Serious subject now

Not sure why, probably due to my ripe old age of 26, that I am starting to think long-term. I'm after advice, since I wouldn't even know where to start. My dream would be to buy (get a mortgage for) a property in some hot Mediterranean country. Reason being, I would like the option of retiring (preferably early) from work in the UK and at some time transfer over, and pick up any old job that pays the bills. Reason being, I don't particularly see myself wanting to live in the UK forever. I need the sun a little plot of land.

If things go well, army officer selection will go well this year and i'll be off to the military academy in January. Long story short, my company decided not hand out payrises regardless of performance. I've taken that to heart, realised I have to move on to something better ASAP. Especially since:

a) I poured my heart and soul into the job in 2010.
b) The salary was bad to begin with (to give you an idea, 90% of my income is spunked on regular outgoings food, bills, etc).
c) My department is full of morons, worst of all, my manager.

Anyway, the benefits of joining the army, especially as an officer would be (and to give you an idea why I chose this route):

a) On-base (cheap-ass) accommodation (uber savings).
b) A job that's actually interesting and attributed somewhat to my decent physical ability, as opposed to tapping keyboards like a monkey.
b) It actually pays a lot more, even in the short term.
d) Further reductions to costs of living.

So anyway, back to the question: Is there something i'm not considering? I'd like to at least get a commission (start earning 2nd Lt wages) which should be in 2013 and THEN start researching the whole mortgage malarkey. Perhaps it's also related to the relevant housing market prices. Perhaps another option is not to commit right away, but instead save as much as possible while in the army, wait for a juicy opportunity and then buy.

The people involved with the army know only army, everything else is extraterrestrial tech to them.
They lack planning skills.
Schedules went out of the window in the year 1920.
Most of the people are probably emotionally burnt out.
Stupid too.
and lazy.

Anyway, this sums up estonian army.

Thats where an officer comes in an works his way to General and changes it.

You and I are too old for that though

The US army closely matches Peltz's estimation of the Estonian army. I'm sure the UK military isn't any better off.

As for your long term goals, good for you... set a goal and try to stick with it. I'd definitely recommend saving your money for now. You're looking at something that will take quite a few years to be able to do, so just putting cash away while the government pays for your necessities is probably your best option. Military as a career, probably not a good idea. As you go up the ranks, it's less about what you know and more about who you know and how good you are at kissing ass and making your bosses look good. Not my style and I'm sure not yours either.

As for where... even if you save your cash, it's expensive buying land anywhere but the middle of nowhere. If you want a nice Mediterranean land-chunk that's not in imminent threat of being blown up by Hezbollah/Libya/Turkey, it's going to be costly. So... I wish you well on the military thing, but look beyond that as to where you're going to go. Look for something making much bank. Highly technical positions are good... a military experience with managing people will get you in the door in a lot of places, but you need to know more than that to really excel. At least, that's my opinion... it's not like I own an island or something and can speak from experience.

It sounds great, though. I'd love something like that myself. Fuck this slaving my ass off for jerk-wads that have no clue. I'd love to have my own business, but I don't know what exactly to do or how to turn it into a thriving business. If you figure that out, please let me know. Or, even better, if you come up with an idea and need a coder, give me a shout.

I'd highly recommend saving your money for now too. Even if you're looking at early retirement, probably the earliest you'll manage is ~35 which gives you a good 9 or 10 years of saving. I've no clue what you're earning but even if you could save £10,000 a year that's a decent sized property you could buy outright, without even a mortgage. And if you're really going for it you could probably save more and land a mortgage if you wish. You never know what will happen to house prices in 10 years; there may be another recession, global or otherwise, that will push prices right down. Or what windfalls might come your way. You can always put a little of it aside each year just to take your leave in a rented property rather than mortgage one out and waste money on it all year round before you're ready to move there.

Put it this way; my parents weren't planning on moving abroad at all. They were 60/62 when they went on holiday to France and just randomly decided to look in an estate agents window (they do this EVERYWHERE). Estate agent collared them and convinced them to go to a few viewings and they fell in love with one. Luckily for them they had the proceeds from selling my grandmothers old bungalow so they could buy it outright. Of course they also had another house to sell so they're not much out of pocket now, which probably wouldn't be your case if you're living on-base but still, you get the idea.

Mmm. Well, career-wise I can't really offer too much advice, seeing as I'm not exactly on my way to sunny retirement yet either. To be perfectly honest, I think that unless you live like a monk for decades, make career fast or have a financial windfall (inheritance, wealthy spouse, even lottery - not that I'd recommend that) I don't think that chances are very big you'll be able to retire abroad really easily. Just looking at my own situation, I know that being single and paying bills is pretty much the same as not saving any money (or paltry sums).

I don't know just how extensive provisions are at army bases for professional soldiers, but if you have no (real) expenses -rent, bills - for 10-20 years I suppose it's possible. I assume you want to retire to a European mediterranean country too, so that's not gonna come cheap. Maybe look into coastal properties in places like Croatia, Montenegro, Bulgaria? Those are still cheap (for now) and should only get better. Not necessarily much better, but better.

Then, you should probably think ahead on stuff like what you are going to do once you are in a little place in the South. Living on retirement when you retire young isn't gonna be much fun (not because it's boring, but because you won't have much cash), altho I'm sure the army allows for earlier full retirement than most jobs (or was that just specialists like fighter pilots?). Either way, ideally you take up something else while you're there, if only for an additional income.

Work on your driver's license somewhere during the army service too - might need it when living in the country.

Also, having kids will severely limit the dream, both because of practical reasons and financial ones.

But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet, Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.

*stamps on Satis' dreams*

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What's the colour of the boathouse at Hereford?

Is that pic from Equilibrium? One of my fav sci-fi (kinda) films of this decade.

Ox wins a prize yes it is from Equilibrium. Satis and I have had a refresher recently - we had a craving to watch it while we were in Europe for some reason.

IMO, Bourne Identity captures a great deal of European spirit. Minus the American agent running around and killing everything in sight, but you know what I mean. Skipping towns and losing yourself in the wealth of diversity and density.

Anyway, I got movie link right away

As for your esteemed comments, they seem to go against stuff i've heard so far, so i'll disregard all of it jk

No seriously, what i've heard from other people is that Europe and the Med have their cheap properties and zones. Calabria and generally any rural area in southern Italy is apparently cheaper. Which sounds perfect, except maybe for the mafia. I wouldn't necessarily rule out north africa either So long as I can get there easily and cheaply enough (easyjet, ryanair, etc).

And regarding the army career, again, what i've heard from other folks is that it's a well run organisation full of opportunity and yada yada yada. Maybe it's different to the US or Estonian army I dunno. And as for sucking up to superiors and such, I don't dislike the idea. I still see it as a more rewarding experience than sitting at a desk, staring at a screen and having meetings with people who are payed 34893489389 times more than you, and being managed by a total fuckwit. Besides, I need to do stuff with my hands besides jerking off I'm just gonna go one step at a time and see how it goes. Phase 1 selection starts mid June and I should pass that for phase 2 in July / August. That will be tough.

One of the reason I didn't go for a second tour in the Army is because one of my sergeants in Korea was a total fuckwit. When I tried to fight back against some of the fuckwit (and illegal) stuff he pulled, the rest of the fuckwits up and down the chain of command rallied behind the fuckwit. That's when I realized that the Army was not for me. If it had been a regular job, I could have quit.

Regardless, you'll find out soon enough. It's amazing how jaded you are in so many ways, but deep down, you're still an optimist.

Haha, well I think there's a world of different between enlisted men and officers. If I was trying to be a soldier, i'd make it pretty clear to myself that my job is to primarily do precisely as i'm told. Not sure if you went in with the same attitude, but it seems it may have wore off.