TIAA

2025-2026 Bill 5257: TIAA - South Carolina Legislature Online

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
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H. 5257
STATUS INFORMATION
House Resolution
Sponsors: Reps. Herbkersman, Alexander, Anderson, Atkinson, Bailey, Ballentine, Bamberg, Bannister, Bauer, Beach, Bernstein, Bowers, Bradley, Brewer, Brittain, Burns, Bustos, Calhoon, Caskey, Chapman, Chumley, Clyburn, Cobb-Hunter, Collins, Cox, Crawford, Cromer, Davis, Dillard, Duncan, Edgerton, Erickson, Ford, Forrest, Frank, Gagnon, Garvin, Gatch, Gibson, Gilliam, Gilliard, Gilreath, Govan, Grant, Guest, Guffey, Haddon, Hager, Hardee, Harris, Hart, Hartnett, Hartz, Hayes, Henderson-Myers, Hewitt, Hiott, Hixon, Holman, Hosey, Howard, Huff, J.E. Johnson, J.L. Johnson, Jones, Jordan, Kilmartin, King, Kirby, Landing, Lastinger, Lawson, Ligon, Long, Lowe, Luck, Magnuson, Martin, McCabe, McCravy, McDaniel, McGinnis, C. Mitchell, D. Mitchell, Montgomery, J. Moore, T. Moore, Morgan, Moss, Neese, B. Newton, W. Newton, Oremus, Pace, Pedalino, Pope, Rankin, Reese, Rivers, Robbins, Rose, Rutherford, Sanders, Schuessler, Scott, Sessions, G.M. Smith, M.M. Smith, Spann-Wilder, Stavrinakis, Taylor, Teeple, Terribile, Vaughan, Waters, Weeks, Wetmore, White, Whitmire, Wickensimer, Williams, Willis, Wooten and Yow
Document Path: LC-0505CM-JAH26.docx
Introduced in the House on February 25, 2026
Adopted by the House on February 25, 2026
Summary: TIAA
HISTORY OF LEGISLATIVE ACTIONS

Date

Body

Action Description with journal page number

2/25/2026

House

Introduced and adopted (
House Journal-page 7
)

View the latest
legislative information
at the website
VERSIONS OF THIS BILL
02/25/2026

A
house
RESOLUTION

to declare the month of April 2026 as "Teachers
Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA) Month" in the state of
South carolina and to recognize the importance of financial literacy and
retirement readiness for all south carolinians.

W
hereas, improving financial
literacy among state employees, employers, and students is essential to
strengthening financial well-being and retirement security; and

W
hereas, April is
nationally recognized as Financial Literacy Month, providing an annual
opportunity to evaluate and strengthen financial education initiatives that support
economic stability and long-term retirement outcomes; and

W
hereas, the State of
South Carolina has made significant progress in strengthening the financial
stability of its retirement systems, by offering both defined benefit and defined
contribution plans, including lifetime income options designed to help
employees achieve adequate income replacement in retirement; and

W
hereas, research
indicates that financial capability among adults in the United States remains insufficient,
with fewer than half of adults reporting at least three months of emergency
savings and many households struggling to meet basic financial obligations; and

W
hereas, analysis
conducted by the TIAA Institute highlights the value of guaranteed lifetime
income solutions and demonstrates how states can achieve an 80%-income replacement
rate through defined benefit, defined contribution, or hybrid retirement plans,
an income replacement benchmark widely recognized by retirement experts as
supportive of maintaining quality of life in retirement; and

W
hereas, financial
literacy levels among high school students remain uneven nationwide, with
international assessments indicating that a significant percentage of students
do not reach baseline proficiency in personal finance, which may negatively
affect long-term saving and money management behaviors; and

W
hereas, studies
consistently demonstrate a positive relationship between retirement fluency and
retirement readiness, with financially knowledgeable workers more likely to
save and plan effectively for retirement; and

W
hereas, state
government has both the opportunity and responsibility to lead by example by expanding
financial education for state employees, encouraging employer-based financial
wellness programs, and supporting personal finance instruction in K-12
education; and

W
hereas, evidence from
program evaluations shows that well-designed financial education initiatives,
particularly when combined with structural retirement plan features such as automatic
enrollment, automatic escalation, employer matching contributions where
permitted, lifetime income investment options, and access to individualized
financial counseling, can significantly improve retirement preparedness; and

W
hereas, the members of
the House encourage state agencies to develop or expand comprehensive employee financial
wellness programs that include educational workshops, access to low or no-cost certified
financial counseling, and clear, plain-language resources tailored to various
career stages; private employers operating within the State to adopt similar
workplace financial education initiatives and to publicize available resources
to their employees; support for K-12 personal financial education through curriculum
alignment, professional development for educators, and partnerships with
community financial education providers; and the continued evaluation and
implementation of evidence-based retirement plan features that strengthen
long-term financial security; and

W
hereas, the South
Carolina House of Representatives recognizes the importance of promoting
financial literacy and retirement readiness to ensure that citizens may retire
with dignity and economic security. Now, therefore,

B
e it resolved by the
House of Representatives
:

T
hat the members of the
South Carolina
House of Representatives
,
by this resolution, declare the month of April 2026 as "Teachers Insurance and
Annuity Association of America (TIAA) Month" in the State of South Carolina
and recognize the importance of financial literacy and retirement readiness for
all South Carolinians.

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This web page was last updated on February 25, 2026 at 11:30 AM