Insights
This is not a market blog and it is not a trading feed. It is a small library of written notes about the situations that come up most often around retirement: pension elections, old 401(k)s, household coordination, and how to think clearly about modern research tools without getting lost in the jargon.
The goal is the same as the rest of the site: clarity first. If a note raises a question about your own situation, the next step is a conversation with Dan Zimon, not a guess made from a webpage.
Plan-specific analysis
NYSTRS pension election · 9 min read
A Tier 6 NYSTRS member has fundamentally different math than a Tier 4 colleague. Contribution rate, final-average-salary, accrual schedule, and the break-even age on every option election all shift. The plan-specific framing matters because most online retirement tools assume Tier 4 rules. Tier 6 members deserve their actual numbers.
May 28, 2026
Field note 04
Retirement income planning · 5 min read
A few patterns show up almost every time when the analysis runs against a real LI public-sector or hospital-system household. The bracket-fill window, the IRMAA cliff at 63, and the eight-to-ten-year bridge between retirement and Social Security claim age.
May 27, 2026
Methodology note
How the analysis works · 6 min read
Most household-facing retirement tools show one best-guess line. A defensible plan has to show the range, and carry the SEC disclosure with every number it produces. Here's how the new analysis on this site is built.
May 27, 2026
Field note
Social Security · 6 min read
The Social Security Fairness Act, signed January 5, 2025, repealed both the Windfall Elimination Provision and the Government Pension Offset effective for January 2024 benefits. NYSTRS, NYCTRS, NYSLRS, NYCERS, NYC Police, and FDNY retirees who were hit by these provisions are now receiving full Social Security benefits plus retroactive payments.
April 26, 2026
Field guide 09
Pension elections · 11 min read
A plain-English walkthrough of how hospital-system employees with both a public pension and a 403(b) should think about the two accounts together at retirement.
April 18, 2026
Field guide 08
Pension elections · 11 min read
A plain-English walkthrough of Railroad Retirement for Long Island Rail Road employees. How Tier I and Tier II differ from Social Security, how the two tiers interact, and the claiming-age math that changes the household decision.
April 18, 2026
Field guide 07
Pension elections · 12 min read
A plain-English walkthrough of the New York State Police and Fire Retirement System election. How tier and plan section change the benefit formula, and what that means for the option election.
April 18, 2026
Field guide 06
Pension elections · 13 min read
A plain-English walkthrough of the NYSTRS pension election. Single life vs. joint-and-survivor, the breakeven math, and how Social Security's WEP and GPO change the calculation for Long Island teachers.
April 17, 2026
Field guide 05
401(k) rollovers · 12 min read
Rolling an old 401(k) into an IRA is the right call for many Long Island households, but not all of them. A working framework covering the five factors that actually drive the decision, in plain English.
April 12, 2026
Field guide 04
Pension elections · 11 min read
A working framework for the single-most-irreversible decision NYSLRS, NYSTRS, NYCERS, NYC Police, and FDNY pensioners face, with the survivor math, the pension-max alternative, and the household questions that should drive the choice.
April 4, 2026
Field note 03
How Camba works · 4 min read
The right way to talk about AI in advisory work is simple: more coverage, faster synthesis, better preparation. Not autopilot, not promises, and not machine-made recommendations.
March 8, 2026
Field note 02
Household coordination · 4 min read
Most people do not retire from one account. They retire from a patchwork: pension choices, an old 401(k), a current 401(k), IRAs, Roth balances, taxable savings, and Social Security timing.
February 24, 2026
Field note 01
Fees & cost analysis · 4 min read
Former-employer plans often hide costs across several lines: fund expenses, recordkeeping, admin, and sometimes an advisory overlay. Looking at only one number misses the real drag.
February 10, 2026
Next step
If one of these notes sounds uncomfortably familiar, that usually means the issue is real enough to bring to the table. Camba can help sort the facts, show the tradeoffs clearly, and tell you whether there is actual work to do.