SCRS - South Carolina Retirement System

Your Plan at a Glance

Retirement benefit is guaranteed by law and sufficiently funded.
Retirement benefit is based on a formula (1.82 percent multiplied by years of service multiplied by average final compensation), not on a member’s account balance at retirement.
Automatic annual cost-of-living adjustments (COLAs) for eligible retirees during periods of inflation.
Plan assumes investment and life expectancy risks.
Service purchase options.
Disability protection and incidental death benefit.
Deferred retirement option program - allows you to retire and begin accumulating your benefit on a deferred basis without terminating your employment.

Employer must be covered by SCRS.
You must be actively employed by a covered employer and be making employee contributions to SCRS.

You contribute a tax-deferred 6.5 percent of gross pay.
If you have not retired, your account earns 4 percent interest compounded annually.

Members may be eligible to purchase various types of service credit.
Examples of service that may be purchased include military service, public service and previously withdrawn SCRS service.
Purchasing service increases your total credited service which may allow you to retire sooner.
The cost to purchase service varies by type.

After one year of service, beneficiaries of active members and working retirees who die in service are eligible for a payment equal to one year’s earnable compensation.
If your death is a result of a job-related injury, the one-year requirement is waived.
Beneficiary of a non-working retiree may be eligible for a benefit of $2,000, $4,000 or $6,000 based on the retiree’s years of service.
Check with your employer to see if coverage is provided.

If you terminate employment, you can either:

request a refund of your contributions and interest; or
leave your money in the Retirement Systems where it will earn an annual 4 percent interest

You can retire with unreduced benefits after 28 years of service or at age 65.
You can retire early (before you reach age 65 or have 28 years of service) and receive a reduced retirement benefit.
Members eligible for service retirement may choose to participate in the Teacher and Employee Retiree Incentive (TERI) program, which allows you to retire and begin accumulating your benefit on a deferred basis without terminating your employment.

Each July 1, eligible SCRS retirees should receive an automatic COLA equal to the percentage of the annual increase in the Consumer Price Index for Wage Earners and Clerical Workers (CPI-W) as of the previous December 31, up to an increase of 2 percent.
If the CPI-W is less than 2 percent, the COLA should equal the percentage of the actual increase in the CPI-W.
COLAs are awarded only during periods of inflation, so no COLA will be awarded if the CPI-W is negative.