Is it worth it?

TimShady said:
Another thing to consider is job security. Airlines are feast or famine. Right now it looks like becoming a pilot is a no-brainer but when the next recession hits you might find yourself in the unemployment line.

Once you CPC in the FAA it’s almost impossible for you to lose your job, like it’s a nonissue. Not many jobs are like that. I used to worry about what if I lost my medical, but now I realize they just give you a desk job with comparable pay or you get to retire!

That, plus the good pay if you’re at a higher level, plus early retirement is a pretty sweet gig. It’s really just a matter of whether or not you can stand the schedule. I don’t think it’s the worst thing in the world, but if you do, this job probably isn’t for you.
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The job security/retirement is why I'm still questioning if I should stay. But I also value my time and enjoyment of the views from above, and just the thrill of becoming airborne and feeling free from the world.

Loosing a medical as a pilot would mean I wouldn't have a job, but as a controller is most likely a desk job or retirement like you said.

I feel that my passion for flying outweighs the possibility of early retirement/job security, I just wanted to see if others had the same viewpoint, or a different opinion about ATC that would help me make my decision.
 
Do most of these stay at home tech sales jobs pay you 6 figures and provide you with health insurance til the day you die? There’s a reason we have to retire at 56 (another perk). This job and these hours aren’t for everyone…
 
While I agree with a lot said here, and even with the shitty 6-2 10-6 quick turn (not sure how the Parties involved can bark safety safety safety yet allow this), I'd rather be doing this then still in the military, deploying to a country where you're either shitting in the ground or using a sewage system with clay piping that busts weekly.
 
I.DO.VEHCTAHS said:
Do most of these stay at home tech sales jobs pay you 6 figures and provide you with health insurance til the day you die? There’s a reason we have to retire at 56 (another perk). This job and these hours aren’t for everyone…
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There's tons of fed jobs that offer equivalent pay if you arent at a level 12 and the retirement gets close. Depending on when you get hired 30 year fed pension you can still be done working in your mid 50s, and if you do air traffic for a bit to get your foot in the door you retain your 1.7 for all your 2152 years, so you may only be losing a few points on pension. That shouldn't break you in retirement. If you are at a mid level facility moving to a gs scale job with a better schedule doesn't seem like a bad deal if it gives you more mobility and opportunity, particularly if you are gonna be stuck forever and there's opportunities to move up and make more money outside of atc. Once you get to gs 13 on up the money can be as good as working high level atc.

Like I've said elsewhere....does that few percentage points and maybe a year or two at the end of your career account for all you miss with the schedule in the prime of your life? That's for the individual to decide.
doodii said:
While I agree with a lot said here, and even with the shitty 6-2 10-6 quick turn (not sure how the Parties involved can bark safety safety safety yet allow this), I'd rather be doing this then still in the military, deploying to a country where you're either shitting in the ground or using a sewage system with clay piping that busts weekly.
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I can't argue this. Preach lmao.
 
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I think what's really missing here is if you do 2152 for 20/25 years and you qualify for another position...like bruh you can work til you die and build that 1%.

Honestly it's tempting to hop now that they are offering 20% raises.
1- I have no other way if getting to a 12
2-if I can flm for a few (6) years before my 20, something in support or somewhere may open up where I can coast and build retirement til I'm bored.

It would be a pay cut up front but I've hit my high 3.

I'm banking on the guarantee transfer after x amount of years though. It's a lot
 
I.DO.VEHCTAHS said:
Do most of these stay at home tech sales jobs pay you 6 figures and provide you with health insurance til the day you die? There’s a reason we have to retire at 56 (another perk). This job and these hours aren’t for everyone…
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Google is paying between 170-200k with $50,000 a year in stock for people with 1-3 years experience. That's level 12 pay without fucking FERS and TSP deductions. Pretty sure you can afford your health insurance premiums easily when you have 2 million in your robinhood account.
 
It’s more than a year or two difference. Regular FERS retirement is age 57 with 30 years of service, so you’d have to start by age 27 to hit that. That gives you a 30% pension. If you start ATC at 27 you could retire 7 years sooner at 50 and get a 36% pension. Shorter career, retire younger, and bigger pension.

It’s still a long career if you don’t like it though. I’m 11 years in at a 12 in my hometown so I have a different perspective from someone stuck at a 5 in a random place they don’t like.

abc1234 said:
Google is paying between 170-200k with $50,000 a year in stock for people with 1-3 years experience. That's level 12 pay without fucking FERS and TSP deductions. Pretty sure you can afford your health insurance premiums easily when you have 2 million in your robinhood account.
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Go do that then, sounds great! Lots of people talking about tech jobs paying 200k just falling out of the sky and you can work from home and stuff but I’ve yet to meet anyone leave ATC to get one.
 
TimShady said:
Go do that then, sounds great! Lots of people talking about tech jobs paying 200k just falling out of the sky and you can work from home and stuff but I’ve yet to meet anyone leave ATC to get one.
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Yeah it really is an amazing time to get one. Lots of vacancies after the mass layoffs. The industry is dying to pay $200k to prior controllers with an online degree in computer science.
 
Suspicious Monkey GIF by MOODMAN
 
TimShady said:
It’s more than a year or two difference. Regular FERS retirement is age 57 with 30 years of service, so you’d have to start by age 27 to hit that. That gives you a 30% pension. If you start ATC at 27 you could retire 7 years sooner at 50 and get a 36% pension. Shorter career, retire younger, and bigger pension.

It’s still a long career if you don’t like it though. I’m 11 years in at a 12 in my hometown so I have a different perspective from someone stuck at a 5 in a random place they don’t like.
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Like I said if you do air traffic for say.... 8 to 12 years bank the extra points (your good time still counts at the full rate if you go to a different job) you aren't too far off the full atc retirement moving to a 30 year fed pension. There's tons of people who got into fed service before the age of 27. If a few percentage points of your high three is breaking you, you fucked up your financial planning plain and simple, and if you make the move early enough it's easier to offset with other investments, market notwithstanding. Lots of factors at play here, and again it's an individual decision.

Is it a smart move for someone in your boat who it appears it's "worth it" for? No, doesn't seem like it. That's not the case for a bunch of people though.

"Is it worth it?" Is very subjective.
 
Peter Gibbons said:
Like I said if you do air traffic for say.... 8 to 12 years bank the extra points (your good time still counts at the full rate if you go to a different job) you aren't too far off the full atc retirement moving to a 30 year fed pension. There's tons of people who got into fed service before the age of 27. If a few percentage points of your high three is breaking you, you fucked up your financial planning plain and simple, and if you make the move early enough it's easier to offset with other investments, market notwithstanding. Lots of factors at play here, and again it's an individual decision.

Is it a smart move for someone in your boat who it appears it's "worth it" for? No, doesn't seem like it. That's not the case for a bunch of people though.

"Is it worth it?" Is very subjective.
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My parents tried teaching me the worth of saving a dollar, but I knew wayyyyyy better than they did. Some of us were fortunate to start early on at 18-19 by joining the military and having that good time counted towards retirement (after buyback, of course, lol gov't ty), which I believe kinda counterbalances if you fucked up your finances throughout your 20s (yeah, I'm looking in a mirror right now).
 
doodii said:
My parents tried teaching me the worth of saving a dollar, but I knew wayyyyyy better than they did. Some of us were fortunate to start early on at 18-19 by joining the military and having that good time counted towards retirement (after buyback, of course, lol gov't ty), which I believe kinda counterbalances if you fucked up your finances throughout your 20s (yeah, I'm looking in a mirror right now).
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I thought our military time, after buyback, only counts towards additional pension percentage and not good time- years towards 20/25 years at/by 50 years old. And of course, it counts towards our total federal time.
 
J_MF_B said:
I thought our military time, after buyback, only counts towards additional pension percentage and not good time- years towards 20/25 years at/by 50 years old. And of course, it counts towards our total federal time.
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This is correct it's not good time as far as I know.
 

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