South Carolina

Overview

The South Carolina Public Employee Benefit Authority (PEBA) operates a retirement division to administer retirement plans for public employees in the state. These plans include the South Carolina Retirement System, for teachers and general employees of the state and its political subdivisions; the Police Officers Retirement System, for public safety personnel; the Retirement System for Judges and Solicitors; the Retirement System for Members of the General Assembly, and the National Guard Retirement System. These retirement systems together provide retirement benefits for substantially all public employees in South Carolina. The PEBA board includes 11 members.

SCRS assets are managed by the South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission.

Plan Design

PEBA administers defined benefit and defined contribution plans. All newly-hired employees may elect to participate in a DB or a DC plan, referred to as the Optional Retirement Plan (ORP). Those who do not make an active election within the first 30 days of employment default to the DB plan.

According to the US Government Accountability Office, 98 percent of employees of state and local government in South Carolina participate in Social Security.

Access plan design detail

Authorizing Statutes and Board Structure

South Carolina Code of Laws Title 9 establishes PEBA and the retirement systems.

Details regarding the composition of these and other retirement boards is accessible via the Retirement and Investment Board Characteristics search tool located at the bottom of this page.

Fiduciary Duty/Prudence Standard

South Carolina Code of Laws Title 9-16-1
A trustee, commission member, or other fiduciary shall discharge duties with respect to a retirement system: (1) solely in the interest of the retirement systems, participants, and beneficiaries; (2) for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to participants and beneficiaries and paying reasonable expenses of administering the system; (3) with the care, skill, and caution under the circumstances then prevailing which a prudent person acting in a like capacity and familiar with those matters would use in the conduct of an activity of like character and purpose; (4) impartially, taking into account any differing interests of participants and beneficiaries; (5) incurring only costs that are appropriate and reasonable; and (6) in accordance with a good faith interpretation of this chapter.

Legal Protections of Retirement Benefits

No explicit constitutional protection for public pension benefits, but courts provide protection based on impairment of contract principles if the pension statute expressly creates a binding agreement. Layman v. State, 630 S.E.2d 265 (S.C. 2006) (holding that retirement statute created a binding contract). (SC CONST., Article I, §4) Source: Robert Klausner, Esq., State Constitutional Protections for Public Sector Retirement Benefits

More Data

Population (2024) 5,478,831

South Carolina public pension statistics, per U.S. Census Bureau as of FY 2024
Assets	$44.7 billion
Active Members	234,364
Annuitants	175,873
Benefits Paid	$4.0 billion
Employee Contributions	$1.3 billion
Employer Contributions	$2.9 billion
Systems	One state retirement system accounts for substantially all public retirement system assets and participants in South Carolina. Five local retirement systems.

Become A Member

Becoming a member of NASRA offers a unique opportunity to join a community committed to the sound, efficient, and innovative stewardship of public retirement systems. Membership connects you with a network of professionals and experts, providing valuable insights into managing public retirement systems with a focus on sustainability and risk-averse strategies.

By joining NASRA, you gain the tools and resources to enhance the management of public retirement systems, ensuring their long-term success and reliability for generations to come.

What's New at NASRA: Updated Cost of Living Issue Brief

Cost-of-Living Adjustments (COLAs) play a significant role in public pensions. They help retirees keep up with rising prices, but they also add costs to pension plans. Policymakers and plan sponsors are tasked with balancing three things: benefits adequacy, plan sustainability, and affordability for members and plan sponsors.

The recent increase in inflation caused many policymakers and, in some cases pension trustees, to review how benefits are designed and paid for, including the way COLAs are granted and funded. NASRA’s recently updated issue brief on the lates trends in COLAs is available in the NASRA Research Center.

Retirement System Account Interest Policies	Economic Actuarial Assumptions	Retirement and Investment Board Characteristics
Information about interest rates applied to account balances of inactive plan participants	Assumed rates of investment return and inflation	Composition and characteristics of public retirement and investment oversight boards
Mortality Assumptions	Plan Design Features	Post-retirement Employment Policies
Public retirement system actuarial assumptions for mortality	Numerous elements of retirement plan design	Policies governing return-to-work for retirement system annuitants