Making money in the military

This is a guest post from Airman Mildollar, the brains behind the Military Dollar website, featuring simplified personal finance for military members. I was pretty lucky when I entered the military. I had friends who commissioned before me who warned me that it could take a while for your pay to start. Unfortunately, there are a lot more quirks about money in the military that nobody warned me. The situation is not going to get better if you ignore it. This is related to the. But also mark down every time you talk to the On office or your supervisor about it. Keep every email. Establish a record that shows you tried to fix any errors.

12 Ways to Be Financially Stable

One in three employees with a full-time job in held a second job, mostly to bring in more cash. A second job can bring in much-needed extra cash, provides additional job stability even in uncertain times and means plenty to do during an average workweek. The US military does provide wages and benefits, but with the rising cost of living and with families sometimes finding their expenses increasing, many military families turn to additional work to raise extra income. In addition, military spouses and family members sometimes have their own reasons for seeking extra work. They may like the idea of extra spending money or they may want to build their resume, even when stationed overseas. Traditional work may present some challenges for military families. Military families may also move often, which can impact career choices. The good news is that there are several ways you can earn extra money right now as a military family:. Freelancing is an increasingly popular field. There were 54 million people in America freelancing in While some freelanced full-time, others worked full-time jobs and made extra money on the side. You can even work as a freelance researcher, transcriber, composer or photographer.

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Craigslist, FlexJobs and other sites advertise these positions. You can also place ads in local business magazines or online, promoting your services. If you can create fun videos people will want to share and see, you can become a YouTuber. If your video gets enough views, you will earn money each month. To earn money this way, you will need to get a lot of viewers and subscribers. To do that, you will need to create videos people will want to watch and you will need to promote them through social media. You will also need to upload often at least once a week or more to keep viewers coming back.

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Why did you join the military? Chances are the answer to that is quite complex. It likely includes a measure of having a desire to serve our country combined with the potential financial benefits of a military career. Succeeding in the military can be a very financially rewarding career path, and also brings the satisfaction of knowing that you have done your part to serve your country. As a military service member, there are numerous benefits beyond your paycheck that you can also enjoy. Sadly, many active duty service members and veterans fail to take full advantage of these benefits, and they are, in effect, losing out on important financial perks to their careers. The financial benefits of being in the military include many different categories. You can receive benefits in your taxes, to pay for your education, to cover housing expense and to help you save more effectively. Are you using these to the fullest extent? This guide will help you see all of these potential financial benefits at a glance, and dig a little deeper into how you can use them to make the most out of your military career. As a veteran or service member, you have given much of your life to serve our country.

Tax Benefits for Members of the Military

Armin Brott is a former U. Many military families live paycheck to paycheck and sometimes even struggle to make ends meet. By learning to make smart decisions about money , you can help your family achieve financial stability throughout your stint in the service. While most of us learn about geometry, science, and language arts in school, we rarely learn how to manage our money. That may explain why so many people get themselves into financial trouble. Start learning financial terms now and take as many free financial courses you can find. The government offers a host of financial programs to help military members become—and stay—financially stable. But many service members never take advantage of those programs. These accounts will allow your money to grow at a faster rate than a typical savings account. Being deployed is hard enough; trying to pay bills and balance a checkbook at the same time is even harder. Married service members generally have an easier time because they have a spouse who can manage their finances. Still, it’s imperative that spouses share all financial information and decisions so they can independently make smart decisions about money if one of them happens to be deployed. If you have to move, selling your home might take longer than you imagine and you might end up having to sell for less or at a loss.

Savings Accounts and Insurance Help

Cruise line: Video shows man knew window was open. I once took pictures and sold them While these vary between branches, in the Navy that cap occurs at 24 years for chief petty officers. Using the Army’s average promotion schedule, officers will achieve the next rank automatically after four years in the service. Officer pay continues to increase with every two years of additional service. Generals and admirals with two stars — Maj. Their titles are Chief Master Sgt. Duane Chapman: Maing ‘a lot harder now without Beth’.

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The answer to that question depends on their rank, time in service, location of duty station, family members, and job specialty — just to name a. Other benefits, like government healthcare and tax-free portions of makiing pay, help service members stretch their earnings a bit farther than civilian counterparts.

To give you an idea, we broke down their monthly salary, or base pay, for each rank. We estimated their pay rate based on how many years they’ve typically served by the time they reach that rank — many service members spend more time in each rank than we’ve calculated, while some troops spend less time and promote more quickly.

We also didn’t include factors like housing allowance because they vary widely, but these are often a large portion of their compensation.

We also didn’t include warrant officers, whose years of service can vary widely. Each military mobey sets rules for promotions and implements an «up or out» mmoney, which dictates how long a service member can stay in the military without promoting. The full militaty pay chart can be found. Service members usually hold this rank through basic training, and automatically promote to the next rank after six months of service.

Promotion to the E-3 occurs automatically after 12 months of service. Although time in service requirements vary between each branch, service members who promote militaryy E-4 typically have at least two years of service. Promotions are no longer automatic, but troops can advance to E-5 with as little as three years in service. Service members will commonly spend at least three years at this paygrade. While they do not advance in rank during that time, their pay will still increase along with their time in service.

It is unusual for a service member to achieve the rank of E-6 — Technical Sgt. Air ForceStaff Sgt. Achieving the next higher paygrade, E-7, before serving for 10 years is not unheard of but not guaranteed. Marine CorpsChief Petty Officer Navy — with fewer than 10 years of service is not common, but it can be. Some service members retire at this paygrade — if they do, their pay will increase every two years until they become eligible to retire.

The military places a cap on how long each service member can spend in each rank. Commonly referred to as «up or out,» this means that if a service member doesn’t advance to the next rank, they will not be able to reenlist. While these vary between branches, in the Navy that cap occurs at 24 years for chief petty officers. Service members may promote to E-8 — Senior Master Sgt. Air Force1st Sgt. ArmyMaster Sgt. The Army’s up-or-out policy prevents more than 29 years of service for each 1st Sgt.

E-9s have anywhere from 15 to 30 years of experience, although few selected for specific positions may exceed 30 years of service. Their titles are Chief Master Sgt. Air ForceSgt.

ArmyMaster Gunnery Sgt. Militafy to enlisted service members with the same amount of experience, military officers make considerably more money. A freshly commissioned O-1 — 2nd Lt. Officers are automatically promoted to O-2 after two years of service.

This is a highly anticipated promotion, as it marks one of the mondy individual pay raises officers will see during their careers. Those ranks are 1st Lt. Using the Army’s average promotion schedule, officers will achieve the next rank automatically after four years in the service. At this rank, officers will receive pay raises every two years. By the time they reach the rank of O-4, military officers will have spent an average of 10 years in the service.

Officer pay continues to increase with every two years of additional service. Those ranks are Lt. Officers who mwking not promote to become a general or admiral must retire after 30 years of service. Promotion to brigadier general and rear admiral depends on a wide range of variables, including job availability.

Each of these ranks carries its own mandatory requirement; similar to the making money in the military «up or out» policies, officers must promote to the next higher rank or retire. Officers who have spent less than five years at the lowest flag rank must retire after 30 years of service.

Generals and admirals with two stars — Maj. Navy — must retire after their 35th year in the military. Military officer pay is regulated and limited by US Code. Both three- and four-star admirals and generals who stay in the service long enough will receive the maximum compensation allowed by the code. These ranks are vice admiral for the Navy and lieutenant general for the other branches. When eligible to live off base, service members receive a basic allowance for housing BAHwhich increases at each paygrade; the exact amount is set based on location and whether the individual has any children.

Service members also receive allowances to help cover the cost of food and in expensive duty locations receive a cost of living allowance COLA. Any portion of a service member’s salary that is labeled as an «allowance» is not taxed by the government, so service members may only have to pay taxes for roughly two-thirds of their salary. Account icon An icon in the shape of a person’s head and shoulders.

It often indicates militady user profile. Login Subscribe. My Account. World globe An icon of the world globe, indicating different international options. Caitlin Foster. Extra pays and allowances help take their salaries a bit.

Salaries Officer.

E-2: $22,608

So what can be done to maximize your income with the least amount of effort? For military folks, there are a surprising number of options. Here are some ideas, starting with the easiest. Maximize your current pay. There are at least nine components of military pay that increase or decrease depending on the circumstances facing the servicemember.

Job Hunting Tips for Military Families

By understanding how military pay works, you can maximize your pay by doing some relatively little things. Getting extra training and education is the best way to increase pay by specializing your skills, and the added education may ultimately get you a better civilian job. The military pays for it, so why not take advantage of it? Also, monitor your budget on items such as food and housing. Better to pack a lunch and eat out occasionally so you can pocket the extra cash.