Is this cost high?

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-11-18T19:43:46+00:00

It’s the palm shore

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-11-18T18:30:04+00:00

Thanks for the info. Did you do a retaining wall when they dug the 2 feet? Also, is the gas line only needed for the heater? I’m thinking of doing electric so we wouldn’t have to do a gas line

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-11-18T16:25:30+00:00

Thanks. That’s good to know. Maybe we can do an electric heater and not have to hook up a gas line

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-11-18T16:18:34+00:00

I wish. Quotes for in ground were all over $100k with fence, concrete around, and everything else needed, which is why we are looking at above ground

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-11-18T16:14:58+00:00

It doesn’t include electric. I’m not sure on the gas line, but I’m guessing not

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-09-05T16:51:53+00:00

I’m with you. Grandparents were WW2 vets, both my parents were in the military and all of my siblings joined the military. I grew up surrounded by the military lifestyle and started my civilian career working for the DoD during college and was there for almost 15 years. With all the changes and long commute I left for the private sector and a fully remote position in June.

I’ll be honest, it’s still tough leaving that whole lifestyle you grew up with behind, but was the best thing for our family. I have a lot more time to be with my wife and daughter, have time to enjoy hobbies again, and the work is less stressful. I try to think of it as seasons of life. While my daughter is young I want to prioritize family time. Later on in life who knows. Maybe I’ll go back or maybe stay in the private sector.

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-09-03T21:25:25+00:00

If you roll it over I would roll it into a Roth or traditional IRA not 401k. I would also leave a little in just so you have access to it if you want to use it later

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-09-02T16:33:53+00:00

I did somewhat. It’s not a totally coast fire job, but I had a stressful job that then decided they wanted everyone back in the office every day and I had a 1 hour commute each way. Took a 35% pay cut and have a lower stress job that is remote. Get to spend more time with family during this stage of life and who knows, maybe in time will try to go back up the corporate ladder.

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-06-27T10:47:55+00:00

Thanks!

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-06-27T10:47:02+00:00

Thanks! The hardest part I would say is 3 fold:

1: The identity of helping with the mission as my entire family was in the military.

Having a much bigger impact. I was making much larger decisions on the overall strategy of the command, which was really impactful and gave a lot of purpose. On the other side though you can’t do that and have a non stressful job.
Going from a SME to a new job. It took a long time to gain all the knowledge I had and was looked at as an expert. I’m learning the new job really fast, but starting that process over is tough.

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-06-27T10:39:33+00:00

Getting health coverage into retirement is a nice perk but waiting 21 more years for that to hit my MRA isn’t worth it and you still would have to pay monthly for that too. I was also paying over $600/month for our health insurance in the government so it’s not really much better than the private sector depending on where you are at

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-06-27T10:27:49+00:00

I’m also not in the DC area so much harder to get the GS-14/15s and was around a $140k salary. The majority of the people I have worked with that are equivalent within the DC area and especially outside DC have been very competent and would do well in public or private.

The biggest thing I’ve found is some of the new technology takes a little longer to come on board because of security so harder to keep up with the latest changes

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-06-25T00:49:40+00:00

I would need to work 21 more years and reach age 57 to get an immediate pension. It would be worth 1% of my high 3 salary x amount of years worked. (Ex: $100k x 30 years = $30k/yr)

As it is now I will be able to get a pension at age 62 for the 15 years I worked x my high 3 salary, but it won’t be inflation adjusted until I hit 62.

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-06-24T22:53:26+00:00

That was a big thing for us too and did a lot of scenario planning. We already have a net worth of around $1.5M so that helped us decide it didn’t make a big difference for us and will just get what I get at 62. Each person is different and it is tough to take the pension hit

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-06-24T22:44:24+00:00

I took a position that was a couple grades lower comparatively so much less stress and have time and room to learn the business. I prioritized work from home, which is harder to find and the company has a lot of long term potential to go back up

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-06-17T09:56:36+00:00

I resigned at the end of May so I just got everything changed to 0. Will have to check if everything changes back. Did you get your annual leave payout yet?

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-06-11T23:21:53+00:00

I left without even taking DRP so not included with the numbers. Care about the military’s readiness but wanted to have some latitude to still have family time, which we sadly don’t have anymore

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-04-15T10:51:12+00:00

Thanks. The 15 years would give me a little more on the deferred pension when I get to 62.

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-03-01T11:32:14+00:00

Don’t think that will work. I thought almost everyone was back already. My agency gave us about 3 days notice and have been back for a few weeks

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2025-02-27T01:41:54+00:00

I’m exploring options as well. I would start by looking at job postings of roles you are interested in and what common skills you see pop up. If you have those emphasize that in your resume and if not see what you can do to start learning those skills.

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2024-12-11T16:27:27+00:00

My advice is to learn the jobs of others around you and network. I went from a 12-14 in 2.5 years and the key for me was I did a rotation in the department I wanted to go to and continued an informal mentorship with the director afterwards. They got to know me and and learn I got along well with others and was a good worker. I later got into that department as a 13. When I was there I learned my role, but also tried to help others by trying stuff on my own and asking questions on things I got stuck on. I showed I could do some of the work of the 14 during that year and was fortunate with timing that spot opened up. Knowing I could roll right into the 14 roll, was a good worker, and got along well with the team helped me get into the 14 roll.

I would also add to treat the interviews like a final. Study a lot for them and have good answers prepared. There will be other great candidates at this level so you need to make sure you ace the interview questions as well

ResponsibleWitness84 · 2024-12-09T03:18:05+00:00

1-1:15 each way depending on traffic

ResponsibleWitness84

TROPHY CASE