LJ Driver

Anyone do the back door Roth conversion? I’ve always done a normal Roth but this year I have to do the traditional. Looking to convert it to Roth with no deduction before I file my 2023 taxes (post-tax, namely because I can’t do the deduction anyway). Any advice with this process?

Wow, looks like FX flew over him at about 80 ft. Little tight. Not to mention a light 737 can easily outclimb a 767, and his wake was right on top. Could have been a runway collision, airborne collision, or major wake turbulence event here.

This sub-topic is asinine. You’ll probably be in a union as an airline guy, good advice not to piss them off I guess but it would be a magic trick to actually do that. Everyone already knows mil guys know zero about union stuff, don’t give a s**t, and unless you’re a total douche will teach you what’s needed. At no point should you “get familiar” with the RLA before getting there or even deliberately at any point. TBH, knowing that you can’t strike until you’re released to do so pretty much sums up the most important part of the whole thing anyway… you’re welcome, you just “got familiar” with the RLA.

Hahahaha, incredibly true. I’m not smart, but getting “up to speed” on the contract, union, and subsequently the RLA took the most backest of back seats when I was getting apps in order and prepping for interviews. And when it was time, it wasn’t difficult to figure out. That info flows after you start flying the line, there is NO reason to learn it before you start at any airline.

That - is hilarious.

I know, it’s tragic this is even being considered. Literally a few hundred extremely wealthy people have amassed humongous Roth IRAs and the D’s answer to that is to shut down one of the best venues for average Joes to invest for retirement and pass some wealth to their kids…

I’m retired so not a TSP contributor anymore, but the 401k rules are near identical. In a 401k, after the first 19.5 (20.5 in 2022), you cannot put any more into a Roth 401k. However, you can contribute to a traditional, post-tax 401k and roll that over immediately to a Roth 401k. If you do this, there is no additional tax liability because the shares haven’t appreciated yet. I do this with my airline (through Schwab) and it’s an awesome way to stack Roth money in a 401k. Guessing DFAS or TSP heads would explode if you asked about it, but rollover to Roth should be available in the TSP somehow.

No idea the inner working reasons at Southwest why this happened, anecdotally I flew into JAX on Friday through some semi crappy weather and out on Saturday - absolutely no issues with center, approach, or tower controllers on either day, and besides deviating around the wx it was a pretty standard situation with that.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/09/13/house-democrats-propose-new-retirement-plan-rules-for-the-wealthy.html Not good for those of us in the civilian sector… ”Democrats’ legislation would end the mega-backdoor Roth by prohibiting all after-tax contributions in workplace plans and prohibiting after-tax IRA contributions from being converted to a Roth account.”

Folks, United Airlines had a newhire pilot class start Indoc on Tuesday (27 July). Pilots in that class (and some in other recent classes) were just awarded B777 in the vacancy bid that closed yesterday. That’s pretty decent proof that a) it should be a good time to get to the airlines, and b) the AF is potentially in deep doodoo…

https://www.airforcetimes.com/news/your-air-force/2021/06/22/air-force-grapples-with-enduring-pilot-shortage-as-airlines-begin-to-rehire/ “Airlines are potentially going to expand their hiring,” Jacobson said, adding that the question is “how quickly they do it — they have folks that are furloughed, so they still have to bring those folks back.” Out to lunch comment. I don’t know who furloughed, but every major US airline is/will be hiring big numbers in 2021 and beyond. United has already run 6+ indoc classes with 30-40 pilots each, and they are increasing throughput monthly. United CEO just did an interview about how concerned he was there may not be ENOUGH military pilots to lure away (that’s good for airline pilots imo, may mean more pay). I flew with one of the hiring board pilots a couple weeks ago, he said they are hiring military guys as fast as they possibly can to try to stay ahead of other majors. I asked why, his response: we’re all running out of high time (2-3000 hrs) military pilots, tell your AF friends that now is the time to apply, they will almost certainly get an interview… If you’re on the fence about ditching active duty and moving to an airline gig to at least get a seniority number, now is quickly shaping up to be a dam good time to do it.

From my perspective I think Tricare in retirement is a huge benefit. I haven’t started at my next job yet but looking at their health options they are all about $3-4K min a year for a very healthy family’s plan. Add in some health issues or surgery it could rapidly go up to $10K+. Tricare Select has max out of pocket total of $3000 per year, per family, with no premiums, and $300 per year deductible limit for a family. One of the few things that got my attention during TAP was the offer to Airmen separating to buy some kind of Tricare for up to a year after separating: at about $1200 per month... Go to Tricare.mil for the source data, I’m convinced it will save retired people thousands over a lifetime.

I believe UAL is age based also.

Ummm, no.... that’s really cute though

Ok, you guys bring up some interesting points to strategize here. So here is my situation: I am retiring and going on terminal leave this summer. I have my availability set to one month after I start terminal so I can take some downtime with family. I would REALLY like to work for FedEx, but I think they don’t even consider you unless you are within a month or two of available. Should I keep my availability as-is and hope to get a close-in interview, or change it to available now, knowing that I’ll actually not be available until a month after I retire (and then change it before the interview)? That feels a lot like lying and gaming the system to me, and I’m not interested in pissing off the company I want to start career #2 in. I’m also a planner when it comes to life and family - and I would like to have my ducks in a row to know that I have a job lined up in retirement.

Great job taking your future into your own hands, ands thanks for serving 20 years of your life to the USAF. I’m coming up on 20 myself next year, I know the job market is really hot right now but a military pension really does give you a lot of flexibility and piece of mind. Question for you: Did you gonkulate all those numbers over your 20 year career or is there a site that lets you plug in some data and spits it out for you? Seems pretty tedious but it is definitely an interesting nugget to have for reference.

What? Does anyone except for this guy actually think that's why there is a pilot retention issue? ACC and AMC/AFSOC are suffering a biblical exodus right now - this is the first I have heard that ACC's is more pronounced because they have single pilot airplanes and the others have copilots. Lord help us if he is the one trying to figure out the why...

Looking at Mil2ATP for my training, they have a nice $8900 bundle with ATP-CTP, ATP written, ATP flight training and practical, Emerald Coast, etc. I see some things on Baseops about them from a few years back, any newer experiences with these guys? Looking to get this done and behind me ASAP so I can focus on AF flying, retirement prep, and airline apps for the next year or so. Thanks.

Well, your SR is required to give you feedback on your PRF if you want it, so I would start there... During that discussion, I would not use the words "should I be excited about my PRF bottom line", but there is no reason you shouldn't ask him directly how he arrived at that BL and how he feels your PRF will compete-- that's called mentorship. You're asking a bunch of internet advice experts who probably don't know you, and are also not actually experts. Ask the man that actually made the assessment.

I have the perfect solution to your problem: why don't you get on your SRs schedule and actually ask him? You're #3 of 36, he obviously knows you. Should be relatively easy to solve this brain teaser... GOs are not robots, and the good ones actually enjoy talking to their airman - and mentoring them.

Timing it exactly right is more important when your company matches a percentage of your contributions. Federal civilian employees have this benefit, and military will likely have it at some point also. If you max your TSP prior to the last month, you lose the employer contribution portion for the remainder of the year.

Very few power outages and internet is fine on base. All power on base is either underground or going there soon - off base that is not the case. Power has not gone out a single time due to a typhoon for me in two years, considering some of the wind that is rather amazing. Internet company is running new fiber basewide. I stream Netflix and anything else I want with no issues. The houses are old but you will get more space on than off for your OHA. Also, traffic can be a huge pain and gate 4 is closed, so if you work on the North side plan accordingly - gate 1 or 3 are likely your only/best options. Liberty policy for Okinawa is the same as the rest of Japan now, changed in January I think.

Classic. I don't fly gunships, but choose one because you can fly LL anytime... Blah blah blah. Not sure I follow.

Anyone have any decent recommendations for good beer places around Okinawa? The Okinawa Brewing Company is pretty good, but has a semi limited selection. The shoppette's here SUCK. Anywhere else in the Pacific but here has a nice selection of IPAs, but every shoppette on this island has absolute garbage beer.

Not sure how long those shenanigans will last before the fems get involved but best of luck with it.