You should know that economics PhDs do not require masters in general, and definitely not for people who did their undergrad in the US (which I’m assuming you did if you are considering the US military!) They are also (usually) fully funded and pay a liveable amount.
Moreover, it is most common for people to do a two-year predoctoral research position before applying to PhDs. Those jobs pay $50-60k a year so they also enable you to save a bit or pay down a bit of debt, before you start grad school. So an economics PhD should not cost you anything.
If you want to talk more about this I’m happy to chat if you DM me.
You should know that economics PhDs do not require masters in general, and definitely not for people who did their undergrad in the US (which I’m assuming you did if you are considering the US military!) They are also (usually) fully funded and pay a liveable amount.
Moreover, it is most common for people to do a two-year predoctoral research position before applying to PhDs. Those jobs pay $50-60k a year so they also enable you to save a bit or pay down a bit of debt, before you start grad school. So an economics PhD should not cost you anything.
If you want to talk more about this I’m happy to chat if you DM me.