AAAAGGHHHHH!!! I just responded to all your questions and for some reason it gave me an error and everything was lost.
Anyways, copy and paste onto word before I submit, just in case.
What does FIRE mean?
All of your input has been great. Getting my brain moving and giving me some questions to truly ask before committing either way.
In a nutshell:
I am an E8 in the Navy with 18 years. Good chance of promotion in the next two years.
Married with 3 kids. 15, 10, and 6
Own two homes, Primary and Rental. We have more than 35% equity in the rental and it makes us $100/mo
Owe 26K on a Jetta TDI and 9K on a Ford Explorer. This is our worst area because I made the mistake of buying a 2014 Ford F150 that I didn't need at all. Was underwater but going from the Ford to the Jetta brought me from 85 a week in gas to 40 every three weeks plus 100 less on the payment.
Owe 4K in CC due to unforeseen expenses AND Christmas but will be paid off very soon.
TSP- 110K
ROTH IRA- 29K
529- 29K
Stocks- 26K
I really appreciate your responses and genuine advice! I had this long response to everyone however it timed out and gave me an error.
My wife and I are ready for shore duty and looking forward to some much needed downtime. I have one more deployment but it's STAFF. The last 11 were hard and NOT staff deployments.
I am currently working on my Masters in Human Systems Engineering with Johns Hopkins University and want to consult on projects/programs when I retire retire. Research and Development without being emotionally tied to how the company implements a project.
Being tied to the military isn't as bad as it seems however the closer I get to 20 the more I feel it is a commitment that I don't want. I do enjoy my job still and the work level seem to level out. Some days are long and some are short.
I really like this DoNorth-
If you don't feel like going through the hassle of finding a post military job, take the bonus, higher pension and be done for good @42 years old. If you could make significant money in the private sector without destroying your quality of life, retire at 20, try to live off your pension and bank the rest of your private sector salary until you're FI. Chances are, the extra six years + the crit. skills bonus is probably a better deal because the payments are higher over your lifetime and your indexed increases (COLA) are on higher amounts. Example, my pension last year was $4895/month and almost $5000 this year after the COLA index. If you started at $2100/month, your indexed increases are naturally smaller
Maybe only do three years to go to 40 years old, take some of the bonus. I have to crunch some numbers
I used E9 pay for the second calculation with 30% disability. I am quite broken, shoulder, hips, knees, ears, head. Slowly getting fixed.
Nords- Haha-No more Italy for my field. I was there 8 years and met my wife there. Maybe Spain!!
Second, if you're considering taking the Career Status Bonus and going on the REDUX retirement plan, then my advice to 99.99% of the military readers is "Run away fast." There's a reason that DoD and the government are being so nice to you, and you'll only benefit from CSB/REDUX if you (1) stay until at least 30 years of service and (2) make E-9 or W-5 or flag/general officer. If you're staying in uniform for those ranks, then we all know that you're not about the money anyway.
I didn't take this! Someone wiser than me told me at the time to do the same thing you just told me. RUN!!
I will be taking the poll this week, and I'm going to call the Enlisted Community Manager to see what the percentage is.
Not so sure cheap healthcare will be there for long.
Again, I wish the other post was saved. Thank you very much for giving me input and resources to use. I'll post some numbers up as soon as I have them, but am glad I found this site with all the knowledge.
Thanks again!!
V/r
Justin