Is military salary enough to live on?

Question

do they pay enough or is it a constant financial strugle?

Answer 1

poo poo

Answer 2

http://www.dod.mil/dfas/militarypay/newinformation/WebPayTableVersion2006updated.pdf#search='Military%20Pay%20Schedule'

That address will give you the basic military pay chart. Have a look and you tell me if it is adequate.

E-1 is the lowest ranking enlisted person
0-10 is the highest ranking officer

NOTE: Executive Salary cap limits top pay to $12,666.60 a month. How long would a CEO stay at Ford, GM or Microsoft for $144,000 a year.

The salaries listed are Basic Pay and do not include Allowances. Allowances do add to the salary but even maximized they won't raise it more than about 40 or 50 percent. A single E-5 or better with a few years, living on base can be comfortable but a person with a family is another matter entirely.

BTW, When I was an E-6 with 20 years my children were provided free school lunches because my pay was low enough to qualify for the benefit. A few years earlier an E-5 with 6 children separated and went on welfare to raise his standard of living. While the pay has improved some, it has not kept up with costs and my guess is most of the folks are not as well off as we were.

Answer 3

With every day pass, our country is getting into more and more trouble. The inflation, unemployment and falling value of dollar are the main concern for our Government but authorities are just sleeping, they don’t want to face the fact. Media is also involve in it, they are force to stop showing the real economic situation to the people. I start getting more concern about my future as well as my family after watching the response of our Government for the people that affected by hurricane Katrina.

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Answer 4

If you are a low maintainence single person with no debt load, then Yes, the military will provide you with everything you need: Shelter (A small tent you will share with another.) Food (Hot meals occasionally) MRE's otherwise. Medical care (Another 18 yr old with a bottle of
APC's) Dental care (same 18 yr old with a bottle of APC's) 30 days paid vacation a year, and they will give you the opportunity to travel to far away, and strange places!!(Bagdad, Kabul, Washington) and you will meet some wild and crazy people!(Hussan, bin Laden, maybe even Bush) You'll get to drive all those neat brown vehicles and wear the latest fasion.(No, not Holister....Desert camo!!) and you'll have a new M-16 with
those cool rubber bullets (We wouldn't want you to hurt anyone. Wouldn't be good press.) What more could you possibly want..And if you are a little crazy yourself, they might make you an Officer, and give you some cool medals to wear.(The medals might deflect incomming rounds, that's important,since they won't give you kevlar vest.) Go for it, IT'S ALL GOOD !

Answer 5

Fo someone starting out at the bottom, the pay is kind of crap, but the benefits are great. Full medical for example. And you definately get a place to live. Married military people get a housing allowance. And you can sometimes talk the recruiter into getting you in at a higher rank that the absolute bottom, especially if you have civilian experience in your chosen job.

Answer 6

It really depends on whether or not you are enlisted or officer, how much debt you have, and whether or not you are wise with your money. When you first join, it will be low, but the longer that you stay the more that you receive. You usually get a pay increase every year. You will also receive a food and housing allowance. This is a steady income for as long as your decide to stay or are forced to leave. My advice would be to talk to a local recruiter. Go by the office. Go Marines. Hoorah!

Answer 7

An E-1 makes enough money to take care of themselves and if they have dependents they get benefits for that. Take into consideration also there is free housing, free medical and dental, special pricing at AAFEES stores and so on. Yes military people can have financial freedom.

Answer 8

Initially, it may be a bit low, but you get food, clothing, and housing. Your salary is your disposable income. If you are only supporting yourself, it's more than enough.

If you stick around for a few years, make something of yourself, learn a skill, etc., then the pay is excellent.

Answer 9

It depends on your rank in the military. On base housing and the commissary helps but from my friends that I have spoken with that are in the military, it is a struggle. Ever notice the numerous pawn shops around a military base?

Answer 10

my husband is an e-4 and we have a baby, i dont work. our housing allowance only covers rent, we pay for utilites with his normal pay. we just paid off his truck (an '03) and we're buying a new car in about a month. so we're doing just fine, no struggle really. but it depends, he makes more because of his job. you get extra for having dependants, extra for not living in base housing (although, like i said, it doesnt cover everything for us, some people it more than covers it) you get extra for deploying, extra for going somewhere that isn't where you're stationed, tax free pay when you're not in the country. on paper it appears that the military gets shafted, but in our case, we do well. so it really comes down to your own particular situation.

Answer 11

living on base isn't continually perfect. in case you stay in housing then you fairly forfeit the total BAH and nonetheless could pay for cable, internet and telephone out of pocket. you even could furnish your own washer/dryer and no instruments are provided previous refrigerator, range, dishwasher and blinds on the living house windows. no matter if it really is only both of then you definitely you fairly will be able to arise with the money for an wonderful 2 bedroom position out on the city the position the BAH covers the lease & utilities alongside with the fee of gas getting for him getting onto base. you could look at your costs to work out in case you could arise with the money for it. Is there automobile funds? insurance? Groceries? Utilities? student Loans? you could look at what he's making now and be conscious in case you could make it off of that because his pay does no longer boost at the same time as he receives married except for paying a lot less in taxes.