Recruit and Train or Pay Bonuses and Retain?
you’ve completely missed off the compounding from investing from year one. A pension invested from year one doesn’t equal the invested sum. Most pension risk assessed funds deliver around 5-6% p.a. Stick 20k pa in a spreadsheet and compound it at a pessimistic 4% over 22 years. That’s pretty much what my pot will be looking like at 60. That’s with a really decent salary (average 105k over 25 years), 2 business or first tickets per year, staff concessions and I won’t be dead of frustration by the age of 65 working for the MoD. Annuities are a complete rip off. 25% draw down at 170k and 75% remaining over 20 years (ignoring compounding on the pot) leaves you 26k p.a. Plus state pension from 67. That’s a lot when your airline rockstar wages mean you no longer have a mortgage and in fact will probably be downsizing. Final point on pay. Someone leaving at option or before has one additional distant benefit over someone waiting til option. That is the fact that you are delaying command by around 10 years. The delta in pay over those 8 years for longhaul is in the region of 300k in captains pay, albeit that salary is gross and therefore heavy taxed. Throw in a few years at the end as a training captain and the figures balloon even further.
This is all after having a nice life instead of sucking up your third no notice detachment in a year in the sandpit and only being able to afford economy Long haul. That’s if your wife hasn’t walked off with the milkman after your third no notice det and got your posting at short notice to the sceptered isle or Lossiemouth.
How much do you exactly need to live at 85, if you make it that long? The levels of stress on the front line will see to knocking years off your life, just as much if not more an airline job will. Not entirely sure the DU dust and the other crap (Basra’s GOSPs, et al) I was exposed to on tour is great for longetivity.
Personally, proud of my service but the RAF is currently a shell of its former self from when I joined. I refused to be continually flogged into the ground to carry other people’s mistakes when a harder line with incompetence would sort things out overnight.
Yes, but your compound interest might just keep you above inflation by a percentage point or so. The notional ‘pension pot’ of a PAS Flt Lt, PAS Sqn Ldr and Wg Cdr at age 60 is the best part of £1M - or you can leave before then. So try running your figures generating a £1M pension pot and see how much money you need to stash away. As for owning your own house - all of my cohort that I went through Fg Trg with some 30 odd years ago have their own houses even if they live in SFA at present. All will have paid off their mortgages by the time they retire (or pay off the last little bit with part of their mahoosive tax free lump sum - normally around £80k-£100k at those rank levels).
Now just like HE there are crazy salaried jobs out there - but not for everyone. I know quite a few that have gone to the airlines, get threaders with it and either come back to their Service or go to industry (either as a contractor working for the Service or in sales/future cap dev). If you can leave and pull in £150k+ almost straight away (let’s say 2-3 years) then go for it, if you are leaving for a £65k FO job with captaincy about 10 years plus away then think about it very carefully.
I think we are all agreed with the ‘death by a 1000 cuts’ though. That is what is really killing us and giving us wandering eyes. I also fully agree that the RAF I joined is not a shadow of itself now - some of that is good, though, and some of it is bad.
Which brings me back to my bottom line - the wages are OK(ish) and with the Pension, it’s pretty good. But if you can cut down on the mindless ‘niff, naff and trivia’, the poor support (SFA, PAYD, JPA) and the complication of simplicity then we would be in a far better place.
If you look from a defence point of view rather than a pilot's one the current situation makes no sense.
Why have such high value assets (pilots) and load them up with doing crap - they should be totally focused on airwarfare - Flying skills, studying and being top notch physically and mentally fit for the big game - or helping those that will - everything else is sh1t.
If blokes were doing this I think they would feel much more valued and more likely to stay on.
But the rot starts in training - Yet how many years to the front line - It's got to stop. Got to get people as fast a possible to a front line seat - keeps them keen and gets many years in a useful job
I'd look at an aircraft such as Gripen as a machine for first tours (essentially a new version of a TWU)- cheap to fly so you can gets lots of real hours in - and then newbies can come to the Typhoon or F-35 force with hours and skills and real situation awareness. Aircraft can be used in a conflict if the Sh1t hits the fan.
Why have such high value assets (pilots) and load them up with doing crap - they should be totally focused on airwarfare - Flying skills, studying and being top notch physically and mentally fit for the big game - or helping those that will - everything else is sh1t.
If blokes were doing this I think they would feel much more valued and more likely to stay on.
But the rot starts in training - Yet how many years to the front line - It's got to stop. Got to get people as fast a possible to a front line seat - keeps them keen and gets many years in a useful job
I'd look at an aircraft such as Gripen as a machine for first tours (essentially a new version of a TWU)- cheap to fly so you can gets lots of real hours in - and then newbies can come to the Typhoon or F-35 force with hours and skills and real situation awareness. Aircraft can be used in a conflict if the Sh1t hits the fan.
Join Date: Dec 2004
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Investment advice
LJ, if your investments are just keeping you above inflation by a percentage point or two I would find a different financial adviser. The other aspect to consider in all of this age vs risk investment strategy. The younger you are when investing the more risk it is acceptable to run. I’m not talking hair-brained investments like Bitcoin but there are some excellent managed funds returning 5year average around 10% - 15% whilst investing in large bluechip companies. Warren Buffet mantra is key here. Now I appreciate I’m in a fortunate position but my investments will eclipse the AFPS75 pot’s worth by the time I’m 40. Add the continued compound interest whilst I’m still working to say 52-53ish and getting out early, investing wisely and enjoying a lengthy retirement sure has hell beats staying in. That plan also doesn’t have me needing to be in the ME until retirement.
