PAX Centurion - January / February 2015

Page 16 • PAX CENTURION • January/February 2015 617-989-BPPA (2772) Life Insurance Tax-Free Retirement Wealth Building Estate Planning Inheritance Strategy New Business Foundations Investments College Funding Maximizing Social Security Strategies ... and more! “I wish somebody had shown me all this before, this is incredible!” “I never knew this could be done. You should teach a class at the Academy!” FREE PERSONALIZED FINANCIAL PLANNING KEVIN J. PISHKIN Former Police Officer in Boston Retired On Injury Financial Consultant New York Life Boston General Office 781-223-3791 “The job is hard enough as it is, let’s make sure you retire wealthy!” W ith the dawn of 2015, hundreds of BPD officers, detec- tives and superior officers are either now or shortly will become eligible for retirement, as many reach the magic combination of 32 years of service/55 years old, making them eligible for maximum retirement benefits should they choose to do so (officers can, if they choose, remain on the job until age 65 under current state law before manda- tory retirement, but the ability to roll around in the street with 21 year-old muscle-heads during bar- room fights diminishes with age over time…). This unique situation occurs in regular cycles in this department, due to a number of factors begin- ning with the Boston Police strike of 1919, in which virtually the entire department was replaced within one year. BPD history buffs will remember that in 1980, the so-called “Tregor Bill” controversy arose, in which a city property owner sued and successfully won a lawsuit forcing the city to repay millions of The coming Exodus: Retirement option looms for hundreds of BPD officers By James W. Carnell, Pax Editor dollars to property owners. Some politicians, sensing an opportunity to inflame public passions, used the layoffs off hundreds of police officers and firefighters in order to draw maximum public outrage and attention to the issue. (Not surprisingly, an army of political coat- holders, flacks, and lackeys, did not suffer the same fate as the cops or firefighters.) Many were laid off for well over a year, suffering great financial hardships, broken mar- riages, and/or leaving the city/state for other work opportunities. After the controversy was settled legislatively, the laid-off officers were called back, (but the insult left a sour taste in many a young officer’s psyche to this very day). In 1982, 83, 84, and 85 the BPD began hiring in earnest, to replace the attrition of older officers from the ranks and the lack of new hires over a period of several years. For example, my own class was the first so-called “numbered” class (“Class 1-82” -November, 1982). My class, (or lack thereof, as some have alleged) has passed 32 years of service, and some (though not I) have begun to lose precious strands of hair. Classes hired in 83, 84, and 85 are rapidly approaching the same benchmark, and will soon be considering retirement options or in some cases have already exercised them. It would seem to be beneficial for the city to consider the much- discussed “auxiliary police force”, which about 172 Massachusetts cities and towns already have to supplement a beleaguered and short- staffed department until new recruits can be hired and fully trained. Auxiliary police forces are largely composed of retired officers in good health who step in during special events or when there is an excessive work load. For some reason, this proposal has been held up in the legislature, even though it is basically a “home-rule” situation which is not at all unusual and could be implemented fairly quickly once guidelines and rules are established by the BPD. Time marches on, and all who think that their own retirement is far away should think again. All of a sudden, 32 years is upon you, and instead of diapers and baby formula, you’re paying off college loans for your kids and wondering when the re-financed mortgage is going to end. In 1983, after graduating from the academy (we were the “travelling” academy, starting at City Hospital annex and then moving to the old Boston State College building on HuntingtonAve.; there was no actual “police academy” because so many city buildings had been shuttered during the lay-offs) I remember looking around District 2 and noticing some of the older officers, sitting around, puff- ing away on their cigars. Those were the bad officers they had told us to stay away from during training, because we were pure and new and good. Well, I learned more valuable information and “tricks of the trade” from the older cops than I ever did from the academy. One thing you can be sure of: you’re never going to get younger. Time marches on, and all who think that their own retirement is far away should think again. All of a sudden, 32 years is upon you, and instead of diapers and formula, you’re paying off college loans for your kids and wondering when it’s all going to end.