A Tactical Guide to Protecting Income, Family, and Legacy: “The Pension Shield Option™” Redefines Retirement Security for First Responders

December 01, 2025 at 21:53 PM EST

By George McReynolds, CFP® & Jim Lusk, CFP®, CLU®, ChFC®, CLF®, M.Ed.

For police officers, firefighters, and EMTs, a pension isn’t just a benefit — it’s stability, dignity, and a lifetime of service honored. Yet hidden inside every retirement packet lies a single decision with irreversible consequences: how to protect your income and your spouse without sacrificing decades of earned pay.

In The Pension Shield Option™: Protecting Your Pension, Your Spouse, and Your Legacy, financial planners George McReynolds and Jim Lusk deliver the clarity and strategy that first responders have been missing for years. Drawing on their combined decades of specialized work with public safety professionals, the authors expose the high cost of the traditional “survivor option” — and introduce a smarter, flexible, fully controllable solution.

At the center of the book is a simple but powerful promise:

You can protect your spouse without giving up your pension.

Through real case files, step-by-step comparisons, and easy-to-follow checklists, McReynolds and Lusk show readers how to:

Keep their maximum pension income while still safeguarding their spouse

Replace the standard survivor option with tax-free protection they own outright

Avoid permanent pay cuts and shrinking COLAs that erode retirement security

Combine pension choices with DROP, deferred comp, and strategic legacy planning

Transform a fragile retirement election into a family shield that protects both income and inheritance

Written with the precision of seasoned financial strategists and the heart of former first responders and educators, The Pension Shield Option™ empowers readers to make the most permanent decision of their financial lives with total confidence.

Clear, practical, and deeply protective in tone, the book reframes retirement planning as something first responders can — and should — control. Because the pension you earned through years of service should never leave your family exposed.