ECONOMIC PROS AND CONS OF JOINING MILITARY

So, I've always wanted to join the military since I was a kid, and I'm coming close to my graduation with a STEM degree (specificity isn't inportant for the questions I have) in a year, and I'm considering joining the marine OCS (officer candidacy school) program to serve 5 years as an officer.

Tld;dr- graduating soon, thinking of temporarily becoming an officer

So my question is - what are the pros and cons for my financial future if I take 5 years "off" to join the military?

So far this is my thinking -
PROS:
> Great soft resumé builder, especially with smaller companies (muh thank yous for serving)
> Gives me 'managerial' experience in a way
> Security Clearance also builds resumé
> Saves 5~ years worth of housing, food, and travel costs (no gas/car, military houses and feeds me on taxpayer money)
> Allows me to save 5 years of income as a result (excluding costs like clothing or entertainment which already only take a small portion of my income with a wage slave job)
> Gibsmedats after service - Cheap government health insurance, cheap life insurance, covered higher education costs if I want to go to get my masters and eventual phd or even something like law school, etc.
point being lots of tax payer money goes into my pocket
> Able to be a dick with an automatic moral highground when I deal with shitheads like my family "I was an offecur!!!!111"


CONS-
> 5 years late on starting career, I'll be about 27 when I get out of service
> 5 years loss of potentially higher income
> less time to get investments or my own land, very hard to manage finances in the event I go overseas
> of course potential risks for injury or long term issues as a result of service (not quite as worried, officers do less physical grunt work)

Thoughts?

>nothing

I used the GI Bill, VA loans, and hiring preference for gov jobs and contracts.

Other than that I wouldn't say it's a great idea. Marine OCS is just masochism.

The military is shit. Its only good for very unambitious kinda stupid people or people with tremendous tolerance for bullshit and abuse. Enlisted side is basically workfare for the dredges of society.

You made valid points just weigh the pros at 0.2 and double the cons.

Your asking if it's q good idea to steal from people for a living

It might be beneficial for your financial freedom, but I personally will hope you get stoned to death by Afghani hags

Hey, I didn't make the law, but somehow I feel like I won't be as shitty as a welfare queens.

You will after about a year or two in service when you realize everything you do is busywork and your coworkers are irresponsible retards and that all costs the taxpayers a lot of money.

When you actually do your job in a conflict you'll realize its pointless too and squanders wealth even harder.

It's childish but I really feel like that sense of respect from everyone even a small amount will be worth it in the end honestly

I'm just being hopeful that my financial life isn't crippled

Hey OP, I went marine OCS but decided to drop out before finishing.

You've got to be committed 110% if you want to be a Marine Officer. The people who joined and became Marine officers were the combination of one or two of these factors:

1.Ultra-conservative/nationalistic
2. Came from a Marine Family
3. Didn't have much alternatives out of college (aka shit major)

I don't know about the first two, but you make it seem that you could do pretty well in the private sector. You also said you just want to do the minimal service so I don't feel like your super committed to the idea. If the only reasons you want to join is what you said as "PROs" than I would say its definately not worth it, and you would do a lot better in the private sector.

If you have any other questions feel free to ask them.

>want to be an officer
>but only for the minimum time commitment
>and only because other people will assume you did it out of a desire to serve your country
Why don't you get a real job instead of wasting taxpayer money half-assing a foreign war?

I fit the marine family criteria too.

I know I'm near shiposting levels here, but making the claim you love your country on /pol/'s younger cousin's board is a sure fire way to get derailed into hell

I care about the idea of serving my country, but don't want to dedicate my life to it. Service for 5 years is still 5 years of service even if it's the officer minimum.

Always the offchance I really enjoy it too and aim for the promotion route and move to the navy or army after the 5 years for easier promotability.

Meant to link you as well

A active duty contract is actually 4 years active and 4 years reverse.

Half the people on this board are NEETs so you shouldn't care what they think.

If you want to REALLY be a Marine Officer apply for Marine OCS.

If you just want to have the perks and prestige of being an officer in the military it would probably be a lot easier to just join another branch.

Veterans get paid less than their civilian counterparts on average when they each have bachelors or masters degrees. Military makes you less agreeable as a person, even if you never see combat. Military experience is often useless to private companies and many vets report being unsatisfied with their salaries as civvies once they get out. Being in the military sucks.

>Being in the military sucks.
life in general sucks. being in the military just makes you more aware of it.

>Military makes you less agreeable as a person, even if you never see combat.
goes triple for the marine corps. bunch of unpleasant bastards, especially the ones that don't see combat.

Is that really your experience with veterans?

canada here, our military is incredibly well paid but otherwise it's just a normal job with normal benefits

I can't imagine the US military is much different, except with lower pay.

> Security Clearance also builds resumé
good fucking luck getting one, I've been waiting on mine for 3 years now and I'm in a trade that explicitly requires it

if you're just some cadet/ensign Log O you're probably not gonna get much more than "Enhanced Reliability" and you're specifically not even allowed to talk about having a clearance in public so it will probably get removed from you if you're passing out CVs all around town saying you have it.

also it gets removed from you anyway if you leave service, and the information you can access is all need-to-know.

> Saves 5~ years worth of housing, food, and travel costs (no gas/car, military houses and feeds me on taxpayer money)
> Allows me to save 5 years of income as a result (excluding costs like clothing or entertainment which already only take a small portion of my income with a wage slave job)
when on a base you have to pay for rations, which is probably going to be about as much as doing groceries and eating out regularly anyway. non-military travel is almost definitely not subsidized in any meaningful way. likewise, living in barracks is not even free and lmao if you think you're not going to kill yourself spending five years living in multi-person bunk rooms. housing near bases is "subsidized" but you still are basically buying a house at reasonable house prices. You still have all the typical expenses and they cost about as much proportionally as they would with a "real" job.

> Able to be a dick with an automatic moral highground when I deal with shitheads like my family "I was an offecur!!!!111"
literally 0% of people will think better of you if you do this

> less time to get investments or my own land, very hard to manage finances in the event I go overseas
do your banking online

also dont go marines because marines are subhuman filth

t. barista

This.

>I can't imagine the US military is much different, except with lower pay.
US soldiers get free college education and free (but immensely shitty) healthcare.

t. ahmed

>US soldiers get free college education and free (but immensely shitty) healthcare.
so do canadians

reservists get half of all school expenses, 2k per year and up to 8k total (which is more than enough for basically any university in your home province, even McGill is only like 3k/semester or something before books, CEGEPs and no-name colleges run you literally only hundreds of dollars) and iirc regular force just gets straight up free school. you bring in your receipts and they pay you back.

we don't get health insurance because medicare exists but reservists get 90% of all dental work covered and reg force straight up just goes to military dentists for regular checkups and cleanings etc. ofc anything medical but non-dental is just handled by medicare, but there's frameworks for handling shit like injuries sustained at work and getting compensated for when you inevitably get hit by a forklift

name one (1) non-shit marine
protip: you cant

hah. I'm going Navy Special Warfare. EOD. You know the average salary of EOD? Enlisted is about 75k. Outside the military is 123k. so 75k for 4 years plus the enlistment bonus and 2 years salary during training. That means I get out with 400k in the bank and over 100k starting. Unambitious, you say?
>inb4 Navy Seal copypasta
>inb4 taking the b8

>Enlisted is about 74k
You're gonna get 1500 a month like every other newfag bitch
They'll give you half the bonus first
You're gonna get a new car and save absolutely nothing like every other navycuck because it's a different lifestyle where everything is done for you
t. Milcuck

Um, no. I said active duty. I am starting E-3, rank goes faster with Special Warfare, I am not getting a car until I get out, and I'm not even going to be ABLE to spend it. You see, they don't exactly have walmarts in Syria. And you forget all the special pay that comes with disarming bombs. What was your branch? I am guessing Army. Not exactly smart enough for Navy or Air Force, bitter because you spent all your money and got out broke? Unlike you, I plan for things and stick to them.
t. not you

e3 usaf 2k a month promotion never

Pro
Gain useful skills of knowing how to kill man.
Learning how to survive wilderness

>I am starting E-3
no youre not
>You see, they don't exactly have walmarts in Syria.
you're not going to syria for the next 5 years until you have a bunch of courses done

oure the irl embodiment of the navy seals kopipe rn

I come from a military family and while this may have been true 25 to 50 years ago, it's not the same today.

You have a 20% change of getting accepted into a Military that actually trains you in things now. You're no longer mopping floors, raping drunk women at bars, and learning how to fire a weapon for a living. You're trained in technology. You're trained in engineering. You're trained in medicine. You're trained in many different employable fields. Not everybody is just a grunt these days. Your edgy description only really applies to them.
My Brother was 920B. Did 8 years of service then came home. Worked in a factory for a few months and went into management.

My Uncle was Machinery Repairman in the US Navy for 8 years. He now lives in Hawaii making almost $200K a year traveling around the world on ships doing engine maintenance and repairs.

My Grandpa was a HR Officer in the Army for 20 years then was a General Manager of a construction company that primarily built, repaired, and maintained manufacturing facilities for Merck Pharma.

Then you have degenerates as well that do nothing but get drunk and play around. Soldier in Iraq tries to juggle grenades for "kids" (his drunk buddies) and kills himself. He's such a hero.

i was in mandetory military for 2 years and it was terrible

you get treated like a piece of shit for 2 years until you get rank, then piss all over new recruits that do more work than you.
fucked up system

Yes, I am. It is on my contract that I am E-3 starting. THE DAY after my ~2 years of training and various schools are complete, I will be shipped to a warzone.

been in the millitary

if duty

>free rides
>free food
>free place to sleep (or in discount depending on your situation)
>discount on clothes
>discount on things like internet and phones

if officer

>free gas but not unlimited
>free work car (depending on rank, its leased)
>big retirement options
>special residence (some bases have civilian housing in them, depending on what you need and what you do)
>free school and training periods outside of army

>the neet lifestyle with outdoor activities

It greatly helps if what you do in the military can be applied to civilian jobs. So for example, if you want to be an airline pilot then being a military pilot is a good idea. Or if you want to be a business analyst then being a data analyst for the military is a good idea. If you want to be a trigger puller I can only think of policework or private security firms.

I'll add: you can also make whatever you do in the military your career

>It is on my contract that I am E-3 starting.
That's not how it works. It has to do with your performance at basic and your pre-existing credentials.

>THE DAY after my ~2 years of training and various schools are complete, I will be shipped to a warzone.
>THE DAY
>after two years
it takes a long time to be loaded on courses and that's like saying THE DAY I START RUNNING MICROSOFT I'LL BE A BILLIONAIRE like nigga you're not making it that far probably ever.

the more likely career path is that your bad attitude will make you a target of bullying and you'll drop out during basic

>So for example, if you want to be an airline pilot then being a military pilot is a good idea
this is a poor example because air and sea time are not tracked by the same people as they are for commercial interests, and the types of training you get and the time you accrue is different. it will help on a CV, but if you get a PPL and CPL, you'll still need to start from 0 flight time just like everyone else even if you've been crashing F16s in the gulf for a decade. same goes for sea time, transit boards don't care about your naval experience. companies might, and ten years as a bosn might help you get hired, but Transport Canada and the US Bureau of Transportation couldn't give less of a shit. same for ~trigger pullers~, all the FP lectures and combat time in the world won't get you a free security workers' license with your state or province, and your security clearance isn't a waiver for further background checks

however, it's still great if you're, say, in comms and do IT stuff all the time, or are an engineer on a ship unclogging poop tubes and making sure engines don't explode. y'know, just things that don't require outside certification, or certifications that you'll get at a private place anyway