Robert Olson ⋅ Reidsville, NC Protonex Technology Corporation ⋅ 3 years experience

Private sector, ABSOLUTELY NOT! Unless you are in the executive VP world. On the Federal or State Govt side, I would say that you can easily find a job that is similar in pay & benefits.
The benefit of private sector employment is that you can better define your career and be promoted based upon merit instead of merely on the number of years in the job. Also, a high performing individual will quickly outpace their military pay, as a company will pay for performance if you are at a company that is healthy financially.

Insurance is awful and expensive as are most 401k programs, they are pretty much just a savings vehicle. I have found that having an expense account is a real benefit that can totally be reflected in your total pay. I am in sales and travel for my job, so all my expenses during the work week are paid for by the company. So, I am not spending any of my own money that most people do during the week. This is a major benefit as it can backfill anywhere from $10k to $30k that would normally be spent on food & gas.

Timothy Zysk ⋅ Reno, Nv, NV U.S. Navy Reserve, Commander ⋅ 30 years served

No is the answer. Benefits with all companies stink now-days, all the bean counters are squeezing the juice out of the benefits lemon. Even the big boys that used to have great benefits (GE, BOEING, IBM, etc) now are slumming it. The GOOGLES etc are still offering sweet deals if you are willing to live at work all the time, until you reach 35 or so, then you are tossed out to the street (too old).

Morgan Lerette ⋅ Glendale, AZ AAA ⋅ 6 years experience

I concur with Kelly. To my knowledge, no other industry pays you extra for being married or having children. There are adjustments for areas and cost of living but not to the extent of BAH. Medical is expensive.

However, the ability to move up can mitigate the pay gap. Also, the ability of a spouse to have a career without having to move makes up for a lower pay range to start.

Morgan

Philip Hicks ⋅ Petersburg, TN Parsons Corporation ⋅ 30 years experience

Nathan, this is a tough question to answer because many companies pay for benefits on the back end that may not be visible to the employee. Also, the company may provide matching funds for retirement accounts or waive fees for employee stock purchases. A great web site for determining civilian equivalent pay is http://www.moaa.org/financialcenter/calculators/MilitaryPay.html. The tax break advantage of BAH is the biggest item that I found very hard to reconcile exactly. The tax bracket you fall into will determine the impact of not receiving the BAH amount tax free.

Kelly Thrasher ⋅ Denver, PA Accolade ⋅ 20 years experience

Nathan, great question. My quick response would be no, civilian careers especially the first will not have the equivalent benefits. There is no BAH, BAS, and you get what you pay for as far as health care (seems to keep rising). Also there are very few careers that have a pension so you take a portion of your pay and put that towards retirement. That said, it can be done though. The biggest issues to remember are that you are starting a new career and need to approach each opportunity differently. My advice is to look for something that you will enjoy and a company that has the opportunities to help you meet your goals. It is easy to get caught in the "total benefits" search where you take a job for the pay. Make sure that it is the right opportunity with the right company. No matter what do the job well and the benefits difference can quickly become the reverse where your total benefits are more than what you were making in the service. One of the biggest benefits to a civilian job is the freedom to make work life balance a reality. Also there aren't the moves every 2-3 years directed by a branch manager who is filling slots with names. You make the decisions. Hope that helps.