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The TV series “M*A*S*H” ran from 1972 to 1983 on CBS. Its star Alan Alda played Benjamin Franklin Pierce “Hawkeye”, a skilled physician reluctantly recruited during the Korean War. Stationed in an isolated army hospital, he was famous for drinking heavily, telling jokes, and playing pranks on nearby doctors, nurses and officers, especially “Frank” and “Hot Lips Houlihan”. He rarely saluted army officers, yet he earned the rank of Chief Surgeon.
Much of Hawkeye’s humor was a means of escaping the reality of war as medical teams would rush to care for wounded soldiers brought in by helicopters, ambulances or on stretchers from nearby mine fields, then either fix them and send them back to the front or were too sick and sent back home.
If you want to know what Hawkeye would have earned when he stopped working, here’s what his retirement might have been like.
Hawkeye’s Salary as Boomer Generation Surgeon
Staying true to character, Hawkeye would likely have left the military and become a civilian surgeon. According to , if he had retired in 1992, his salary would have been between $207,000 and $244,600. Tampa Bay Times.
If he had remained in the Army – which was highly unlikely – he would have received a lower base pay of $49,471 per year. additional annual benefitsincluding variable special pay ($8,000), board certified pay ($6,000) and additional special pay ($10,000), bringing his total annual salary to approximately $83,000 per year.
What might Hawkeye’s pension have been?
Hawkeye must serve in the Army for 20 years to qualify for a military pension. As a civilian doctor, he would receive pension and retirement benefits from his employer in 1992 JSTORRetiree health insurance and pensions account for 25% of retirees’ wealth.
Today, Gen
From scalpel to social security
According to the , the maximum Social Security benefit for workers retiring at age 65 in 1992 was $1,088. Education for all campaign. The maximum Social Security benefit for full retirement today is $4,152 per month. That number could increase for Gen X, depending on whether they retire early or wait until full retirement to file.
Gen
Although salaries are higher today, the financial landscape has changed. Medical school is significantly more expensive, and unlike Hawkeye, whose training was funded by the military, many medical students rely on taking out student loans to cover the cost of their education.
The cost of housing has also increased significantly. The average home sold for $144,992 in January 1992, according to US Census Bureau. Today, Zillow The average U.S. home value is $366,019, according to the report.
However, the technology boom has opened up new sources of income that did not exist in the 1990s. However, with inflation, Gen