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While growing up, my parents, like most parents, tried to give me as much information about different career paths as they could to help guide me in my life choices. I remember my mother telling me about how the benefits, particularly retirement, were often better for most government jobs though the pay usually lacked. She would say: “If you want to go into the military, go in as an officer. Stay in for 20 years and you will secure a great retirement in your early 40’s.”
At the time, I wasn’t all that concerned about retirement, but I listened and remembered those words. Now I remember those words, not in choosing a career path but when seeing stories of how various government pension funds are underfunded and likely doomed.