The New Hampshire Retirement System (NHRS) is a contributory, public employee

defined benefit pension plan Defined benefit (DB) pension plan is a type of pension plan in which an employer/sponsor promises a specified pension payment, lump-sum, or combination thereof on retirement that depends on an employee's earnings history, tenure of service and age, ...

for the state of

New Hampshire New Hampshire is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Massachusetts to the south, Vermont to the west, Maine and the Gulf of Maine to the east, and the Canadian province of Quebec t ...

. The plan is qualified under section 401(a) of the

Internal Revenue Code The Internal Revenue Code (IRC), formally the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, is the domestic portion of federal statutory tax law in the United States, published in various volumes of the United States Statutes at Large, and separately as Title 26 ...

, and provides lifetime

pension A pension (, from Latin ''pensiō'', "payment") is a fund into which a sum of money is added during an employee's employment years and from which payments are drawn to support the person's retirement from work in the form of periodic payments ...

benefits to eligible members, which are determined at retirement under formulas prescribed by state law (RSA 100-A). The retirement system is also governed by administrative rules, policies adopted by the Board of Trustees, and the Internal Revenue Code.

Membership

NHRS members are full-time state, county, and municipal employees,

teacher A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...

police officer A police officer (also called a policeman and, less commonly, a policewoman) is a warranted law employee of a police force. In most countries, "police officer" is a generic term not specifying a particular rank. In some, the use of the ...

s, and

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

s. Membership consists of two groups: Group I (Employee & Teacher) and Group II (Police & Fire). As of June 30, 2019, NHRS had approximately 48,000 active members and approximately 38,000 retirees or

beneficiaries A beneficiary (also, in trust law, '' cestui que use'') in the broadest sense is a natural person or other legal entity who receives money or other benefits from a benefactor. For example, the beneficiary of a life insurance policy is the person ...

collecting a pension.

Funding

NHRS benefits are funded by member contributions, employer contributions, and net investment returns. Investment returns have historically provided the bulk of funding for pension benefits. Article 36-a of the

New Hampshire Constitution The Constitution of the State of New Hampshire is the fundamental law of the State of New Hampshire, with which all statute laws must comply. The constitution became effective June 2, 1784, when it replaced the state's constitution of 1776. The ...

protects trust fund assets for the exclusive purpose of providing benefits; requires Trustees to set actuarially sound employer contribution rates; and requires employers to pay those rates in full. The retirement system trust fund stood at $9.21 billion as of June 30, 2019.

Oversight

NHRS is overseen by a 13-member board of trustees, which includes at least one teacher, one firefighter, one police officer, four members of the public, and the New Hampshire State Treasurer. Unlike other state agencies, NHRS is not structured under the executive branch, it is "a component unit of the state governed by statute". Other than the State Treasurer, board members are nominated by the

Governor of New Hampshire The governor of New Hampshire is the head of government of New Hampshire. The governor is elected during the biennial state general election in November of even-numbered years. New Hampshire is one of only two states, along with bordering Verm ...

for three-year terms and must be confirmed by the

Governor's Council The governments of the Thirteen Colonies of British America developed in the 17th and 18th centuries under the influence of the Constitution of the United Kingdom, British constitution. After the Thirteen Colonies had become the United States, the e ...

References

External links

* Public pension funds in the United States Retirement System 1968 establishments in New Hampshire Government agencies established in 1968 {{NewHampshire-stub