City of Miami Fire-Rescue: Your Pension Is Not FRS
If you work for City of Miami Fire-Rescue, you are not in the Florida Retirement System. You are in FIPO — a City of Miami plan created by city ordinance, with its own board, its own rules and its own DROP. This page walks through what the plan documents actually say, and is honest about the places where they contradict each other.
Reviewed October 2026. Every figure below is sourced to a named plan document with its date, listed at the end of this page.
First, make sure you are reading the right page
City of Miami Fire-Rescue and Miami-Dade Fire Rescue are two different employers with two different retirement systems. This is the single most common mix-up in Miami firefighter retirement planning, and getting it wrong means every number you plan around is wrong.
If your paycheck says City of Miami, you are in FIPO, and this page applies to you. If it says Miami-Dade County, you are in the Florida Retirement System under Special Risk Class, and the FRS pages on this site are the ones you want.
Which plan you are actually in
Your plan is the City of Miami Fire Fighters' and Police Officers' Retirement Trust (FIPO).
| Plan type | Single-employer defined benefit plan sponsored by the City of Miami. Not FRS. |
|---|---|
| Created by | City of Miami Ordinance No. 10002, as amended. |
| Codified at | City of Miami Code Chapter 40 (“Pension”), Article IV, Division 2. |
| Last amended | Ordinance No. 14299, adopted July 25, 2024. |
What the FIPO plan documents say
| Provision | What it says |
|---|---|
| Vesting | 10 years of creditable service.Source: Valuation; SPD |
| Normal retirement | Age 50 with 10 years of creditable service, or the Rule of 68 — your age plus your creditable service equals 68 or more.Source: Valuation pp. 18–19; SPD |
| Rule of 64 carve-out | Firefighters who were active on September 30, 2009 kept eligibility under the Rule of 64 instead of 68.Source: Valuation |
| Early retirement | 20 years of creditable service, with the benefit reduced to its actuarial equivalent for early commencement. There is no flat percentage reduction — it is an actuarial calculation.Source: Valuation |
| Benefit multiplier | 3.0% of average final compensation per year for your first 15 years, then 3.5% per year for service after 15 years. This does not change by hire date.Source: Valuation; SPD; FY2025 Audit |
| Average final compensation | A one-year figure — your annual earnable compensation during either your last year or your highest year of membership service, whichever is greater. Earnable compensation means base salary for straight-time hours plus assignment pay. Fire members cannot include overtime (police may elect up to 200 hours).Source: Valuation p. 21 |
| Member contribution (fire) | 10% of earnable compensation, flat. Unlike police, there is no hire-date split on the fire contribution rate.Source: Valuation; SPD; FY2025 Audit |
The benefit cap depends on where you stood in 2010
Vested in 2010
Maximum benefit of 100% of average final compensation.
Not vested in 2010
Your benefit may not exceed the greater of your accrued benefit as of September 30, 2010 or $120,000 per year.
Your DROP: there are two of them
| Forward DROP — fire | 54 full months (4½ years) at present. Police get 84 months. |
|---|---|
| Coming change | Under Ordinance 14299, adopted July 25, 2024, firefighters may elect a Forward DROP of up to 84 months effective September 30, 2026. If you are planning a DROP entry around that date, this is the provision to confirm first. |
| Election window | You must elect within 10 years after becoming eligible for normal retirement. |
| Back DROP | Effective January 1, 2013. You elect a retroactive period of 1 to 7 full years and receive a lump sum of the accumulated monthly benefits plus 3% per year, compounded annually. Available after you complete one year of creditable service past your retirement-eligibility date. |
| Where the money sits | DROP assets are held by an independent third party and are not part of the Trust's financial statements. The balance was $240.3 million at September 30, 2025. |
Where your own plan documents disagree
This is the part no other page will tell you. In researching this plan I read the Summary Plan Description, the audited financial statements, the actuarial valuation and the collective bargaining agreement side by side. On the following points they do not say the same thing, or they say nothing at all.
I am not going to guess at a number that decides when you can retire or how much you will have. Here is exactly what is unresolved, and exactly what to ask.
Nobody has published how your Forward DROP money grows
Not the SPD, not either audited financial statement, not the actuarial valuation. No rate, no crediting method, nothing. The 3% compounded figure you may have heard applies only to the Back DROP lump sum — do not assume it carries over. FIPO's own links page lists “Vanguard (DROP Program),” which hints at a participant-directed account earning actual investment returns rather than a fixed credit, but that is a hint, not a plan provision. Ask FIPO directly before you model a DROP balance.
No public document describes how your DROP account pays out
Lump sum? Direct rollover to an IRA or your 457(b)? Installments? Annuitized? None of it is documented publicly. The payment options numbered 1 through 5 and 6“A” through 6“D” in the SPD govern the form of your monthly pension, not your DROP account distribution. These are different decisions and people conflate them.
The benefit cap test is stated two different ways
The actuarial valuation says the cap turns on whether you were vested as of September 27, 2010. The SPD says it turns on whether you were eligible as of September 30, 2010. That is a different test and a different date. If you were anywhere near either line in 2010, this determines your maximum benefit and it needs resolving in writing.
The SPD carries no revision date
There is no effective or revision date anywhere in the document, and it is demonstrably behind on DROP length. Ask FIPO for a dated SPD before relying on it for anything.
Your 457(b)
Nationwide and MissionSquare Retirement (formerly ICMA-RC) both appear as City of Miami 457(b) providers. One caution: that comes from the City's general employee benefits page, which carries no date, and FIPO itself publishes no 457(b) material at all because it administers only the pension. Whether both providers are open to IAFF Local 587 bargaining-unit members specifically is not documented anywhere I could find — confirm with City HR Benefits rather than the web page.
Your 457(b) is separate from your pension and separate from your DROP. A governmental 457(b) has one feature worth knowing: distributions after you separate from service are not subject to the 10% early distribution penalty, regardless of your age. That is unusual, it does not apply to a 401(k) or an IRA in the same way, and it can matter a great deal to a firefighter who retires in their forties or fifties. More on governmental 457(b) rules.
What to ask, and who to ask
Contact FIPO:
- Phone: 305-858-6006
- Email: info@miamifipo.org
Questions worth asking in writing
Ask for answers by email rather than over the phone. You want a record, and whoever helps you plan later will want to read it.
- How is my Forward DROP account credited — a fixed rate, or actual investment returns? Who is the third-party administrator?
- What are my distribution options when my DROP period ends? Is a direct rollover to an IRA or to my 457(b) available?
- Am I subject to the 100% cap or the $120,000 cap — and is the test “vested as of September 27, 2010” or “eligible as of September 30, 2010”?
- Has the firefighter Forward DROP extension to 84 months taken effect as of September 30, 2026, and has the SPD been revised?
- Can I get a copy of the SPD that carries a revision date?
Common questions
Are City of Miami firefighters in the Florida Retirement System?
No. City of Miami Fire-Rescue members are in FIPO — the City of Miami Fire Fighters' and Police Officers' Retirement Trust, a plan created by city ordinance. Miami-Dade Fire Rescue, which is a different employer, is the one in FRS Special Risk.
What is the City of Miami firefighter pension multiplier?
3.0% of average final compensation per year for the first 15 years of creditable service, then 3.5% per year for service after 15 years. It does not vary by hire date.
What is the Rule of 68?
A normal retirement test where your age plus your years of creditable service must total 68 or more. Firefighters who were active on September 30, 2009 kept the older Rule of 64.
How long can a City of Miami firefighter stay in the Forward DROP?
54 full months, which is four and a half years. Ordinance 14299 provides for an increase to 84 months effective September 30, 2026, which is worth confirming with FIPO if you are planning an entry near that date.
How does interest work on the City of Miami Forward DROP?
No public plan document states it. The 3% compounded rate that appears in the plan documents applies only to the Back DROP lump sum. Confirm the Forward DROP crediting method with FIPO before projecting a balance.
Does overtime count toward a City of Miami firefighter pension?
No. Earnable compensation for fire members means base salary for straight-time hours plus assignment pay. Police members may elect to include up to 200 overtime hours; fire members may not.
Sources
Every figure on this page traces to one of the following. Where two of them disagree, the page says so rather than picking one.
- FIPO Summary Plan Description — undated — no revision date in the document
- FIPO Actuarial Valuation, valuation date October 1, 2024 — certified June 3, 2025
- FIPO Audited Financial Statements, FYE September 30, 2025 — auditor's report February 19, 2026
- City of Miami Code, Chapter 40, Article IV, Division 2 — current code
- City of Miami employee benefits — undated
This material is for general educational and informational purposes only. It is not individualized investment, insurance, legal, tax or pension advice, and it is not a recommendation.
Pension plan provisions, city ordinances, collective bargaining agreements, Florida law and federal tax law all change. Figures on this page are drawn from the plan documents listed above as of their stated dates and may not reflect the current terms of your plan.
Members should verify their own plan provisions, tier, eligibility, benefit calculation, DROP terms and deadlines directly with FIPO before acting on anything.
Mark Buckley is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or acting on behalf of the City of Miami municipal government, City of Miami Fire Fighters' and Police Officers' Retirement Trust (FIPO), or any of its administrators or boards.
Tax consequences vary by individual circumstances. Consult an appropriate tax professional regarding individual tax matters.
Investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal.