Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP)
Employees in the Florida Retirement System Pension Plan are offered an alternative method for payment of retirement benefits for a specified and limited period. Upon entering the Deferred Retirement Option Program (DROP), you stop earning service credit toward a future benefit and your retirement benefit is calculated at the time your DROP participation begins. While you are in the DROP, your monthly retirement benefits accumulate in the FRS Trust Fund earning interest while you continue to work for an FRS employer. Upon termination, your DROP account is paid to you as a lump sum payment, a rollover to another qualified plan or a combination partial lump sum payment and partial rollover. Monthly benefits are paid to you in the amount calculated at DROP entry, plus any applicable cost-of-living adjustments during DROP participation.
You are eligible to participate in the DROP when you are a participant of the Pension Plan, are vested, and have reached your normal retirement date.
Employees in the FRS Pension Plan who are interested in the DROP should reach out to the Human Resources Benefits Team at 850.474.2694 or hr@uwf.edu for additional information.