Adair & Associates | Wealth Management
Retirement Planning for Maryland State & Public Employees
You have spent a career serving Maryland. Your pension, your 457(b) or 403(b), and your retiree health benefits follow their own rules. We help you see how the pieces fit together, so you can decide when to retire and know what your income will look like when you do.
A 15 to 20 minute conversation. No cost, no obligation.
- Hunter Adair, CFP®
- Financial planning since 2002
- Securities and advisory services through LPL Financial
The short answer
What Does Retirement Planning for Public Employees Cover?
Maryland public employees retire on a set of moving parts: a pension through the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System or a county plan, a 457(b), 403(b) or 401(k), retiree health benefits, Social Security, and the savings you have built outside of work. Retirement planning is the work of turning those parts into one income plan and one set of decisions.
The pension election you make when you file is generally permanent, and the years just before and after your retirement date carry most of the leverage. Planning ahead of those decisions is what keeps them from being made by default.
Two different jobs
Your Retirement Agency Vs. Your Advisor
Both matter. Your retirement agency or county benefits office administers the pension you have earned. We help you plan everything around it.
| Your Benefits Office | Adair & Associates | |
|---|---|---|
| Timing | When you request estimates or file forms | Years before you file, and every year after |
| Core question | What benefit have you earned? | When can you afford to retire, and how does everything fit together? |
| Time horizon | Your service record and benefit as of today | Multiple decades, from mid-career through retirement |
| Typically handled by | The Maryland State Retirement Agency or your county benefits office | A financial advisor, coordinating with your benefits office and your tax professional |
| The deliverable | A benefit estimate and processed elections | Decisions: your retirement date, survivor option, withdrawal order and tax strategy |
| What Adair & Associates does | We do not administer pensions or process your elections | We plan around your benefit, prepare you for each election, and coordinate the whole picture |
What we look at
What We Review for Maryland Public Employees
Every plan is built around the benefits you already have. These are the areas we review most often.
Pension options & survivor elections
Comparing the Basic Allowance with the survivor options before you file, and what each one costs in monthly income. The election you make at retirement is generally permanent, so we model it first.
Retirement date analysis
What normal service retirement, early retirement with a reduced benefit, or another year or two of service each does to your monthly benefit and your health coverage.
Sick leave & service credit
How unused sick leave adds to your creditable service, and whether purchasing service credit makes sense before your date.
457(b), 403(b) & 401(k) decisions
Whether supplemental savings should stay in the plan, roll to an IRA, or split, and how to use catch-up contributions in the final working years.
Withdrawal sequencing
Deciding which accounts to draw from, and in what order, alongside your pension and Social Security. The same dollar of spending can carry a very different tax cost depending on where it comes from.
Social Security timing
When to claim, how your benefit coordinates with your pension income, and how the timing affects a lower-earning spouse.
Maryland tax treatment
The pension exclusion on qualifying retirement income, county income tax, and the different treatment of pension, IRA and Roth withdrawals in Maryland.
DROP planning for police & fire
Where a plan offers a Deferred Retirement Option Program, we model entry timing, the exit decision, and what to do with the balance when it pays out.
Retiree health & Medicare
What your health coverage costs once you leave, how it changes in retirement, and how it coordinates with Medicare enrollment at 65.
Who this is for
When This Planning Matters Most
You are within ten years of retiring
This is where the leverage is. Your survivor election, your Social Security timing and your final contribution years are all still open. Those decisions are easy to let slip by, and you do not get them back.
You are choosing a date or a survivor option
The paperwork will ask you to make permanent choices on a form. We run the numbers first, so you sign it knowing what each option pays and what it protects.
You serve in public safety
Police, fire and other public safety careers come with earlier retirement ages, DROP windows in some plans, and a long second act to plan for after the pension starts.
You are leaving public service mid-career
A move between agencies, counties or into the private sector raises real questions: vesting, what happens to the benefit you have earned, and what to do with your supplemental savings.
How we work
Our Process
Four steps, built to work alongside your benefits office and your tax professional.
Introductory Call
Fifteen to twenty minutes on the phone to hear your situation and decide together whether it makes sense to keep going. No cost, no obligation.
Review
We look at your pension benefit statement, supplemental plan statements, Social Security statement and outside accounts to understand what you have earned.
Strategy
We model your possible retirement dates, survivor options and withdrawal order, then walk you through the trade-offs in plain language.
Implement & Revisit
We put the plan in motion, prepare you for each election your agency will ask you to make, and come back to the plan every year.
Experience
Why Public Employees Bring Us Their Retirement Questions
Adair & Associates is a wealth management practice in Marriottsville, Maryland. Our team brings more than 45 years of combined industry experience, and securities and advisory services are offered through LPL Financial.
Hunter Adair, CFP®
Wealth Management Advisor, Partner
A CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional who has worked in financial planning since 2002, Hunter leads the firm's planning work and meets personally with every prospective client.
Pat Gibbons
Wealth Management Advisor, Partner
More than 30 years in financial services, including time as a partner in a CPA firm and as a business owner. That background shapes how the practice thinks about tax.
We Work With Your Benefits Office
How we fit in
We do not administer your pension or process your elections. We handle the planning around them: modeling the options before the forms are due, and making sure your pension, savings, taxes and insurance are decided as one picture.
2205 Warwick Way, Suite 300, Marriottsville, MD 21104 · (443) 609-7727 · hunter.adair@adairadvisory.com
Before we meet
What To Bring To a First Conversation
Nothing is required for an introductory call. If you want to get further in the first conversation, these help:
- Your latest pension or benefit statement. The annual statement from your retirement system tells us what you have earned so far.
- A benefit estimate, if you have one. Estimates for the dates you are considering make the comparison concrete.
- Supplemental plan statements. 457(b), 403(b), 401(k) and IRA balances, plus any taxable investment accounts.
- Your Social Security statement, or an estimate of your expected benefit.
- A rough sense of your annual spending, and when you would like to stop working.
- Any deadlines in front of you. A DROP window, a posted retirement date, or paperwork your agency has already sent.
Common questions
Public Employee Retirement FAQs
Do you work with members of MSRPS and county retirement systems?
Yes. We plan for members of the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System, including the employees’ and teachers’ systems and LEOPS, along with county and municipal plans across Central Maryland.
Can you tell me exactly what my pension will pay?
Official benefit estimates come from your retirement agency or benefits office, and we will encourage you to request them. Our job is what comes next: turning those estimates into a retirement date, an income plan and a set of elections you understand.
Which survivor option should I choose?
It depends on your health, your spouse’s benefits and income, your life insurance and what each option costs in monthly benefit. It is usually a permanent choice, so we model it carefully before you file. There is no single right answer across households.
Should I move my 457(b) or 403(b) to an IRA?
It depends on your age, your withdrawal needs, the plan’s costs and investment options, and Maryland tax treatment. Governmental 457(b) accounts also have their own withdrawal rules that can be valuable if you retire early. We walk through both sides; we do not assume a rollover is the answer.
How does Maryland tax my pension?
Maryland offers a pension exclusion on qualifying retirement income for eligible retirees, does not tax Social Security benefits, and applies county income tax on top of the state rate. The details depend on your age, your income mix and where you live, which is why we plan withdrawals with the Maryland rules in view.
What is DROP and does it apply to me?
A Deferred Retirement Option Program lets eligible members of certain plans, often police and fire, accrue pension payments in a separate account for a set window while they keep working. Whether your plan offers one, and whether it helps you, depends on your system and your timeline. We model it with real numbers before you commit.
Will my pension affect my Social Security?
Most Maryland state and county employees pay into Social Security alongside their pension, so the two benefits are earned separately. If you have worked in a position that did not withhold Social Security, raise it on the call and we will look at how your record is affected.
Do I need to change financial advisors to work with you?
Not necessarily. Many people start with an introductory call just to get a second look at one specific question, like a survivor election, a rollover, or a retirement date. If it turns into a longer relationship, that is a decision for later. The first conversation commits you to nothing.
How much money do I need to work with Adair & Associates?
We start with a conversation. The introductory call is where we learn what you are trying to solve and tell you honestly whether we are a good fit. If we are not, we will say so.
How often should the plan be revisited?
At least once a year, and again whenever something significant changes: a promotion or agency change, a new benefit estimate, a health event, or a change in the pension or tax rules. The years just before your retirement date deserve reviews of their own.
Related
Let's Find Your Retirement Date
Schedule a short introductory call with Hunter Adair. Bring your latest pension statement, bring a question, or bring nothing at all. We will start wherever you are.
Adair & Associates · 2205 Warwick Way, Suite 300, Marriottsville, MD 21104
Important disclosures
Content last reviewed September 2026.
Adair & Associates and LPL Financial are not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by the State of Maryland, the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System, the Maryland Supplemental Retirement Plans, or any state, county or local government agency. Benefit rules are subject to change; confirm your eligibility and elections with your benefits coordinator or the Maryland State Retirement Agency.
Adair & Associates and LPL Financial do not provide tax or legal advice or services. This material is for general informational purposes only and is not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual, nor is it a substitute for specific individualized tax or legal advice. Please consult your qualified tax or legal professional regarding your particular situation.
Traditional IRA account owners should consider the tax implications, age and income restrictions in regard to executing a conversion from a Traditional IRA to a Roth IRA. The converted amount is generally subject to income taxation in the year of conversion.
All investing involves risk, including possible loss of principal. No strategy assures success or protects against loss. Tax laws and regulations are complex and subject to change, which can materially affect investment results.
Securities and advisory services offered through LPL Financial, a registered investment advisor. Member FINRA & SIPC.
The LPL Financial representative associated with this website may discuss and/or transact securities business only with residents of the following states: CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IL, MA, MD, NC, NH, NY, PA, TN, TX, VA, WA, WV.