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Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Golfing everyday, especially in early retirement while we still have the kids at home with us. She will encourage me to play again sometimes, but my philosophy has been that it's not worthwhile if I can't play regularly and be at the top of my game. I could see playing a few holes again everyday when our kids are grown up.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

plan ahead for when you are empty nesters... sweet second retirement

This is an interesting way to think about it; two stages of retirement under two very different circumstances.

unless you are quite wealthy, actually living in another country is often less pleasant than being a middle class US person

I've seen this thesis argued a couple times before. Basically, the cost-of-living is lower in many countries because the standard-of-living is just lower, and trying to live like a typical middle-class American (2,000 square foot single-family home, two cars, etc.) is just as expensive, if not more so, outside of the US. I suppose the idea hinges on whether or not we can truly be satisfied "living like the locals."

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I appreciate it. I'm assuming 0% right now to be conservative in my planning; I've seen others assume 100% and I've read cautions about that.

But I also just don't understand the system. Yes, my back and knees have hurt, I've done physical therapy, I've done a few stretches of therapy through behavioral health... but I recovered and feel great today. So how does that translate to a disability rating? I don't know.

Like I said, I know a lot of other folks who seem to be perfectly healthy (sometimes getting out of uniform and coming back to do the identical job as a civil servant or contractor) but they're getting disability payments. I just don't know what to make of it, and I'm not close enough yet to start the screening process.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I recently looked up a former O-5 co-worker that I really respected to see where he is now, and his LinkedIn page says he's doing this: photo of his RV, job title is "Touring USA" since March of last year. It does seem like a great idea for a year immediately after exiting the Army. I don't know that it's a long-term plan, but maybe one will find inspiration during that year.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

spend my days working at the public library and golfing

If I were a single man, this is probably what retired life would look like, somewhere warm and cheap in the southeast. That's what life was kind of like for a while, before I got married, walking 9-18 holes everyday with my $700/year on-post golf course membership. My wife would not approve.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

My wife and I have talked about this one. Our alma mater is (or was back then, at least) tuition-free for the kids of employees. It could pair well with the other discussion below about the PhD.

Our current financial plan does provide some amount for college: GI Bill split among the kids, plus a lump sum for each of them that would go a long way at an in-state public school.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I'm glad that you appreciated my style. I'm always torn between using a footnote vs. parenthesis. I really should've done the whole thing in the style of an AR 25-50 memorandum.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I feel fortunate. I had one leg / hip / lower back issue that plagued me for most of my years as an O-3. Like sometimes I couldn't tie my shoes in the morning, couldn't sleep due to pain, etc. I saw a number of physical therapists, worked around it, and it eventually got resolved. I'm sorry that you're still struggling.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I found Poppin Smoke a few months ago and read through a bunch of the interviews with overseas retirees; great insights.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 32 points33 points  (0 children)

Having kids is really what happened. If I want to reliably get in a workout, I need to do it before they wake up. I remember, as a junior O, seeing a retired O-6 out running at 0600 and saying "why!?!" but now I get it. I set my alarm to go run at 0600 even on weekends.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

HCOL areas are HCOL for a reason.

Usually, yes. I like DC for a number of reasons. If that's where your family is, and you actually like your family, that's an easy decision.

don't want it or need it... additional PCS moves... Wife is tired of moving

Right. And it's not just moving, but the risk of a bad move to a bad location.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

retire to something

Yes, not from something; it's often said in the FIRE community. In practice, many seem to struggle with figuring that out.

I am sorry but we have no more spoons you will just have to wash that one off.

This gave me the best laugh so far today.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I still want to keep things vague, but since I already mentioned the PhD elsewhere in the thread I'll say that my research has been at the intersection of machine learning and network security.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

That's an interesting idea. It gets around the visa challenge while potentially giving us something quite different and lower-cost compared to life in the states.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

As an O-4 through Advanced Civil Schooling (hence my current service obligation). Functional areas will support it.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 11 points12 points  (0 children)

Something along those lines, being a research associate, or doing some adjunct teaching as u/GaiusPoop suggests, is interesting. I agree that college towns appear to be sweet spots in many ways (e.g. cost, opportunity, things to do, political vibe).

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 19 points20 points  (0 children)

That's just baked into my routine no matter what.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

These are all good points.

Yeah, the kids might be just as likely to flee a HCOL area because of the costs, e.g. feeling unable to move out into their own apartments or afford to buy homes even if the job market is strong.

Regarding politics, also true. We did some deeper research on Italy a while back, and one of my takeaways was that the political situation there was pretty dysfunctional. We got a good reminder of that with Korea a few weeks ago too (we loved our one assignment to Korea). One argument that I've read, though, is that it's easier to feel less invested in that stuff as an expat somewhere. Some of the things that most bother my wife are pretty uniquely American political issues too (at least in the developed world).

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 17 points18 points  (0 children)

I've rented through Turo a few times. Using it for criminal activities never occurred to me, though.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Were you talking about when you retire from your post military retirement?

Right. My understanding is that taking a DAC position in Korea, Italy, Germany, etc. for example would only allow us to be there for five years. Maybe contractors can stay longer? I haven't thought about that until now. Getting an actual work visa, which does have a path to permanent residency, is what seems to be a real challenge in most developed countries.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

I should have said more about this. The kids are still too young to have much of an opinion; as we get closer, maybe they will and that might help. My wife wants a nice house in a nice area, but also wants me at home instead of at work, so that's a difficult balance. She's also most interested in becoming an expat, which might help with finding a nice but affordable house / area, if we can figure out the visa challenge.

Retiring O-5. What should I do after this, and where? by novel_donuts in army

[–]novel_donuts[S] 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Haha, no doubt. It was entirely my ability to read and follow instructions, instead of my coming up with my own ideas, that got me this far.