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A History of Blood – Vol. 2, Chapter 9

This chapter is an update on my career earnings so far. My career started in sales back in 2014, shifted into Insurance in 2018, and then in 2023 I became a veteran, marking the turning point of my career.

I became a Priest in 2025, and since then, I’ve tried to work less as to focus more on my studies, but I’ve frequently found myself working full-time for the sake of my living expenses.

Reviewing my career earnings annually allows me to make more educated decisions on what I plan to do moving forward, and I have a surprising amount of options now that I think about it.

$271,563 in Career Earnings, for an average of $24,687 per year, over an 11 year career

1. 2014: $5,160 (1 employer)
2. 2015: $10,843 (1 employer)
3. 2016: $28,669 (1 employer)
4. 2017: $33,441 (2 employers) 💍
5. 2018: $23,313 (5 employers)
6. 2019: $14,324 (1 employer)
7. 2020: $22,170 (6 employers) 🪦 חיי שרה
8. 2021: $25,307 (1 employer)
9. 2022: $25,822 (2 employers)🩸
10. 2023: $22,795 (3 employers)
11. 2024: $30,003 (2 employers)
12. 2025: $29,656 (3 employers)

My Retirement Benefit Estimate in 2024 was $12,192 ($1,016 per month) at age 62, or $17,448 ($1,452 per month) at age 67.

As of 2025, it is currently $12,876 ($1,073 per month) at age 62, $18,456 ($1,538 per month) at age 67, and $22,896 ($1,908 per month) at age 70.

If I was to collect disability, I would earn $16,560 ($1,308 per month). I could probably make a strong case for disability due to my military service, which would certainly allow me to focus more on my Priesthood, but there’s a part of me that is considering continuing my military service, ideally as a chaplain as opposed to an enlisted.

Before I continue, I want to first establish what an independent student is:

• You will be age 24 or older by December 31 of the school year for which you are applying for aid.
• You are married (or separated, but not divorced).
• You are a graduate student (working on a master’s or doctorate program).
• You are a veteran of the U.S. armed forces or are currently on active duty for purposes other than training.
• You have children or other dependents who receive more than half of their support from you.
• Since age 13, you were in foster care, a ward of the court, or both your parents were deceased.
• You are an emancipated minor or are in a legal guardianship as determined by a court.
• At any time since July 1 of the award year, you were determined to be an unaccompanied youth who is homeless or at risk of becoming homeless. 

Independent students are the basis of my marketing strategy, and I am careful to avoid dependent students, due to how troublesome they tend to be.

Similar to being in the military, the insurance business, as a professional career, is all about education.

A bit of studying is required in order to get your initial insurance license. After you get your resident license, there is the matter of continuing education. Some agents also choose to get additional licenses or professional designations. If I was to get a designation, it would be Chartered Life Underwriter (CLU), which basically means I focus on life insurance and estate planning.

The active duty portion of my contract formally ended on August 11, 2023

On July 25, 2023 I reviewed a summary of my military compensation:

The total direct compensation was $31,969.56

Military pay is divided into four categories:

1. Base Pay = $2,149 per month, $25,790.40 per year (as an E2 or PFC of Marines)
2. BAH = $7.20 per month, $86.40 per year (living at the barracks)
3. BAS = $452.56 per month, $5,430.72 per year (eating at the chow hall)
4. Tax Advantage = $55.17 per month, $662.04 per year (as a single man)

As an active duty Marine I was very happy. My job was to work out, clean my body, clean my room, march to work, study or workout some more, eat as much as I could, stand duty, attend working parties, and attend social events. The only real issue during my first enlistment was my security clearance.

The pay has increased slightly since my separation. The base pay for E2 has increased from $2,149 per month to $2,599 per month, or from $25,790 per year to $31,188 per year.

The fastest ways to make more money in the military is basically just to stay in. As long as you are in decent shape and competent at your job it isn’t hard to get promoted. If you are enlisted, you can always commission, and if you are single, you can always get married and have children.

That being said, I think that money is the weirdest motivation to get married or have children, but it’s nice to know that the military will reward you for doing the right thing. Commissioning as an officer also requires you to get an undergraduate degree (aka a bachelor’s) which is never a bad thing.

When it comes to choosing a college, there’s a lot to consider, but I would start with the following:

1. Desired program of study
2. Residency and cost of attendance
3. ROTC, Athletics , Fraternities

Focus on what you want to study and what you plan on doing after you study.

Where the school is located in comparison to you and your family is extremely important as well

Finally, socials programs and other incentives can help when choosing between similar institutions.

There is a standard clothing allowance of 842.76 per year for the Marines.

The BAH rate for my previous area (21225) is $2,256 per month, or $27,072 per year, just to give you an idea of how much it makes a difference.

Getting married also has a higher tax advantage, but I don’t know what that would look like off the top of my head. I just know the standard deduction is $15,000 when you are single and $30,000 when you are married. BAS has not changed.

1. Base Pay = $2,599 per month, $31,188 per year (E2)
2. BAH = $2,256 per month, $27,072 per year
3. BAS = $452.56 per month, $5,430.72 per year
4. Tax Advantage = $110 per month, $662.04 per year (as a married man, estimate)

That’s $5,417 per month or $63,690 a year. It’s literally double the money.

If you are interested in learning more about military pay you can check out the following links.

https://www.dfas.mil/MilitaryMembers/payentitlements/Pay-Tables/

https://www.travel.dod.mil/Allowances/Basic-Allowance-for-Housing/

If you are interested in becoming an insurance agent and working either with me or for yourself, you’ll get 30% of the annual premiums you sell, as long as you are licensed in the state you are writing business, appointed with a carrier through our platform, and the customer makes their first payment.

You’ll have an opportunity to get a higher percentage if you are willing to help us grow our organization.

If you have what it takes to become a Marketing Director, you’ll get 75% of the annual premiums you sell, as long as you are licensed in the state you are writing business, appointed with a carrier through our platform, and the customer makes their first payment.

As a Marketing Director, you’ll get up to 10% of the annual premiums sold by agents in your organization.

My organization doesn’t offer salaries, if you are looking for one I’ll likely just refer to the Armed Forces Career Center, and if that’s the case, you’ll likely find the above information quite helpful.