Financial Planning for LAFPP’s Finest
You’ve Spent Your Career Protecting Los Angeles. We Help You Protect What You've Built.
We are here to help you:
Turn Your Pension into a Plan You Can Retire On
Time Your DROP Entry Strategically
Protect Your Family with the Right Pension Elections
The Decisions That Shape Your Retirement Are Mostly Made on the Clock
As a member of the Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions (LAFPP), you face benefit decisions that can carry significant consequences. You may recognize yourself here:
You can run the pension formula in your head, but you have not modeled what it actually covers after taxes, including the years before Medicare.
The deferred retirement option plan (DROP) only moves one way. Enter too early, and you lock in a lower pension. Wait too long, and you leave money on the table.
Your DROP payout is a major tax event in California, and the lump-sum-versus-rollover decision can be easy to get wrong under deadline pressure.
You are drawing full pay during the DROP window, but may not be maximizing your 457(b) while the opportunity is open.
Your survivor and pension elections can protect your family, and they are not decisions you want to make in a rush at the end.
These are decisions you do not have to make alone. Our Fullerton-based team works with L.A.'s public safety professionals to turn a powerful but complicated benefits package into a plan you can act on.
Working with LAFPP Members Across the City’s Departments
Los Angeles Police Department
L.A. Harbor Police
Los Angeles Fire Department
L.A. Airport Police
A Plan Built Around What You Have Earned
We partner with you to help create:
Clarity on Your Retirement Income
We model your LAFPP pension across different retirement dates and service credit totals, so you can see what you'll have and plan around the rest.
A DROP Strategy That Fits Your Goals
We help you decide when to enter, how to structure your DROP years, and how to handle the payout when you exit.
A Plan That Works at Every Stage
Whether you're building toward 20 years or approaching DROP, the decisions you make today shape your retirement. We're with you at every stage.
We Know Your Benefits, and We Have Nothing to Sell You
You have spent your career serving Los Angeles. We are here to serve you. Eclectic Associates has been a financial planning firm since 1984, and we have worked with LAFPP members long enough to know your benefits well: the pension, DROP, and health subsidy, along with your city 457(b).
Being fee-only and fiduciary means we are paid only by our clients and required to act in your best interest. We have no products to sell and no commissions to chase. For LAFPP members, that can mean:
Modeling your pension across retirement ages and years of service, including the value of purchasing recruit training time.
Timing your DROP entry to balance pension percentage, Final Average Salary, and the accumulation window.
Building a payout strategy for your DROP account before it becomes a taxable event, lump sum versus rollover.
Maximizing your 457(b) during active service and the DROP window, pre-tax and Roth alike.
Planning healthcare costs between retirement and Medicare, including how your LAFPP health subsidy fits in.
Reviewing survivor elections so your family is protected by a decision made with care, not under last-minute pressure.
You have spent your career making high-stakes decisions. You deserve the same quality of thinking when it comes to your financial future.
Our Services Include:
How We Work Together
1
Start the Conversation
Schedule a complimentary call to talk through where you are and what's ahead.
2
Understand Your Picture
We map your pension, DROP, and 457(b) alongside everything else.
3
Keep the Plan on Track
As your service years and goals shift, we adjust the plan to match.
Are We a Match?
We may be a good fit if you are an LAFPP member and:
Want a clear plan for your pension, DROP, and 457(b), especially the timing decisions you only get to make once.
Value fee-only, fiduciary advice with no commissions and no products to sell.
Want someone who already knows LAFPP, so you are not explaining your pension from scratch.
Ready to Take the Next Step?
You have spent your career protecting Los Angeles. Let's build the plan to help protect what you've earned.
Or reach us directly at 714-738-0220