Posted on Nov 30, 2013
Retirees - When did you know it was time to hang up the uniform?
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Whether the choice was yours, your spouse's/family's, medical condition or you ran into one of the military's service length requirements, when did you know it was time to hang the uniform up for the last time?
Thousands of service members retire each year...your responses may impact their decisions.
Note: Keeping your responses short will allow for more views/responses.
Thousands of service members retire each year...your responses may impact their decisions.
Note: Keeping your responses short will allow for more views/responses.
Posted in these groups: 
Retirement
Retirement
Posted 12 y ago
Responses: 89
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I made the cut for submarine XO but never got the call, so I failed selection for O-5. I knew at the 16-year point that I'd be retiring at 20.
We'd always been saving aggressively, but now we had a deadline. We reached financial independence at the 19-year point. I retired in June 2002 with the pension and enough investment income to enjoy our beach-bum lifestyle.
My readers tell me that you'll recognize when the fun stops, and you'll know when it's time to go. The key is saving & investing enough while you're in uniform to have the financial independence to make your own choices. Even if you can't cover your expenses on your finances when you hang up the uniform, you'll still have the flexibility to go back to school or do a thorough job search or start your own business... or just take some time off.
Two excerpts from the book:
This essay caps off the book's first seven chapters of ways to leverage your military career & benefits for financial independence and retirement. I wrote it after an exchange with Tomcat98 at ...
What's your future? After active duty will you retire from the military to a "bridge career", will you semi-retire to work part-time, or will you retire early and never earn a paycheck again...
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COL Vincent Stoneking
Just so you know, it's what I am kinda working towards. Nowhere near able to pull it off (couldn't take the financial hit right now, not seeing a lot of jobs for what I do over there), but once I start consulting, very likely to be my home base.
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LCDR Doug Nordman
Let me know if I can help with the networking. (Reach me on Linkedin or NordsNords at Gmail.) I know plenty of local business owners (and veterans) who can share solutions for the bridge career and the distance factor.
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After my second brain tumor while stationed in Hawaii. I new then that I would never be able to deploy again. I figured that if I could not deploy, then I needed to retire. The deployments is what has always kept me in and is what I miss the most.
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It was time. I entered onto the rolls of the retired on 01 July 2000, at 20 years and a month. Non-select for 05, having missed branch qualifying assignments while I was a single parent, I called it a day with few regrets. I had achieved each personal goal I had set. I had the privilege of having four command tours, two INF and two SF. There was no higher honor, no better job.
However, my real "come-to-Jesus-moment" was in 2008, after seven years as a private contractor, my son deployed to OIF while I was there again. That is when I looked in the mirror and said to myself, "Time to come home."
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Sadly, the choice to retire was not mine. I had a massive back injury, which put me on permant light duty, and in the Marines, if you can do two parts of the PFT, you still have a chance, but with a back injury, I couldn't even manage that, so I was boarded.
I have always thought that, if I had had the chance to consider leaving it behind, to choose a new path, perhaps I wouldn't have missed it so much when I left, because I have to tell you, with my mind still on USMC time, its really hard trying to "FIT IN" into a field where those qualities that made me a good Marine, didn't always translate into good office material simply because my heart wasn't in it.
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SGM, I wore the uniform for 23 years (retired as MSG) and I never felt more proud to serve my country. My last assignment was Germany, I was the Acting G6 SGM, loved my job, but when you wake up in the morning and going to work does not feel like fun anymore, it is time to hang up the uniform and seek for new adventures. Is not just for the family, but sometimes it is just the way you feel about the job in general. If you ask me, I would do it again, but when it is time to move on, don't fight it, just go with it!
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Not retired, and not ready to yet, but those retirees that I have talked have said that when you cringe on going to work daily, or hesitate on getting out of bed in the morning, or just don't enjoy what you do everyday, it's time. For me, it would be when I can no longer make a difference, or don't enjoy doing what I do on a continuous basis...
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After 35 yrs TIS I am retiring due to illness. I do feel that the soldier coming in today is less disciplined and more defiant to leadership. The NCO's today are being promoted too fast and I believe many do not have the experience to handle the responsibilities with respect to requirements needed to handle subordinates, interacting with superiors and overall life experience. I love being a soldier and even though my time is up I will always be a soldier at heart.
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I think this is a good thread for those we are trying to get to join can see the substance of some things we discuss between us as current and former military, soft spoken as well as informational and mentoring types of postings.
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There is a life after retirement! When you no longer enjoy putting on the uniform, it's probably time to consider your options. I retired at the top of my game, with 4 years as an E9. Although I could have stayed another 10 years, I believed it was my time to bow out and give the leadership opportunity to others. As a young enlisted, I criticized the old crusty E9s who were poor examples of leaders. I did not want to be remembered as one of those. I now enjoy time with my family and the activities I could not participate in when I was "in". My family and my health are #1.
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