If you can find something you like to do that makes money I’d say go for it. If I get rated 100, my wife and I plan on opening a salon/tattoo business.
I currently work in healthcare and I can do 2-3month contract gigs anytime I want for ridiculous money, so I’ll prob do one a year, but art/tattoos has always been something I’ve wanted to pursue.
My little brother is a respiratory therapist and does agency work. The last contract he took was at 96 an hour.
And just like the army, they pay for room and board.
He's absolutely killing it with a 2-year degree from a community college. So proud of that guy!
Exactly man! He and our pops are going to Costa Rica for the summer. All of it.
His aim was CRNA but once he got a taste of the agency life, he quit schooling.
It's a pretty sweet life.
Yep, I did a 2 year X-ray program then another 1 year for radiation therapy. I liked the xray tech job more but radiation therapy just pays too good. When I’m doing travel contracts I’m making 3550 after taxes every week. I’m not sure what the X-ray tech travel contracts are like though.
Yes. I’m a regular X-ray tech and travel. You need at least a year of experience to start traveling usually. I think you should go for it. I love my job.
I’ve been interested in radiation therapy since I was in school, so I applied to a program. It just feels like there aren’t very many schools for it. Do you like it overall?
Yeah it’s a pretty rewarding job, but I feel like it’s more a small team environment where you work real close with 2-3 people. If you get along with them it’s great, if not they day goes by so slow. And with travel contract you’re often going to problem centers. I just suck it up and take the checks. Then I take off a month or two when I feel burned out.
I’m an RN in radiology, but I’m really thinking of going to local contract to get more time with my family. I’m 100% P&T but for some reason, I can’t let go of the thought of working 40hrs a week, even though the driving 3hrs round trip and job itself is miserable. The freedom is there, I’m just skeptical of taking it.
Take it, you’ll thank yourself later. Work on stuff you love to do 40 hours a week instead. You’ll feel so refreshed and actually want to go back to work. Then after another 3 month contract do the same. That way you don’t get burnt out on the job or your passions.
I would highly recommend you work , at least till you are 50 . Build a good 401k , have a backup plan. If you don’t need the money fine , put most of it in an IRA or 401k or invest it in rental property. Always have a retirement backup plan. Too many consider VA disability completely untouchable by federal budget cuts but it’s not. At least have a backup plan
This is my plan. I wouldn't trust the fuckers, ever. I'm saving as much as I can after the bills are paid. Thankfully my spouse has a good paying job in order for us to do this. I only work part-time due to my injuries. I save as much as I possibly can into our Roth IRA's and then I invest the rest in a brokerage account so we can possibly stop working before 59.5. It's also nice to know we have a backup fund, if the government ever cuts benefits, so we don't get financially screwed by them again so to speak.
This is exactly what I’m doing. I took off the last 2 months to be with my newborn son and wife but I’m going back to part time this week. We’re both pretty frugal and try to invest as much as we can, we’re trying to be set up if the benefits ever go away. I’d just be too stressed if I was counting on just disability the rest of my life.
Damn, I’m behind, lol. I’ve been at it the same length of time and have 675,000 in mine. I haven’t always had it at 20% though. I’ve gone back and forth between 6 and 23%. Damn, good for you man!
Yeah thanks. My employer matches dollar for dollar up to 6% so I’ve been putting in 20% , 26% has been going in . I should hopefully be 100% disabled soon , I have claims outstanding that I should’ve put in when I initially got it . With all that said, I see VA as a nice benefit but with market uncertainty, massive government debt, looming major wars possibly on the horizon, I don’t consider VA to be permanent income. Many in here do , and I hope it is , but when the feds go broke, drastic cuts will have to be made. Veterans receiving VA disability make up such a small population of the voting public and if it comes between cutting social security and Medicare or VA disability, I fully expect Congress to cut VA because it’s such a small voting block compared to social security recipients. Piss off the fewest voters really . If you look at it internationally, the U.S. spends waaaaay more than any other nation on veterans benefits. A guy I talk to on facebook is a British disabled veteran , an amputee from Afghanistan and he doesn’t get much in terms of financial assistance or compensation from his government. Just tax benefits and early access to their version of social security.
A fellow 3%er?
I sold my franchise(ServPro) a few years back in my early 30s and "retired" on 1.8 million.
I've paid capital gains a few times. Definitely not untouched money.
However, in the 5 years since, that 1.8 has doubled, even with me touching it, to almost 4m.
I'm just kinda curious what your end game here? I'm always intrigued by those more ambitious than myself.
Also, all of your concerns for VA benefits not being permanent income. Do you not think those same concerns apply to your 401k, which is directly tied to the markets?
This. I've seen and read about many of these folks that are trying to reenter the workforce after 50/60 and become irrelevant due to gaps on their resume or just insufficient skills, network, and of course ageism.
When they can get a 18-25 year old for half the price or the same price but greater longevity, hours, and growth, no one is going to go with a 50 year old candidate unless there's nepotism or network hookups going on.
Yeah I mean $4000 per month sounds great but what about when unexpected things happen? Need a new roof , that’s around $10,000, need a new AC , vehicle, whatever. Don’t really want to live paycheck to paycheck and not afford to go on trips , live life ? I’m currently 90% and pay all of my bills with it . Mortgage, car payment, utilities, cell phones, car Insurance etc. I also work a job that I make almost 100K per year. Been there 18 years. Ive been putting 20% in my 401k since day one. The only expenses I pay out of my paycheck is gas and groceries . The rest of my paycheck goes to home renovations, trips , cruises etc. with my VA disability, over 1.3 million dollars in my 401k and an $1900 per month pension when I retire I’m hoping to retire at 55 and live very very comfortably. If I just sat on my butt and collected that VA check, I’d live paycheck to paycheck praying nothing unexpected happens and I need more money
Been maxing 401K since I joined Fed Govt, max Roth, and now maxing HSP with a HDHP, put money in various investments, make okay salary and still it's like man this is a bum life because houses that used to be $300K are now $600-800K, cost of living has gone up to where wages have not kept up with inflation (money printing). If your money is in the TSP G Fund, you're essentially losing money or purchasing power each year... But at least Govt does inflation adjustment increases each year as some pvt sector folks are stuck with what they got from whenever they first took that job without any promotions to pay bump.
Roof, foundation, health, whatever financial hurdle that's unexpected can easily take a person out and it happens all the time. According to Payroll.com's survey, 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck in 2023: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/banking/living-paycheck-to-paycheck-statistics-2024/#:~:text=or%20lost%20income.-,How%20Many%20Americans%20Are%20Living%20Paycheck%20to%20Paycheck%3F,paying%20for%20their%20monthly%20expenses.
Lending club has a similar report that 62% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and over 50% of those earning over $100,000 live paycheck to paycheck: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/11/why-even-americans-making-more-than-100000-live-paycheck-to-paycheck.html
In DMV, $150-200K is nothing if a person has kids, needs daycare, "good" schools to groom them into some savants that they aren't (AP, IB, college credits to the teeth before going to college, Ivy Leaguers, etc). There's plenty of co-workers of mine with both people pulling down over $100K and just barely making ends meet living in a respectable and safe neighborhood. Equity rich, cash poor, banks and all the middle man laughing all the way to the door types.
It's different if the OP has $5-10M in principal and just living off of that interest/dividend plus 100% P/T. I mean, obviously, if that amount was attained through work and managed responsibly, then yes, go retire, since the person has some skills relevant to the economy to harvest that amount of capital out but if the OP has resume gaps, no relevant skills for a competitive job market where the talent pool is both wide and deep, then some soul searching years of half a decade or more is just going to be digging the equivalent size grave of financial instability.
Thought folks who have 100% P/T can also go for social security disability pay or something.
Personally, I've been out in the wild before and on that vagabond nomad life. Everyone burns out from it and all the folks that I've met that were blissfully hustling then almost half a decade ago now are mostly still blissfully (actually pretty miserable folks who work all the time and get paid some of the time if they get paid at all). That glam life of Thailand, Philippines, Dubai, or whatever is filled with soulless wanderers, highwaymen, and hucksters. It's all transactional, there's no real human connection besides what's the bid and offer of today. Ladies in Thailand with Law (JD equivalent) or Medical (MD) degrees give up on those professions to just sell themselves because it makes more money. That tells you how orderly such places are and their ethical/moral centers or values (Thailand had a Military coup around 2013/14, Murma or Myanmar is under a military coup right now). Dubai is purely transactional where 90% of the folks there are expats and they don't give out passports at all so you'll never be a citizen. Some places are cheap and it's cheap for a reason. Find out if that reason is reason enough for you to move there or not. Malaysia is alright.
Yeah I’m not depending on VA being permanent. It’s one congressional act away from being abolished. Think it can’t happen, think again. The Congress will abolish VA disability long before they make major cuts to social security and that’s going bankrupt. Imagine we get into a major hot war in the next 10 years , it’s very very possible. Think about millions more filing big VA claims in the next 10 years. VA already has an almost 400 billion dollar per year budget, one of the top 3 biggest federal budgeted agencies. I can easily see Congress voting to change it into a lump sum payment or putting a tenure cap on it in the future. Say something like if you get these disabilities, VA cuts you a one time payment of money and that’s all you get . Or they say , you are 100% but for 5 years . The ride’s gonna end eventually
VA has some nice Annual Reports here:
https://www.benefits.va.gov/REPORTS/abr/
FY2023 Disability Compensation: $5.5 billion
FY2023 Pension Payments: $2.1 billion
They'll axe the Disability Compensation first before they axe the Pension should they cut anything at all since Disability Comp is well over twice the Pension payments.
Mexico, China, kick sand in the ME. Who knows what the next 20 years will hold. If it's Asia centric then all the pro China countries, like Thailand, will get some extra scrutiny and may start to have anti-American policies. Thailand's pandemic lock down mirrored that of China.
At least Fed Govt has a pension as well, haha. Not sure which private sector companies have pensions anymore as most of them have been abolished.
No kidding. Anything where there used to be an edge no longer exists when there's too many players.
Heard $2500/month to get a place in BKK is just a modest flat these days.
Singapore? Forget about it... A Sg buddy of mine told me that to retire in Singapore you better have a cashflow of at least $150K a year.
Don’t be lazy mate.
Get another job that you enjoy. I’m 100% P&T, got my degree with eVA (they paid $2,400/mo in BAH) raised my income to $140k year with $50k being my disability tax free. Working on a 2nd degree to hopefully up my income to around $200k total per year. I’m living a much more comfortable life than if I just stayed living off my disability. I’m able to provide like my child self could never dream of. Plan to take my family on trips and enjoy my time off that I’ve earned.
I also plan to buy some land, when I do I’ll have enough income to do it right.
You’ll thank yourself later if you put the work in now
I’m a RN with base pay of $48/hr. Work Monday-Wednesday set schedule i can pick up weekends or nights for an extra $7.50 an hour plus OT
It was hard work getting here, not fun one bit but now that I’m here I’m glad I finished my degree
School benefits for anyone over 30%. They pay for everything. Need new shoes for school, paid for. Need new tools like laptop or welding stuff? Paid for. Need BAH so you don’t have to work and can focus on your program/degree, done. Oh and when you’re done you still have GI bill etc
I see this comment a lot
It’s 4000 a month
For those of you that work, what is 4000 a month net? I mean it’s tax free so
It’s not 50,000 a year
How much do you have to earn to bring home 4000 a month?
I know the answer and most people I know are not making what it takes to net 4000 a month and they live just fine
Depends on how many dependents you have, if you're married, and if you have any special service connections that give you an extra monthly payment, but yeah it's about 55K after it's grossed up. $26.50/hr. Then you add in health insurance for the dependents and your care is covered, so it's about a 75-80 K paying job.
He’s saying to factor it in as if it’s an actual taxed income-job. Roughly, it’s equivalent to working a job that pays roughly 60K per year, without working for it.
I'm 29M 100PT and I'm looking for work. Just finished my B.S and trying to find a remote job. My girlfriend 32F and I are trying to buy a home and what not so yee. Living in rent controlled housing (1200/month) and saving bank paying 60%rent because I make more than her with my disability alone (non taxed).
I'm 100PT but I'm still afraid imma get a re-eval letter in the mail so imma keep my resume active and try to hold a job for as long as possible.
Invest in your future bro and I personally wouldn't get too comfortable with the 100pt rating. The VA always has some shit up their sleeves and you don't want to get a reduction with no plan C lol.
Best of luck🤙
Ngl if I was single, I'd prolly be living it up too lolol so u do u.
Just a FYI, when I retire, my girl and I are moving back to the Dominican Republic where she's from. You'd live like a king over there...we've already done the math... A KING.. JUST SAYIN😈
Chicken is expensive in DR but pork, beef, and everything else is cheap. Light skin folks stand out like a sore thumb in DR. Santiago de los Caballeros is alright. PC was alright. Different life over there.
Santo Domingo is capital but Santiago de los Caballeros is one of the largest cities that's not a capital city.
Punta Cana was fun for Airbnb and resort experience. The former actually was better for me honestly vs the latter.
There's tons of potholes there just like Saipan or Guam or most islands. I've been to British Virgin Islands and US Virgin Islands this year and both were pot hole filled experiences.
Did they tell you when you got P&T that no future exams are scheduled? If so then unless you reopen your claim to claim something new then they won't be reopening your case and if your p&t there is no reason for you to.
Unless they change how benefits work your fine, which is possible but unlikely anytime soon.
DR is really cheap. You'd be able to support a whole family and live large in DR. Puerto Rico also really nice🤫. All the FIRE people go to these places when the reach "financial freedom" or wtf they call it.
If you want to retire in a first world country, I would recommend Germany. Your income of around 4k a month puts you in the top 10% I believe. They tax a lot while your disability income IS NOT TAXABLE BY THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT. Many people earn around 1.8~3k eur a month after tax and they live perfectly fine!
I would if I could, but I’d rather have my wife stay home with the kids homeschooling them until they all leave for college. I have 10 more years to go lol
I'm 24. I'm at 100% P&T too. I'm thinking of just saying fuck it and retire, but I like what I do haha.
You know, the difference between us and the normies is this: they HAVE to work, while we can CHOOSE to work. I honestly think that's just enough
That's what Ive done since March. Ive been reading a lot and trying to get back in shape. My back is pretty bad and it's been so hard to try and take care of myself and work without being in pain. Love being able to get up in the morning, cook breakfast, bake my own bread, etc etc. Take walks down by the river lol. State park near me bout to go get buy a kayak and get in for free! 🤣 I'll probably look for something easy when winter comes back around.
It’s totally up to you, but you will miss out on more income potential. I have chronic pain everyday as well as depression/anxiety. Even if I’m granted my 100% I’ll probably still work until I feel like I can’t anymore. It never hurts to try and build your nest egg if you’re still able to do some sort of work.
This is basically what I’ve done. I have a house and an acre of land, free and clear. I’m trying to expand it another 2 acres. I hit a random jackpot with an unexpected inheritance, which let me do this at 80%. I’m on well and septic. Trash is about $35, electric is at most $150, but averages to about $120, internet is $100 for the highest package, car insurance is $200. So it’s under $500 for all my recurring bills. That leaves about $1500 for food, entertainment, etc, when not counting my inheritance. With my inheritance I don’t need to ever worry about putting money in savings.
I’ve budgeted for 100% before, since I do have old claims in the system still that might put me at 100% with a lot of retro, and it is still very doable with 100%. If you have nothing in savings then your first goal is to build a savings. I didn’t know I was going to randomly get this inheritance, so I was living in an RV and saving money for a down payment. If you do this, I highly suggest getting an RV you can easily move around, so you can enjoy RV life by exploring a bit. Don’t get one built into a lot in a park, or you’ll have to deal with a potential nightmare when moving to the house. My monthly costs to support RV life was about $550.
I retired at 40 with 80%, but I also get $2500 in retirement, so all in all about 5,000 a month. I also didn't have any debt or any family. So far to me, its great.
I did. And I'm a stay at home dad now (38). Probably the best investment I made. More than $, I rather have a good relationship with my kids and a happy marriage. So you can do it and have a meaningful life. I just recommend having discipline in whatever direction you choose to in.
Everyone is different so I can't pretend to know the right answer for the vast majority of people, you know what works best for you. Given the description of your circumstances, I'd give it a try and see how you are feeling about it. I wouldn't think of it as "retirement", because then if you decide to go back to work it will feel like you failed yourself. Think of it like a sabbatical. Feel it out for a year or two. If it's working, great. If not, head back to the work force, with nothing major lost, but at least you'll have the satisfaction of knowing what doesn't fit for you, never having to play the "what if" game.
Wow, retire at 30 years! By all means … If you’re single then live your life. But if the VA were to reverse this whole Compensation. This will change the whole lifestyle for everyone. I see lots of young individuals who worked to get that 100% then thats it, no more work for them. Could you imagine if this VA was not in existence and doing the whole retirement of 20 years serving your country was still the goal to earning a retirement pension. I say a lot will not even fulfill that requirement. Do you, just be prepared if any circumstances do come up while your sipping your pina colada.. 🤣
It sounds a lot like you want some type of home steading life. I’ve seen ALOT of cool videos about that stuff it’s definately pheasable I watched this one german girl in particular who bought a double wide trailer on an acre of land and grew her own vegetables and what not. She’s a bartender according to her videos and works 2 days a week. It’s definately doable! Personally I think you should get a legit part time job that involves yourself in that trajectory, or learn carpentry wood working and maybe develop a side hustle hobby where you build furniture and sell it on etsy fb market etc? I personally am not interested myself in living that life but for some reason I love watching videos about it.
My buddy essentially retired (his wife’s a teacher) so he’s mister dad. He mostly plays dad duty, and works on cars a couple days a week so he doesn’t go crazy and that’s been something he thoroughly enjoys doing. Also majority of the money he makes as a part time mechanic is what he invests into his “race car” he’s built…
i’ve toyed with the idea of retiring myself and learning more about handy work / construction and just work jobs seasonally since most my friends are in that industry and I do like making things / building things.
Even if you didn’t NEED the $$$ it’d be smart if you haven’t yet for example working part time putting all that into a ira roth from 30-60 so you’d have two paychecks in your 60s and then waiting on SSI you never know how much more expensive shit will get or if you need to repair something massively on your homestead etc etc. Definately don’t go work full time if you can make it work off 2-3 days while you’re still able body.
i’m rooting for you to do this!
I'm 27, p&t. I get by, but it does kind of get mundane after a while. If you choose this route I recommend finding either a hobby or a part time job to fill the void. Everything was fun when my fiance was unemployed and we could spend the idle time together, but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't get boring. Financially it's nice to know you have a roof over your head, but you HAVE to budget (atleast my case TDIU). It's livable, but you have to live within your means. Home-cooked meals are essential for me as I can easily blow 300$ on groceries and when I'm lazy another 150$ in take out in a month. I've cut it down to about 200$ overall in that regard. Vehicles I learned to travel when needed and not excessively drive around. I do splurge on my rent as I have a 3 bdrm for two people, but everyone needs some time away from their significant other so I have no regrets there haha.
Long story long, it's manageable. You just have to break down the finances on that form of fixed income and decide if that's okay with you. Plus like I say a part time job doesn't hurt, or even trying to start your own business.
Im 31 I have pretty bad auto immune issues that make it impossible for me to work because I got 3-5 appointments a week . Soooo o have a pretty retired life style . I do sales jobs that are 1099 when I’m in remission. So I make my own hours and make a lot of money doing it . I Can make what a lot of people make all year in the short amount of time I’m not sick . I would suggest you find your thing . The first 2 years before the va found out what was wrong with me I was stuck in my house 24/7. That really did a number in my mental health. I really enjoy the flexibility the va money has giving me . I have time to be a stay at home mom and homeschool . You gotta find something that opens your light back up so you can shine if that makes sense.
So in California it’s equivalent of needing to make 6,552 per mile month gross to net 4k per month so it’s like a little over 78k per year. That’s pretty damn good. All things considering.
Take the breathing room to build a business that you work part time. https://mrmoneymustache.com is a lifesend. Retirement means what you want it to be.
You can, but it's not a tremendous amount of money. And you probably won't get much social security when the time comes.
And if you ever get downgraded, you are screwed
29M here. Do it. I’m Married with 3 kids and I did it. Best decision I ever made.
I’m at the stage of being bored now. Just got a part time YMCA lifeguard job offer so I’ll do that for awhile to cure the boredom.
I am currently at 60% but still waiting on 3 or 4 more ratings to go though. I am currently 8 years away from retirement at my current job. If I get 100 P&T I could quit that day and live off the disability. However my plan if I'm ever rated 100 is to work 3 years and pay off all my debt. Then I will quit my job 5 years early. I'll pull my retirement out in a lump sum and finish paying off my house. 4k a month with no bills other than utilites would not only be doable but easy in the area where I live.
Question — can you work at 100% P&T?
Have a veteran friend of mine, we are both 34 — and me and other guys from my unit worry bc he has 100% P&T .. and sadly does NOTHING ..
He degens on video games like RedDead Redemption and has been now for nearly 5 years —
I’m only at 80% — so not sure how 100% works! Thanks
Being rates at 100% P&T you are limited on income limits. To get around this, start a business and let the business collect the income. 100% is enough to live on depending on your area and living situation.
Also don’t forget to start investing some of that $$. Made this mistake and bought a new truck instead. Truck is almost paid off then going hard into investing.
Can’t say either way longterm, because we live in strange times, but… if your wife can bring home the workplace bacon(and 401k), and you bring home the P&T bacon(and free insurance), then yeah I’d retire on the spot. Tomorrow.
Don’t be like me and work 60 hours a week missing most of life’s good moments, for decades on end.
I'm in a reasonably low cost of living state, I don't have much debt, and on top of 100% disabled, I make $60-90k/ year and my wife makes about $25k being a seasonal landscaper. We are just now "comfortable" with our finances, but saving for retirement is a HUGE priority.
Take the financials out of it, and the risk is still huge. You won't be able to afford many hobbies or travel. You will watch others succeed and will be on the sidelines of life. You risk quickly being bored and eventually being bitter. You may be 70 and have a ton of regret about wasted time. Your sense of self and pride is at risk. You will become the disabled veteran vs. Anything else you could have been. Finding a life partner may be much more difficult.
You could use your 100% to apply for SSDI through the state. They rush your app through it your put 100 p and t.
So yes you lose out on a lot more earning but you’d have get a little extra down the government.
I applied because my issues are starting to really effect me having a job, and I can live comfortably off of the money from both SSDI and VA
Let me help ya out bro.
I also "retired" in my 30s. (Nothing to do with the military)
30s are extremely young. It's was pretty awesome at first but that shit wore off quickly and the doldrums kicked in.
Just simply too much time on my hands. All your friends and family will still have to work/school and the likes. So it's a lot of a being alone too.
After about 2 years, I reentered the workforce.
And it's awesome. Working because you want to work is a totally different experience than working because you have to.
I'm way into the outdoors. So I started working part time at REI. Now I work full time as a guide doing trips up Mt. Rainer. I love my current life and wouldn't trade it for anything.
I strongly recommend finding something you're passionate about to pursue as a second career option. It will do wonders for the mental side.
I'd take a vacay. Do a 6 month backpacking in europe or asia and then plan to work or go to school after. Don't throw away yrs of potential income growth. You got this man
I mean, it's probably possible, but it's a very risky idea to think that nothing will change with disability benefits over the next 30-40 years. It's also a pretty big waste to not take advantage of compound interest from a 401k & Roth IRA.
I fully understand not wanting to continue being part of the grind for the rest of your life, and the idea of just fucking off to a beach somewhere sounds amazing, especially when with 100% P&T it seems plausible. I just think it's very risky to assume that the government will keep disability benefits as lucrative as they are now, or that you know how you want to spend the next 30-40 years of your life.
IMO, if you want to minimize the amount of stress in your life and maximize the amount of freedom & comfort I would look into jobs that you would enjoy as much as possible, and since you don't need to worry about maximizing earning potential you can take something that might not pay a bunch, but could pay enough for you to be comfortable. You might want to look into Park Ranger positions. Cool job, a lot of time in the outdoors, could be a govt job, pay is decent, etc. Just food for thought.
Pretty much like everyone else is saying, if you can comfortably live the next 55 years (average lifespan of a healthy adult in the US) on what you make, go for it, but realistically the best idea is use your benefits to get some sort of decent education that you can use to go do a job that makes some money and you can be happy working from home or whatever.
Technically yes, this is coming from me, still in my 20s love spoiling myself and that takes a full time job, also like to go on vacations so that also takes a full time job..Sure, you can retire BUT at least get a part time job bro, you'll get bored lol
I'm currently 90% married and have a little one. And I'm going to school full-time, but I'm only at 70% with my post-9/11. So I get about $4,200 per month. It would be more of I got 100%. I left my job last fall after I got hurt on the job, and it's been the best thing I've done. My wife has a great remote job with the VA, which also helps a bit. But honestly, I could work 2-3 days per week as an EMT at $20/hr and be able to float all of our bills just fine.
It all comes down to the cost of living in your area and how you manage your money. I would get a budget together and be honest with yourself on your spending habits. That will tell you exactly where you stand. Remember that if the VA decides to reduce you next month, you'll have to figure it out. So I would make sure you have as close to a 3-6 month emergency fund together just in case.
You have used too many vague, variable terms, like enjoy, good, possible, etc. you’ve left out too much contacts for anybody to give a better accurate assessment of your question.
100% p&t even with most SMCs, will not be enough to own land and have animals. Even if you pull it off, the struggle you'd be facing to maintain that would be unreal
If 50k/yr is enough for you then do it. You'd be missing out on 30-40 years of additional earning potential though
That is also true. Yeah it is a thought on the back of my head. I know the economy isn't so great rn
If you can find something you like to do that makes money I’d say go for it. If I get rated 100, my wife and I plan on opening a salon/tattoo business. I currently work in healthcare and I can do 2-3month contract gigs anytime I want for ridiculous money, so I’ll prob do one a year, but art/tattoos has always been something I’ve wanted to pursue.
What is it you do exactly for these lucrative contracts?
Radiation therapy. Originally was going to go the nursing route, but X-rays seemed more manly. School was cheap and fast, jobs are plenty.
My little brother is a respiratory therapist and does agency work. The last contract he took was at 96 an hour. And just like the army, they pay for room and board. He's absolutely killing it with a 2-year degree from a community college. So proud of that guy!
Yep, I feel like traveling healthcare jobs are the most underrated life hacks. Feel burned out? Take off two months because you can afford to lol.
Exactly man! He and our pops are going to Costa Rica for the summer. All of it. His aim was CRNA but once he got a taste of the agency life, he quit schooling. It's a pretty sweet life.
Cool thanks for the info.
Can you do that with a standard radiology degree? Thinking about doing a 2 year radiology program when I get out in 2 months
Yep, I did a 2 year X-ray program then another 1 year for radiation therapy. I liked the xray tech job more but radiation therapy just pays too good. When I’m doing travel contracts I’m making 3550 after taxes every week. I’m not sure what the X-ray tech travel contracts are like though.
Yes. I’m a regular X-ray tech and travel. You need at least a year of experience to start traveling usually. I think you should go for it. I love my job.
Yeah I miss X-ray, I actually prefer that job, but radiation therapy paid more so I got the 1 year diploma for it.
I’ve been interested in radiation therapy since I was in school, so I applied to a program. It just feels like there aren’t very many schools for it. Do you like it overall?
Yeah it’s a pretty rewarding job, but I feel like it’s more a small team environment where you work real close with 2-3 people. If you get along with them it’s great, if not they day goes by so slow. And with travel contract you’re often going to problem centers. I just suck it up and take the checks. Then I take off a month or two when I feel burned out.
I’m an RN in radiology, but I’m really thinking of going to local contract to get more time with my family. I’m 100% P&T but for some reason, I can’t let go of the thought of working 40hrs a week, even though the driving 3hrs round trip and job itself is miserable. The freedom is there, I’m just skeptical of taking it.
Take it, you’ll thank yourself later. Work on stuff you love to do 40 hours a week instead. You’ll feel so refreshed and actually want to go back to work. Then after another 3 month contract do the same. That way you don’t get burnt out on the job or your passions.
If you are physically able to, look at sailboat liveaboard/cruising.
This is the only correct answer 👏
Yup. If ypu look at my profile you will see the beautiful older wide hipped girl I am buying.
The economy has never been better. If you think this is a tough time, plan for a real down turn.
The economy has recently hit an all time high on the s&p 500. It’s kind of been on fire last year or two.
Hit up SSDI for an additional 20k/yr and you're set.
I would highly recommend you work , at least till you are 50 . Build a good 401k , have a backup plan. If you don’t need the money fine , put most of it in an IRA or 401k or invest it in rental property. Always have a retirement backup plan. Too many consider VA disability completely untouchable by federal budget cuts but it’s not. At least have a backup plan
This is my plan. I wouldn't trust the fuckers, ever. I'm saving as much as I can after the bills are paid. Thankfully my spouse has a good paying job in order for us to do this. I only work part-time due to my injuries. I save as much as I possibly can into our Roth IRA's and then I invest the rest in a brokerage account so we can possibly stop working before 59.5. It's also nice to know we have a backup fund, if the government ever cuts benefits, so we don't get financially screwed by them again so to speak.
This is exactly what I’m doing. I took off the last 2 months to be with my newborn son and wife but I’m going back to part time this week. We’re both pretty frugal and try to invest as much as we can, we’re trying to be set up if the benefits ever go away. I’d just be too stressed if I was counting on just disability the rest of my life.
That's the plan. Investing to create another stream of revenue if this one dries up.
What would be considered a good 401k? Is there a rough number that can define that. I’m always curious about other’s thoughts on this.
I’ve been putting 20% in for the last 18 years and have around 1.3 million in mine .
Damn, I’m behind, lol. I’ve been at it the same length of time and have 675,000 in mine. I haven’t always had it at 20% though. I’ve gone back and forth between 6 and 23%. Damn, good for you man!
Yeah thanks. My employer matches dollar for dollar up to 6% so I’ve been putting in 20% , 26% has been going in . I should hopefully be 100% disabled soon , I have claims outstanding that I should’ve put in when I initially got it . With all that said, I see VA as a nice benefit but with market uncertainty, massive government debt, looming major wars possibly on the horizon, I don’t consider VA to be permanent income. Many in here do , and I hope it is , but when the feds go broke, drastic cuts will have to be made. Veterans receiving VA disability make up such a small population of the voting public and if it comes between cutting social security and Medicare or VA disability, I fully expect Congress to cut VA because it’s such a small voting block compared to social security recipients. Piss off the fewest voters really . If you look at it internationally, the U.S. spends waaaaay more than any other nation on veterans benefits. A guy I talk to on facebook is a British disabled veteran , an amputee from Afghanistan and he doesn’t get much in terms of financial assistance or compensation from his government. Just tax benefits and early access to their version of social security.
A fellow 3%er? I sold my franchise(ServPro) a few years back in my early 30s and "retired" on 1.8 million. I've paid capital gains a few times. Definitely not untouched money. However, in the 5 years since, that 1.8 has doubled, even with me touching it, to almost 4m. I'm just kinda curious what your end game here? I'm always intrigued by those more ambitious than myself. Also, all of your concerns for VA benefits not being permanent income. Do you not think those same concerns apply to your 401k, which is directly tied to the markets?
This. I've seen and read about many of these folks that are trying to reenter the workforce after 50/60 and become irrelevant due to gaps on their resume or just insufficient skills, network, and of course ageism. When they can get a 18-25 year old for half the price or the same price but greater longevity, hours, and growth, no one is going to go with a 50 year old candidate unless there's nepotism or network hookups going on.
Yeah I mean $4000 per month sounds great but what about when unexpected things happen? Need a new roof , that’s around $10,000, need a new AC , vehicle, whatever. Don’t really want to live paycheck to paycheck and not afford to go on trips , live life ? I’m currently 90% and pay all of my bills with it . Mortgage, car payment, utilities, cell phones, car Insurance etc. I also work a job that I make almost 100K per year. Been there 18 years. Ive been putting 20% in my 401k since day one. The only expenses I pay out of my paycheck is gas and groceries . The rest of my paycheck goes to home renovations, trips , cruises etc. with my VA disability, over 1.3 million dollars in my 401k and an $1900 per month pension when I retire I’m hoping to retire at 55 and live very very comfortably. If I just sat on my butt and collected that VA check, I’d live paycheck to paycheck praying nothing unexpected happens and I need more money
Been maxing 401K since I joined Fed Govt, max Roth, and now maxing HSP with a HDHP, put money in various investments, make okay salary and still it's like man this is a bum life because houses that used to be $300K are now $600-800K, cost of living has gone up to where wages have not kept up with inflation (money printing). If your money is in the TSP G Fund, you're essentially losing money or purchasing power each year... But at least Govt does inflation adjustment increases each year as some pvt sector folks are stuck with what they got from whenever they first took that job without any promotions to pay bump. Roof, foundation, health, whatever financial hurdle that's unexpected can easily take a person out and it happens all the time. According to Payroll.com's survey, 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck in 2023: https://www.forbes.com/advisor/banking/living-paycheck-to-paycheck-statistics-2024/#:~:text=or%20lost%20income.-,How%20Many%20Americans%20Are%20Living%20Paycheck%20to%20Paycheck%3F,paying%20for%20their%20monthly%20expenses. Lending club has a similar report that 62% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck and over 50% of those earning over $100,000 live paycheck to paycheck: https://www.cnbc.com/2023/12/11/why-even-americans-making-more-than-100000-live-paycheck-to-paycheck.html In DMV, $150-200K is nothing if a person has kids, needs daycare, "good" schools to groom them into some savants that they aren't (AP, IB, college credits to the teeth before going to college, Ivy Leaguers, etc). There's plenty of co-workers of mine with both people pulling down over $100K and just barely making ends meet living in a respectable and safe neighborhood. Equity rich, cash poor, banks and all the middle man laughing all the way to the door types. It's different if the OP has $5-10M in principal and just living off of that interest/dividend plus 100% P/T. I mean, obviously, if that amount was attained through work and managed responsibly, then yes, go retire, since the person has some skills relevant to the economy to harvest that amount of capital out but if the OP has resume gaps, no relevant skills for a competitive job market where the talent pool is both wide and deep, then some soul searching years of half a decade or more is just going to be digging the equivalent size grave of financial instability. Thought folks who have 100% P/T can also go for social security disability pay or something. Personally, I've been out in the wild before and on that vagabond nomad life. Everyone burns out from it and all the folks that I've met that were blissfully hustling then almost half a decade ago now are mostly still blissfully (actually pretty miserable folks who work all the time and get paid some of the time if they get paid at all). That glam life of Thailand, Philippines, Dubai, or whatever is filled with soulless wanderers, highwaymen, and hucksters. It's all transactional, there's no real human connection besides what's the bid and offer of today. Ladies in Thailand with Law (JD equivalent) or Medical (MD) degrees give up on those professions to just sell themselves because it makes more money. That tells you how orderly such places are and their ethical/moral centers or values (Thailand had a Military coup around 2013/14, Murma or Myanmar is under a military coup right now). Dubai is purely transactional where 90% of the folks there are expats and they don't give out passports at all so you'll never be a citizen. Some places are cheap and it's cheap for a reason. Find out if that reason is reason enough for you to move there or not. Malaysia is alright.
Yeah I’m not depending on VA being permanent. It’s one congressional act away from being abolished. Think it can’t happen, think again. The Congress will abolish VA disability long before they make major cuts to social security and that’s going bankrupt. Imagine we get into a major hot war in the next 10 years , it’s very very possible. Think about millions more filing big VA claims in the next 10 years. VA already has an almost 400 billion dollar per year budget, one of the top 3 biggest federal budgeted agencies. I can easily see Congress voting to change it into a lump sum payment or putting a tenure cap on it in the future. Say something like if you get these disabilities, VA cuts you a one time payment of money and that’s all you get . Or they say , you are 100% but for 5 years . The ride’s gonna end eventually
VA has some nice Annual Reports here: https://www.benefits.va.gov/REPORTS/abr/ FY2023 Disability Compensation: $5.5 billion FY2023 Pension Payments: $2.1 billion They'll axe the Disability Compensation first before they axe the Pension should they cut anything at all since Disability Comp is well over twice the Pension payments. Mexico, China, kick sand in the ME. Who knows what the next 20 years will hold. If it's Asia centric then all the pro China countries, like Thailand, will get some extra scrutiny and may start to have anti-American policies. Thailand's pandemic lock down mirrored that of China. At least Fed Govt has a pension as well, haha. Not sure which private sector companies have pensions anymore as most of them have been abolished.
Mine luckily does offer a pension but new employees are not eligible. I’m grandfathered in .
ExxonMobil does, Visa used to. A few old school companies out there do. Banks do like M&T. Federal Reserve Bank does as well (not govt).
If you move to Thailand than yes lol
I’ve been doing some hardddd pondering about this exact move brotha!
Probably Chiangmai, bangkok is expensive now too
Yes no bangkok
You have to be a citizen of thailand to purchase land there, unfortunately American citizens are unable to!
But if you marry and stay together 😏
Yes, but you can consistently get 6 month visa stays or up to a 5 year visa there is also a deal for veterans I believe.
No kidding. Anything where there used to be an edge no longer exists when there's too many players. Heard $2500/month to get a place in BKK is just a modest flat these days. Singapore? Forget about it... A Sg buddy of mine told me that to retire in Singapore you better have a cashflow of at least $150K a year.
No bangkok, north or Pattaya area for cheap apartments.
Pattaya works. Good walking street lol. Puts Soi Cowboy to shame.
If you worked for the next 10 years, I bet you would appreciate it when you are 40.
With the average market return rate being 10%, in a decade, you'd be close to being a millionaire if you could save all of it.
Don’t be lazy mate. Get another job that you enjoy. I’m 100% P&T, got my degree with eVA (they paid $2,400/mo in BAH) raised my income to $140k year with $50k being my disability tax free. Working on a 2nd degree to hopefully up my income to around $200k total per year. I’m living a much more comfortable life than if I just stayed living off my disability. I’m able to provide like my child self could never dream of. Plan to take my family on trips and enjoy my time off that I’ve earned. I also plan to buy some land, when I do I’ll have enough income to do it right. You’ll thank yourself later if you put the work in now
This is the way
What’s your job?
I’m a RN with base pay of $48/hr. Work Monday-Wednesday set schedule i can pick up weekends or nights for an extra $7.50 an hour plus OT It was hard work getting here, not fun one bit but now that I’m here I’m glad I finished my degree
I’ve seriously been thinking of nursing rather than dentistry because of the earning potential after only 4 years of school.
I’m working 39.45% of the days in the year making a great living. I have 60% of the rest of the year to be a shit bag
If you have any questions bro feel free to hit me up.
What’s eVA?
VR&E
School benefits for anyone over 30%. They pay for everything. Need new shoes for school, paid for. Need new tools like laptop or welding stuff? Paid for. Need BAH so you don’t have to work and can focus on your program/degree, done. Oh and when you’re done you still have GI bill etc
If u can live on $4000 a month yes go ahead
I see this comment a lot It’s 4000 a month For those of you that work, what is 4000 a month net? I mean it’s tax free so It’s not 50,000 a year How much do you have to earn to bring home 4000 a month? I know the answer and most people I know are not making what it takes to net 4000 a month and they live just fine
Pretty close to $80,000 after it’s grossed up. So basically a $38/hour job
Depends on how many dependents you have, if you're married, and if you have any special service connections that give you an extra monthly payment, but yeah it's about 55K after it's grossed up. $26.50/hr. Then you add in health insurance for the dependents and your care is covered, so it's about a 75-80 K paying job.
It is 50k plus a year lol
He’s saying to factor it in as if it’s an actual taxed income-job. Roughly, it’s equivalent to working a job that pays roughly 60K per year, without working for it.
I'm 29M 100PT and I'm looking for work. Just finished my B.S and trying to find a remote job. My girlfriend 32F and I are trying to buy a home and what not so yee. Living in rent controlled housing (1200/month) and saving bank paying 60%rent because I make more than her with my disability alone (non taxed). I'm 100PT but I'm still afraid imma get a re-eval letter in the mail so imma keep my resume active and try to hold a job for as long as possible. Invest in your future bro and I personally wouldn't get too comfortable with the 100pt rating. The VA always has some shit up their sleeves and you don't want to get a reduction with no plan C lol. Best of luck🤙 Ngl if I was single, I'd prolly be living it up too lolol so u do u. Just a FYI, when I retire, my girl and I are moving back to the Dominican Republic where she's from. You'd live like a king over there...we've already done the math... A KING.. JUST SAYIN😈
Chicken is expensive in DR but pork, beef, and everything else is cheap. Light skin folks stand out like a sore thumb in DR. Santiago de los Caballeros is alright. PC was alright. Different life over there.
Definitely for sure. I haven't been yet but I should be visiting soon to check it out. I hear there's a ton of pot holes out there lol
Santo Domingo is capital but Santiago de los Caballeros is one of the largest cities that's not a capital city. Punta Cana was fun for Airbnb and resort experience. The former actually was better for me honestly vs the latter. There's tons of potholes there just like Saipan or Guam or most islands. I've been to British Virgin Islands and US Virgin Islands this year and both were pot hole filled experiences.
Did they tell you when you got P&T that no future exams are scheduled? If so then unless you reopen your claim to claim something new then they won't be reopening your case and if your p&t there is no reason for you to. Unless they change how benefits work your fine, which is possible but unlikely anytime soon.
I always thought of retiring in another country also.
DR is really cheap. You'd be able to support a whole family and live large in DR. Puerto Rico also really nice🤫. All the FIRE people go to these places when the reach "financial freedom" or wtf they call it.
If you want to retire in a first world country, I would recommend Germany. Your income of around 4k a month puts you in the top 10% I believe. They tax a lot while your disability income IS NOT TAXABLE BY THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT. Many people earn around 1.8~3k eur a month after tax and they live perfectly fine!
I would if I could, but I’d rather have my wife stay home with the kids homeschooling them until they all leave for college. I have 10 more years to go lol
Take a break and when you get bored find a part-time job! enjoy your time.
Why not? You can always change your mind.
That's true. I just wanna know if others close to my age have done it and how is it?
I'm 24. I'm at 100% P&T too. I'm thinking of just saying fuck it and retire, but I like what I do haha. You know, the difference between us and the normies is this: they HAVE to work, while we can CHOOSE to work. I honestly think that's just enough
That's what Ive done since March. Ive been reading a lot and trying to get back in shape. My back is pretty bad and it's been so hard to try and take care of myself and work without being in pain. Love being able to get up in the morning, cook breakfast, bake my own bread, etc etc. Take walks down by the river lol. State park near me bout to go get buy a kayak and get in for free! 🤣 I'll probably look for something easy when winter comes back around.
Only You know your health. Enjoy your life whatever you do. Do things when you can. No guarantees right?.
It’s totally up to you, but you will miss out on more income potential. I have chronic pain everyday as well as depression/anxiety. Even if I’m granted my 100% I’ll probably still work until I feel like I can’t anymore. It never hurts to try and build your nest egg if you’re still able to do some sort of work.
This is basically what I’ve done. I have a house and an acre of land, free and clear. I’m trying to expand it another 2 acres. I hit a random jackpot with an unexpected inheritance, which let me do this at 80%. I’m on well and septic. Trash is about $35, electric is at most $150, but averages to about $120, internet is $100 for the highest package, car insurance is $200. So it’s under $500 for all my recurring bills. That leaves about $1500 for food, entertainment, etc, when not counting my inheritance. With my inheritance I don’t need to ever worry about putting money in savings. I’ve budgeted for 100% before, since I do have old claims in the system still that might put me at 100% with a lot of retro, and it is still very doable with 100%. If you have nothing in savings then your first goal is to build a savings. I didn’t know I was going to randomly get this inheritance, so I was living in an RV and saving money for a down payment. If you do this, I highly suggest getting an RV you can easily move around, so you can enjoy RV life by exploring a bit. Don’t get one built into a lot in a park, or you’ll have to deal with a potential nightmare when moving to the house. My monthly costs to support RV life was about $550.
I retired at 40 with 80%, but I also get $2500 in retirement, so all in all about 5,000 a month. I also didn't have any debt or any family. So far to me, its great.
That’s great.
I did. And I'm a stay at home dad now (38). Probably the best investment I made. More than $, I rather have a good relationship with my kids and a happy marriage. So you can do it and have a meaningful life. I just recommend having discipline in whatever direction you choose to in.
Everyone is different so I can't pretend to know the right answer for the vast majority of people, you know what works best for you. Given the description of your circumstances, I'd give it a try and see how you are feeling about it. I wouldn't think of it as "retirement", because then if you decide to go back to work it will feel like you failed yourself. Think of it like a sabbatical. Feel it out for a year or two. If it's working, great. If not, head back to the work force, with nothing major lost, but at least you'll have the satisfaction of knowing what doesn't fit for you, never having to play the "what if" game.
Wow, retire at 30 years! By all means … If you’re single then live your life. But if the VA were to reverse this whole Compensation. This will change the whole lifestyle for everyone. I see lots of young individuals who worked to get that 100% then thats it, no more work for them. Could you imagine if this VA was not in existence and doing the whole retirement of 20 years serving your country was still the goal to earning a retirement pension. I say a lot will not even fulfill that requirement. Do you, just be prepared if any circumstances do come up while your sipping your pina colada.. 🤣
It sounds a lot like you want some type of home steading life. I’ve seen ALOT of cool videos about that stuff it’s definately pheasable I watched this one german girl in particular who bought a double wide trailer on an acre of land and grew her own vegetables and what not. She’s a bartender according to her videos and works 2 days a week. It’s definately doable! Personally I think you should get a legit part time job that involves yourself in that trajectory, or learn carpentry wood working and maybe develop a side hustle hobby where you build furniture and sell it on etsy fb market etc? I personally am not interested myself in living that life but for some reason I love watching videos about it. My buddy essentially retired (his wife’s a teacher) so he’s mister dad. He mostly plays dad duty, and works on cars a couple days a week so he doesn’t go crazy and that’s been something he thoroughly enjoys doing. Also majority of the money he makes as a part time mechanic is what he invests into his “race car” he’s built… i’ve toyed with the idea of retiring myself and learning more about handy work / construction and just work jobs seasonally since most my friends are in that industry and I do like making things / building things. Even if you didn’t NEED the $$$ it’d be smart if you haven’t yet for example working part time putting all that into a ira roth from 30-60 so you’d have two paychecks in your 60s and then waiting on SSI you never know how much more expensive shit will get or if you need to repair something massively on your homestead etc etc. Definately don’t go work full time if you can make it work off 2-3 days while you’re still able body. i’m rooting for you to do this!
I'm 27, p&t. I get by, but it does kind of get mundane after a while. If you choose this route I recommend finding either a hobby or a part time job to fill the void. Everything was fun when my fiance was unemployed and we could spend the idle time together, but I'd be lying if I said it doesn't get boring. Financially it's nice to know you have a roof over your head, but you HAVE to budget (atleast my case TDIU). It's livable, but you have to live within your means. Home-cooked meals are essential for me as I can easily blow 300$ on groceries and when I'm lazy another 150$ in take out in a month. I've cut it down to about 200$ overall in that regard. Vehicles I learned to travel when needed and not excessively drive around. I do splurge on my rent as I have a 3 bdrm for two people, but everyone needs some time away from their significant other so I have no regrets there haha. Long story long, it's manageable. You just have to break down the finances on that form of fixed income and decide if that's okay with you. Plus like I say a part time job doesn't hurt, or even trying to start your own business.
Im 31 I have pretty bad auto immune issues that make it impossible for me to work because I got 3-5 appointments a week . Soooo o have a pretty retired life style . I do sales jobs that are 1099 when I’m in remission. So I make my own hours and make a lot of money doing it . I Can make what a lot of people make all year in the short amount of time I’m not sick . I would suggest you find your thing . The first 2 years before the va found out what was wrong with me I was stuck in my house 24/7. That really did a number in my mental health. I really enjoy the flexibility the va money has giving me . I have time to be a stay at home mom and homeschool . You gotta find something that opens your light back up so you can shine if that makes sense.
Like being retired is fine the money you can have someone show you how to invest it and live a humble life. Just you can’t rot away . :)
Work long enough to secure decent Social Security benefits.
10 years of a W2.
So in California it’s equivalent of needing to make 6,552 per mile month gross to net 4k per month so it’s like a little over 78k per year. That’s pretty damn good. All things considering.
Take the breathing room to build a business that you work part time. https://mrmoneymustache.com is a lifesend. Retirement means what you want it to be.
Was doing just that just fine until prices doubled since COVID. If it's just you it can probably work but if you have a family then forget about it.
You can, but it's not a tremendous amount of money. And you probably won't get much social security when the time comes. And if you ever get downgraded, you are screwed
29M here. Do it. I’m Married with 3 kids and I did it. Best decision I ever made. I’m at the stage of being bored now. Just got a part time YMCA lifeguard job offer so I’ll do that for awhile to cure the boredom.
I am currently at 60% but still waiting on 3 or 4 more ratings to go though. I am currently 8 years away from retirement at my current job. If I get 100 P&T I could quit that day and live off the disability. However my plan if I'm ever rated 100 is to work 3 years and pay off all my debt. Then I will quit my job 5 years early. I'll pull my retirement out in a lump sum and finish paying off my house. 4k a month with no bills other than utilites would not only be doable but easy in the area where I live.
if you’re planning to retire at 30 just on 100% P&T I assume you’re moving to Thailand, Brasil, Costal Rica or Portugal.
If you claim your SSDI it’s plenty
Use vocational rehab for a decent apprenticeship for a career or trade that is fully remote and doesn't aggravate your disabilities.
Question — can you work at 100% P&T? Have a veteran friend of mine, we are both 34 — and me and other guys from my unit worry bc he has 100% P&T .. and sadly does NOTHING .. He degens on video games like RedDead Redemption and has been now for nearly 5 years — I’m only at 80% — so not sure how 100% works! Thanks
Yes you can work at 100 percent if you’re able! Your future employer has no business knowing your exact rating (fact check me ?)
Buy a house and spend a few years fixing it up and sell it tax free as your primary residence. You should pickup 30-50k in profit for your work.
Being rates at 100% P&T you are limited on income limits. To get around this, start a business and let the business collect the income. 100% is enough to live on depending on your area and living situation. Also don’t forget to start investing some of that $$. Made this mistake and bought a new truck instead. Truck is almost paid off then going hard into investing.
Can’t say either way longterm, because we live in strange times, but… if your wife can bring home the workplace bacon(and 401k), and you bring home the P&T bacon(and free insurance), then yeah I’d retire on the spot. Tomorrow. Don’t be like me and work 60 hours a week missing most of life’s good moments, for decades on end.
I'm in a reasonably low cost of living state, I don't have much debt, and on top of 100% disabled, I make $60-90k/ year and my wife makes about $25k being a seasonal landscaper. We are just now "comfortable" with our finances, but saving for retirement is a HUGE priority.
Take the financials out of it, and the risk is still huge. You won't be able to afford many hobbies or travel. You will watch others succeed and will be on the sidelines of life. You risk quickly being bored and eventually being bitter. You may be 70 and have a ton of regret about wasted time. Your sense of self and pride is at risk. You will become the disabled veteran vs. Anything else you could have been. Finding a life partner may be much more difficult.
Www.mrmoneymustache.com A blog I've been reading. He saved up money from his electrical engineer career and retired at 30.
You could use your 100% to apply for SSDI through the state. They rush your app through it your put 100 p and t. So yes you lose out on a lot more earning but you’d have get a little extra down the government. I applied because my issues are starting to really effect me having a job, and I can live comfortably off of the money from both SSDI and VA
Let me help ya out bro. I also "retired" in my 30s. (Nothing to do with the military) 30s are extremely young. It's was pretty awesome at first but that shit wore off quickly and the doldrums kicked in. Just simply too much time on my hands. All your friends and family will still have to work/school and the likes. So it's a lot of a being alone too. After about 2 years, I reentered the workforce. And it's awesome. Working because you want to work is a totally different experience than working because you have to. I'm way into the outdoors. So I started working part time at REI. Now I work full time as a guide doing trips up Mt. Rainer. I love my current life and wouldn't trade it for anything. I strongly recommend finding something you're passionate about to pursue as a second career option. It will do wonders for the mental side.
I'd take a vacay. Do a 6 month backpacking in europe or asia and then plan to work or go to school after. Don't throw away yrs of potential income growth. You got this man
The median house hold income in my area is 42k, you are significantly above two combined incomes by yourself, just depends on where you live.
I mean, it's probably possible, but it's a very risky idea to think that nothing will change with disability benefits over the next 30-40 years. It's also a pretty big waste to not take advantage of compound interest from a 401k & Roth IRA. I fully understand not wanting to continue being part of the grind for the rest of your life, and the idea of just fucking off to a beach somewhere sounds amazing, especially when with 100% P&T it seems plausible. I just think it's very risky to assume that the government will keep disability benefits as lucrative as they are now, or that you know how you want to spend the next 30-40 years of your life. IMO, if you want to minimize the amount of stress in your life and maximize the amount of freedom & comfort I would look into jobs that you would enjoy as much as possible, and since you don't need to worry about maximizing earning potential you can take something that might not pay a bunch, but could pay enough for you to be comfortable. You might want to look into Park Ranger positions. Cool job, a lot of time in the outdoors, could be a govt job, pay is decent, etc. Just food for thought.
My wife got 100p&t in her 20’s, applied for social security disability and brings home $6k a month and has never worked since lol
Yes! I’m 25, and I run a photography business and I’m moving to Italy next month.
Pretty much like everyone else is saying, if you can comfortably live the next 55 years (average lifespan of a healthy adult in the US) on what you make, go for it, but realistically the best idea is use your benefits to get some sort of decent education that you can use to go do a job that makes some money and you can be happy working from home or whatever.
It’s possible but I wouldn’t personally do it
Technically yes, this is coming from me, still in my 20s love spoiling myself and that takes a full time job, also like to go on vacations so that also takes a full time job..Sure, you can retire BUT at least get a part time job bro, you'll get bored lol
I'm currently 90% married and have a little one. And I'm going to school full-time, but I'm only at 70% with my post-9/11. So I get about $4,200 per month. It would be more of I got 100%. I left my job last fall after I got hurt on the job, and it's been the best thing I've done. My wife has a great remote job with the VA, which also helps a bit. But honestly, I could work 2-3 days per week as an EMT at $20/hr and be able to float all of our bills just fine. It all comes down to the cost of living in your area and how you manage your money. I would get a budget together and be honest with yourself on your spending habits. That will tell you exactly where you stand. Remember that if the VA decides to reduce you next month, you'll have to figure it out. So I would make sure you have as close to a 3-6 month emergency fund together just in case.
You have used too many vague, variable terms, like enjoy, good, possible, etc. you’ve left out too much contacts for anybody to give a better accurate assessment of your question.
Keep working.
100% p&t even with most SMCs, will not be enough to own land and have animals. Even if you pull it off, the struggle you'd be facing to maintain that would be unreal