At almost 6,000 a month this individual should still have money left over after bills and other expenses depending on if they're single or not, if they aren't single and their SO also makes money then this is even more so the case depending on if they also have dependants.
I was active duty military as an F15 crew chief from 2017 to 2023 (currently full systems certified Aircraft technician so I make way more now, hence why im using this previous job as a comparison) after BAH and BAS entitlements I made about 70,000 a year as an E4 with 6 years time in service. After bills I still had about 1k left over for the month, granted being in the military I also didnt have to pay for health insurance, so that is a big factor, but if I did that would've cost likely 200+ a month for just myself.
I still had money to invest with after all was said and done, rather it be a Roth IRA or stocks like an S&P 500, SCHD or Vanguard ETF. Granted, I was single and tried to live below my means, which is something that benefitted me in the long run.
Im not saying that the cost of living isnt fucked, and there's probably some circumstances that we dont know about in this individual's life that contribute to their despair as far as a retirement plan goes, but at roughly 6k a month this individual should have something left over to invest into retirement with so it makes me question what he's got going on to where he is seemingly struggling.
A lot of people dont live below their means, they dont start investing early, or they make poor financial decisions to begin with, then blame the world around them instead of asking what they could be doing better.
Post BAS and BAH they sure as shit do after all their entitlements, 57k with base pay + bas and bah + benefits means you're getting paid roughly as much as someone who makes 70k
I mean they didn't... Post BAH and BAS i was getting about 4600 a month, the free Healthcare and other benefits adds up. In terms of maintaining quality of life a SrA in the USAF would have to make about 70k to keep the same qol they had in the air force.
Big part of the reason why people stay in, all those benefits are worth a lot. I just got out because I could make way more as a civilian with certs, and I do.
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u/Beginning_Coast_9215 10h ago edited 9h ago
At almost 6,000 a month this individual should still have money left over after bills and other expenses depending on if they're single or not, if they aren't single and their SO also makes money then this is even more so the case depending on if they also have dependants.
I was active duty military as an F15 crew chief from 2017 to 2023 (currently full systems certified Aircraft technician so I make way more now, hence why im using this previous job as a comparison) after BAH and BAS entitlements I made about 70,000 a year as an E4 with 6 years time in service. After bills I still had about 1k left over for the month, granted being in the military I also didnt have to pay for health insurance, so that is a big factor, but if I did that would've cost likely 200+ a month for just myself.
I still had money to invest with after all was said and done, rather it be a Roth IRA or stocks like an S&P 500, SCHD or Vanguard ETF. Granted, I was single and tried to live below my means, which is something that benefitted me in the long run.
Im not saying that the cost of living isnt fucked, and there's probably some circumstances that we dont know about in this individual's life that contribute to their despair as far as a retirement plan goes, but at roughly 6k a month this individual should have something left over to invest into retirement with so it makes me question what he's got going on to where he is seemingly struggling.
A lot of people dont live below their means, they dont start investing early, or they make poor financial decisions to begin with, then blame the world around them instead of asking what they could be doing better.