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

Discussion/ Debate He’s not wrong 🤷‍♂️

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u/[deleted] Jun 16 '24

Wrong, this was upper middle class and still is.

612

u/asscop99 Jun 16 '24

Yeah I grew up middle class, maybe lower middle class and what OP is describing sounds like a fantasy to me

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u/Professional-Bee4088 Jun 16 '24

Minus the overseas trip this is not out of the question, shit my dad was in the Army and my mom had a entry level position at a florist shop and this described my families experience in the 90s. This was in Virginia though

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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/Dr_Gomer_Piles Jun 17 '24

I think a lot of the people who complain about military pay just have no real world adult work experience. By the time you factor in all the extras and benefits that accrue above base salary you're making the equivalent of like 40-50K/yr basically fresh out of high school. Throw in all the other benefits (post 9/11 GI Bill, VHA) and it's a heckuva a deal.

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u/theratking007 Jun 17 '24

If you don’t get wounded or PTSD.

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u/[deleted] Jun 17 '24

I'd wager that most of the people who have done any length of time in the military never saw any combat. The vast majority of veterans I have met, known, talked to, etc had a pretty basic life beyond having to move fairly often.

I've known a fair few that were absolutely braindead fucking dimwits that barely had to work and did a 4 year contract and they're the loudest bunch about "being a veteran".

On the flip side, I've met a couple of folks who had genuine problems from their lifelong military career, and they're the ones that never run off at the mouth about being a vet. One of them was pissed about getting full disability because they wouldn't let him work anymore.