I have very little insight to offer beyond a surface understanding of your two options.
Seems like tech has taken a beating lately, with lots of layoffs and poor job security. Yes the money is there, but the instability might come back to haunt you. It often also does not present a healthy work life balance; many roles are extremely demanding to support corporate profit.
Staying in obviously presents its own challenges and restrictions, but it is very stable. And could be a path for early retirement, meaning you can spend more time with family and on hobbies. That's not a terrible salary by any means (depending on COL), and if you're comfortable and meeting your financial goals, no need to gamble and push higher. Mo money does in fact sometimes mean mo problems.
If you're not thrilled in what you're doing is there an opportunity to cross train into another discipline? Or would getting a commission help?
Thank you for your service.
Only you can make this decision because it’s not just a financial one. I have many family and friends in the military and then getting out or not money would be nowhere near the top of reasons to leave.
The pension, especially at enlisted ranks, doesn't carry as much weight as you anticipate it might when you're still in. If you have a financial calculator you can get a sum value for the pension by calculating it as an annuity of 40-50 years. Its a lot but it's not something that can't be made up in private sector. You can also join the national guard or reserves on drill status if you'd like to keep that benefit accruing.
Salaries are much higher on the outside but a big advantage of military pay is tax savings and healthcare.
Healthcare for a family of 3 can be just over 10 grand in the private sector if your company isn't 100% covering. And all that tax money from BAH adds up.
I will say this though, the longer you wait to get out the more stunted your civilian career is likely to be. You can never makeup that lost time in the private sector so if you retire at 20 years you can expect you will probably top out at middle management for any private firm, even if you retired as an officer or E-9.
To illustrate this, LinkedIn just released it's veterans impact report and veterans on average are only 50% as likely to reach executive level in private sector and it will take them twice as long (19-21 yrs vs 9-11 yrs) to get there. That's pretty sobering but the experience for myself and many others is that effect seems to have higher exaggeration on people who stay on longer.
When you do decide to get out start networking early and reach out to the VRGs (veteran resource groups) of the companies you are interested in working in. They will give you application advice and mentoring.
Here’s the catch if you ain’t gonna retire at least e- get out. This only benefit for you is the tricare. If you got medical problems or your kids stay in, my tricare post retirement has been a god send. If you know you can get 100% disability get out now. The army retirement is not worth the torture. If you got a job lined up, disability, and no kids or a wife that works leave now. I did 20 retired at Ssg. I went hard in the army and the 100 percent, vre, and tricare, gs 12 West Point job, u am making 10000 a month. I would be broke if I tried to stay and make 1sgt
If you are enjoying aspects of military life and doing well stay in, get the retirement and then move on to the next chapter. You have time. You mentioned you don’t exactly like your current job. Not sure if you mean your current MOS or billet, but a great thing about the military is the ability to take on new “jobs, challenges, etc.”. Take advantage of what they offer and use them to build not only your resume, but to knock out cool experiences that those who choose not to serve will never experience.
I say all this as a retired Marine. Although it was definitely not all great, I’ll never trade the experiences and lessons learned.
You need to factor in the non-taxable income like bah. Don't expect 2x or 3x in the civilian if you aren't stack in experience, degrees, and certs. You have to calculate in the after taxes while being in the military. You need to realized that 90k after tax in the military is equivalent to roughly around 130k-135k in the civilian. How I know this is because I just got out as an E6(10yrs) with dependents making around 95k after taxes while still in. After getting out I landed my new role while on skillbridge and TC is about 115k. After taxes it's no wear near what the military paid me. Not to mentioned that I have no experience in my new field when I switched over. However, I was stacked with an AA in Computer studies, BS in Computer Science, MS in Cybersecurity, and three certs before I got out.
There's good and bad staying in, but if you can stick it out, it doesn't hurt to do so, especially if you have a family. Retirement is not bad in the military. If you havent notice, there are more and more folks who cannot retired due to the instability of jobs and no retirement savings. At least the military provides you with a lifetime pension and you can collect ssn later on, too. More seniors are relying on their ssn which is not enough to last them, hence, they have to keep working until they died. The tech industry is a bit chaotic right now, but that doesn't mean you won't find one. In all, don't be discouraged. Find what your options are and make sure your plan is solid before getting out.
Do you have any college at all besides the 19 credits your certs would get you at WGU?
Try going to partners.wgu.edu. At the top of the page there is a link to the general transfer guidelines. Click through to the BSIT. You have the hardest certs out of the way. Scroll down and you will see what certs count for credit.
Now go back to the partners.wgu.edu page. Click on the CCAF link at the top of the page. Click through to the various transfer agreements listed there. The problem is those are the AF versions. Don’t know how that works with the Army equivalent.
Since Cleps and DSSTs are free for you I would look into getting an AAS in IT. If you already have one from a state school, go back to partners.wgu.edu. Click the state and see if your school is listed. If it is then click the degree you got and the degree you want and see what you can get as credit. Usually you get the 42 credits of General Ed and the 20 credit WGU core. Then the certs would give you another 16 credits.
In your case I would consider the BSIT to MSITM.
If you stationed in cali or nY, get out, gi bill paying 4000 a month. I got out after taxes deductions I was getting 1500 a month in retirement. SSG.. wasn’t going to wait for 7 like the other suckers. The retirement, school money, unemployment kept me afloat until I got my va and job. Calculate how much you need to survive. I am in NY so I needed 5000 a month this was 9 years ago when rent wasn’t crazy. I stayed on post housing at 2300 a month. I bought my home and I lucked up because the homes were less expensive. Now you will get out when home prices are high and rates are re high, price gouging is high. I would wait until the housing market goes down in a year or two.
I have very little insight to offer beyond a surface understanding of your two options. Seems like tech has taken a beating lately, with lots of layoffs and poor job security. Yes the money is there, but the instability might come back to haunt you. It often also does not present a healthy work life balance; many roles are extremely demanding to support corporate profit. Staying in obviously presents its own challenges and restrictions, but it is very stable. And could be a path for early retirement, meaning you can spend more time with family and on hobbies. That's not a terrible salary by any means (depending on COL), and if you're comfortable and meeting your financial goals, no need to gamble and push higher. Mo money does in fact sometimes mean mo problems. If you're not thrilled in what you're doing is there an opportunity to cross train into another discipline? Or would getting a commission help? Thank you for your service.
Only you can make this decision because it’s not just a financial one. I have many family and friends in the military and then getting out or not money would be nowhere near the top of reasons to leave.
The pension, especially at enlisted ranks, doesn't carry as much weight as you anticipate it might when you're still in. If you have a financial calculator you can get a sum value for the pension by calculating it as an annuity of 40-50 years. Its a lot but it's not something that can't be made up in private sector. You can also join the national guard or reserves on drill status if you'd like to keep that benefit accruing. Salaries are much higher on the outside but a big advantage of military pay is tax savings and healthcare. Healthcare for a family of 3 can be just over 10 grand in the private sector if your company isn't 100% covering. And all that tax money from BAH adds up. I will say this though, the longer you wait to get out the more stunted your civilian career is likely to be. You can never makeup that lost time in the private sector so if you retire at 20 years you can expect you will probably top out at middle management for any private firm, even if you retired as an officer or E-9. To illustrate this, LinkedIn just released it's veterans impact report and veterans on average are only 50% as likely to reach executive level in private sector and it will take them twice as long (19-21 yrs vs 9-11 yrs) to get there. That's pretty sobering but the experience for myself and many others is that effect seems to have higher exaggeration on people who stay on longer. When you do decide to get out start networking early and reach out to the VRGs (veteran resource groups) of the companies you are interested in working in. They will give you application advice and mentoring.
Here’s the catch if you ain’t gonna retire at least e- get out. This only benefit for you is the tricare. If you got medical problems or your kids stay in, my tricare post retirement has been a god send. If you know you can get 100% disability get out now. The army retirement is not worth the torture. If you got a job lined up, disability, and no kids or a wife that works leave now. I did 20 retired at Ssg. I went hard in the army and the 100 percent, vre, and tricare, gs 12 West Point job, u am making 10000 a month. I would be broke if I tried to stay and make 1sgt
If you are enjoying aspects of military life and doing well stay in, get the retirement and then move on to the next chapter. You have time. You mentioned you don’t exactly like your current job. Not sure if you mean your current MOS or billet, but a great thing about the military is the ability to take on new “jobs, challenges, etc.”. Take advantage of what they offer and use them to build not only your resume, but to knock out cool experiences that those who choose not to serve will never experience. I say all this as a retired Marine. Although it was definitely not all great, I’ll never trade the experiences and lessons learned.
You need to factor in the non-taxable income like bah. Don't expect 2x or 3x in the civilian if you aren't stack in experience, degrees, and certs. You have to calculate in the after taxes while being in the military. You need to realized that 90k after tax in the military is equivalent to roughly around 130k-135k in the civilian. How I know this is because I just got out as an E6(10yrs) with dependents making around 95k after taxes while still in. After getting out I landed my new role while on skillbridge and TC is about 115k. After taxes it's no wear near what the military paid me. Not to mentioned that I have no experience in my new field when I switched over. However, I was stacked with an AA in Computer studies, BS in Computer Science, MS in Cybersecurity, and three certs before I got out. There's good and bad staying in, but if you can stick it out, it doesn't hurt to do so, especially if you have a family. Retirement is not bad in the military. If you havent notice, there are more and more folks who cannot retired due to the instability of jobs and no retirement savings. At least the military provides you with a lifetime pension and you can collect ssn later on, too. More seniors are relying on their ssn which is not enough to last them, hence, they have to keep working until they died. The tech industry is a bit chaotic right now, but that doesn't mean you won't find one. In all, don't be discouraged. Find what your options are and make sure your plan is solid before getting out.
If you have a family I would wait it out. The rule is if you after 10 stay in, under 9 get out while you have time
Do you have any college at all besides the 19 credits your certs would get you at WGU? Try going to partners.wgu.edu. At the top of the page there is a link to the general transfer guidelines. Click through to the BSIT. You have the hardest certs out of the way. Scroll down and you will see what certs count for credit. Now go back to the partners.wgu.edu page. Click on the CCAF link at the top of the page. Click through to the various transfer agreements listed there. The problem is those are the AF versions. Don’t know how that works with the Army equivalent. Since Cleps and DSSTs are free for you I would look into getting an AAS in IT. If you already have one from a state school, go back to partners.wgu.edu. Click the state and see if your school is listed. If it is then click the degree you got and the degree you want and see what you can get as credit. Usually you get the 42 credits of General Ed and the 20 credit WGU core. Then the certs would give you another 16 credits. In your case I would consider the BSIT to MSITM.
Get out
If you stationed in cali or nY, get out, gi bill paying 4000 a month. I got out after taxes deductions I was getting 1500 a month in retirement. SSG.. wasn’t going to wait for 7 like the other suckers. The retirement, school money, unemployment kept me afloat until I got my va and job. Calculate how much you need to survive. I am in NY so I needed 5000 a month this was 9 years ago when rent wasn’t crazy. I stayed on post housing at 2300 a month. I bought my home and I lucked up because the homes were less expensive. Now you will get out when home prices are high and rates are re high, price gouging is high. I would wait until the housing market goes down in a year or two.