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I know plenty of folks who enlisted with the same plan (myself included) and it just didn't work out that way, especially if you have a demanding technical job that will demand even more of your time than the military already does normally. You are ALWAYS subject to the whims and needs of the military/your command, so don't count on your education being promised to you. It won't be.
On the flip side, I am married to someone who finished a Bachelors degree while on active duty- but as a pilot, and therefore received a ton of mil comp'd credits towards the degree. For psychology, you will not find that kind of generosity for military experience. That makes it harder to finish.
If you want to get a degree in psychology, get your Bachelors in an AFROTC program, or finish the degree normally and be competitive enough to commission through OTS. The officer's experience in the military is absolute leaps and bounds beyond the enlisted experience, and you will have much better experience when you leave the military for good careers.
And yes it is true that select military specialties can lead to high earnings post-military, but those are mostly overseas jobs (project managers, aircraft mechanics, contract security, etc) and the pay isn't nearly as good now as it used to be.
OP, just get a 4 year degree and use it to get a real job. Don't go into the military. When you leave in the military, the experiences you have in the military will be useless to potential employers.
OP, just get a 4 year degree and use it to get a real job. Don't go into the military. When you leave in the military, the experiences you have in the military will be useless to potential employers.
That very much depends on what a person is doing in the military, and it's very likely to be of more use than a bachelor's degree in psychology alone.
That very much depends on what a person is doing in the military, and it's very likely to be of more use than a bachelor's degree in psychology alone.
I've encountered former Lts and Cpts having to take some boring desk job in some no-name organization for around $15 an hour because their military background doesn't count for jack. I've also encountered people with bachelor's degree in English lit. or media studies making the same amount of money.
That's why military experience is worthless in the real world. They go thru all that training just to come out and make the same amount of money some 20-something is making right out of college. It's real pathetic to see some 50 year old former Air Force captain who was in for 20 years making 15 bucks an hour while his co-worker is some pimply-faced 25 year old with a degree in Latin American history making the same amount.
I've encountered former Lts and Cpts having to take some boring desk job in some no-name organization for around $15 an hour because their military background doesn't count for jack. I've also encountered people with bachelor's degree in English lit. or media studies making the same amount of money.
That's why military experience is worthless in the real world. They go thru all that training just to come out and make the same amount of money some 20-something is making right out of college. It's real pathetic to see some 50 year old former Air Force captain who was in for 20 years making 15 bucks an hour while his co-worker is some pimply-faced 25 year old with a degree in Latin American history making the same amount.
A. If he put in 20 years in the Air Force, he retired at least a major.
B. If he's making only 15 dollars an hour, it's because he only wants a low stress job...
C. ....to supplement the $45,000+ he gets in retirement pay for the rest of his life.
A. If he put in 20 years in the Air Force, he retired at least a major.
B. If he's making only 15 dollars an hour, it's because he only wants a low stress job...
C. ....to supplement the $45,000+ he gets in retirement pay for the rest of his life.
Major? Capt? I'm not too knowledgeable on what he was. All they said he was a former Air Force officer.
$45,000 a year is not a lot of money in today's America. Simple fact. They tell you that if you put 20 years in, you can retire in your 40s. How is retiring in your 40s a good thing? Have you talked to retirees in their 70s and older? They'll easily tell you retirement is boring. Talked to so many retirees and they've all told me, "Don't ever retire. It's the worst decision of my life and the most boring existence you could ever have."
Why do you think so many retirees are pushing for the gov't to increase the retirement age to 68? Why do you think so many retirees are working part-time in customer service? It's because retirement is boring and unfulfilling. If this is the way people in their 70s and older feel about retirement, what do you think a retired military guy in his 40s feels about retirement?
He's doing it only because he wants a low stress job, and the yearly pay he gets from that job plus the $45,000 a year is enough to sustain him, his (non-working) wife, and his children? Right.
I love how many military people don't want to admit all their military experience is useless to them in the real world. That major could have gone to school and obtained a master's or doctorate that would enable to get a job that pays twice as much as he makes a year now, rather than sink 20 years down the drain like that in the Air Force. His wife also could have gone to school and gotten a degree that gives her a decent income. But instead, being a military wife, she never had time to obtain a job in one place so she neither has the experience or the qualifications on what it's like to work for a living. So it held her back.
Major? Capt? I'm not too knowledgeable on what he was. All they said he was a former Air Force officer.
So much silly talk. I don't know about that guy--just no ambition, low tastes. Or PTSD. Or any number of kinds of injuries. So you've made such a sweeping judgment on thousands of people based on one guy you don't even really know.
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$45,000 a year is not a lot of money in today's America.
It's nearly twice the medium income, and not bad for doing nothing the rest of your life. It's more than you'll get if you have a disabling accident tomorrow.
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Simple fact. They tell you that if you put 20 years in, you can retire in your 40s. How is retiring in your 40s a good thing?
Early enough to go to school and get another degree on the GI Bill, go into an entirely different line of work for a whole second career.
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Have you talked to retirees in their 70s and older? They'll easily tell you retirement is boring. Talked to so many retirees and they've all told me, "Don't ever retire. It's the worst decision of my life and the most boring existence you could ever have."
I've talked to a lot of retirees who are spending their time to improve the lives of others. I can't help it that you hang around duds who have lived only for themselves. I'm lining up my own "second retirement" as a period of public service myself.
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do you think so many retirees are working part-time in customer service? It's because retirement is boring and unfulfilling. If this is the way people in their 70s and older feel about retirement, what do you think a retired military guy in his 40s feels about retirement?
I felt pretty good about it. I did that "go back to school and get another degree" thing myself.
Oh, there are some moments I feel like a retired Mr Incredible because I really adored what I did in the military, but I'm looking forward to helping other people full time.
He's doing it only because he wants a low stress job, and the yearly pay he gets from that job plus the $45,000 a year is enough to sustain him, his (non-working) wife, and his children? Right.
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I love how many military people don't want to admit all their military experience is useless to them in the real world.
You only know one...and him not well.
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That major could have gone to school and obtained a master's or doctorate that would enable to get a job that pays twice as much as he makes a year now, rather than sink 20 years down the drain like that in the Air Force.
I can only shrug at why that particular guy--the only one you know--didn't continue his education like so many others--like myself--did.
So much silly talk from someone who knows nothing about it.
Major? Capt? I'm not too knowledgeable on what he was. All they said he was a former Air Force officer.
$45,000 a year is not a lot of money in today's America. Simple fact. They tell you that if you put 20 years in, you can retire in your 40s. How is retiring in your 40s a good thing? Have you talked to retirees in their 70s and older? They'll easily tell you retirement is boring. Talked to so many retirees and they've all told me, "Don't ever retire. It's the worst decision of my life and the most boring existence you could ever have."
Why do you think so many retirees are pushing for the gov't to increase the retirement age to 68? Why do you think so many retirees are working part-time in customer service? It's because retirement is boring and unfulfilling. If this is the way people in their 70s and older feel about retirement, what do you think a retired military guy in his 40s feels about retirement?
He's doing it only because he wants a low stress job, and the yearly pay he gets from that job plus the $45,000 a year is enough to sustain him, his (non-working) wife, and his children? Right.
I love how many military people don't want to admit all their military experience is useless to them in the real world. That major could have gone to school and obtained a master's or doctorate that would enable to get a job that pays twice as much as he makes a year now, rather than sink 20 years down the drain like that in the Air Force. His wife also could have gone to school and gotten a degree that gives her a decent income. But instead, being a military wife, she never had time to obtain a job in one place so she neither has the experience or the qualifications on what it's like to work for a living. So it held her back.
If he was a Major he probably did go to graduate school or he never would have made it to retirement. The exceptions being the "mustangs" former enlisted who earned a commission.
So much silly talk. I don't know about that guy--just no ambition, low tastes. Or PTSD. Or any number of kinds of injuries. So you've made such a sweeping judgment on thousands of people based on one guy you don't even really know.
It's nearly twice the medium income, and not bad for doing nothing the rest of your life. It's more than you'll get if you have a disabling accident tomorrow.
Early enough to go to school and get another degree on the GI Bill, go into an entirely different line of work for a whole second career.
I've talked to a lot of retirees who are spending their time to improve the lives of others. I can't help it that you hang around duds who have lived only for themselves. I'm lining up my own "second retirement" as a period of public service myself.
I felt pretty good about it. I did that "go back to school and get another degree" thing myself.
Oh, there are some moments I feel like a retired Mr Incredible because I really adored what I did in the military, but I'm looking forward to helping other people full time.
He's doing it only because he wants a low stress job, and the yearly pay he gets from that job plus the $45,000 a year is enough to sustain him, his (non-working) wife, and his children? Right.
You only know one...and him not well.
I can only shrug at why that particular guy--the only one you know--didn't continue his education like so many others--like myself--did.
So much silly talk from someone who knows nothing about it.
Let's get the facts straight: the dude leaves the military and has only $45,000 a year coming to him. Are you seriously saying that's enough to sustain him and his non-working wife?
Do you live in America? Last time I checked $45,000 a year is not enough to support a man and his wife in America if he doesn't wanna spend the rest of his life living in a slum apartment. The dude would have been better off using his degree to get a master's or doctorate to get a job that will pay more than twice that amount.
By the way, I never said I only knew one. I used that dude as an example. I've met plenty of former military men. They come in two camps: those who admit their military service means jack squat in the real world, and those who don't want to admit their military service means jack squat. You obviously fall into the latter category. You're seriously trying to push the idea that retiring in your 40s from the military after 20 years and only having $45,000 a year to support you and your wife is a good thing? Only delusional military dudes would shovel that crap.
He's one of the highest ranking members of his branch and that's the most he has to show for 20 years of service? Think of the fact that the vast majority of former servicemen never reach that high. They must make less than half the pittance he makes. No wonder I have met so many former military men from all branches working at car washes, pizza delivery, moving companies, factory jobs, assisted living jobs, paramedics, variety of other jobs they originally went into the military to get away from.
That's the thrust of what I'm saying: when people come out of the military, the same crappy jobs they originally went into the military to get away from are waiting for them. They might as well have gone to school and gotten a degree to work for a company that will pay better. What's all that training for and 20 years of service only to be forced out with $45,000 to support you and your wife? He'd have been better off going to college. So would his wife. Then she would have been able to support herself and add to the income. But the years in the military as a military wife hindered her from getting a suitable job to support herself.
By the way, what is this full-time job you're now doing retired? Is it something you could have easily done if you'd have gone to school for instead of going into the military for?
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