Huge raises for South Carolina judges and solicitors caused $100 million damage to pension plan
South Carolina’s retired judges and solicitors saw their annual pension payments soar by an average of more than $37,000 starting in mid-2019, while most state retirees were limited to pension increases of $500 or less.
The 35.8 percent increase in pension payments was due to an equally large pay increase for working judges and solicitors approved by the General Assembly.
Unlike the rest of South Carolina’s five state pension plans, benefits in the Judges and Solicitors Retirement System are directly tied to pay raises for working members. As a result, the average retired judge now collects more than $140,000 in yearly pension payments — more than double the income most South Carolina families earn while working.
Because the pay raises hiked pension benefits, that blew a more than $100 million hole in the funding of the JSRS pension plan. Overnight, on July 1 when the pay raises took effect, the plan went from being the second-best funded of the state’s five pension plans to being the worst funded.
Read more: https://www.postandcourier.com/news/huge-raises-for-sc-judges-and-solicitors-caused-100-million-damage-to-pension-plan/article_a61b44fc-8667-11ea-b2d3-b3db7bf75996.html