Retired state employees eyes rising investment gains

(The Center Square) – Retired state employees could eventually benefit from higher investments returns by North Carolina.

The board of the North Carolina Retirement Systems this week approved new policies that would make it possible to use the system’s investment gains as a factor in whether to recommend the Legislature provide cost of living increases for state pensioners.

The current policy requires that all investments gains go toward reducing the pension plan’s unfunded future liabilities – the cost of pensions for future retirees.

The Legislature has not granted state retirees permanent cost of living increases in their pensions since 2017, although they have been awarded one-time annual bonuses.

The returns on pension plan has been increasing lately with an effort by first-term Republican state Treasurer Brad Briner to diversity the funds into higher-yielding investments.

With those gains, the state is “well on the way” toward reducing the deficit on future unfunded liabilities, Briner to...