The NYC firefighter pension, paid by the New York City Fire Pension Fund, is one of the most valuable retirement benefits anywhere in the city. If you want the plain figure first, here is how much an FDNY pension pays after 20 years. Most members retire not knowing how much they're leaving on the table in VSF timing, 457(b) withdrawals, and loan decisions. Not everyone reaches 20: here is what happens to your FDNY pension if you leave before 20 years.
Quick Answer
Should I roll over my NYC 457(b) when I retire from FDNY?
Not immediately. The NYC 457(b) lets you withdraw penalty-free before age 59½ upon separation from service, an advantage you permanently lose if you roll to an IRA at retirement. Most FDNY retirees are best served treating the 457(b) as tax-efficient bridge income while the pension and VSF cover core expenses. Evaluate a rollover when the 457(b) is nearly depleted or after you reach 59½. This is general educational information, not personalized advice.
The FDNY Financial Picture
Tier 2 vs. Tier 3 pension structures determine your multiplier, your Variable Supplement Fund timing, and when it makes sense to retire. The VSF (the Variable Supplement Fund) pays you a fixed $12,000 a year in retirement, and working past your 20-year mark banks an added lump sum, but the timing of your retirement date affects what you collect and when.
Your NYC 457(b) deferred comp has a unique advantage most advisors miss: you can withdraw it penalty-free before age 59½ when you separate from service. Roll it into an IRA and that window closes permanently. We check this before recommending anything. See the 457(b) withdrawal rules and what a rollover would cost you →
If you have any student loans (EMS personnel with nursing degrees, firefighters who went back to school), PSLF may forgive your remaining balance after 10 years of service. One wrong move (like refinancing to a private lender) eliminates that eligibility forever.
Free Analysis
Twenty years and twenty-five years are not the same pension. Run your real numbers in about two minutes.
Five of the questions FDNY members ask us most: what my pension is worth at 20 years versus waiting, what my monthly retirement paycheck will be, should I roll my 457(b), how much can I move to Roth in the low-income years before Social Security and RMDs, and how the 9/11 WTC presumption changes the math. Run your own numbers below.
Hypothetical illustrations for education only. Not a prediction, recommendation, or guarantee. Your actual result will differ.
Loaded with a typical firefighter's numbers. Change what you know and leave the rest. You do not need exact figures, so it takes about 30 seconds.
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The penalty-free 457(b) window closes for good the day you roll. Worth a careful look before you decide.
We read the pension bills so you do not have to
The two biggest for FDNY right now would let escalation, the inflation raise on your pension, start at 20 or 23 years instead of 25. Both are sitting in committee and neither is law. We check New York pension bills every day. Leave your email and you will hear when one moves.
Only when a bill moves. Nothing else. Unsubscribe anytime.
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The $35,000 cap may become $65,000
There is a $35,000 limit on what you can earn in a New York public service job after you retire before it affects your pension. A bill raising it to $65,000 from 2027 passed the Senate 59 to 0, then went back to committee. It is not law yet. We check it every day. Leave your email and you will hear when it moves.
Only when a bill moves. Nothing else. Unsubscribe anytime.
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Your papers-in date sets your FAS window AND how much inflation protection you lock in. Worth modeling before you pick it.
Two bills would move this date
Full escalation, the inflation raise on your pension, needs 25 years today. Two bills sitting in the same Senate committee would change that: one to 23 years, one to the day you become eligible to retire. Neither is law and neither is something to plan around. We read them every day. Leave your email and you will hear if either moves.
Only when a bill moves. Nothing else. Unsubscribe anytime.
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The WTC filing deadline is September 11, 2026
Filing the Notice of Participation preserves your right to pursue a WTC claim later. Missing it can close that door. Leave your email and we will remind you before the date. Whether to file is your call with the Fire Pension Fund.
One reminder before the deadline. After that we only write when an FDNY rule changes. Unsubscribe anytime.
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Every year that passes is one fewer low-tax year before RMDs begin.
We read the pension bills so you do not have to
The two biggest for FDNY right now would let escalation, the inflation raise on your pension, start at 20 or 23 years instead of 25. Both are sitting in committee and neither is law. We check New York pension bills every day. Leave your email and you will hear when one moves.
Only when a bill moves. Nothing else. Unsubscribe anytime.
The inputs that move it most, in plain English.
The calculator gives you a number for a papers-in date. This section is about the decisions inside it: what builds it, which inputs move it most, and how to keep it. It updates live as you change the dates above, and it is a hypothetical illustration built only on the figures you entered, not a projection and not advice.
These sentences describe the sample dates above. Change the inputs in the calculator and they describe you.
Each line changes one input and holds the rest, before taxes. Real decisions move several at once, which is what a planning conversation is for.
The link keeps your numbers in your browser's address bar only. We do not receive or store them, and nothing is emailed. Anyone you send the link to will see the numbers you entered.
Fee-only · Fiduciary · FDNY-specialized · Free, no obligation
These sentences and figures are hypothetical illustrations based only on the numbers entered above. They are one of several possible outcomes, not a prediction. You can change the inputs at any time to see how the picture shifts.
This is educational information, not investment, tax, or legal advice, not a recommendation to retire, keep working, or pick a date, and not a guarantee. Sirmium Capital LLC is a registered investment adviser. Using this tool does not create an advisory relationship. Confirm your figures with the NYC Fire Pension Fund and, for tax questions, a qualified tax professional.
Your Retirement Snapshot
The tabs above answer one question each. This turns them into one picture: what the pension pays after federal tax, what the Variable Supplements Fund adds, what your 457(b) could be worth as a range rather than one number, and what your survivor options actually do, in plain sentences. It reuses what you have already entered above, so there are only three things left to ask. Everything is worked out on this device from what you type, and nothing leaves it unless you ask.
We ask whether you are EMS because it decides everything else: EMTs and paramedics are in NYCERS rather than the Fire Pension Fund, and the formula is genuinely different, so this tool declines rather than hand you a firefighter's answer. Your tier, salary, service and ages come from the tabs above. Anything you have not filled in up there is left out of the writing rather than filled in with a typical number.
It covers service retirement at twenty or more years of credited service. Below twenty it gives no pension figure at all, because the rate a tool would need for a deferred benefit is an estimate rather than a figure the Fund has certified, and we would rather print nothing than a number we cannot stand behind. It also leaves out the Fund's term for service transferred in from another system and the pension based on your ITHP contributions, neither of which can be worked out from what you entered, and both of which would add to the figure rather than reduce it.
An estimate is a fact, and a fact does not need discussing. These do: whether to put your papers in at twenty or stay, what happens to the cheque if something happens to you, whether your 457(b) should move when you leave, and whether a WTC notice belongs in your file before the window closes. Bring whichever of those is yours to a free 15-minute call with our Chief Investment Officer, William Harrison. No products, no commissions, no obligation.
Bring my questions to the free 15 minutesBuilt on the real FDNY rules: the NYC Fire Pension Fund’s Tier 2 and Tier 3 provisions (Tier 3 under RSSL Article 14, incl. Chapter 692 of 2025), the NY $20,000 exclusion, and 2026 IRS figures.
Know your number, but not sure how to invest it? Take the 2-minute risk profile →
Sirmium Capital LLC is a registered investment adviser. Educational purposes only. Not personalized financial advice. This tool does not create an advisory relationship.
The survivor decision is not in these calculators, and it cannot be. Option costs are certified by the NYC Office of the Actuary and are not published, so no honest figure can be shown here. What can be set out is the mechanics, the option names in each tier, and the election deadline, which is not the same for Tier 3 Enhanced as it is for Tier 1 and Tier 2: FDNY survivor options.
Important: These calculators are hypothetical illustrations for education only. They are not investment, tax, or legal advice, not a recommendation, and not a guarantee. Your actual result will differ. Figures use general 2026 federal and NYC figures, current as of July 2026 (IRS Rev. Proc. 2025-32; NYC Fire Pension Fund / Office of the Actuary; CMS), and do not reflect credits, other income, NIIT, AMT, capital-gains stacking, your state return, market ups and downs, or your full balance sheet. They are not tax advice or tax preparation. RMD age, IRMAA thresholds, VSF eligibility, and the NYC COLA can change and depend on your situation. If you later become a client and roll over assets, Sirmium may earn advisory fees on those assets; weigh that when reading the 457(b) tool. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. Confirm specifics with the NYC Fire Pension Fund, the NYC Deferred Compensation Plan, and a qualified tax professional before acting.
The Integrated Picture
A firefighter hitting 20 years is usually in the mid-40s. The choice on the table looks like one question, file now or stay, but it moves three sets of numbers at once. None of them can be answered alone.
The retirement piece. The pension at 20 is a lifetime floor, fixed by statute, and every year past 20 adds to it. But retire in your mid-40s and you will likely be retired longer than you worked, with a 15-to-25-year gap before Social Security starts. Something has to bridge those years, and the only account you fully control is the 457(b).
The tax piece. The pension is New York State and City tax-exempt but federally taxable. The 457(b) is where the tax decision lives: kept at the DCP, it is penalty-free at any age once you separate. Rolled to an IRA, the same dollar touched before 59½ can cost 10 percent. And the low-bracket years between your last FDNY paycheck and Social Security are among the cheapest Roth conversion years you may ever see. A WTC or accident disability pension changes the federal tax character entirely, which reorders which account gets drawn first; the specifics of your situation belong with a tax professional.
The investment piece. A pension plus the $12,000 VSF works like a large bond position with your name on it, so your 457(b) and IRA should not be invested like a civilian 45-year-old's portfolio. The floor is already built. But those same dollars have two conflicting jobs: paying the bridge years now and growing for the decades after. That is an allocation question, not a product question.
Every answer moves the others. Stay two more years and the pension rises, which fills more of your tax bracket, which shrinks the conversion window and changes what the 457(b) has to do and when you can spend it. The Pension Fund answers the pension question, the IRS answers the tax question, and the DCP answers the account question. Nobody answers across the seams, and the seams are where retirements are won or lost.
The calculator tabs above mirror these questions. Run them on your own numbers, then bring what you see to a free 15-minute call. Planning is free; specific recommendations come from William Harrison, the firm's investment adviser.
Free Resource
The five decisions that move the most money at separation: the 457(b), your retirement paycheck, the Roth conversion window, pension at 20 vs 25, and the 9/11/WTC deadline. Built for FDNY retirees, and made to read alongside the calculator above.
Download the free Blueprint (PDF) Download the free checklist (PDF)Sirmium Capital LLC is a registered investment adviser. Educational purposes only. Not personalized financial advice.
FAQs
Go Deeper
What a 457(b) rollover would cost you
A governmental 457(b) is the only account you can tap at any age after you leave the job without the 10% penalty. Roll it to an IRA and that stops. Put in your separation age and balance and see the number, plus your 2026 contribution limits across the 457 and the 401(k).
Open the 457(b) calculator →2026 NYC pension payment dates
New York City pension systems pay on the last calendar day of the month and roll forward when that day is a weekend. Four of the twelve 2026 payments therefore land in the following month. Printable calendar with every date.
See the 2026 pension payment calendar →The Five Decisions of an FDNY Retirement
A short, plain-English walk through the five choices that set your retirement income for life: pension timing, the VSF, your 457(b), the Roth window, and the 9/11 WTC deadline. Education only, no obligation.
Calm, sourced letters from our CIO
Short, plain-English research you can read and forward to a friend on the job. Educational information only, not legal or tax advice.
FDNY 457(b) in Retirement: What Most Members Get Wrong
ArticleFDNY and EMS Pension Gap: How to Close It
GuideFDNY 457(b) Rollover Decision Guide
AudioFDNY Audio Briefings
The FDNY retirement audio series, with written companions for every episode.
ArticleFDNY Retirement Timing: Retire at 20 vs. Stay for Full Value
ArticleFDNY Tier 2 vs. Tier 3 Pension Explained
ArticleFDNY Pension Buyback 2026: Is It Worth It?
Ready to Begin?
Book a free 15-minute call. We'll walk through your pension tier, 457(b) situation, and answer whatever you're thinking about.
Bring these and 15 minutes is plenty
Your 457(b)/NYCDCP balance and the fund it's in · your pension tier and monthly estimate (and VSF eligibility) · other accounts: IRA, Roth, brokerage, yours and your spouse's · the monthly income you'll want in retirement. Ballpark is fine. Come anyway and we'll point you to exactly what to pull.
Book a Free 15-Min CallReviewed as of July 2026. Verified against the NYC Fire Pension Fund plan documents, the Retirement and Social Security Law, and 2026 IRS figures.
Sources: Chapter 692 of 2025 (Senate S4727) · RSSL §511 (age-62 Social Security offset) · NYC Admin Code §13-383 (Firefighters' Variable Supplements Fund) · IRS 2026 inflation adjustments (Rev. Proc. 2025-32). Rules and figures change; confirm your own situation with the NYC Fire Pension Fund and, for tax questions, your tax professional.
How we keep this current. Pension rules change, and a lot of what is online is out of date. We track New York pension legislation and the funds’ own publications, and we update these tools when the law moves. When Chapter 692 of 2025 raised the Tier 3 pension at 20 years from 42% to 50% of final average salary, we updated the calculator to match.