[‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎‎USER]

Pulse check, how does my financial outlook look?
I am a 28M, no kids. I make ~100k. Active duty military, at 38y/o I’ll have a pension/entitlement of atleast $6k/month for life.

I plan on working still after my military retirement in 10 years.

(3.7k) in Checking
(53.4k) Roth IRA
(56.5k) Brokerage
(93.3k) TSP (401k equivalent)
Debt: (25.5k) Car loan

I figured the pension would count for something but idk seems like everyone has them but still shoots for millions to retire.

Thanks for feedback.

[Grant]

How are you at 100k 10 years into an enlisted military career? Do you have other incomes I assume?

[Drew]

Nobody can really answer without your expenses and expected need.
The numbers you’ve provided look good on the surface and the $6k pension is worth about $1.8M based on the 4% rule.

Basically, if you take all your retirement savings and multiply it by 4%, once that number, plus any pension or passive income reaches your annual expense need, you are ready to retire or “Financially Independent”.

So, your current picture looks like you will have about $80k income per year.

And if we look at expected future value of your ~200k in investments at 8% annual return that FV is about $500k.

So, with no further investment you’d have the equivalent of $2.3M in assets including your investments and pension which means you’d have an equivalent income of $92k per year.

[Ethan]

Where are you getting the $6k pension from? 50% of an E9’s pay at 20 years is only $4k.

[Farre]

I’d be cautious about planning on a full career at your age. I’ve had a lot of friends end up injured or have life circumstances change to interrupt their careers.

It’s probably less risky these days, but force reductions and injuries can take a toll.

[Amanda]

If you’re able to max out your TSP and Roth IRA for the next 10 years and keep your expenses low, you may not have to work after Military retirement.

If you plan on having kids, save the GI Bill for them and use tuition assistance for yourself if you want to further your own education.

You’re doing great!

[Lye]

Invest in real estate while you have your BAH, your TSP fund to a higher risk fund since you got time, maybe raise your TSP %, start planning your exit out of the mil depending on your MOS, keep going to medical and get everything recorded like now if you already haven’t otherwise it will be like pulling teeth to get disability and I think you’ll need to reach a certain percentage to get both disability and a pension.

[Rob]

I don’t calculate my pension (27 years AD) as a total dollar amount. I figure out what I need annually and reduce it by that, I.e., we want $200k a year and my pension is $115k.

My wife is a federal employee and her pension will be ~$40k for 20 years deferred.

I don’t use SS in this number, so that’s icing on the cake. We need investable assets that generate $35k annually.

We’re well above that but still have several years before we pull the pin on retirement.

You’re looking good, keep increasing the contributions and you’ll have nothing to worry about.

[Bobby]

You’re in a strong position, especially with your VA disability benefits—those help a lot since they’re tax-exempt.

That means you can gross up the income by about 25% when qualifying for a mortgage, which improves your loan eligibility.

Also, start taking advantage of your VA home loan benefit to purchase properties. Ideally, look for a fourplex.

You can live in one unit and immediately rent out the other three to generate income (You can also use the 3 units projected income to help qualify).

After living in your unit for at least one year (as required by VA loan occupancy rules), you can refinance into a conventional or investment loan.

This will free up your VA loan entitlement, allowing you to repeat the process with another multi-unit property.

[Jennifer]

Veteran here – Just wanted to add, document all medical while you’re in so you can apply for disability once you retire!

[Elizabeth]

I wish that I had a pension! Rather uncommon these days sadly in the corporate world

[Author]

Posts