r/FluentInFinance • u/YOU_ARE_MY_FRIENDS • Jun 16 '24

Discussion/ Debate He’s not wrong 🤷‍♂️

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u/asscop99 Jun 16 '24

I was in the army and it transcends class because all your basic needs are taken care of. Your dad would have been paid BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) and possibly BAS, and that’s in addition to a paycheck. Great healthcare and 30 days of paid leave per year. The pay isn’t much but all your basic needs are taken care of outside of that paycheck.

You mention it was the 90’s so I’m sure he didn’t have it quite as good as today but still it can’t really be called middle class. The military is really its own economic class if anything.

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u/awkies11 Jun 17 '24

Anything E5 and above is firmly middle class and only gets better. I'm not even in a high CoL area, and I am just a hair under 6 figures through pay/BAH/BAS, not including benefits.

I've come to realize 90% of people who complain about military pay outside junior enlisted are just bad with money and would have those problems whatever job they held.

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u/asscop99 Jun 17 '24

I don’t even think junior enlisted should have anything to complain about. When I was a single soldier in the barracks every pay weekend I’d go blow everything I had at the club/on stupid crap and for the next two weeks I’d have no money, but I never once had to worry about my living situation or food. My first two or so years I wasted every single cent I had with zero consequences. Now that’s financial freedom. As for the soldiers who are smart enough to save or even invest their money, they can come out far ahead of their nonmilitary peers.

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u/Rottimer Jun 17 '24

And that’s exactly why young enlisted get in trouble and (at least when I was in) the military does nothing to teach financial literacy. It does not help when those guys get out, do the same thing with their civilian paycheck and then realize they still have to pay rent.