Active Military Driving $80K+ cars?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Well we have a DoD budget of over $700 Billion a year so that explains a lot of it. An O6 Captain(18 years service) in the Navy grosses $138k plus a housing allowance with great heath/dental benefits. And the 4 years at the Academy counts towards service. After 20 years of service they will get a pension and can get a job in the private sector.

In The DC metro area you see the expensive cars driven by officer families. Not the case with enlisted personnel. You do your 20 years in the officer cadre and then move to the private sector. You never accrued educational debt so it is easier to spend on quality cars. Plus with a generous pension, they do not have to save/invest as ordinary citizens. I'm the son of a retired Navy Captain.

Are there really that many people that become an O6 after just 14 years of service, after being in the academy for 4 years? That's a 36 year old Captain!
My Dh is a retired Marine officer, and most people we knew, after 14 years of actual service were a couple years into being an 04. My Dh retired 10 years ago, have things really changed that much?

An O4 w/20 would still get like 115k a year in pay, plus they will also get over 40k a year in Base Allocated Housing here.

So a person in their early 40s with a college degree that has worked for the same employer for 20 years is making $165/year in the DC area. Is that really considered high income?

It's not the same--the officer's pay is equivalent to way more than 165k in the private sector. That's because the Base Allocated Housing is nontaxable, plus most military do not pay state income tax b/c of where their home of record is. And there are additional tax breaks for military.

Plus there is the pension and ohter benefits.

And then you add in the fact many have spouses that work, and the spouse does not pay state income tax either because they can claim the same home of record.

Not my experience that "most do not pay state income tax." For most of my Dh's career we lived in our home state of record.
Still what exactly is "way more than $165k" and is it a high income for someone with a degree and 20 years of experience with the same employer?

Then you did it wrong. A stent in Alaska is really the key to maximizing state income tax benefits

Very few (if any) opportunities for a Marine officer to get stationed in Alaska, especially with my Dh's MOS. Our state of record was CA, where there were many billets he could be placed (and was placed.)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well we have a DoD budget of over $700 Billion a year so that explains a lot of it. An O6 Captain(18 years service) in the Navy grosses $138k plus a housing allowance with great heath/dental benefits. And the 4 years at the Academy counts towards service. After 20 years of service they will get a pension and can get a job in the private sector.

In The DC metro area you see the expensive cars driven by officer families. Not the case with enlisted personnel. You do your 20 years in the officer cadre and then move to the private sector. You never accrued educational debt so it is easier to spend on quality cars. Plus with a generous pension, they do not have to save/invest as ordinary citizens. I'm the son of a retired Navy Captain.

Are there really that many people that become an O6 after just 14 years of service, after being in the academy for 4 years? That's a 36 year old Captain!
My Dh is a retired Marine officer, and most people we knew, after 14 years of actual service were a couple years into being an 04. My Dh retired 10 years ago, have things really changed that much?

An O4 w/20 would still get like 115k a year in pay, plus they will also get over 40k a year in Base Allocated Housing here.

So a person in their early 40s with a college degree that has worked for the same employer for 20 years is making $165/year in the DC area. Is that really considered high income?

It's more the equivalent of 200s in the private sector due to differences in taxation. That housing allowance is untaxed.

Ok. So in the private sector, would you say that someone with a degree and 20 years of experience with the same employer is well paid at $200k in the DC area? I see so many posters here that are "barely scraping by" on $300k+

I am in the private sector. I hit 20 years of experience this year, and while I have moved employers, I haven’t maximized earning potential, because of other considerations. I make $220k. This is an incredible amount of money.

But to answer OP’s question, an O6 is a GS-15 equivalent. But likely with no debt, and cheaper health insurance. Would you be shocked if a GS-15 was driving a luxury car? Especially one with a working spouse?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well we have a DoD budget of over $700 Billion a year so that explains a lot of it. An O6 Captain(18 years service) in the Navy grosses $138k plus a housing allowance with great heath/dental benefits. And the 4 years at the Academy counts towards service. After 20 years of service they will get a pension and can get a job in the private sector.

In The DC metro area you see the expensive cars driven by officer families. Not the case with enlisted personnel. You do your 20 years in the officer cadre and then move to the private sector. You never accrued educational debt so it is easier to spend on quality cars. Plus with a generous pension, they do not have to save/invest as ordinary citizens. I'm the son of a retired Navy Captain.

Are there really that many people that become an O6 after just 14 years of service, after being in the academy for 4 years? That's a 36 year old Captain!
My Dh is a retired Marine officer, and most people we knew, after 14 years of actual service were a couple years into being an 04. My Dh retired 10 years ago, have things really changed that much?

An O4 w/20 would still get like 115k a year in pay, plus they will also get over 40k a year in Base Allocated Housing here.

So a person in their early 40s with a college degree that has worked for the same employer for 20 years is making $165/year in the DC area. Is that really considered high income?

It's more the equivalent of 200s in the private sector due to differences in taxation. That housing allowance is untaxed.

Ok. So in the private sector, would you say that someone with a degree and 20 years of experience with the same employer is well paid at $200k in the DC area? I see so many posters here that are "barely scraping by" on $300k+

That's because the $300K posters don't actually understand what "barely scraping by" means.

To them it means "I chose to buy a $1.5MM house in a tony neighborhood, I chose to buy two luxury cars, I choose to send my kids to private despite having a perfectly good public school in my neighborhood, and what a surprise, there's not much left over at the end of the month!"

[Anonymous]

Could be family money , but if it isn’t and his coworkers know about this then it’s likely a report an insider situation

[Anonymous]

Isnt it better than free housing, since most officers rent out their homes, plus get their housing stipend?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Interesting thread. Our HHI is about 800k (3 kids, mid 40s, no pensions) and I simply can't imagine buying a 100k vehicle.

Life is very expensive around here, and there isn't much left after college saving, retirement saving, and all the other day-to-day expenses.

That's because you have an expensive house, travel and other things. We have 1/4 your income and drive a $50K car and we could easily buy another paying cash. Life is expensive when you make it expensive. For the rest of us, it's manageable. I could not imagine on $800k screaming poverty. You can easily afford an 80K car and pay cash.

This. I bet PP easily spends $25k a year on vacations. That's two $80,000 car payments right there.

[Anonymous]

This people around here are so biased against military. If you think it’s do great why don’t you serve?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Isnt it better than free housing, since most officers rent out their homes, plus get their housing stipend?

? What do you mean by "most officers rent out their homes?" Like they own a home in Oklahoma which they rent out, but they are stationed at Ft. Belvoir, so they get a housing stipend to live in Northern VA? Yes...and they have to rent a home (or buy a home and pay mortgage on it) in Northern VA. Plus home owners/renters insurance. Plus utilities. Plus maintenance, etc.
Or they can live in base housing, but then they won't receive the housing stipend. Base housing isn't always available, depending on the rank and base. Base housing is sometimes compulsory, but usually that's just in very high positions like a base commander.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This people around here are so biased against military. If you think it’s do great why don’t you serve?

Right?

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Running joke in military circles actually. Many, many have cars above means.

Also, veterans get preferences for fed jobs. So what they typically do is get a fed job after leaving the military. Once their clearance is processed and they start their new job, they will talk to other vets who are collecting 40k/yr in disability. And they will inevitably apply for disability due to their "PTSD" despite never having seen a second of actual combat.

Ok there, Skippy.

Carrying around a lot of weird baggage about veterans… none of which was even remotely relevant to the thread.

Good job, good effort.

They pay for the Raptor with disability payments. Do you now understand meathead?

Bro, I can smell your insecurity and self-loathing from here.

You consider yourself bright, but you know your post was a poorly reasoned nonsequitur and it’s eating you alive. Your snappy little addendum here doesn’t help… “40k/yr in disability” (your words) funding a bunch of trucks that start at $80,000? Sure, that is clearly the correct explanation.

Next time sketch it out on your chalkboard first.

JROTC nerd really got his feelings hurt on this one

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well we have a DoD budget of over $700 Billion a year so that explains a lot of it. An O6 Captain(18 years service) in the Navy grosses $138k plus a housing allowance with great heath/dental benefits. And the 4 years at the Academy counts towards service. After 20 years of service they will get a pension and can get a job in the private sector.

In The DC metro area you see the expensive cars driven by officer families. Not the case with enlisted personnel. You do your 20 years in the officer cadre and then move to the private sector. You never accrued educational debt so it is easier to spend on quality cars. Plus with a generous pension, they do not have to save/invest as ordinary citizens. I'm the son of a retired Navy Captain.

Are there really that many people that become an O6 after just 14 years of service, after being in the academy for 4 years? That's a 36 year old Captain!
My Dh is a retired Marine officer, and most people we knew, after 14 years of actual service were a couple years into being an 04. My Dh retired 10 years ago, have things really changed that much?

An O4 w/20 would still get like 115k a year in pay, plus they will also get over 40k a year in Base Allocated Housing here.

So a person in their early 40s with a college degree that has worked for the same employer for 20 years is making $165/year in the DC area. Is that really considered high income?

It's more the equivalent of 200s in the private sector due to differences in taxation. That housing allowance is untaxed.

Ok. So in the private sector, would you say that someone with a degree and 20 years of experience with the same employer is well paid at $200k in the DC area? I see so many posters here that are "barely scraping by" on $300k+

Most officers have a working wife with a professional job on top of what they earn. My last employer had several officers' wives who worked there (We were a remote first company) that had earnings that were in the range of what you'd expect a GS 14 or GS 15 to make.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well we have a DoD budget of over $700 Billion a year so that explains a lot of it. An O6 Captain(18 years service) in the Navy grosses $138k plus a housing allowance with great heath/dental benefits. And the 4 years at the Academy counts towards service. After 20 years of service they will get a pension and can get a job in the private sector.

In The DC metro area you see the expensive cars driven by officer families. Not the case with enlisted personnel. You do your 20 years in the officer cadre and then move to the private sector. You never accrued educational debt so it is easier to spend on quality cars. Plus with a generous pension, they do not have to save/invest as ordinary citizens. I'm the son of a retired Navy Captain.

Are there really that many people that become an O6 after just 14 years of service, after being in the academy for 4 years? That's a 36 year old Captain!
My Dh is a retired Marine officer, and most people we knew, after 14 years of actual service were a couple years into being an 04. My Dh retired 10 years ago, have things really changed that much?

An O4 w/20 would still get like 115k a year in pay, plus they will also get over 40k a year in Base Allocated Housing here.

So a person in their early 40s with a college degree that has worked for the same employer for 20 years is making $165/year in the DC area. Is that really considered high income?

It's more the equivalent of 200s in the private sector due to differences in taxation. That housing allowance is untaxed.

Ok. So in the private sector, would you say that someone with a degree and 20 years of experience with the same employer is well paid at $200k in the DC area? I see so many posters here that are "barely scraping by" on $300k+

Most officers have a working wife with a professional job on top of what they earn. My last employer had several officers' wives who worked there (We were a remote first company) that had earnings that were in the range of what you'd expect a GS 14 or GS 15 to make.

Are private sector employees not allowed to have a "working wife?"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Well we have a DoD budget of over $700 Billion a year so that explains a lot of it. An O6 Captain(18 years service) in the Navy grosses $138k plus a housing allowance with great heath/dental benefits. And the 4 years at the Academy counts towards service. After 20 years of service they will get a pension and can get a job in the private sector.

In The DC metro area you see the expensive cars driven by officer families. Not the case with enlisted personnel. You do your 20 years in the officer cadre and then move to the private sector. You never accrued educational debt so it is easier to spend on quality cars. Plus with a generous pension, they do not have to save/invest as ordinary citizens. I'm the son of a retired Navy Captain.

Are there really that many people that become an O6 after just 14 years of service, after being in the academy for 4 years? That's a 36 year old Captain!
My Dh is a retired Marine officer, and most people we knew, after 14 years of actual service were a couple years into being an 04. My Dh retired 10 years ago, have things really changed that much?

An O4 w/20 would still get like 115k a year in pay, plus they will also get over 40k a year in Base Allocated Housing here.

So a person in their early 40s with a college degree that has worked for the same employer for 20 years is making $165/year in the DC area. Is that really considered high income?

It's more the equivalent of 200s in the private sector due to differences in taxation. That housing allowance is untaxed.

Ok. So in the private sector, would you say that someone with a degree and 20 years of experience with the same employer is well paid at $200k in the DC area? I see so many posters here that are "barely scraping by" on $300k+

Most officers have a working wife with a professional job on top of what they earn. My last employer had several officers' wives who worked there (We were a remote first company) that had earnings that were in the range of what you'd expect a GS 14 or GS 15 to make.

Are private sector employees not allowed to have a "working wife?"

According to the sanctimonious SAHM crowd, nobody is allowed to have one.

[Anonymous]

As a civilian in the fed govt I got to gs15 at 30 y/o. I think it’s the much better route from a compensation perspective. We don’t get the GI bill or special tax benefits but we can get a free masters degree in a war college too, pension etc. Seems like a better route cause no military bs to deal with.

I’ve hired lots of retired dod officers as govt and contractors under me. Not impressed overall at the quality of their work.

In terms of a fancy car, I bought a 50k bmw when I was in my early 20’s, mostly cash I saved up during college. Was a great experience having one but a poor financial decision looking back. People also get jealous because they assume family money.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:Family money
Spouse has a high income

Also, many active military claim residence in FL and the like, and pay no property taxes

This but officers can make good money. They get a lot for a housing allowance on top of pay.

They also have far less expenses, too, in general. Besides housing, they typically will not spend as much on medical, state income tax, college savings (GI bill plus in-state in their state of residence), retirement, and a whole lot more.

This is, of course, even more true for dual-military families, especially dual-officer.

Also no educational debt.

And throw in lower costs for resources available on base — from seriously lower prices on groceries, shopping at exchanges, recreational opportunities…. It adds up nicely.

Crazy discounts—Epic ski passes for $150 or something ridiculous like that—and cheap Disney tickets too.

Those Disney tickets aren’t that cheap! It’s a something like a 10% discount on the 4 and 5 day passes. It’s nice, but certainly not mind-blowing.