As a fiduciary financial advisor in Columbia, Holland Capital helps long-career South Carolina state employees in SCRS choose a retirement date and a payout option, and fit deferred compensation and other savings around the pension. We work with clients in Columbia by video and phone, and meet in person by appointment at the Regus center on Main Street.
Years of state service. Retirement choices you make once.
Columbia is the state capital, and about one in five of its workers has a government job. For a state employee in the South Carolina Retirement System (SCRS), the pension sits at the center of the retirement plan.
You may know your years of service. What is less clear is which date works best, which payout option to choose and how your deferred compensation and other savings fill the gap.
Before you decide, it also helps to know who is advising you and how that person is paid.
When You Can Retire Under SCRS
Your eligibility depends on your membership class. Class Two members, who joined before July 1, 2012, can retire without a reduction after 28 years of service or at age 65. Class Three members can retire without a reduction at age 65 or when age and service add up to 90. Each class also has a minimum service requirement.
The benefit uses a formula based on 1.82% of your average final compensation times your years of service. We compare retirement dates side by side because additional service can change the benefit. For more on SCRS, read our guide on South Carolina state employee retirement planning.
Choosing a Payout Option
SCRS offers three ways to receive your benefit. Two of them continue a payment to a beneficiary after your death, in exchange for a smaller monthly check.
You choose a payment option when you retire. We compare each option with your spouse’s own income, any life insurance and your savings.
Deferred Compensation and Your Other Savings
If you also saved in the state’s deferred compensation plans, a 401(k) or a 457(b), those accounts can fill the gap between your pension and your spending.
Distributions from a governmental 457(b) generally are not subject to the 10% additional tax on early distributions after you leave the employer. That can matter if you retire before age 59½.
At Holland Capital, investment management covers your savings outside the pension and also advises on the fund choices within your deferred compensation accounts.
How We Work with Clients in Columbia
Holland Capital Management is an independent registered investment adviser and a fiduciary. M. Chad Holland, CFA, CFP® works directly with clients and is responsible for the planning and advice.
Bring your latest SCRS annual benefit statement, any benefit estimate from PEBA, your deferred compensation statements, a Social Security statement if you have one, and last year’s return.
The result is a written plan comparing retirement dates and payout options, with a monthly income figure for each.
The first conversation is free. If there is work worth doing after that, we will define the scope and cost before you decide whether to move forward.
Our offices are in Charlotte, North Carolina and Winter Park, Florida. We work with clients in Columbia primarily by video or phone. When an in-person meeting makes sense, we meet by appointment at the Regus center in the Meridian Building at 1320 Main Street in downtown Columbia.
We work with clients throughout South Carolina. You can see the other South Carolina communities we serve here.
Our what we do page explains how a planning engagement works.
RETIREMENT ENGINEERING™
The Order Matters
Five retirement decisions and why timing matters.
Frequently Asked Questions
How Is Holland Capital Paid?
We offer financial planning on a fixed-fee basis, subject to the scope of the engagement. Investment management is offered on a fee basis, generally calculated as a percentage of the assets we manage. When providing financial planning and investment advisory services, we act as a fiduciary. Holland Capital Management may also receive commissions when clients buy insurance through the firm. Those commissions create a conflict of interest, which we disclose in our Form ADV.
What Does a Fiduciary Do for an SCRS Member Near Retirement?
Holland Capital acts as a fiduciary when providing financial planning and investment advice. For an SCRS member, that means advice on the pension choices, deferred compensation and savings as one plan, including accounts we do not manage.
We earn nothing from your SCRS payout choice. Moving deferred compensation into an account we manage would add to what we are paid, and we say so up front.
Where Do Columbia Clients Meet with Us?
At the Regus center in the Meridian Building on Main Street, by appointment.
Follow-up questions can be handled by phone or video.
Photo: Farragutful / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped.
