No the average Walmart employee makes federal min. wage. there are some paid 15, but only because their cities or states have raised min wage to 15. EMT pay is different from state to state, it is also lower because it's considered near the bottom of the medical field ladder, if you want to make more than an EMT move up the ladder to higher paying jobs. Also firefighters on average don't make that much money, my stepfather actually retired as a captain of a fire station. I believe he was close to 75K a year when he retired, not too bad I know, but that was at the end of his career, starting pay here is currently 23K a year, which is considered good for a firefighter in many places. There are places that pay well of course, but usually the places that pay firefighters good also have MUCH higher standards of living. So the higher pay levels off with the higher cost of living. The Retirement can be great if you let it, but it's not just a thing set in stone, you have choices to make. Like my step father choose to pay in a lot more into retirement the last few years of career to boost it up. Called it a reverse drop I believe. Also EMTS, important they are and not saying their job is as easy as flipping burgers, DO NOT have the most demanding job in the world, not even close. I could name tons of jobs more demanding, not hating on EMTS though. But in the end you should do Whatever career path you want and will make you happy, even if the pay is low. I have done hard jobs I hated and made tons of money while being miserable, and I have done low paying jobs I didn't mind so much enjoyed life so much more.