Posted on Apr 16, 2020
What would benefit Veterans more, GI Bill or 75k for housing?
10.1K
161
55
10
10
0
We understand the need for education and financial freedom but the biggest worry for a family is providing.
Yes the GI bill provides BAH and the VA Home loan but does one hand really help the other in this situation? Or is it more realistic to have a house paid off continue at the job you don’t plan on leaving and not have the worry about having to go to school to change your situation and a 30 year loan? Your thoughts...
Yes the GI bill provides BAH and the VA Home loan but does one hand really help the other in this situation? Or is it more realistic to have a house paid off continue at the job you don’t plan on leaving and not have the worry about having to go to school to change your situation and a 30 year loan? Your thoughts...
Housing
GI Bill
Working
Mental Health
Posted 6 y ago
Responses: 19
13
13
0
One is a handout and the other is an opportunity to change your status...
(13)
(0)
MAJ Byron Oyler
Sgt Jordan Foster - I am a registered nurse and paramedic on active duty, so I do not employ anyone nor do I do a payroll. A person making minimum wage will take no more than ten years to make $75K and even using the GI Bill for a technical field will pay out more over a lifetime than $75. You are losing thousands if not hundreds of thousands of dollars if $75K was all you got and it went towards a house.
(3)
(0)
Sgt Jordan Foster
Ok but do you think that it should come with that as an option for people that do not want to use the gi bill?
(1)
(0)
MAJ Byron Oyler
Sgt Jordan Foster - No, to many will take the easy way out, not improve themselves, and then be left with very little.
(1)
(0)
Sgt Ed Allen
MAJ Byron Oyler - I used what I was able to for education, but in the 80's, it was not enough to get a degree.
Now, due to the schooling I received in the Marine Corps, I am making just as much, if not more, than many of the people I work with who have masters degrees.
Let it be the choice of the person who served. If I had been provided finances to help purchase a home, I could have had my own home, and not paid rent, for the next 3 decades.
Once you have your own home, everything changes and when a typical home in some areas can be purchased for around 100k, that gives you a lot of freedom in choosing you job.
And that 75k that a person on minimum wage will earn, will all be spent just trying to feed yourself.
My daughter, as an example, is making $13 an hour. Her husband is making minimum wage. Together they make about $43k a year. But, neither of them is working in their field of education. My daughter studied psychology, her husband education. She is working in a bank, he is a waiter. They cannot get a house because they don't make enough, even though it would cut there monthly expenses by 2-300!
A degree is great, only if you can use it.
Now, due to the schooling I received in the Marine Corps, I am making just as much, if not more, than many of the people I work with who have masters degrees.
Let it be the choice of the person who served. If I had been provided finances to help purchase a home, I could have had my own home, and not paid rent, for the next 3 decades.
Once you have your own home, everything changes and when a typical home in some areas can be purchased for around 100k, that gives you a lot of freedom in choosing you job.
And that 75k that a person on minimum wage will earn, will all be spent just trying to feed yourself.
My daughter, as an example, is making $13 an hour. Her husband is making minimum wage. Together they make about $43k a year. But, neither of them is working in their field of education. My daughter studied psychology, her husband education. She is working in a bank, he is a waiter. They cannot get a house because they don't make enough, even though it would cut there monthly expenses by 2-300!
A degree is great, only if you can use it.
(2)
(0)
11
11
0
Completing my education has made me over a million dollars and right now for someone in my job that wants to commit to the military for six years, $35,000/yr x six years. I have a neighbor that makes roughly $20K a month off a business education. Receiving 75K for a house will short change most people.
(11)
(0)
MAJ Byron Oyler
1SG Walter Craig - I am not complaining, I trying to point out that the GI Bill is worth more than $75K with lifelong income based off education.
(0)
(0)
8
8
0
What can you do with that money or opportunity, if you don't have the education to back you up? I'm all for the GI bill. I think if people do use the time to study what they want to and apply themselves instead of worry about the money, then ultimately, the money would come by its self. I have a business and am also enrolled in school and working full time all in the military school is that's helping me better prepare and organize where I'm headed.
(8)
(0)
WO1(P) Jonathan P.
Goes without saying making 95k a year from my fulltime job. Plus, another 30-40k from my business, which I opened during my time in school and the materials and resources and skills, helped me make it a reality. What I’m saying is that yes, a 75K lump some for people who have the knowledge and the ability to multiply that is a no brainer, but what about the 94% percent who don’t even know how to manage money in general. EDUCATION, while it seems crazy to many, is a means to a higher earning curve. MAJ Byron Oyler
(1)
(0)
SGT (Join to see)
MAJ Byron Oyler - I genuinely applaud your success. However, your way isn’t the only way. There are folks that have used every nickel of their GI bill/Voc rehab, and still didn’t manage to get a degree or job.
By nature, I’m a private person and generally prefer not to discuss many personal details. However, I know several folks that have turned investments, smaller than $75k, into more than $170 in less than a decade.
You wrote, “Most cities $75K gets you a 2-3 bedroom in a poor neighborhood, not optimal for a family.” Yet, in some towns, $75k gets you a nice home.
Additionally, do you realize that while low 6 figure income and $170k in bonuses over 9 years is excellent, in some cities, it might only get you a 2-3 bedroom apartment in a poor neighborhood?
Location location location...
Don’t get me wrong, I’m as big a proponent of education as anyone. However, instead of deriding this kids idea as a new form of social services and welfare, why not think of it as an expansion of the VA home loan benefit; an earned benefit for military service.
But the reality is a lot of veterans don’t use the GI bill, for a variety of reasons. I don’t think it’s an unfair question to see if there’s a way for service members to have a comparable benefit, if they don’t use the GI bill.
By nature, I’m a private person and generally prefer not to discuss many personal details. However, I know several folks that have turned investments, smaller than $75k, into more than $170 in less than a decade.
You wrote, “Most cities $75K gets you a 2-3 bedroom in a poor neighborhood, not optimal for a family.” Yet, in some towns, $75k gets you a nice home.
Additionally, do you realize that while low 6 figure income and $170k in bonuses over 9 years is excellent, in some cities, it might only get you a 2-3 bedroom apartment in a poor neighborhood?
Location location location...
Don’t get me wrong, I’m as big a proponent of education as anyone. However, instead of deriding this kids idea as a new form of social services and welfare, why not think of it as an expansion of the VA home loan benefit; an earned benefit for military service.
But the reality is a lot of veterans don’t use the GI bill, for a variety of reasons. I don’t think it’s an unfair question to see if there’s a way for service members to have a comparable benefit, if they don’t use the GI bill.
(1)
(0)
SGT (Join to see)
1SG Walter Craig - you wrote, “That is true, but in my day there was no internet. The closest library where I grew up was 28 miles away”.
Absolutely, understandable. And while I understand that 28 miles was nearly an insurmountable journey in the days before the internet, I therefore shutter to think of how far you must have had to travel to go to college.
Absolutely, understandable. And while I understand that 28 miles was nearly an insurmountable journey in the days before the internet, I therefore shutter to think of how far you must have had to travel to go to college.
(0)
(0)
Sgt Jordan Foster
Good morning 1SG. After reading your post and comments this seems like it would of been at least an option that you could of benefited from. This post isn’t designed for retired military members or veterans that are able to go to school there is a reason why generals are who they are and there is also a reason why 1Lts get out. CEO’s and janitors. Needless to say a janitor cannot focus on what is ahead of him with worries about where his family would live if he dies peoples priorities and circumstances are completely different. Education is Priceless! But so is being one percent of this country and being able to say that is the reason why you were able to pass down a home either way you spin it its because of the same reasoning. We now have a forever GI Bill and there are veterans paying rent on forced retirement through the VA at 3500 a month and receiving social security at 28 years old not able to work because of medical reasons so what good would a degree do them in this situation? 1SG Walter Craig
(1)
(0)
5
5
0
Is this an option, as I have never heard of it. Paying - chunk toward a house is always a good thing. Depending on your skills, is what determines your salary. So is the degree worth more over the years than 75k. Example, I know many military who took the time to get their Masters, when they left service they went straight to low 6 figures. Now that isnt always the case, but a degree is worth a lot more over A 20 or 30 year span than is equity in a home. Lastly, how fast can you pay a house off when your income barely makes ends meet. Anyways, your question is more complex that you give it credit for.
(5)
(0)
CSM Darieus ZaGara
Challenging yes, impossible no. I know many senior NCOs who, over time have earned degrees. Yes there is lots of sacrifice and balance required. Where there is a will!1SG Walter Craig
(0)
(0)
CSM Darieus ZaGara
We are all felt a different band.after 30+, i too look back with no regret. Stay safe. 1SG Walter Craig
(0)
(0)
5
5
0
4
4
0
Having the degree increased my income which in turn allowed Me to purchase a nicer home than I would have otherwise. The degree also opens up a lot of opportunity that otherwise might be a lot more difficult to achieve and may well help raise Your overall standard of living. In today's economy there are very few places where $75,000 will buy You a house anyway, what You would have is only a down payment and the rest either You have or would need a loan.
(4)
(0)
3
3
0
We have the best of both worlds now if you progress through life in a certain process or order. First, you get an education, then find a good job, and after a period of working you buy a house--the "American Dream." I say don't mess with the current benefits.
Education (technical, vocational, traditional university) accrues to you for a lifetime. Some of the things you learn may become out-of-date, but the achievement always is credited to you. For example, I learned to program in FORTRAN IV in college. That programming language has disappeared, but the Bachelors Degree remains on my resume. The GI Bill provides very valuable education benefits. I'm concerned that if we let Congress open that box, they will take more out than they put in.
The VA Home Loan program is another valuable benefit. The "zero down" option allows young home owners to get into a house with little initial investment. It also puts them in a favorable tax situation with home mortgage interest being a tax deduction. Rent, of course, isn't deductible for most families. I don't see that $75K would help more than an opportunity to get a good job. In fact, it might encourage people to buy houses that are more expensive than they might otherwise purchase. In many parts of the US, $75K will buy less than half of a three-bedroom, 1.5 bath home in a nice subdivision. I'm not sure that helps all that much.
Education (technical, vocational, traditional university) accrues to you for a lifetime. Some of the things you learn may become out-of-date, but the achievement always is credited to you. For example, I learned to program in FORTRAN IV in college. That programming language has disappeared, but the Bachelors Degree remains on my resume. The GI Bill provides very valuable education benefits. I'm concerned that if we let Congress open that box, they will take more out than they put in.
The VA Home Loan program is another valuable benefit. The "zero down" option allows young home owners to get into a house with little initial investment. It also puts them in a favorable tax situation with home mortgage interest being a tax deduction. Rent, of course, isn't deductible for most families. I don't see that $75K would help more than an opportunity to get a good job. In fact, it might encourage people to buy houses that are more expensive than they might otherwise purchase. In many parts of the US, $75K will buy less than half of a three-bedroom, 1.5 bath home in a nice subdivision. I'm not sure that helps all that much.
(3)
(0)
Sgt Jordan Foster
Good morning sir so you if all people assuming you are still up in technology understand that kids are learning to code nothing against what you went to school for but my son is 6 and learning how to code. Please put this scenario into perspectiv.. Veteran takes 75K option. Takes equity loan out. Pays 2000 for Cisco Offered courses. A CCNA can be obtained in a matter of months starting salary of 55k. CCNP within two years with possible senior role depending on need. Starting pay of 65-80k and CCIE Completion within 6 years starting at 115k so total time 10 years. To become an expert level.(doctorate) and never having to worry about a house payment. A 2000 dollar investment. Education is still in this equation. Just not in a traditional fashion we are used to. Options are never bad but there is no need to dictate on a possibility there are plenty of county city and state owned abandoned properties that can be used as tax write offs for housing veterans everybody is placing a dollar amount on the gi bill but it is a zero amount it is just compared to what a civilian would pay.
(0)
(0)
I started the G.I. Bill in 1972 when the amount paid was a lot less with no BAH or anything else. I worked full time and went to school full time. The G.I. Bill is an excellent benefit to take advantage of. Why should the government tax me to pay you 75K for housing? Work hard, manage your money, save, invest, and leave my money alone.
(3)
(0)
3
3
0
"Give a man a fish,he will eat for today. Teach a man to fish and he can eat forever."
Or something like that was thee quote I heard.
I got out after almost seven years of doing radar maintenance and went to school immediately my plans changed over time. I got my A.A.S. Electronics Technology but never finished my Bachelors, but I found a lot of value in all the education I got. I don't know that it made me any more money, but it enriched my life.
Life changes your plans for you...you may not plan to ever leave that job, home, city or whatever, but things happen that make your life take a different path.
Education will benefit you more than $$$ today.
Or something like that was thee quote I heard.
I got out after almost seven years of doing radar maintenance and went to school immediately my plans changed over time. I got my A.A.S. Electronics Technology but never finished my Bachelors, but I found a lot of value in all the education I got. I don't know that it made me any more money, but it enriched my life.
Life changes your plans for you...you may not plan to ever leave that job, home, city or whatever, but things happen that make your life take a different path.
Education will benefit you more than $$$ today.
(3)
(0)
3
3
0
Rhetorical question. No 75K in the future, post covid or otherwise. If you've ever driven a rental car, then you understand ownership. You appreciate something more when you earn it by your labor. GI Bill is a benefit earned and much appreciated. Many have earned their way to a college education while on AD. The same applies to a home after getting out. Just like starting as a Recruit, start small on a home and finance it wisely. VA can help with that. Look at a starter home but use 15 year loan to cut down on total cost due to interest over time. Higher payment but lower net cost and more equity built in shorter timespan.
(3)
(0)
CWO3 (Join to see)
I know what you mean, but knew I'd punch out sometime. Was deployed a lot the last half, but did manage to CLEP, use military courses and suffer night school to an AA from Campbell in NC. No time in-theater though, as we both know.
(0)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google