Skip to main content
(407) 637-4972Call Start a Conversation Menu

You built Florida.

Now let’s build your retirement.

Received

Thank you.

We’ll be in touch within one to two business days.

Or book the thirty minutes now.

Pick a time

FRS Retirement CalculatorYour DROP-Exit Planning Checklist

Start a Conversation

We’ll be in touch within one to two business days.

Or call (407) 637-4972

You’ve spent your career taking care of everyone else. Let’s make sure your retirement takes care of you. Independent, fee-only retirement planning for Florida Retirement System members: teachers, firefighters, law enforcement officers, and state & county employees.

Fiduciary: we are legally required to act in your best interest. Fee-only: we are paid only by our clients, never by commissions. Your first conversation is free, with no obligation. Verify our registration

Find my next step Meet Derrick
Where you are

Where are you in your career?

Pick the stage that sounds like you. Each one comes with its own set of decisions, and a place to start.

Time is the one thing you have the most of right now. A few habits started early carry a long way.

Decisions that may be in front of you
  1. 01Your first FRS plan election: Pension Plan or Investment Plan
  2. 02Whether your position is certified in the class you think it is
  3. 03Starting a 403(b) or 457(b) alongside the pension
  4. 04Vesting, and what leaving early would mean
  5. 05Beneficiary designations that match your life
Explore FRS retirement planning
  1. A young professional walking through a city plaza, smiling

    Early career

    I want to make good decisions while I still have time on my side.

  2. A police officer working at a desk in a station office

    Mid-career

    I’ve built something. Now I want to know whether I’m on track.

  3. A man in his fifties standing in a home office, arms folded

    Approaching retirement

    Retirement is getting real.

  4. An experienced law enforcement officer talking with a colleague in a corridor

    Exit date set

    The deadline is no longer theoretical.

  5. A woman with silver hair smiling on a beach

    Retired

    Now the plan needs to become dependable income.

Five common starting points, described in plain terms, not statements from clients.

Educational only. None of this is individualized advice. Every FRS situation has its own moving parts.

Your retirement isn’t one account.

It’s one plan.

  1. FRS Pension

    Most of this benefit’s decisions are made once: payout option, timing, whether DROP is part of it. Worth understanding long before the forms arrive.

  2. Social Security

    Filing early, filing later, and filing alongside a spouse are three different decisions with three different results. None of them is a default.

  3. 457(b)

    Deferred compensation you funded a paycheck at a time. The rules for taking it back out aren’t the same as your other accounts, and that difference is worth planning around.

  4. 403(b)

    Often opened early in a career and rarely looked at since. What it holds, and what it costs to hold, is worth knowing before you retire, not after.

  5. IRA

    Where money usually lands when it leaves an employer plan. Whether it should move at all is a real question, and the answer isn’t always yes.

  6. Investments

    The mix that got you to retirement isn’t automatically the one that carries you through it. The years either side of the last paycheck are the ones worth reviewing.

  7. Healthcare

    Coverage changes at 65, and the Health Insurance Subsidy has rules of its own. This is education, not enrollment. The choices stay yours.

  8. Taxes

    Two people with the same balance can keep different amounts of it. Which account you draw from, and in which year, is a planning decision, not an accident.

  9. Family

    Beneficiary forms, survivor options, and the version of this plan that someone else has to understand. A plan only one person can explain isn’t finished.

Nine separate pieces of a retirement (FRS Pension, Social Security, 457(b), 403(b), IRA, Investments, Healthcare, Taxes, Family) start apart, draw together into one block, and a single gold frame closes around them: your retirement isn’t one account, it’s one plan.
Your retirement income system

Your retirement paycheck is built in layers.

A Florida pension is rare and valuable. But it isn’t the whole picture. Healthcare changes at 65. Social Security has timing decisions. Inflation doesn’t pause when you retire. The 403(b), 457(b), IRA, and Roth accounts you’ve been quietly filling for decades deserve a real plan around them, coordinated with the pension, not separate from it.

Your retirement paycheck: the monthly number a plan is built to produce.

  1. A Florida pension is rare and valuable. But it isn’t the whole picture.
  2. The 403(b), 457(b), IRA, and Roth accounts you’ve been quietly filling for decades deserve a real plan around them, coordinated with the pension, not separate from it.
  3. Healthcare changes at 65. Social Security has timing decisions. Inflation doesn’t pause when you retire.
What it is

Lifetime monthly income from the Florida Retirement System Pension Plan, based on your years of service, your membership class, and your average final compensation.

The decision it creates

Your retirement date, and a payout option that is permanent once elected.

When it matters

Well before retirement, and again at the door.

Common question

“Should I take the FRS Pension Plan or the Investment Plan?”

The FRS Pension Plan

See how we approach FRS planning

Educational only. Not individualized advice. Rules change. Verify anything specific with the MyFRS Financial Guidance Line at 1-866-446-9377 before acting.

FRS retirement planning built for the people who keep Florida running.

Who we serve
A teacher working with students at a laptop in a Florida classroom Educators & school district staff Teachers Weighing DROP, Pension vs. Investment Plan, and 403(b)/457(b) coordination. Planning for teachers
A firefighter in turnout gear standing in front of an engine at the station Fire, EMS, paramedics First Responders Special Risk class members: earlier eligibility, different math. Planning for first responders
A uniformed law enforcement officer standing in a corridor, arms folded Special Risk class members Law Enforcement Officers, deputies, corrections. Special Risk eligibility and multiplier. Planning for law enforcement Planning for corrections officers
A county office workstation with a staff member at the desk Regular class members State & County Employees Balancing the FRS pension, deferred comp, and Social Security. Planning for state & county employees
A couple in their late fifties reviewing documents together at home Five to ten years out Pre-Retirees Five years out and want a real FRS plan, not a back-of-napkin estimate. Planning for pre-retirees
A group of retirees together, smiling Already retired or close to it Retirees Turning your FRS benefit into reliable monthly income. Planning for retirees
Benowitz Learning Center

Understanding your retirement shouldn’t require a finance degree.

Plain-English guides, webinars, checklists, and tools for FRS members. Education first, no sales pitch. Not affiliated with FRS or the State of Florida.

Explore the Learning Center
Current focus

Leaving DROP: the decisions with a deadline.

Your DROP exit is a one-time decision. Make it with a plan, not a guess.

Read the DROP guide Estimate your numbers

  1. Webinars

    Live & on-demand · Plain-English sessions for FRS members. Education first, no sales pitch

    See what’s coming

  2. FRS Pension vs. Investment Plan: A Plain-English Guide

    Guide · Plan choice

    Read

  3. FRS Retirement Calculator

    Tool · Pension, DROP, HIS, Social Security · Three short steps

    Start my estimate

  4. Checklists

    What to do, when · DROP, plan choice, Medicare, Social Security

    Browse

  5. Investing Basics

    Explainer · IRAs, RMDs, ETFs, bonds: the building blocks, explained simply

    Read

  6. Questions we hear most

    Short answers to the questions FRS members ask most

    Jump to the questions

Questions we hear most.

None of this is individualized advice. Every FRS situation has its own moving parts.

Question 01 of 09

Should I take the FRS Pension Plan or the Investment Plan?

It depends on your years of service, your class, your other savings, your health, your spouse, and what you want retirement to look like. We walk through the math and the trade-offs together, and we’re comfortable saying when one option clearly fits better than the other.

Pension vs. Investment Plan
Start here

You don’t need to have everything figured out before we talk.

A first conversation is simply a chance to understand what decisions are in front of you. It costs nothing and commits to nothing. If we’re a fit, you’ll know. If we’re not, we’ll point you somewhere that is.

Schedule a Conversation See what to bring

Educational only. Benowitz Wealth Management is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the Florida Retirement System or the State of Florida. Full disclosures below.

Call Start a Conversation