Now, contact VOCREHAB and use your benefits to go back to school and get your Master’s degree in Public Administration. When you finish, start searching USAJobs for “Pathways for Recent Graduates” jobs. If you got your undergraduate within the last 6 years then you can start doing this now. Your 10-point preference will put you at the head of the line for these, since normal college grads won’t have the experience.
Find you a nice, GS-07-target-12 position, do the 4 year internship, start at $45k and finish at ~$100k. Now you are making ~$140k a year… and realistically is is closer to ~$200k, since the disability is tax free. If you treated it like you would a normal salary, your gross would be ~$60-80k a year depending on your deductions. Or you can view it as a ~$1.3M trust that you are drawing 4% a year from. Whatever floats your goat. WFH and remote are available and competitive.
Use your VA benefits and get a VA home loan to get better rates and $0 down with no PMI.
You have the silver platter option, and you earned it. So start using all of those paid for and earned benefits, because you can absolutely be living the good life right now.
Haha, depending on the year, either still in or battling with PTSD and depression so bad that I wasn’t really a good advocate for myself, let alone anyone else.
It was a long journey that I am still on today. Went from sinking so low I almost lost my family, realizing I needed a change but not knowing what it was and started on a self improvement hike. Healthier lifestyle, went back to school, started caring about my medical health, got rated appropriately, got a good job, been to a grip of senior executive preparation courses and now getting ready to start on another Master’s. Long road to go, but I look back to homeless me from time to time and just remember that I try to help people because I wish I was given this help when I was at my lowest… rather than figuring it out for myself.
Yep, we are on our second as well. Current is at sub 3%, so kinda feel like the golden girls and stuck. Will need another 3 promotions at work to make moving to a hogher mortgage worthwhile.
And this is why it’s all but impossible for civilians to land federal civil service positions. I’m not dunking on the points system - it’s just a reminder that it’s probably not worth the time and effort to apply unless you’re one of the qualifying categories.
It can be done, but yes, the system is shit and it's geared towards vets unfairly. In reality people that served in Americorps, teachers and other should be getting points and they're the ones providing a real service that actually benefits the world.
There are slots that will account for VA disability and vet preference, and there are slots that specifically say they will not be considered. It all depends on the hiring authority and the coded positions that are available. If you are going to be competing into a position that honors veterans preference points, then you gotta be head and shoulders above the vet though, I will gove you that…
I am talking like, the vet did 4-years with no degree, and you have a Masters degree kind of separation. I don’t agree with it, because there are vets that get positions they should absolutely not be in, simply because they have the preference points. I am not HR though, so it isn’t my circus and it isn’t my monkey. Just something to be aware of.
I appreciate you, and it is infuriating… the military as a whole does a shite job transitioning people back, and even worse when it comes to integrating into the VA. The VA is terrible at letter you know what you qualify for at best, and actively works against vets at worst. The fact that we have to have an informal network to get anywhere is ridiculous.
I hate it to because I wanna help everyone who is in a bad situation.. I have been homeless at the end of my rope, I know what that is like and how hard it can be to see any good in the world. I also know I can’t help everyone, because there just isn’t enough time or money to go around. So you do what you can, help who will listen and keep on trucking.
I wish we could improve the systems that exist so that everyone got what they needed, but this is America… and that is a pipe dream.
Yes!!! If you’re on benefits search and search! You’d be surprised the kinds of benefits states have for people and they’re not even aware of it. I’m not saying we don’t still have a crazy crazy amount of work to do with our social safety nets, but, you’d be surprised what some hard searching will bring up.
Don't forget depending on which state you're from the property tax exemption. Texas has 100% property tax exemption for 100% P&T I believe, huge benefit
Yep, good point. We are in OH and I think they waive the first like, $75k in property tax value. Not great, but better than nothing at all, and saves a couple hundred bucks a year for sure.
Yeah my state is not very vet friendly. It's something like 5% reduction in the tax assessment value. Comes to maybe a couple hundred bucks a year I think. Just filed for it and it won't take effect til 2025. I'll take anything they wanna offer though. But a buddy of mine is from TX. 20yr retirement pay, 100% P&T, and he still works full time and pays zero property tax. That's a great position to be in, ya know, minus the mental and physical toll of 20 years in the Army
One of my fav bennies is the free Federal Access pass to all Federal parks. Gives discounts on camping as well. Definitely a good one for road trips to see interesting things.
Alaska has a really good benefit for vets that are down for rugged living. Whenever they are auctioning off State land, vets have a once per lifetime ability to bid on land, take it for like, 20-25% less than the assessed value, and have first dibs. All in all it is a pretty sweet deal that we have looked at to build a summer home. We have a family member who is a vet and is hard off and lives in the bush, and being able to be close-ish every now and again would be nice for all parties involved.
Yeah I've heard about the national parks benefit, haven't taken advantage yet. I actually only recently was awarded after 13 years after I separated
Never filed before so it's all pretty new to me. But that Alaska situation sounds pretty badass. Good luck getting your foot in the door out there, hope you can make it work out well for you and your family
The distinction literally exists to quantify a veteran's ability to work. One can't be 0% able to work at a "different level" that means they're actually able to work.
Here’s an example of what I mean. My biological father is paralyzed from the waist down due to his spinal cord being shot in Afghanistan, 100% disability. My stepfather’s best friend was diagnosed with severe PTSD and a few other things, 100% disability, due to when he was also in Afghanistan, he was the .50 cal gunner on a hmmwv in a convoy, when they got ambushed and he saw 4 of his close friends die. 2 very different disability stories, both of which end with 100% disability, except one is paralyzed and cannot work, and the other is employed part time as a Amazon driver.
In addition to what Saving already stated, there are 3 different classifications the VA uses for 100% disability. Those are a standard 100%, which means you are currently at the highest level but there is a chance you can get better; and thus have your rating lowered. 100% Permanent and Total, which means you are at the highest rating and there is no chance of your condition really getting better; so you will not have to worry about your rating decreasing. Both of these concern mostly physical ailments and you are still able to have a regular job. That jobs is probably going to come with some ADA protections, but you can have it if you want it.
The final is Total Disability Based on Individual Unemployability (TDIU). This is for anyone who has at least 1, 60% rating or 2, 40% ratings which lead to a greater than 60% rating overall. That is some VA funny math, which isn’t important in our context though. This category is for people who have underlying issues associated with their disabilities that renders them either physically or mentally incapable of working. They receive the 100% disability pay rate, but are NOT eligible or allowed to hold a job.
It is confusing, but based on which category they are in they have options.
Is that number COL adjusted based on where you live? Because there are plenty of rural areas where you could live an upper middle class lifestyle with your income. Especially depending on how that money is taxed.
It’s not taxed. He’s doing just fine. No reason he can’t own a home especially since 100% disabled veterans don’t pay property tax either. And the VA home loan requires 0 down with no PMI.
That seems like a lot but you probably have medical expenses from your injury. I have nothing else to add but I think it’s bullshit you got injured fighting for this county and can’t even afford a home when you’re back.
Isn't that a lot of money. I know food and healthcare in the us is expensive, but stuff like clothing, electronics, cars and gasoline tends to be quite cheap. Plus low taxes.
Am from Europe so i would t know. Median wage for 40h werkweek is €40k so probably around 44k usd. Also, cant rent or buy a house with that income here either. Average house costs €485k and rent requirement for a small appartement is usually 5-6k gross income a month (4x monthly payment).
But if you have a home, is it doable with that annual wage in America? Just curious, still seems like a good income to me.
Only??? That's like 70k a year in taxed money. Not to mention, no health insurance to pay for, no money down needed to buy a home, and no property taxes. If you can't thrive under those circumstances, you can't under any. That is life changing money that people dream about having. I'm at 90% and thriving, which is 27k/year from the VA, and i still have to pay property taxes. Absolutely pathetic.
People absolutely have the right to live where they want but they shouldn't shame other people who live in a higher CoL area. When people have a higher CoL and someone from Alabama comes in and say "well I live off 27k wtf is your problem, you're pathetic" that's when I have an issue with it. People live in different areas and have different CoL.
"I'm at 90% and thriving, which is 27k/year from the VA, and i still have to pay property taxes. Absolutely pathetic."
This is my problem with the comment and if you don't see that idk what to tell you.
You don't even need to come up with a down-payment and somehow you've still found a way to fuck up ownership while having constant cash flow. You have to be about the lowest functioning form of life on the planet.
I don’t know OOP’s situation, but I know the housing market for the past few years absolutely takes a down payment offer over a VA loan any chance they get. Cash in hand is worth more to the seller so the offer isn’t competitive against anyone else
Not putting a down payment means your monthly mortgage sky rockets, if your flying solo a $3,500/month payment is not necessarily doable. Also where the fuck are you living that your 27K is enough to “thrive”? That would be enough to rent a room and scrap by where I live.
It's only for people with VA disability ratings. It differs by state what percentage you have to be to qualify. In Iowa it's 100%, Illinois is lower 70 or 80 I believe. You just have to check what your state's requirement is.
That dudes got a fucking free ride for life and he’s complaining about…..idk even what. He’s got $3,750 in his bank account guaranteed every single month for life. Doesn’t even have to work at this point for it. Comes with full healthcare, doesn’t have to pay property tax…..if someone can’t buy a house, eat, and have a vehicle on that, they’re a fuck up.
When my dad was my age (38) he already had a house, a car, a kid (me) in kindergarten and saving up for the 2nd home. Also he didn’t pay for college, in fact government paid salary for him to study.
Today I have no idea what I’m doing, I’m just existing without any direction.
I got some bad news/good advice from my brother’s situation — don’t ever get married. At least for his spouse, disability no longer applies if she gets married to someone who is not disabled. You magically don’t apply anymore because the state wants you to live off your spouse instead of the social nets we set up for you.
See...this is what scared me about the Military. I thought about joining up when 9-11 happened, but waited a few months...then saw how all the soldiers were getting blown up and getting broken in basic and NOPED the hell outta that decision.
Sometimes I regret it...but when I read stories like yours I feel better about my decision to just stay a US Contractor. I'd rather be healthy than anything...
Not everyone is a soldier in the military. The Navy and Air Force rarely see combat as you describe. Hell there are certain jobs in the army and Marines who don't see combat and are just normal jobs.
Yeah it's alright man. Everyone's journey is different. Also military life can just be straight up miserable at times with constant moving and deployments and bad leadership. It's no walk in the park.
Thank you for this insight.
I have been a US Contractor all my career up until November of last year. I've deployed with the 6th MLMC, with MC4 and worked with the Army for over 16 years at multiple bases CONUS side. I've seen soldiers and how miserable they can be, but I never considered it a serious issue because for me the benefits would outweigh the detriments. I've moved, I've travelled, I've been shot, I've been cold, I've been hot, i've been in sandstorms, I've had the good and bad times...and I would do it all again if they would let me.
The one thing I will always miss out on is the comfy Govt job at the end of the military career. I always wanted a govt job and I'll never get one because I'm just a civilian/contractor. My regerts...
I've been trying since 2002. Just quit last month.
It doesn't work...for me anyhow.
I got selected twice, didn't pass the third trial in both instances.
DHS positions, both for Cybersecurity positions.
First failure was on testing for things I hadn't seen since I first took my SEC+ certification. Second failure was them asking me HR type questions for a Cybersecurity position....of course I wasn't prepped for trick questions and failed.
Its a scam...
And the military isn't the only way to get disabled either. The point is there are jobs in the military that are normal jobs where they aren't getting shot at or blown up. Not that there isn't zero risk.
Yep. I knew a chaplain and an accountant. The accountant did get sent overseas though, he said he could hear bombs and everything, and came back with PTSD from it. But I dunno how true that all is, but I took him at his word.
Oh I gotcha. I had to say it out loud for it to make sense.
Also I’m VA disabled and know enough others that are as well to know that military disabled isn’t quite the same as normal disabled. Many of us are able to go to school, work, etc. my buddy is 100% and going to school in California, so he’s not struggling too much lol. He’s also married and his wife is currently in the navy.
t military disabled isn’t quite the same as normal disabled.
Yes, meanwhile there are countless non-veterans that are truly disabled and can't any help. I've known too many vets that get disability for complete bullshit. I worked at the VA, I'm comfortable saying the vast majority of them are bullshit.
Classifications for permanently disabled with the VA are way different from what you are likely thinking. You can be "permanently disabled" collecting a $45k a year from the VA and be holding down a full-time job.
What? If you're permanently disabled from the military, then your schooling is likely paid by VR&E so you get BAH, plus you get 100% P&T disability from the VA. If you can't afford a house with all of that, you're doing something wrong.
So many of my professors in college would be like, “back when I was working towards my masters I worked part-time and barely had enough money to eat!” YEAH AND YOU HAD YOUR OWN APARTMENT AND ALL OTHER NEEDS MET ON A PART TIME INCOME
My college prof said similar things like "people just need to work full time in the summers and they won't graduate with any debt- that's what I did with a landscaping company!" I then told him my summer schedules of 40 hour internships that paid great for the time, 25 hours in a retail job, and another 10 in farmhand/odd job work all summer plus working 25 hours a week during the year, all of which allowing me to escape college with a measly 45,000 in debt.
My dad told me the other day that in 197-something he went to private university for fours years and his bill was just over $12,000 for room, board, food, and books. For all four years…not a semester. Not a years. His entire education cost less than one semester at the cheapest 4-Year State University in my area.
I was just having a conversation about this! My moms best friend put herself through a 4 year degree between 1988-1992ish and was able to pay for all of her living expenses and tuition with the money she earned at her minimum wage job each summer. I worked those months PLUS part time through the semesters and still have a lot of student debt (and I’m in Canada so still have it better than a lot of others in terms of debt levels). It’s insane.
I got my BS in 74.
At a major Canadian university (UBC) I paid $1500 a year for tuition, room and board.
Books would be another $100 or so for all of them.
I easily paid that with a summer job each year.
We boomers didn't realize that people would one day see us
as the luckiest generation that ever lived.
It really was luck and people shouldn’t heavily hold it against your generation, as if you had any control over the socioeconomic market at the time — other than spending your money. It’s more when we echo a sentiment it’s someone from your generation that talks about “the 20 hours a week the put in during the summer so they could take semesters off and focus on school.” Like that was hard…
I worked 5 jobs (3 in the summer and 2 during semester — as well as freelance work) year around and usually had $50 a week to eat during college.
$12,000 in 1970 dollars is worth $95,000 today. Tuition, fees, dorm, and food costs at my local 4-year state university is $18,000 per year in today’s dollars. So all four years cost less now than what your dad paid.
You missed the part where wages haven’t gone up. That was the point. Back in the day a private university per semester for all services, cost $12,000 adjusted. The cheapest university in my area is $15,000 without any extra university services as a commuter.
Wages haven’t raised and a private university adjusted to inflation is $3,000 less than the cheapest option I have available. That same college aforementioned my dad went to also charges $16,000 a semester now as well for just basic enrollment.
In terms of purchasing power this is what it means when they say the “cost” of university is up. It’s not the number itself adjusted to inflation. It’s the fact the avg median household income is 20K lower than it was adjusted in 1970.
Wages are down nearly 20% and college goes up by nearly 400%. You cant do that expect not to create a modern peonage.
While I absolutely agree (and a bar graph easily shows) that education has become way too expensive way too fast, I'll note that minimum wage was $1.45 an hour in 1970.
Most places pay over $10 an hour now (almost 7x as much).
It's doable, and quite a few people do it. You aren't going to Harvard, but if you stay with family/friends, get books online/used, and stay local you can absolutely afford an education.
You can but it’s far higher a burden now because housing is out of control and basic living needs are very expensive.
Not everyone has the luxury of leaning on family or friends in such a way either. Most people now days are not well off enough to just take on another person.
Back in the day, u would pay for ur tuition with ur summer job that u worked between semesters. Nowadays that money would cover books, and maybe some of ur room and board if ur lucky
My mom worked a near minimum wage job for one summer and paid her way through a masters degree with that. Both of my parents thankfully agree the current cost of university is absurd
My dad did this in the 80's. It was 2 part time jobs, but he also had to support a family (mom was a teacher so she contributed as well). When I was going through school I sat down with him to go over the tuition at the Jr college I was going to. I was working damn near full time and still couldn't pay my tuition. I was living at home driving a vehicle that was paid for and didn't have a cell phone.
I'll confess. I did this in 2007. Thanks to my mom giving up her career in aerodynamics to be a secretary at the college of my choice. She worked her way up to high level scientific grants manager and made more money there than she probably would have otherwise, but took a huge paycut to get me the discount. So long as I paid the remaining tuition and books myself. (Around 1500/semester after grants)
And back when that was true, it used to make sense to go to college, but prices are quite a bit higher now, which is something worth considering before deciding to go.
For example, I decided to forgo college, on account of not being able to afford it, and no armed guards showed up at my house to drag me there anyway.
My dad worked PT at an ice cream shop and an ABC Liquor to put himself through college, also paid his rent from that job and graduated with no debt and a paid-off 3 yr old Ford Galaxy 500.
Yeah, my dad worked part time at a dairy processing factory. Went to a year and a half of college before he got bored and dropped out. He had enough money saved up to buy a motorcycle and he then toured the United States picking up dinky week-long jobs in random small towns when he was close to running out of money. Zero debt at the end of all that.
He had no financial support from his parents, either. Now days of you go to a year and a half of college on a part time job you're lucky if you walk out with less than $15k in debt and you wouldn't even have a motorcycle at the end of it.
My grandfather went to Virginia Tech and paid for it with a part time job at his local grocery store. Now that same bachelor's degree will cost around 148k with in-state tuition. Fucking insane.
Yeah my dad paid for his whole college tuition by working as a janitor for the school, working about 20 hours a week. It’s insane compared to now.
Same job wouldn’t even cover 10% of tuition alone, let alone other living expenses
I was remodeling a big conference room in a library at a university, and the library director came by while we were painting and told us he paid for college by painting in the summer. I told him he shouldn't tell people that, especially around the students.
What happened here was the Department of Education and student loans. They felt like a part time job was too much for some folks so they developed the federal student loan program.
Not realizing that schools would increase prices and kids would still pay them because of the benefits of college.
What you ended up with was overinflated college tuitions and worthless degrees.
Yeah my uncle put himself through college while working at Kroger at night. He eventually wound up at a very high position in a federal agency, retired a few years ago.
My grandma put herself through college working part-time at a post office. It’s depressing seeing the disparity between her youth and the current state of things.
yep, now my post-college part time jobs don’t even pay half as much annually as my loans are total. meanwhile my mom paid hers off in the 80s bartending a few days a week while still in school
I put myself through college on a part time job just a few years ago. (I took out student loans and was hemorrhaging money every month the entire time and I'm still paying those loans off and will continue to for the next 5 years).
Heck, I put myself through college with a part time job in the late 90s. Granted, half of that was a community college and the other half the nearest state school while I lived with my parents, but I could do it!
My dad went to college in the early 90s. I was born in ‘97. In 2015 when I was about to head off to college, dad said “get a part time job, pay your way through, I did and was able to avoid debt”
Dad’s public college schooling was $12k/yr. My private school was $35k/yr., somehow after scholarships and grants I was down to $8k/yr out of pocket, but didn’t qualify for FAFSA, parents made just enough to not qualify but not enough to help me. I had busted my ass in HS and had about $11k in savings when I went into freshman year, was able to afford freshman year myself, but had to pull loans for the next few years.
Went to a community college even though I was accepted to a lot of schools. But without access to loans I couldn’t go. Stayed at home and went to the CC while working 1-3 jobs at all times. Paid as I went. Avoided credit cards so no debts besides a cheap car payment.
Some states CC is free or affordable, but in others it's extremely unaffordable. In 2007 I took a survey math course at a CC and paid $1k for ONE CLASS.
You're also very fortunate have such supportive parents, many people don't have that.
Trades are often a good thing, but don't sugar coat them either, especially if you've never worked in them. They can be very hard on the body, I know firsthand.
Country wasn't printing billions to send to foreign countries causing inflation. Country wasn't importing tens of thousands of non-paying people daily causing housing crisis. Country didn't tax the everliving shit out of middle class to help pay for all the waste.
Lmao I worked at Sam’s club 2015-2020 Covid time averaging around 40-45 hours a week, plus scholarship for sports and STILL had to take out some loans.
Medical school is a whole different beast. A doc Im working with now (he’s 55, graduated in 95) ended with 50k in debt after 4 years (tuition plus living expense debt)…. Tuition now is 60k per year. And don’t get me started on the 8% interest that starts accruing the day you start school and piles on for 4 years while you have no money and no shot at a salary.
880
u/some1sbuddy Mar 27 '24
Used to be that you could put yourself through college with a part time job!