South Carolina H 5257: Dr. Adesola Kazeem Adeduntan

Bill Text

2025-2026 Bill 5257 Text of Previous Version (Feb. 25, 2026) - South Carolina Legislature Online 

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026

Bill 5257

Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter

(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)

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. 

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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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

Whereas, 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,

Be it resolved by the House of Representatives:

That 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