the word pension on a blue, black dial (Photo: Shutterstock)

South Carolina has become the latest state looking to close its defined benefit pension plan and move all new state workers into a defined contribution plan.

According to a report in Chief Investment Officer, in an effort to control the state's unfunded liabilities, Henry McMaster, the governor, sees a DC plan as a means of shutting off the flow of state funds to what he describes as an "open system"—as he termed it in this comment in his state of the state address: "Putting money into an open system like that is like trying to fill a bathtub with the drain open. We must close enrollment first."

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Marlene Satter

Marlene Y. Satter has worked in and written about the financial industry for decades.