About SDRSThe South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS) provides a foundation for the financial future of over 70,000 members and their families. Its mission is to give members "... the opportunity to achieve financial security at retirement, death or disability by providing an outstanding, appropriate and equitable level of benefits." The system's overall goal is to provide lifetime income replacement including Primary Social Security to meet the retirement income needs of 70 to 85 percent of final pay for members who participate for a full career.
The success of SDRS can mean the difference between retirees who are financially self-sufficient and those who must struggle to support themselves.
The heart of the system — the means of providing quality benefits — is the SDRS Trust Fund. This pool of money is created by the contributions of both members and employers. These members include:
- Teachers, administrative and classified employees of South Dakota public school districts
- Legislative, executive and judicial branch employees of the state of South Dakota
- Faculty, administrative and classified employees of the South Dakota Board of Regents
- South Dakota municipal employees
- South Dakota county employees
In all, over 400 distinct units of government and their employees contribute to the SDRS Trust Fund. This diversity of employees and employers makes the legal mandate that the trust fund be used for "the exclusive benefit of members and their beneficiaries" a fundamental tenet of the system.
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SDRS Highlights for Fiscal Year 2007 |
| Total number of members: |
70,035 |
| Number of members who received a benefit: |
18,719 |
| Net assets held in trust for pension benefits: |
$8.2 billion |
| Amount of benefits paid to members: |
$282 million |
| Investment return |
21.39 percent |
| Funded ratio |
97.1 percent |
Related Document:Funded Status ReportHistorical HighlightsWhite Paper on Plan Design
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