Originally Posted by
A321neo
Hello everyone,
I’m currently a city employee with a good pension/retirement plan. I can retire after 20 years of service with half my salary plus 401k and 457.
If I do retire after 20 years I’d be 46 and I have young kids so I still have to work and my Dream was to be a Pilot when I was a kid but I didn’t know much about how to pay for school and didn’t have the money so I never pursued my dream.
Anyhow, when I retire from my current job I’ll have enough money on my retirement plans to pay for school (I see ATP and Flight Safety go for around 80K), so I’m gonna be around 48-50 if everything goes well by the time I can start working as an airline pilot.
Now the questions:
If I work 15 years as a pilot can I get a decent second income/pension to supplement my other one?
Is 46 too old to start from zero experience?
Do you recommend taking any lessons before I retire from my job to see how it goes or just to make it easier once I start a flying school?
And on average how much would I be making starting?
I’m in the northeast but looking to relocate to FL once I retire from my current job.
Thanks for any advice and/or suggestions
FWIW this is literally my plan. Currently in Law Enforcement with approx. 4.5 years until I'm eligible for retirement at 44. I received my PPL in April of 2019 and have been time building since currently at 115 TT and actually just started Instrument training yesterday. Like others have said I would try and avoid getting into too much debt financing your training. I find the hardest part, other than Northeast weather, has been balancing flight training work and home life. Luckily I have a wife who is supportive of my plan. Good luck!