Before 65 he is going to get clipped with a federal IRS bill and a hefty CA tax bill. There are no exceptions, unless there is some type of disability which has to be proven. It's a terrible decision.
And by the way, I am no saint, in my early 30s I made every financial mistake anyone could make, poker the biggest one. But you get older, learn the hard knocks and move on. Like I said, its Tyde's money but at age 65 he'd like have over $25,000 as the pension matured. Instead its going to be around $4,000 today if he is lucky. You could enlist 100 financial advisors and all 100 would say reverse the transaction, but like I said its his money and we all know Tyde is the smartest guy in the room, outside apparently Hoser now. And the big book of course.