Is current retirement "too sweet a deal"?

SGM Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 08:34:37 -0500

http://warontherocks.com/2015/03/military-retirement-too-sweet-a-deal/

Military Retirement: Too Sweet a Deal? - War on the Rocks

Retiring from the U.S. military is a sweet deal for the 17 percent of veterans who are allowed to serve for twenty years on active duty. Too sweet. For dec

Response by GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad made Mar 2 at 2015 8:35 AM

GySgt Wayne A. Ekblad — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 08:35:39 -0500

Response by MAJ Jim Steven made Mar 2 at 2015 10:04 AM

MAJ Jim Steven — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 10:04:09 -0500

not sure if it is too sweet...but it is damn sweet, thats for sure.
Where else can you be a retired 43 year old LTC or SFC/MSG and get a paycheck for the rest of your life!!??!

and if you are a LTC, you are getting around 50K a year, for the rest of your life.

Why more people dont join the military is beyond me...why more people dont stay to 20 is also beyond me...

Response by SPC David Shaffer made Mar 2 at 2015 10:53 AM

SPC David Shaffer — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 10:53:05 -0500

This is what i'm thinking right now.

Response by SFC Walt Littleton made Mar 2 at 2015 11:35 AM

SFC Walt Littleton — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 11:35:57 -0500

There are a few things that need to be taken into account when you look at retirement.

1. You volunteered to defend the country for at least 20 years. While your peers either went to college or began their careers placing you 20 years behind the curve.

2. Transitioning to a civilian career is very difficult due to stereotypes of military veterans.

3. I find it very demeaning when I hear polititions complain about how much it cost the government to pay these benefits when they can retire with benefits for serving 2 years. Plus they are exempt from government mandated programs. Let's look at what our budget is to provide full medical, dental, retirement till death for our elected officials and then compare.

4. When I joined in 73 I was told and promised medical and dental for me and my family for the rest of my life. Well the year I retired (I think that's when it changed) I had to pay for insurance. It is a low premium but still. As for dental they for almost nothing. Thankfully my wife has good insurance.

5. Lastly let's look at Golden Parachutes for executives. The board can fire me for bad performance but they still have to pay me millions of dollars to get rid of me. Wow and we put our lives on the line to pertect this culture.

Ok I'm off my soapbox.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 2 at 2015 7:34 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 19:34:26 -0500

I knew going into the military that it was a career. The draw was the retirement and serving my country. Now I'm retired and I see my civilian peers, who thought I was a loser for joining, complaining about people like me retiring young and working on another retirement. They had the same opportunity to do what I had but thought they were better than that. I don't think it's a sweet deal considering what you have to do to make it twenty years. Civilians dont get it and never will.

Response by MAJ Jim Steven made Mar 2 at 2015 10:08 PM

MAJ Jim Steven — Mon, 02 Mar 2015 22:08:10 -0500

I don't think you can overhaul the retirement system without altering the promotion system as well...
You have to address the high promotion rates AND the up or out system....
If you let people stay in, even though not getting promoted, it means you aren't hiring at the junior level....which means you keep the experienced...

Response by Col Joseph Lenertz made Mar 4 at 2015 2:02 PM

Col Joseph Lenertz — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 14:02:23 -0500

Signing up for the ultimate sacrifice is hard to measure, and the article doesn't mention the down-sides for those who don't make it. Chronic injuries, catastrophic injuries, and death are some of the reasons 83% don't make it to 20. It's just too sweet a deal for the 99% who never had to raise their hand and swear the oath.

Response by CW5 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 4 at 2015 7:47 PM

CW5 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 19:47:20 -0500

Too sweet a deal, SGM Private RallyPoint Member? Maybe going forward it will be too sweet to maintain in its current form, because the budget won't be able to keep up. People are living longer and healthier lives, and "retirement" at 40 (or so) does seem like a very sweet deal. I think military retirement will change in the coming years. I think it has to change to be sustainable.

Response by CW2 Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 4 at 2015 8:11 PM

CW2 Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 04 Mar 2015 20:11:23 -0500

The baseline issue I see popping up constantly when talking retirement overhaul is that they keep comparing apples to oranges. There are very few civilian jobs that equate to what we do and the sacrifices we have to make. If you want to compare civilian retirement to military retirement, you have to look at it from a whole life concept. Aside from public service jobs (police, fire, ems, etc.) there are no jobs I can think of in the civilian sector where your neck is on the line. Where you spend YEARS away from families and beat your body to oblivion on a constant (daily) basis for a cause bigger than yourself. And as for the ones that don't make it to retirement, take away the ones who were forced to leave due to injury, bureaucracy, and god forbid the ultimate sacrifice, and you're left with a good pool in which to gauge. That leaves the ones who retire, choose to leave for personal reasons and the ones who just don't belong here. Let’s face it, it's not for everyone. So in my humblest of opinions, it is NOT too sweet a deal for the things we have to endure (things the civilian sector can't even begin to comprehend). And until the Fat Cats on the hill come to the realization that NO, there is no basis for comparison in what we do, then they should not meddle in affairs of which all but a select few have experience with. Let them sign on the line and see if our retirement is "Too sweet a deal".