Preparing for PMR - Article 2 by Amit Sangwan

Preparing for PMR  - Finiancial Aspects and some more

By Amit Sangwan

1. I write this with some nervousness as the earlier one has recieved overwhelming response. This article is for finiancial orientation of  officers who for whatever reasons have opted for PMR. It is on lines of presentations one goes after applying for PMR. It is not meant for the stars. Also it is not meant to motivate officers to leave. Thats a personal call and everybody is presumably mature enough.

2.  Now having written what it is not meant to do, I will tell what it intends to do. Give some clarity and confidence to officers who are on verge of retirement for whatever reason they may have taken it for. Give them options. Soothe the nerves and anxiety.

3. This one will require 2nd order thinking and some strain on brain . Please dont read it after you are down two or more pegs. As you wont understand much and and evening may get spoilt.

4. It may hurt or break some long held  belief systems .That can cause pain. But may also give you new insights.

5. The money part is most important in this decision making. What I will write is after 20 years one can safely leave with the premise that you will not earn or do work at all.

6. Example is for a Officer leaving on 01 Aug 2020 after 20 years. Why 01 Aug. Because as per me its best date. You have just taken the increment for the year. Settled family 4 months back ie 01 apr for children new session.

7. So example date is 01 Aug 2020 for Lt  Col of 20 yrs service. Others may adjust for their rank and service .Template remains same.

8. Salary of Lt Col on 01 Aug 2020 @20 yrs@20  percent DA will be 2 lac rs.it may 10 k more depending on place ,tpt allowance etc.
Take home after tax 158 to 160 k.
After AGIS and some other cutting about 150 k.
I am treating PF subscription as pay only.

9.  Practically about 140k to 120 k goes into bank with which you live your life. You pay your bills, fees,emi etc with this.
Not only that you also save part of it into mutual fund sip, cash for buying. So your actual expenditure may vary from 60k to 90k. Somebody may have PF subscription as 50k or 60k. Getting 80k as take home and spending 60 to 70 k. This will depend where you stay and what stage children are at.

10. Some getting HRA would be actually spending that much on rent so that is taken care of. Main takeaway is that it is that 140 k which runs your life.

11. Your Pension after commutation will be 57k on 01 aug 2020. Lumpsum other than your pf will be 1 cr. 10 percent return on this per year is 10 lakh or 83k per month. So you get 57k plus 83 k ie 140k.
Same 140k which was running your life.

12. Now question comes how that 10 percent. Who will give. Is it safe.No you cant get it.This 10 percent thing is a big article in itself (4th one in series). Right now take my word for it. Also remember this all 83k will not come as liquid cash to you per month. Only a part of it. But then go above again . Were you using your entire 140 k? No. So liquid cash required out of 83 k may be just 33k. As 57 k plus 33k ie 90k is sufficient to run a household.

13. So take away till now is that you dont have to fret how you will manage.
I have not taken into consideration what assets  you may have, Rental income, Spouse income , Parental support , your own PF. These all are additional security cover.

14. My submission is that ,considering only cash flow , if you take PMR everything  remains same.
Now the benefits are following :-

a) When a officer retires at 42 years, his pension gets restored to full after 15 years.ie at 57 years.

b) This way its a gain of 3000 per year till 15 years.your 41 k spread over 15.

c)  If an officer retires at 57 years his pension is full at 72 years.If one lives till 80 years you get full for 23 years. In other case it is only 8 yrs.

d) Some will say if you retire later your pension will be more, retirement benefits more than why not continue? Lets do the maths for that also.

(i)  Salary increase happening per year is 4.5 percent. Net of tax it is 3 percent. Retirement benefits will increase by 2.5 percent.
It is nett of increase in leave encashment because basic pay and DA has increased. Commutation factor will decrease with age however basic pay has increased so it will still increase but slower rate. Gratuity will peak at 20 lakh. So no gain with service there.

(ii)  So from above pension increase is about 2.5 percent of 1 cr lumpsum ie 2.5 lakh and pay increase of 3 percent ie 75 k yearly. So you gain is 3.25 lakh per year if you continue one more year. Now the catch.

(iii)  Something called inflation which the government says is 5 percent.But that includes 400 items of common man.Actual affecting us is minimum 7 percent. So if you recieve a crore a year later its worth 93 lakhs.7 lakh loss this  way.so nett loss 7 minus 3.25 ie 3.75 lakh or 30 k a month or 1000 rs a day.

(e) All will notice that the way DA is calculated now  increase will be less. Lower strata of society will do catch up.

15. So now how do we proceed ahead. From above its clear that finiancially its not that advantageous to stay. So what actually makes us confused, jittery and anxious when the decision time comes.

16. Some psychological reasons as below:-

a) First of all there is some negativity inbuilt in word PMR or PSS .The word premature whether in Premature baby or premature ejaculation is problematic one. Name change to voluntary retirement may help. In this one also retirement word is bad. But better than PMR.
May be BBHG would be better.

b) All our military lives we or say most of us  live with a notion that we are superior to civilians. That bloody civilian approach. Now prospect of  joining these bloody civilian or working under them will naturally scare your subconscious mind. Some will choose to superannuate and do re employment of 4 years.Fight for all possible causes and then continue the tirade against civilians till death.

c)  You can not  start a conversation with civilians  like when we were at Wellington or when I was commanding that unit. Nobody there is interested in what you were. They cant distinguish between a Army or navy Capt. Your course grading of no use there.

d)  Outside your fauji junior may get a better pay package than you. That is also scary. I know people arguing I am full colonel how my pay can be less than Lt Col.

e)  You actually dont know what you are worth. Retired fauji known guy unless extremely close will only confuse further not help.

17. Now how we reduce the anxiety. See the reason you are leaving may be that juniors have become senior and you dont want to sir them. But being desperate and joining anything is no solution.There you may end up madaming a 10 year younger IIM female. Please dont judge me here. Just trying to drive home a point.

18. So how to exactly go about selecting what to do after leaving  to have a balanced peaceful purposeful  life will form core of my next article.

19. Just a hint for what to look in that one.
After leaving fauj dont sell your time to earn. What does that mean is, you sell 40 hrs a week to someone with 15 hrs commute added and he gives you money in exchange. You dont want to live like that having done it 20 to 25 years already. Concept of time millionaire

20. Hope people found this one adding some value.Bottom line is in 20 years you break even. Working there after is following Law of diminishing returns.

Note.
a) Lot of people have shown curiousity in knowing me.
I will like to keep a barrier and not make it personal.

b) For now saying I am one of you may be sufficient.  Who I am may not help any. What I have to say may help. So lets concentrate on that.

c) In para 16 (a) above BBHG is Bas Bahut Ho Gaya.

Pls dont make calls. In case of query pls connect only by whatsapp.

I may also not answer any individual query but include most as part in my next one.

This was second in the series. I think it will require minimum 7 to cover all aspects.

9911702005

Sip your Whisky nice & slow

Sip your whiskey,
nice and slow,
No one ever knows
when it’s time to go,
There’ll be no time
to enjoy the glow,
So sip your whiskey
nice and slow.

Life is too short but
feels pretty long,
There’s too much to do and so much going wrong,
Most of the time you struggle to be strong,
Before it’s too late
and it’s time to go,
Sip your whiskey
nice and slow.

Some friends stay,
others go away,
Loved ones are cherished,
but not all will stay,
Kids will grow up
and fly away,
There’s really no saying how things will go,
So sip your whiskey
nice and slow.

Just sip your whiskey
nice and slow..... Have a nice enjoyable weekend.
🍻🍺🥂🥃🍾

Drunk test

*WORDS DIFFICULT TO S​AY​ WHEN DRUNK:*

1. Innovative
2. Preliminary
3. Proliferation
4. Cinnamon

*WORDS THAT ARE VERY DIFFICULT TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:*

1. Specificity
2. Anti-constitutionalistically
3. Passive-aggressive disorder
4. Transubstantiate

*WORDS THAT ARE DOWNRIGHT IMPOSSIBLE TO SAY WHEN DRUNK:*

1. No thanks, I’m married.
2. Nope, no more booze for me!
3. Sorry, but you’re not really my type.
4. No thanks, I’m not hungry.
5. I’m not interested in fighting you.
6. Thank you, but I won’t make any attempt to dance. I have no coordination and would hate to look like a real Fool!
7. Oh no, I must be going home now as I have to work in the morning.

*Words damn easy to say when drunk*
1. I love you.
2. Will you marry me.
3. Tu mera bhai hai, bhai.
4. Kal se daru band.
5. One for the road. Last peg.

*Words to say in the morning.*
1. I was a little high, but in my senses.
2. I think it was nakli whisky.
3. Someone spiked my drink.
4. Starters kam the, is liye....
🍁🍁

Retirement planning - Article 4 - by Amit Sangwan

Article 4
Retirement Planning : NFU, OROP, COMMUTATION and MINDSET ABOUT MONEY

11May 19

BY Amit Sangwan

Disclaimer
I am shifting from the term PMR to a more broadbase one of retirement to include superannuating officers and ssc officers. Also the PMR thing was becoming a bit negative. Having re read my own articles i felt unintentional  message of leaving fauj was going.That was never the aim.  So I am doing a course correction. Henceforth things will be more factual and academic. How you use it is individual choice. Also read the following with a pragmatic approach because most of it may not sound nice initially.Second read it may  will sink in .

1. NFU

(a) Too much unnecessary hue and cry in Fauji circles about this. In civil services one retires at 60 years. Promotion avenues always open there. Not restricted to 3 boards.In armed forces an officer may miss all 3 boards before 40 years of age. So even thinking and comparing with civil services is foolishness.What people want is having missed their  Col board they should get General sahab pay because they think in civil its happening that way.

(b) I will attempt to clear it.Not many have attempted before. Great risk of being trolled by your own.

(c) As per NFU ,officers 2 years senior in service automatically get finiancial upgrade when an IAS of particular batch (2 yrs junior) picks a promotion. Like joint secretary at 17 years. So all Gp A at 19 will pick.

(d) But for that you have to be one rank lower. So a Col who has missed all his boards will pick brig nfu when his coursemate has been brig for 2 years.This is how it will come if ever it comes. Similarly a brig will get nfu for major general when his coursemate has been major general for 2 years.

(e) For Lt Col it will be 2 years later so instead of 26 years it will come to 20 or 21 years. Now when their coursemates become brig ,these lt col will not get brig nfu 2 years later because you have to be one rank lower to get next nfu.Not 2.

(f) In civil services that is never an issue because officers are not sealed at a particular rank. Plus residual service is so much invariably slowly they keep rising and most retire at HAG if not HAG plus.

My take on issue is
Do not waste time and energy on this.It comes under gambit of Garib mindset.Something I will delve later on. Its interpretation and implementation not under our control . Time  and energy limited .Spend them on thinking bigger things.

2. OROP

(a) Similar lines as above, another energy sucker and hope finisher  word.

(b) Orop will not affect post 2016 retirees. A Colonel  of 20 years will have basic pay X. Colonel of 32 years service will have basic Y. So whoever retires as Col at 20 yrs his pension will be same as that Col who retired 4 yrs back at same 20 years.Same case for 32 years superannuating ones at 54 years.

(c) So till time , terms of service dont change orop requirement will not kick in. Example now Lt  col becomes in 13 years. Earlier TS  Lt  Col was 21 years. So 8 increments difference created anamoly between pre 2006 and post ones.

(d) Also it needs to be noted that a Col retiring at 54 years will have higher pension than one Col retiring at 20 years  because his basic pay is higher by 12 increments. Orop has no role to play  in it. So rumour and fear being spread that you will lose out because of orop is wrong.

(e) But 20 years Col is getting 1 cr benefit on retirement. If he continues for 12 more years retirement benefit will be 1.5 cr.But 1 cr of 2019 inflation and growth rate adjusted ( hurdle rate 9 percent) in 2031 will be 2.5 cr . So how do you account for this 1 cr loss. Growing at 8 to 9 percent is not difficult. Also 7th pay commission is last one.Now DA will merge with basic.Factor same for serving and pensioners.

My take is endlessly discussing and being fascinated by Orop not required.Technically there may still exist an anamoly of 2 to 3k between pension because of something called bunching up of pay scale in 7th  pay commission . Where in 2 to 3 courses draw same basic. But will you devote your life to it. Remember 2 courses out of 3 would actually gain from it. Only a particular course will lose out. Too much fighting for not understood causes will result in government reducing pension for the 2 courses. No one will gain. Phir atma main sukoon aa jayega. We faujis are masters in doing such stuff.

3. Commutation

Whether to commute or not commute is the  question

(a) Instead of a straight forward answer i will list conditions when you should commute. So people can make a choice.

(b)  Commutation calculation i have explained in previous article. Basically its loan of 45 lakh for 20 yr lt col for 15 years at 8 percent. Given to government at 8 percent if you dont commute. 8 percent is what you get. Every one more  year of servive put amount increases by 2.85  percent ( increment of 3 percent  only on basic  pay and not on msp.But for pension msp taken)

(c) Commute the pension if

(i) You can grow commuted money more than 8 percent.

(ii) If you have a pending loan of above 15 lakh. If loan is at 9 percent returning it from commuting amount is equivalent of earning 9 percent. Dont think of tax rebate on loan here(its restricted to 60 k only).

(iii) You are emotionally stable and can say no to any  relative who wants to take this amount as loan.

(iv) You are sure no impulsive buying will be done by you.

(v) You are sure of picking up a job.If you dont commute that added pension will attract 31 percent tax. Commuted amount does not attract tax . It can be invested in adult kids or wife name. The return on that will not attract much tax.

(vi) You are financially wise. You can invest and earn more than 10 percent.

My take on commutation

If your retirement PF is like 70 to 80 lakhs or more and you dont know how to handle money please don't commute. Because nobody will cheat you of extra 50k per month. But extra 50 lac is a sweet target. If you are below 45 repay loan if any.For senior superannuating guys dont commute.

4. Mindset regarding money

(a) Retirement benefit of 1 to 1.25 cr and a PF of 1 cr is making people jittery.
Reaction is of panic.Like murder ho gaya hai aur laash(this 2 crore corpus)  kaise thikane lagayi jaye.

(b) Bas koyi bata de ki kitna FD kitna Mf kitna post office kitna yeh aur kitna woh.

(c) Then we will ask is it safe. Returns 12 percent .R u sure.

(d) We faujis are toughest to give advise to and most demanding. Always skeptical.  But despite all this bewakoof bhi sabse pehle and sabse jyaada fauji ka hi banta hai.
Name any ponzi scheme city limousine kinds and sizeable fauji will be there  .We just escaped sharda scam because fauj is less in west bengal.

(e) Reason for above mindset is we faujis have victim mindset. That we are somehow missing out on oppurtunities and  people in civil have better chances of making money. This fear of missing out (FOMO) makes us  commit such mistakes.

(f) Garib mindset

When you train your mind to think of ration money and orop thing  or managing guest rooms, then you are restricting it to few thousands.  Doesn't help.

(g)  We are afraid to take PMR because you dont know your worth outside.
But how will you know what happens outside when in the limited 7 to 10 days when you go on vacation , you want to stay in a fauji set up.Fauji guest room. Why not a 5 star hotel or resort. Hope people dont get offended by this. Just trying to bring a point.If u dont expose yourself n kids to different rich environment ,how will you know how things operate there.

5. Actionable points

(a) Please get out of
Sab Mauj Main Aur Hum Fauj Main mindset.
Self pity never helps.

(b) Dont waste energies on nfu orop and fighting civil servant lobby. We are better than them chant doesnt help.We have a role to play. They have a role to play. Whining constantly will make  you feel like a rondumal.

(c)  Dont buy cars worth 16 lakh if u ever want to leave early. Its not living life. Will do  a small piece on this.

(d) Read book Intelligent Investor by graham.

I will do that 10 percent thing.But after some time.1 month.

Before that certain tools to deal and understand money have to be taught.
My understanding people here not comfortable with thinking about money.1 cr or 2 cr appears to be a lot. This is small amount when you think 20 years hence.

Notes

1. When one does resettlement course at IIM confidence comes. Reason is there they talk in crores. Normally hundred of crores. Refreshing change from speculating whether ration per day should be 97 rs or 207 rs.

2. Phone calls to me have reduced which is a relief. Any doubt in this one you can post a query.

3. If anything written above hurt anybody s sensibilities than i am not sorry as it was intentional. To expose yourself to larger possibilities which life holds.

4. Its ironical that

Baharwale ( civilians) Fauj Main Aane Se Darte Hain (marne ka darr) .
Aur Fauji Bahar Jaane (retirement) Se darte hain (jeene ka darr).

5. People who have the talent and courage to face death should also develop talent and courage to face life.

More on this how to achieve this tangibly in real world in next one.

Pls continue on this journey of trying to live a purposeful life.

9911702005.

PMR Misconceptions Article 3 - by Amit Sangwan

PMR -  Misconceptions, Fears, Go-No Go Criterion  and Some Tips

Article number 03 in PMR series by
Amit Sangwan

1. I have recieved a lot of feedback and queries for previous two articles. Will try to address most of them here. Please save these articles. Re read them. Once the series of seven over , full clarity on subject will emerge.

2. The Equation :-

S - T- A- B - C - D = P + R

(i)  Where S is your total monthly salary . Left side of payslip.

(ii)   T is tax per month which goes to government.

(iii) A is agis subscription
(iv) B is average monthly loss you incur because of  extra travel expense  associated with uncertainities of service life. Also add your daily commute for work expense in this.

(v) C social mandatory expenses for obligatory parties , mess bills, travel for parents health ,marriages etc

(vi) D is extra cost of running 2 establishments because of field postings.All this is average per month. This will also include your commuted amount divided by 15 (approx 3000 rs )

(vii) P is pension per month. How you calculate this. Your basic salary is at 20 yrs is 147500 and Msp is 15500.
So total is 163000 rs.
Pension becomes 50 percent of this. ie 81500.
This is called basic pension.so basic pension is 81500.
50 percent of this gets commuted.ie 40750.
Depending on your  age commutation factor is there.say about 9.1 for 42 year old.it means commutation amount will be 9.1x12 (months)×40750=45 lakhs.
Residual pension is basic pension minus commuted pension ie 81500 minus 40750 =40750.
Pension in bank is residual pension plus DA on 81500.
So if DA is 20 percent then
Pension going in bank is 40750 plus .2x81750=57000.

(viii) R is 10 percent return on retirement corpus which is namely
Leave encashment
Gratuity
Commutation
Agis survival benefit.
It does not include PF.

3.  I have summarised my article 2 in above equation. In future context i will refer to it as The Equation. If you understand this equation, then confusion about future after PMR will reduce drastically.

4. Again putting in words, essence of equation is that after 20 years financially there is no difference whether you work on not.

5. Misconceptions and Fears
During the feed back of previous articles I encountered following

(a) My qualification is just BA

How does it make a difference. Refer Equation. No difference it makes.You can afford to sit at home and do nothing. I am not advocating that you actually dont do anything.But there is no fire.

(b) I am worried for my kids education

How is it linked to PMR. In fact if you are really worried then instead of going to field and leaving all burden on your wife ,you make take PMR and be with your kids.This way you will be there to guide and help them.

(c) I dont know what job i will get or which courses should I do.mba or something else.I have done from symbiosis

The problem with most ex nda(dont troll me .i am also one) is that they have not seen failure and struggle.Because just after 12th they have become c/o 56 APO.
Mba wont help unless from IIM or ISB.
But why in 40 s you want to struggle again.When will you live.

(d) My coursemate or unit type has promised ki adm offr ko itna ho jayega

Please dont rely on all this.Never works that way.Your friend is not sure of his next months pay.Only if your close friend is running his own venture, then it has some meaning.

6 . The Go-No Go Criterion

Pilots may understand above.
For rest following 3 issues  should be clear or sorted out before you put your PMR application. If not than as per me it wont be a smooth transition and not advisable

(a) City or town where you will stay should be decided beforehand.

People will ask how can I do this.I dont know where my job may be. Answer is for the benefit and safety of the equation to kick in this has be known.This can be hometown where parents house is there or city where you own a property in which you will go. It is possible this may be a city where you do not own a property and will stay on rent.But then you should own a property (1 or 2)  somewhere else which will pay for this property ka rent. If you cant satisfy this condition dont leave.

(b) Wife fully on board with the decision of PMR

Depending on how successful your career is going, ladies do enjoy lot of comfort and khushi time in fauj. Whether its sahayak or may be a cook driver etc or the general safety net of fauj. She may actually not feel your angst of stagnating.
Some may not want to relocate to in laws place.
Some may be happy with arrangement of you being in field and she teaching in army school. She visiting you for 2 months.You visiting her for 2 months. Her parents visiting her for 2 months.And she not seeing your parents at all.
This arrangement is heaven for her. So discuss and discuss load sharing after retirement with her. Otherwise you will be the sahayak.Wont feel nice especially if you have commanded a unit.
She may not allow your leaving the fauj .
Dangers of above arrangement of you staying away is that man is reduced to being Atm.
Your sex life finished. Children and family get used to staying without you.
After some times tolerating you for 2 months leave will become difficult for them. Basically you will lose control of family.All this happens very slowly and is not easily discernible.
Please remember the equation at top has been understood by many before all of you trading this article but still people continue like zombies because of this important reason.
If your wife is domineering and you are in this situatoon then you  wont be able to leave .she will throw 20 conditions at you like show me the job before leaving.let kid finish his 12th.Let this tenure finish.Lets see next posting. You go to port blair. We will retain accomadation here and we will get island allowance.dont worry we will visit you for 2 months there.
You do qualification first.
I may be the only expert in the country to get fauji men out of this peculiar situation.If you do require help pls send query.

(c) Alcohol

If you drink daily and look forward to excuses to party and celebrate than pls dont leave.Because these habits can work in fauj not outside.
As a test leave alcohol for 3 months.If you succeed than go ahead put up PMR.
Why i am making an issue of this seemingly normal thing is that when you leave things may not be rosy in short term and being a habitual drinker you may tip to other side of being heavy drinker.Because definately when you leave a job self esteem issues kick in and with combination of a kaleshi wife it can become dangerous.

7. Actionable points

(a) wife s role is crucial. She should pick a job in your selected city. Teacher job with 30 to 45 k salary good enough.

(b) Select the city first and then the job in that place  only.Not vice versa.

(c) City should have some connection.For south indians Chennai , Bangalore, Hyderabad or Kochi. North indian Delhi Gurgaon  or Chandigarh. Pune or MMR for Marathi guys. Staying in a city very culturally different is not enjoyable in long run. Remember here its for long haul. Not 2 year tenure.

(d) Please carry out test whether you are alcohol dependent or not by leaving for 3 months.

8.  Before taking plunge sort out above issued.There is per se no finiancial risk.  It's more of  a mental thing. Also dont be desperate in seeking any job which comes your way. Take 6 months off. Figure out things.(On these things is article no. 5 especially for infantry guys who always feel overwhelmed vis a vis the techies)
Spend time with parents. If you are sainik school type it would be more than 33 years since you left them. Watch your kids grow. Let memsahib do the job and bring in the moolah .Enjoy role reversal for 6 months. Encourage her to do her own thing. Remember her energy and enthusiasm levels normally will be higher than yours since you have just stopped chakki peesing after 25  (training included).

9. Next article  will be on utilising retirement corpus.

10. Hoping people get essence of above and some points resonate with them.

Note:-

1. When I wrote in last article no calls please only connect by whatsapp what i meant was whatsapp message not whatsapp video calls.😂

2. I am an introvert person. Also please stop speculating which arm I am from. I can say I am a fauji kid. Father retd Col from infantry.Ok take some more Punjab regiment.

3. My interest lies primarily in financial planning, numeralogy , marriage counselling and career planning for kids.

4. My idea is to offer mental models which can be used as tools to navigate the maze of life. Like a carpenter or plumber uses tools to do jobs . These tools will not only solve the problem but most likely dissolve them also.

5. So tool for today

Never Ever Compare Your Worst With Anybody Else ' s Best.It Will Only Lead To Misery.

Explanation

(i) His wife is prettier than mine.But you may not know the pretty lady doesnt know how to cook and keeps the house in a mess compared to jannat your wife has made for you.

(ii) Faujis are disadvantaged vis a vis ias
Do u know they have 40 postings in 20 years ,with mind boggling public dealing at cost of personal time and can be suspended at drop of hat.Also if they are so good please make your kids  ias.

(iii) I have a Xuv 500 he has a Mercedes .

Probanly he is in debt for the car and you habe 40 lakh worth of shares in your demat account.

9911702005.

Psychological aspects - by Amit Sangwan

Psychological aspects at play when one has to take decision of PMR and how to go about it

By Amit Sangwan

1.  Decision to take Premature release as they call in army or premature separation from service as they call in air force is an easy one.Yes no error here it's an easy one.

2. But for this to be an easy one there has to be a sense of clarity in the individual concerned. In this write up I will try to cover up various aspects influencing this decision. Also this is primarily for superseded officers. And not to demotivate the stars.So please read it, keeping this in mind.

3. One of the foremost reasons for officers  in armed forces to think of quitting is supersession or knowing for sure that next rank may not come. Other reasons may be spouse career, stability , children education, parents health etc. But normally it's seen that these factors come in play only once the career advancement is sealed. Rare to see officers on path of becoming 2 or 3 stars leaving early.

4.  Mostly the  fate of people is sealed by 18 years of service. For some hon haar guys it happens even earlier.

5. It requires a minimum of 1 year for an intelligent person to plan his exit. For lesser mortals it will take a maximum of 3 years. So if at 18 years your decision taken then 20 to 21 years of service is what one can  leave.

6.  It has to be understood that continuing after supersession is like being in a bad marriage. There is no mutual trust, love, respect  and affection.   
Only reason one gives for continuing is for kids sake. But actual reason is inability to come out of comfort zone.

7. Actually it's not even comfort zone. Situation is bad . It's just one get used to it so much that it starts appearing comfortable.
One should never compromise with self esteem.

8. In life events can be a  failure. Like you may fail an exam or miss a promotion  board. But a person can never be a failure unless he make an event happening in life as life itself. Some one dimensional guys who have not mentally engaged themselves in various other facets of life ,find it difficult to take this decision.

9. For people knowing aviation there is an example conveying this  subtle message.
In fighter flying in case you fly a single engine fighter and the engine stops or flames out. There are set cut off heights below which you eject instantaneously. Those cut off s are ingrained as second nature as time available can be less than second. Same cut off can be there in our lives.

10. Bare minimums in life. If they are triggered then decision is taken instantly. It requires purposeful and conscious  living.

11.  Now coming back to decision making aspect.There is no financial incentive to work after 20 years . It is big article in itself and I am working on it.But right now please take my word for it. Only problem is cash flow issues which come immediately after retirement for few months.

12.  They can be easily overcome with help of an expert like me that too free for friends and coursemates. There are not enough of them focussing on faujis.

13.  Even situations where officer has loan pending and a property in Greater Noida or Mohali which is stuck can be overcome. These 2 are my favourite example because as per my estimates about 25 percent can't take PMR because this specific reason.

14. Other reason is getting stuck with Carriapa Vihar in Delhi seperated accomadation where memsaab is teaching in a school and our guy is going from one hard area to other so that house stays. This they say is for kids sake. This is just an example the city may change but template stays.

15.  Above template is misery. I have expertise on this issue. If somebody following or wanting to follow above example  pls contact. I will tell the pitfalls and devastating effects of above arrangement.

16. Now some actionable points. We are average of 5 people whom we chose to spend are maximum time with.
So choose your company wisely.

17. Some traits which if you have then it will not be easy to leave fauj.  I am not saying that these traits are bad or people having them are not good. It's just that if you have more than 50 percent of following it will be that much tougher.

a)  You drink alcohol daily.

b)  You associate too much with tag of being fauji. Small issues in media vis a vis fauj raise your blood.

c) You look forward to perks of Sahayak,gaadi ,guest room , party etc.

d) Your spouse has never worked. Doesnt want to work. Or doesn't have the qualification  for  any kind of jobs.

e)  You do not own a  house anywhere .

f)  You have bought more than 2 cars in last 15 years.

g)  You don't know sip n S.I.P. mean different.

h) You have had lot of liabilities with respect to family.

j)  Whatever friends you have are fauji n coursemates n unit types only.

k) You don't have a mentor in your life.ie a person whom you could look for advice and suggestions.

l) Your wife doesn't get along with your parents and also you are not hot favourite damaad of your in laws.

m)  Articles like this are bullshit for you.

n) You don't read books.Like not even one in a month.

o) You love to play golf.

p)  You feel bad about Money. And identify with statements like Money is not everything. Friends are what one require in life.just notice I have put capital M in Money.

q) You have never played Monopoly

r)  You have not read the book Rich Dad Poor Dad.

18.  From above you can learn that make your relationships stronger and better if you want to leave. Don't spend time drinking on weekends with people who add no value in your life.That is not enjoyment.In 40 s when you want to leave that is biggest waste of time you can do.

19. This luxury only for officers who are doing well and are here to stay till 56 or 60 yrs. They are doing their networking to grow in service. Their company will not help cause of people wanting to leave. Avoid them even if they are friends. Reconnect with them later on once you are settled outside.

20. Biggest psychological reason preventing in taking this step of PMR has it's origin in first and second term of NDA.
If we remember our end of term during those days,the time spent in room of senior pal or hiding in science block escaping the screw in squadron was considered smartness. But after 20 years if some one feels he is not doing much and tankha is good and time pass ho raha hai.
Such though is foolishness. Because in NDA there  was a goal and growth was there every 6 months.

21. Doing this at 20 years is not passing time but wasting life.
So if you get psychology right then the finance can be worked subsequently.

22. If you connect with above and have specific issues to be addressed especially how to go exactly go about  I will like to help. But only on WhatsApp mssg. As time schedule is packed.

23. All others who are doing well please continue on this journey and be the change you wanted to always bring.

24. In subsequent articles I will be focussing on the financial aspects of this process.  Earlier you work on it ,easier it will be. Also I am not advocating any job after retirement. You can do without that. More on that in next article.

Feed back welcome.But don't destroy or troll. As effort goes in thinking and writing.

WhatsApp 9911702005.