Too late to become a LEO

Switching from the private to public sector this late in life has MAJOR retirement implications. You would be wise to vet that out.

You'll not work long enough to earn a full pension and you'll pretty much lose social security. In fact your pension can and likely will cost your wife her social security too. I'm being serious, look into it.

You really need to do your retirement planning before taking that leap. Make sure you COMPLETELY understand the long term implications of switching from private to public sectors at this point in life. Or you and your spouse could be working for the rest of your lives because of this career change. In fact if your wife is working in the private sector now as well I can pretty much say with absolute certainty, absent you having a million dollars in a 401k already - you WILL f*** your family over if you make the move. Neither of you will ever be able to retire.

Don't make a decision now that you will regret later in life. Hate to rain on the parade, but that's life. I'm just trying to do you a solid because you probably don't know...
Did something massively change?

Public pension programs are separate from private (where SS pays you). AFAIK if you "retire" from both (20 yrs in each) you will be double-dipping, one doesn't cancel the other one. You just can't have 2 federal pensions (e.g. military and later civilian federal employee) as I recall.
 
Hi all my name is Shawn I am 38 years old have a wife and 1 child. I have one regret in my life and thats not joining the military I was very close my senior year of high school . I had a recruiter that I was friends with all through that year close to graduation it got I showed the slightest bit of doubt and he toatly changed became an ass. Turned me off completely. I regret it to this day alot of my friend went on to join and become officers in the north east and some arw just retired from the service.Anyway I was wondering what was considered too old to think about a career in law enforcement.
If you can pass the physical for your age go for it. Better thank waiting if 40 is too old.
 
Did something massively change?

Public pension programs are separate from private (where SS pays you). AFAIK if you "retire" from both (20 yrs in each) you will be double-dipping, one doesn't cancel the other one. You just can't have 2 federal pensions (e.g. military and later civilian federal employee) as I recall.

You can NOT collect social security and a public pension. Well you technically can but often times the pension is of greater value so this ends up being the end result. That's been the case since Reagan. Whatever your public pension is will be automatically deducted from whatever your SS is. If the pension is greater than SS (which it most likely is) then it deducts the balance from your SPOUSES SS. The net result is that it will likely wipe out any SS income either would receive. Since the OP is almost 40, he'll not be on the force long enough to earn a full pension (30 years). That means he'll only receive a partial pension and that pension would be a deduction from his and wife's accumulated SS income.

Consequently - changing from private to public sector mid-life is almost always a very bad idea if you ever plan to retire.

A Little-Known Rule May Cut Your Social Security Benefit
Social Security: 5 Ways the Federal Government Can Take Away Your Benefits

"2. You have a pension from a public sector job as well as your own Social Security retirement benefits."
 
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OP go to the source. Talk to someone at SS and at pension office. Im almost certain that the info above is incorrect. I believe Len and pre ban are wrong and the accurate info is someplace in between. Yes the pension will affect your SS, windfall elimination, but there are exemptions. I have no idea how this interferes with spouses SS though.
 
OP go to the source. Talk to someone at SS and at pension office. Im almost certain that the info above is incorrect. I believe Len and pre ban are wrong and the accurate info is someplace in between. Yes the pension will affect your SS, windfall elimination, but there are exemptions. I have no idea how this interferes with spouses SS though.

Incorrect.... Okay - here is a state government maintained site that says as much.

Social Security - MTRS

It is directed at teachers specifically, but the same applies to all in the public sector.

I'm not telling the OP this is absolutely going to be the case in his instance. But this is ABSOLUTELY something he needs to be aware of and vet out. He also should consider that a government that's 21 Trillion in debt can and likely will make changes. Especially as the boomers begin to hit and bankrupt the SS system.

Consultation with a financial planner is highly advisable here. Each case is unique. He needs to vet out his own.
 
Incorrect.... Okay - here is a state government maintained site that says as much.

Social Security - MTRS

It is directed at teachers specifically, but the same applies to all in the public sector.

I'm not telling the OP this is absolutely going to be the case in his instance. But this is ABSOLUTELY something he needs to be aware of and vet out. He also should consider that a government that's 21 Trillion in debt can and likely will make changes. Especially as the boomers begin to hit and bankrupt the SS system.

Consultation with a financial planner is highly advisable here. Each case is unique. He needs to vet out his own.
Pre ban the link that you just provided says exactly what I've been saying.
 
Hmm, it seems that they did change the SS law in 1986 to screw people. Sorry to read that.

The people it really screws are married couples where one is in the private sector and the other the public. They get bent over the hardest. Basically whomever works in the private sector loses SS.

As a side note though.... SS shouldn't be a retirement plan for anyone anyway. Hopefully most realize that you have to have some kind of private savings in a retirement account and that savings needs to be very significant if you're to avoid destitution resulting from unemployment by reason of old age.

Consider that the average person needs to have about a million dollars in a 401K earning an annual return average of 6% so they can pull a 60K annual salary from that account. That would allow said person to live off of the interest and dividends and not pull from the balance. If you pull from the balance, returns go down, resulting in the balance going down quicker. Sooner or later you run out of money.

.....let's not forget the medical bills you should expect to have at that age point as well....

If you're not thinking about (and saving for) retirement by your mid 30's you're setting yourself up to fail. Hence my advice to the OP. I understand the desire for a career change. But don't shoot yourself in the foot.
 
I was in court ... I recognized the trooper as being the guy who gave my son his driving exam. ... So I was discussing this with the trooper when my client's case was called. Once the trooper was on the stand, in inferred that he was blind, incompetent, and just plain stupid.

When the hearing was over (and my client was found responsible), we picked up the conversation about my son as if it had not been interrupted.

The court system is not justice. It's sport.

giphy.gif
 
The people it really screws are married couples where one is in the private sector and the other the public. They get bent over the hardest. Basically whomever works in the private sector loses SS.

As a side note though.... SS shouldn't be a retirement plan for anyone anyway. Hopefully most realize that you have to have some kind of private savings in a retirement account and that savings needs to be very significant if you're to avoid destitution resulting from unemployment by reason of old age.

Consider that the average person needs to have about a million dollars in a 401K earning an annual return average of 6% so they can pull a 60K annual salary from that account. That would allow said person to live off of the interest and dividends and not pull from the balance. If you pull from the balance, returns go down, resulting in the balance going down quicker. Sooner or later you run out of money.

.....let's not forget the medical bills you should expect to have at that age point as well....

If you're not thinking about (and saving for) retirement by your mid 30's you're setting yourself up to fail. Hence my advice to the OP. I understand the desire for a career change. But don't shoot yourself in the foot.

That's a triple screw, the person puts that money into SS (the private sector person), then doesn't even get anything back. JFC, how can anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together look at this as 'fair'.
 
That's a triple screw, the person puts that money into SS (the private sector person), then doesn't even get anything back. JFC, how can anyone with 2 brain cells to rub together look at this as 'fair'.

Who said anything about fair? Just making the point that it's the law. Lots of laws are unfair... Like having to hire a minority over a white person based on the color of their skin as opposed to their ability to perform the job resulting from affirmative action laws.... That's not fair.... I could go on and on and on....
 
Consider that the average person needs to have about a million dollars in a 401K earning an annual return average of 6% so they can pull a 60K annual salary from that account. That would allow said person to live off of the interest and dividends and not pull from the balance. If you pull from the balance, returns go down, resulting in the balance going down quicker. Sooner or later you run out of money.
True, but you have to do an analysis to see how much principle you can take out each year. It is not possible to get 6%/year without moving up a bit on the risk curve. If your drawdown predicts that you will be age 130 when that "sooner or later" comes, you should be OK barring major medical advances. The old-time financial planning advice was a 4% withdrawal per year was safe, but some planners are now suggesting 3%.

If you're not thinking about (and saving for) retirement by your mid 30's
You will do far better if you start saving in your 20s as soon as you get your first nonsubsistence job.
 
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the oldest person in my academy class is 46, we have a couple 42's and a few more above 35.
dont let your age discourage you.; some of them are at the top of the class.
 
I did it at 49 and I was the second oldest. You definitely want to work on your written communication skills. Remember old doesn’t heal like young so start training now. Depending on which academy you end up attending, you could end up getting your ass beat for 25+ weeks.
 
I did it at 49 and I was the second oldest. You definitely want to work on your written communication skills. Remember old doesn’t heal like young so start training now. Depending on which academy you end up attending, you could end up getting your ass beat for 25+ weeks.

Try 32 in a half weeks, lol
 
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