If you’re a military family...

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m a field grade military officer, and the majority of my colleagues have working spouses. My spouse works, and our HHI is $400K. I’m not sure why you think most have a SAHP

What I’ve seen for those with a SAHP, they purchase real estate and make money on the sales. I purchased a home in the DC area, owned it for 10 years, then sold it. We made $305K on the sale.

For retirement, the pension is cola adjusted. The pension keeps rising as costs rise. And most have TSP and ROTH IRAs. That is plenty to live off.

For college expenses, you’re over saving in my opinion. I transferred my GI BILL to my kids. One using part of it in college now. If you use one month of GI Bill, you get instate tuition and remains for the rest of the time attending that school. Even if you stop using the GI Bill. And the STEAM kicker gives you another year of GI Bill is your child is studying math, science, engineering.

Childcare is very affordable. I paid $1,100/month for 2 kids in full time daycare. My neighbors paid $4,000.

You cannot extend the GI STEM benefit to your spouse or dependents. Only the veteran.

“ Spouses, children and other dependents are ineligible for the STEM extension. Veterans may not transfer their STEM extension benefits to their dependents.”

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes! We make about 350K per year and max out everything. That's sound financial planning. His 5K pension is only about half we'll need in retirement.

So, you are comparing yourself to making $350k to other families making $60-100K... and you need $10K a month in retirement. You sound very high maintenance.

Who makes 60-100K? Most of the military families we know in the DC area are making 200K+

Not sure what you mean by high maintenance. We are 20+ years from retirement so 10K won't be worth what it is today.

Then they don't have SAHMs, they have working wives.

+1. A four star general's base pay is like 197K. So you are clearly hanging out with military with spouses with well-paid jobs, not military with SAHM wives.

Doctors in the military get special pay allowances. They can make that without being four star generals. Quite common in this area.

[Anonymous]

We make about 500K per year (I'm the bread winner, he's the officer). We drive old, paid off cars. We live in a townhouse. The only sign that maybe we make more is we own 4 homes. We put nearly half our earnings into various savings vehicles and investments. Not everyone with money spends it. Don't feel like you have to keep up with the Jones.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Wow, the responses in this thread are pretty insipid.

OP, I grew up the child of an O-6 and a DODDS teacher. My father served 29 years in the USAF, mostly internationally, then worked another 10 as a contractor.

Combined with my mother’s teaching pension, they did well. The contractor job at the end came with a high salary, housing allowance, golf membership, and company bmw.

On that salary, we routinely vacationed, had two BMWs, and they saved for college, paying full freight for me at Stanford, and another sibling at a state school. They also bought me a new 3 series as a graduation present.

So, it can be done, especially overseas. They did not buy a house until retirement, though, which also meant no remodeling costs along the way. They now have 3 pensions plus a couple mil in savings + home equity.

All this, yet you don't know the meaning of the word insipid.

Stanford is not impressing me at all lately