trade school instead of a bachelor's degree

[mudball]

"One thing people don't talk about is how loaded government employees can be in retirement, especially law enforcement retirement. At many agencies, you can retire after working 20 to 25 years. They'll pay 80% to 90% of your average salary for the last three years. A lot of people will work a bunch of overtime in their last years to boost their average. So, you're retired by your mid-50s and collecting a pension. You're young enough to start working a second job for 10 to 15 years. Of course, if you work in law enforcement past the age of 55, there's a very high chance that you will die before the age of 65."

My husband is a cop in Ohio. He has been there 20 years and makes about $65,000 a year if he works a lot of overtime. I just went to his retirement calculator for his pension. If he retires now he will get about $19,000 a year. If he retires after 25 years, he will get about $38,000 a year and at 30 years, $42,000. Pensions here were cut drastically about 6 years ago for anyone with less than 15 years of service. He was at 14 years at the time. Don't be a cop in Ohio if your are planning to live off of your pension, and know that they can cut what they will give you at any time no matter how long you have been there.