Should I retire as a W3 (Reserve), or E7 (Active Duty)?

To tell you the truth, I left active duty and soon after joined the National Guard. I regret that choice every day of my life since. My family and myself would have been better off if I had ridden out the last roughly 4 years to active retirement I had left to go. Not only did I have to wait for my military retirement but the civilian world is a whole different animal. I was fortunate to have a number of great careers, that paid well. Notice I said a number of great careers. There is no loyalty and often poor ethics in the civilian world. Pensions where still alive and well when I was working the civilian side but now they are few and far between. Stay in the active service until your retirement window, then you have a payday, benefits and peace of mind while you decide what your next career will be.

The biggest thing I tell people that tell me about enlisting. Is if you don’t retire go to the reserves component so you get your retirement. I would take the commission and look at it as a retirement fund. You could find a civil service job that will give you time for service and will be able to pull double retirement at 60. This is me speaking from experience not listening to my Father a retired SM

Retire for FAS as an E7. You can get a lot of benefits right away and young enough for another career. Remember enough money to help your household.

Well, considering we may be on track for a Nuclear War, be happy for a "few days" while you can get them. No one knows their last day. I retired ten years early and I am glad I did. I learned to expect the unexpected. When we don't, we find ourselves less able to cope when things come at us suddenly. Spend some hard-earned time with your family. They need you more than money.

1 bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush, I retired and started a 2nd life, being a Marine, you aren't retired till you reach 30 years {FLMCR}, best move I ever made, all my military pay amounts to a lot., and half of it is free of all taxes.

Take the WO1 promotion. Remember 38 you have at least 4 more enlistments to go before you retire. You earned your rank. As a former national guardsman, I never thought I would do state active duty for 3 plus years. So things can change. I understand you have to look out for yourself and your family. By the sounds of it, you have worked hard to be where you've been at today. To me why go back down when you have the opportunity to be one of the coolest Warrant Officers in your unit. Again choose what will work for you but me personally I would choose the WO1 and work your way to an AGR position.

It depends on what your long term goals in life are, there is certainly many perks to going to Warrant Officer especially at your young age . Keep in mind that all your points that you earned on AD will used to calculate your actual pension amount if you are under the legacy system still of 2.5% per year or if you were able to switch to the blended retirement of 2% per year. The perks of being a PT SM are that you still earn income and points while still gaining rank. If you look at the base pay of a CW3 at 30 years of service which I suspect you would have at time you actually retire you might be impressed on that amount vs the 20 years at E-7. But there is some cons also if you stay, as you are subject to deployments just like any other SM. So think everything out before you decide as there is many pros and cons. There is no one that will judge you for making the decision to stay or retire. As it your life and you have already served this nation with honor.

Retire sooner. You'll always have your small retirement check coming in the mail way before 60. It might be a bigger check for W3 but you won't see it for way too long. Having that retirement now can mean the difference between surviving a recession or economic depression and not surviving.

Take the SFC retirement. Life has no guarantees for the future.

For me it's a simple answer. Select the path that puts the most money in you wallet when you retire. Those numbers should be readily available to you. Good luck and thanks for your service. Semper Fi!