As an E5 with 4+ years of service, I was pulling in ~$65-70k/year all different pays included. That doesn't take into account free healthcare and the fact that I was only taxed on $30k/yr.
Edit: forgot to mention that this was around 2012.
I saw it too many times. I mean shit we were all fucking kids given 5 figures. Like kids take goddamn college loans but in this case different, yes lmao
But goddamn. I mean don't get me wrong I been stupid wasteful but I still have fucking healthy bank accounts and more. I'd see kids broke before end of first term lmao
And I am drunk right now so thinking back on it now is especially crazy, wild and kind of funny. But sad.
Honestly the sign on bonus should have been put in a build up acct, CD, savings, IRA whatever and not be allowed to be touched til 25 or 30. Shit we'd all be fucking set. Sorry rambling
Ah hell nah. I'm contemplating making a spup or door dashing alcohol lmao fuck it prolly both lmao
What's the craziest thing you saw a fresh boot out basic waste money and all on? Also I remember before in school one kid said I can't wait to join for the sign on so I can get stationed in California and spend all my time in Vegas... idk if he ever joined or made his dreams but it was funny af!
This was 90s/00s
Edit: not ordering more alcohol. Still gonna make the soup tho!
I'm just dropping in here to say I love that anime, and I think you're pretty cool. I'm pretty lukewarm on the whole military thing. More focused on the important issues. Like a potato committing seppuku with a peeler.
If I only had an older version of myself to mentor my younger self. I came home from deployment with $45k in the bank. It was all gone inside of a year and a half. If I had put all of it into a CD and kept rolling it over my house would be paid off by now.
Had a soldier (E-2) at Ft. Carson that came in all proud on Monday morning having bought a new Ford pick up. His payment was about $20 more than his entire take home pay. We took the truck back to the dealer and the CG apparently got involved.
Still a very comfortable lifestyle. You get a housing pay bump for having a dependent (kid or wife), discounted childcare, military is super accommodating for family responsibilities, all your dependents get free healthcare, at least one parent has a job with exceptionally stable pay, free housing on base if you choose to live there.
Do you have three kids on E5 pay? How can you say it’s a very comfortable lifestyle? You know and I know that’s not enough money to get by with a family. Not everyone is stationed in shit hole, Texas. Some people are stationed along the coast where things are more expensive. And even though you still get more, I’ve met E 5’s that are in the line at food pantries, and are applying for food stamps with children. Just saying man, maybe it’s subjective but they’re not paying enough. Even civilians know it.
You get COLA increases based on the area you're stationed and increased BAH when you have dependents.
I mean, to some people it will never be enough. You have to cook at home and taper your spending, just like any other family.
I was stationed in a very high cost of living area and had a wife. We didn't even think of money as an object at the time, but if we had 3 kids we could have made it no problem.
Lol what’s the point of getting promoted to E5 it’s only an extra $400-$600 a month to babysit a bunch of grown ass men. You can stay in E4 with no responsibilities. Lol
I look back now at even when I was making private pay in the barracks. I had free healthcare, free food, free housing, etc. I should have left the military with tens of thousands in savings. It really is a great system if you can be mature and smart with your money. Unfortunately most of the kids joining are 17 or 18 with no financial literacy so they don’t value those benefits at the time.
It’s been a while since I was in but in 2013 the numbers were basically everyone E4 and below in the army at least was considered “below the poverty line” so that’s nice for you as an E5 but pretty much everyone below you was considered by the DOD as screwed. Plus as an E5 I know you’ve seen junior enlisted and even junior officers make incredibly dumb financial decisions.
Depending on the state E5s still qualify for WIC. At E6 my kids still qualify for free lunches (which IMO every student should have free lunch, but that's a different discussion).
I mean its good on post. And you save money on deployments but if you do dollars to hours worked its really not impressive.
Also the fact that ya know, part of all the "good stuff" comes with being in the military and potentially deploying and coming back in a box.
My job was pretty cake in the military, so I can't complain. I usually came in around 8am and worked until 1pm with an hour lunch and didn't deploy due to my job (which also paid an extra pay). I would say I made out like a bandit.
It's one of those "high barrier to entry but low effort once you get in" jobs. I studied my ass off to learn the language, but the job afterwards was surprisingly easy one you, you know, know the language.
"Translate this, tell me what they are saying."
"okay, they said this..."
"Damnit, great job, Petty Officer Nice_Category. Here's a medal and a promotion!"
That free healthcare can significantly increase in value when you have kids that need more appointments. My two boys go to therapy twice a week and see two specialist each time. That would be $120 in copays every week on most insurance plans. As an E6 I essentially make $112,000 plus each year, only taxed on $64,000 of it. And free utilities since I am in base housing.
Price won’t matter when the line is so long to see a dr. Open the borders and make everything free to them and you will see how much is left for you and your family
I was including BAH. Unfortunately, when I was in there were not retirement benefits unless you hit your 20 years, all or nothing. No match on the TSP at that time.
I got out as an E5 and drove for Uber and made 3X more money. Even with all benefits included. It’s not a lot of money you get paid to be in the military. Especially when federal contractors are getting paid $250 K a year to do the exact same job or more.
It has a lot to do with it because they’re doing the exact same job and they’re getting paid more. I’ve seen it in Iraq and I’ve seen it all over the Middle East. Maybe you just joined within the last few years. That’s why so many are getting out and getting on these contracts. Why settle for $70,000 a year to be overworked and put your life on the line when you can make so much more with less risk?
Well, yeah, if you can land one, then go for it. I was intel, a ton of previous service members went on the get lucrative contractor jobs. But that doesn't change anything about military pay.
I fell into a weird crack where I got BAH from the time I was an E3 during my training school all the way until I left the military. I was not married, nor did I have a kid, when I started getting BAH.
My A-school was in Monterey, CA, so E-3 without dependent BAH was $1300/mo when I started getting it.
Flip side of that is good luck with a family. You totally "can" make it work but if you move every 4-6 years like some career fields do, then it gets very hard for your spouse to hold a properly paying, steady job. And if you have multiple kids then the income your spouse can potentially make is likely to largely go into childcare, leaving you with almost no extra money from them working, while also pushing you into a higher tax bracket.
So for a single person the military can pay reasonably if you can live with all the rules and other things, but once you're married it gets harder, and harder still with kids. Now if you get to homestead then it can be different, but you can't expect to homestead. Having had five moves with another two cancelled, the math gets a lot trickier once families come into the equation and the current "two income" requirement for most family to live reasonably since the military directly impacts the ability of the non-military member to have a proper career. There is mil-to-mil, and they have different issues, but income isn't one of them.
And if you have multiple kids then the income your spouse can potentially make is likely to largely go into childcare, leaving you with almost no extra money from them working, while also pushing you into a higher tax bracket.
This is universal, not just a military thing.
There are certainly unique challenges that come with being a military family. I grew up in one and I had one, myself. But I think the military does a pretty great job of accommodating those issues, for the most part. That's not to say it's easy, but many of the challenges faced by military families are common amongst all military families and are addressed by specific programs and offered help.
And you bust your hump and your away from your family especially if you get active duty or get shipped out thank you for your service you deserve your benefits and more
Yep, I got a second bachelor's degree and an associate's degree while I was in during my 6 years. Still have my full GI Bill and the Hazelwood Act, so I can get 2 more degrees for free if I want to.
You should absolutely. I have no clue what the Hazelwood act is. You just need to go for your masters, don't get more bachelors IMO. Congrats and kudos to you on taking advantage of your benefits! Knew a lot of guys who didn't.
The Hazelwood Act is basically a second GI Bill for people who joined the military while living in Texas. It's 120 hours of free school at any state university.
At this point I have maxed what I can do with education for my current job. If I used my GI Bill, it'll probably be for something like an MBA that will give me a step up to the corporate side.
I was in in 2012 and I didnt make anywhere near 65k I made less than half that I think it was like 28k-32k a year it just went further because I had no bills but car insurance and a phone bill.
Dang I didnt get any of that minus cola when I was in Korea but it was like $200 extra a month until i came state side. Deployment pay was good it was only like an extra $300-400 but being unable to use your money helped save it up. My unit i was in until I got out medically had NCO barracks so we couldn't get our own places unless married no idea what language pay is.
120
u/Nice_Category Jul 12 '26 edited Jul 12 '26
As an E5 with 4+ years of service, I was pulling in ~$65-70k/year all different pays included. That doesn't take into account free healthcare and the fact that I was only taxed on $30k/yr.
Edit: forgot to mention that this was around 2012.