Wealth management built for the realities of the fire service
Navigate your 457(b), pension, and early retirement with fiduciary advisors who understand the unique complexities of your career.
Financial planning complexities for the fire service
Fire Service members often face a gap between the basic information provided by HR and the total picture of their benefits. Your municipal pension, 457(b), and medical coverage are all interconnected. Decisions about retirement timing, healthcare costs, and withdrawal strategies significantly impact your outcomes in retirement.
Advisors Merissa Benitez Jackson and James Bauman are committed to your financial roadmap, guided by a firsthand understanding of the fire service lifestyle through Merissa’s own family. Merissa’s husband, Brian, is a Firefighter and Paramedic with 25 years of service at the Shoreline Fire Department. We know firsthand the distinct challenges and opportunities fire service members face, from managing healthcare gaps in early retirement to maximizing municipal pension benefits.
Some advisors switch "hats." They are fiduciaries when giving advice, but become salespeople when selling you a product. Our legal and ethical commitment to you is "always on": as a fee-only Registered Investment Advisor (RIA), we do not receive commissions or kickbacks for investment products.
We’re here to close the gap.
Three costly fire retirement realities
Don’t let these misconceptions cost you in your retirement, in your pocket, or in precious years you could spend with family and friends.
The Truth: With proactive planning and a clear pension estimate, we can often help you identify strategies to optimize your path to an earlier retirement.
The Truth: It is essential to understand your pension options and anticipate your tax strategy long before your retirement date.
The Benefit: We provide proactive management and review of your 457(b) investments with the aim of accelerating your path to an earlier retirement.
Comprehensive services for fire service professionals
Our goal is solidifying your financial future through purposeful planning. We get into the details so you don't have to.
Fire benefits and pension planning
We help you navigate the complexities of your municipal benefits, ensuring your strategies evolve at the pace of your life and target your specific retirement timeline.
457(b) rollovers and caretaking
We actively manage your 457(b) assets to target growth and protect your wealth as you transition into and through retirement.
Tax optimization and strategy
We get in the weeds on taxes for you, identifying opportunities to manage your tax burden efficiently. (Actual results depend on your specific circumstances and applicable tax laws).
Estate and trust coordination
As part of our comprehensive service suite to all clients, we help facilitate and organize your estate and trust documents to ensure your family and legacy are protected.
Our investment philosophy
FAQs: Financial planning for firefighters
We recognize that protecting your family is a top priority. While Farther does not provide legal advice or act as your attorney, we simplify the process by helping you navigate a dedicated estate planning platform to draft your core documents. This typically includes a Last Will & Testament, Revocable Trust, Nomination of Guardianship, Advanced Healthcare Directive, and Financial Power of Attorney. Our goal is to ensure your legacy is structured according to your wishes through a process that is much more streamlined than most people expect.
The 457(b) is a cornerstone of financial planning for Fire Service Members. As a tax-deferred vehicle, your contributions and earnings grow tax-free until withdrawal, at which point they are taxed as ordinary income. The primary advantage for your profession is flexibility: unlike many other retirement accounts, the 457(b) allows for penalty-free withdrawals upon separation from service, regardless of your age. This is a critical tool if you plan to retire before the standard 59½ mark. We provide personalized planning to help ensure your investment allocations are actively aligned with your specific retirement timeline and risk tolerance, moving away from a 'set-it-and-forget-it' approach.
Healthcare is often the most significant 'bridge' we need to build in a retirement plan. Strategies like Medical Expense Reimbursement Plans (MERPs) and Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Associations (VEBAs) can be highly effective in supplementing these costs. Our focus will be on calculating the 'gap'—the years between your retirement and your Medicare eligibility at age 65. Because every pension and retirement timeline is unique, we’ll work together to identify the specific savings needed to ensure these costs fit comfortably within your post-retirement cash flow.
How we work together
Unlike most financial advisors, we understand what it takes to retire at 53 instead of 65.
- Financial planning workshops provide ongoing educational sessions to help you make confident, informed financial decisions at every stage of life and career.
- Trust and estate services ensure the coordination and organization of your wills, trusts, and estate planning documents to protect your assets and support your family long-term.
- Tax strategies offer a personalized approach to managing your tax burden efficiently, both during your working years and throughout retirement.
- Individual 457(b) planning delivers one-on-one retirement planning tailored to your unique goals, timeline, and financial situation.
