
A DROP decision made three years early.
Situation
A firefighter with 25 years in was three years from retirement. He had entered DROP without a plan for the money, had stopped paying into his 457, and did not know whether to take the DROP balance as a check or roll it over.
Approach
We ran his pension and DROP balance against his real expenses, restarted the 457 at a level that lowered his taxes now, and set up the rollover before his last shift so the balance moved without a tax bill.
Outcome
He retired on the date he picked, with his DROP money invested and a monthly income plan that covers the gap until Social Security.





