Reply to Private to Fed - How much less did you make?

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[quote=Anonymous]I took a in-between step of Federal Contractor to Think Tank to Federal Government after trying to break in for several years.  As a contractor I had a base of 175K plus about a 25K yearly bonus so when I went to the the think tank (actually did this purposefully as a intermediary step) I took that opportunity to right size my salary and expectations.  I knew I made too much as a contractor and I did not feel that I could sustain that for another 30 years of working (I do not have the personality for Sales or BD and trust me...you wouldn't me in those roles!!).

At the Think Tank I made 155K  with no bonus (I never really cared too much about the bonus anyways because half was always taken away by taxes and at my company you put half away into a savings account so my take home in regards to that was pretty much even to the 401K matching by the Think Tank, so the other half was only 5K or so which was nice but nothing to write home about).

Stayed there about 2 years before I switched over to a Fed (the plan worked!) as a 14 step 10 direct hire and it was the absolute best decision which I believe was about 141K when I came in last year.  I had previously spent 5 years in the military so I was able to buy back that time towards my retirement (i.e. I walked into federal service with 5 years of retirement under my belt)  and was also able to negotiate 8 hours of leave per pay period.  My agency has embraced telework so its really flexible and the mission is very timely and important.  Comparatively the health care is better than when I was a contractor but not as good as the Think Tank (now they had the real Cadillac plan!) however if you do the math on the pension (especially given my prior service) its worth it.

Most importantly, I pretty much get the same job fulfillment and camaraderie as I did when I was in the military which I did not expect but is a very nice bonus!  [/quote]

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