlier than you did while earning half as much as them, having no opportunity to meritoriously set yourself apart from your peers in way that can actually benefit you, being subject to a pervasive style of management that entirely consists of do 'everything yesterday with a fraction of the resources these activities have been performed with a decade ago or else' that suits the lowest common denominator of human aptitude especially well, quite literally being treated as a child for the first 3-4 years of your career (after all, you lack that critical developmental milestone of college where you learned to hold your liquor in class), all with a growing sense of spinning your wheels throughout the entirety of your squandered career, then it sounds like the enlisted career path is right up your alley."

 

[PrinceofWands]

Originally posted by: dammitgibs
http://www.defenselink.mil/militarypay/pay/calc/
this is a much better calculator that includes housing allowances and that sort. an E-4 w/ 4 years of service makes about 40k, depending on location.

Also GI Bill is changing a lot starting Aug 09 (for the better) and now pretty much they pay the cost of tuition and the money you get to pocket is housing allowance check each month which is dependent on your cost of living in that area, so if your in California its probably about $1500/mo

Damn, that's twice what I made 15 years ago...and I had some bonus pays on top of it all.

 

[looker001]

Originally posted by: rudder

Originally posted by: looker001
Not as much as you will make in corp world.

But after a career in the military you can draw retirement pay and be able to work at a job you really enjoy.

Carrer in the military is consier about 20 years? Comparing the pay of corp world vs pay that you will earn in military don't even compare. Basically if you work your ass off same in the military as you would in corp world, you will likely be very rich in corp world while not making much in military. The retirement pay will not be able to balance it out. Basically if people are looking to join military for money, they are looking at the wrong job.

 

[TallBill]

Originally posted by: looker001

Originally posted by: rudder

Originally posted by: looker001
Not as much as you will make in corp world.

But after a career in the military you can draw retirement pay and be able to work at a job you really enjoy.

Carrer in the military is consier about 20 years? Comparing the pay of corp world vs pay that you will earn in military don't even compare. Basically if you work your ass off same in the military as you would in corp world, you will likely be very rich in corp world while not making much in military. The retirement pay will not be able to balance it out. Basically if people are looking to join military for money, they are looking at the wrong job.

Enjoy working till you're 60 to maintain your fancy cars while I'll be done and retired at 45. Any work past that will be out of boredom.

 

[looker001]

Originally posted by: TallBill

Originally posted by: looker001

Originally posted by: rudder

Originally posted by: looker001
Not as much as you will make in corp world.

But after a career in the military you can draw retirement pay and be able to work at a job you really enjoy.

Carrer in the military is consier about 20 years? Comparing the pay of corp world vs pay that you will earn in military don't even compare. Basically if you work your ass off same in the military as you would in corp world, you will likely be very rich in corp world while not making much in military. The retirement pay will not be able to balance it out. Basically if people are looking to join military for money, they are looking at the wrong job.

Enjoy working till you're 60 to maintain your fancy cars while I'll be done and retired at 45. Any work past that will be out of boredom.

While it might likely be true that I will have to work till i am 60, the livestyle will totally be different between us two. Yes, to some people that is not important at all and to some others it's. So it all depends what you're looking for in life.