Would you make more money in this scenario compared to remaining enlisted?

AI is great for questions like this.

[removed]

Without doing the math, you’d most likely make more over a lifetime as a contractor in this situation. It’s making a lot of assumptions though.

1. You can actually get a job as a contractor. I know everyone thinks every military job can easily convert to a contractor with double the pay but that’s not always reality.

2. With a pension, you could technically not working depending on your lifestyle.

3. It ignores a lot of other opportunity, secondary and tertiary factors. BAS in general, BAS/BAH being tax free. Free healthcare/dental. Travel opportunities. Perks like waived credit card fees. Retirement system benefits are typically ignored as well. TSP is overall better than normal retirement accounts (better limits, lower fees, etc).

I’ll use myself as an example of point 3 as an active duty veterinarian. I could very easily get a job as a civilian veterinarian making $160-180k/year vs my current $120k (and it’s only that high due to being prior service and having extra TIS than most my rank). However, as part of career progression I’ll be given the opportunity to do a residency on the government’s dime. That’s 3 years of keeping my military salary vs the $40k/year I’d be paid as a civilian doing a residency. However, once I’m a specialist I’ll definitely be earning less in the military vs civilian world (adjusting for rank it’ll be more like $150k vs $250k). Once I retire though, I’ll be getting ~$65k/year for life. I’m also saving like $5k/year alone on not having to pay state income tax. Military will end up being a net loss compared to civilian employment but the other factors balance it out.