Re:The United States Digital Corps
by gnicholas on Friday April 08, 2022 @02:27PM
(#30960757)
Two things to keep in mind: the federal government offers a very good pension, which most private employers do not. Also, if you have student loans and work for qualifying employers (govt and/or nonprofit IIRC), you can have some of your loans discharged after a period of time. But both of these perks require you to work for 10 or 20 years, in one branch or another.
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Government pension is actually very bad. You pay 4 % of your salary per year, and get 1 % * years worked * avg(3 top highest salaries).
You get far more money if you put that 4 % into a 401k or other investment vehicle.
Also, with loans being discharged, you have to have made a ton of payments, to the point that most will pay off their loans before they're eligible in a stem position.
You only pay 4.4% of your salary if hired after 2014 (I only pay 0.8%). If you retire with 20+ years of service at 62 or later, you get 1.1% per year of your high-three salary. That amount is adjusted by cost-of-living increases as well, though of course that may not keep up with inflation.
Also keep in mind that TSP contributions are matched up to 5% of your salary. Consider the pension in the context of also maxing out contributions to TSP (which has the same yearly contributions cap as a 401k). A fair comparison should include the whole package.