29-year-old Army Reservist in Washington D.C. earns $82,000, saves 20%

Retell says money wasn’t top-of-mind when he made the decision to join the Peace Corps in 2018. In fact, he’d internalized his Jesuit high school’s emphasis on service and even considered signing up right after college.

The move came with one big financial upside: volunteering allowed him to defer repaying his student loans. Still, the excitement of living abroad in his early 20s resulted in some poor money decisions, Retell says.

Retell says he had a privileged upbringing but stopped accepting financial help from his parents at age 21.

Mickey Todiwala & Kaan Oguz

“It’s very easy to want to travel throughout Europe when you’re so close and flights are seemingly so cheap. But on a $300, $350 a month stipend, there’s just really no room to afford that,” he says. He got into around $6,000 in credit card debt, he says, which was “at the time was astronomical for me.”

Retell says he played a “shell game” with the debt, moving it between 0% balance-transfer credit cards. “I was just kicking the can down the road, and eventually had to pay the piper when I came back,” he says.

Retell returned from Ukraine in March 2020 when the Covid-19 pandemic hit. After a two-week quarantine at his parents’ house, he moved to Seattle, where he paid down his credit card debt by driving and shopping for Instacart.

Retell had considered joining the military when law school fell through, but decided the Peace Corps was the better path at the time. But when Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, he reached back out to his recruiters.

“With my connections and sympathy for Ukraine, feeling heavily invested there, the war just felt like a kick in the butt,” he says. “But it takes a long time to join the military.”

In the meantime, he’d landed the nonprofit role in D.C., relocating to the capital in fall of 2022. He opted to keep that job and sign up for the Army Reserve in 2023.

Retell’s army contract came with a $20,000 enlistment bonus, half paid out upon completion of his initial training, and the rest divided over the remainder of his contract, which runs through 2029.

Retell served in the Peace Corps un Ukraine. Russia’s invasion in 2022 prompted him to join the Army Reserve.

Mickey Todiwala & Kaan Oguz

Retell earns a $5,321 annual base salary as a reservist. His student loans have been in forbearance during his service and are slated to be paid off in annual installments throughout his contract as part of his bonus package —  though his loan servicer has yet to receive repayment.

Retell’s end of the bargain: He attends training one weekend out of every month and does more in-depth work two weeks out of every year. Although there are fitness tests, Retell’s training in the Civil Affairs division is more academic and less running through tires. He estimates he spends roughly 20 to 25 hours a month on Army-related activities.

He also has to be willing to be called for active duty, a likely outcome, Retell says, over the course of a reservist’s contract.

“Some locations and some timings are more enthusiastic than others, as [is the case for] anyone with a civilian life and job and other responsibilities,” Retell says. Though things can change, his unit is currently scheduled to deploy to Eastern Europe in 2028.

Retell makes more money than his boyfriend, who fled Ukraine for Poland before the Russian invasion, and who currently works as a shift supervisor at Starbucks. Nevertheless, the two approach finances as a team, covering each other on day-to-day expenses and each looking to save north of 20% of their respective incomes.

Saving that aggressively means occasionally feeling strapped, especially in a city where things can get expensive.

Living in D.C., “I have been able to save more than I have ever saved in my entire life,” Retell says. “Having said that, it makes my month-to-month feel uncomfortable because I’m trying to save as much as possible. So there is breathing room, but I try to make it seem like there’s no breathing room.”

Here’s how he spent his money in June 2025.

Zoom In IconArrows pointing outwardsHousing and utilities: $1,526Savings and investments: $1,462 stashed in his 401(k) and taxable brokerage accountGroceries: $487Dining: $398Discretionary: $274 on health, household and travel expensesTransportation: $145 on Metro fare and ridesharing servicesGifts and donations: $179Subscriptions and memberships: $71 on Whoop, DuckDuckGo, Geoguessr, Robinhood and various Apple subscriptionsMobile: $64 in costs associated with iPad and Apple Watch fees, in lieu of a cellular plan

As with many urban-dwelling professionals his age, the biggest chunk of Retell’s budget goes toward living expenses. He pays $1,518 of the $2,018 he and his boyfriend pay in rent on a studio apartment.

The $398 Retell spent on dining amounts mostly to workday lunches, and the $487 he spent on groceries comprises his share of the couple’s near nightly shopping trips before preparing dinner at home — a European custom he picked up from his boyfriend. It hasn’t made him any handier in the kitchen, however.

“My boyfriend is definitely the better cook,” Retell says. “I cannot cook anything but Kraft mac and cheese, and that’s about it.”

A few common line items are missing from the budget altogether. Retell’s workplace covers his insurance premiums, so no payout for medical, dental or vision. Instead of paying a phone bill, Retell connects his devices to Wi-Fi when he can and otherwise pays a fee to receive texts on his Apple Watch.

Retell shares an apartment and splits expenses with his boyfriend, who he met in the Peace Corps. The pair maintain a tight budget to save as much as possible for financial goals.

Mickey Todiwala & Kaan Oguz

The budget is also missing, well, fun — but that doesn’t mean the couple doesn’t have any. Retell and his boyfriend are homebodies, but still hang with friends, stroll the city’s many parks and occasionally tour the landmarks and museums, which are all free to visit.

Their biggest splurge, Retell says, is travel. When his boyfriend wanted to see Billie Eilish in Los Angeles this summer, the pair sprung for cheap flights and a budget hotel stay.

However, they usually tighten their belts as much as they can. Last summer, on a 19-day road trip, they paid for four nights’ accommodation. They slept in the SUV they rented for the remainder. “That’s an adventure for me. For other people, maybe not so much,” Retell says.

For the most part, Retell and his boyfriend aim to save as much as they can, even if it means making what he calls “manageable sacrifices.”

In June, everything went according to plan. Retell contributed 6% of his pre-tax nonprofit salary, $375, to a Roth 401(k), receiving a full matching contribution from his employer. Another $1,087 went into his brokerage account, in which he holds a portfolio of index funds.

Not every month is quite as strong. Retell says that Army pay — especially when it comes to bonuses — can be inconsistent. He is theoretically due $4,800 a year as a foreign language bonus, for instance, but hasn’t seen any of the money thus far.

Retell hopes to attend law school and deploy to Eastern Europe before the end of his Army Reserve contract.

Mickey Todiwala & Kaan Oguz

Retell says it’s tough to rely on his military pay when managing his finances from month to month. “[It’s] more of a bonus when I’m able to access it on time,” he says.

Still, Retell is slowly but surely building toward his long-term goals, which include homeownership and, eventually, a quiet retirement.

Over the short-term, he hopes to buy a car and plans to re-enroll in law school, hopefully completing his coursework just in time for his military deployment.

“Graduating in 2028 or 2029 would be ideal, so that I can finish both around the same time and decide if I do want to re-enlist or explore the possibility of becoming an officer, or end my time there and be free to start the next chapter,” Retell says.

No matter what the future looks like, Retell says he’ll navigate the financial side of it without help from his family.

“I can’t say I’ve never taken money from my parents. I mean, they’ve paid for things for me before and stuff like that. But it’s been about as close to a hard and fast rule as I’ve maintained since being 21.”