Summer Edition 2026 | Living Power Magazine
By North Carolina State Treasurer Brad Briner
North Carolinians owe a debt of gratitude to the public servants who dedicated their careers to caring for children and families. Whether you worked as a school bus driver ensuring children arrived safely each day, a child protective services professional helping vulnerable families, or a cafeteria worker making sure no child went hungry, we trusted you with our most precious resources and your work mattered deeply.
On behalf of the Department of State Treasurer, thank you for your service to our state and to its children. Many retired public servants continue caring for their loved ones long after retirement. One of the most important ways you can protect your family today is by making sure your beneficiary information is current. Updating beneficiaries for your pension and other benefits is one of the simplest—but
most meaningful—steps you can take to help provide security for children, grandchildren, spouses, or others you care about.
Life changes like marriages, divorces, births, and deaths can affect whether your current beneficiary designations still reflect your wishes. It’s easy to forget to make the change with everything else going on in life. But keeping this information up to date helps ensure benefits are paid out according to your intentions and can prevent unnecessary stress for your loved ones during difficult times. Unfortunately, we have a number of real, heartbreaking examples of the problems outdated beneficiaries can create—and we can do nothing to help once it is too late.
It only takes a few minutes to log on and review your beneficiary information through the NC Retirement Systems Division. Here is the link if you need to update yours: MyNCRetirement.gov/beneficiaries.
North Carolina’s pension plan continues to be among the best-funded public pension plans in the nation because of careful stewardship and long-term planning. We are also focused on maintaining sustainable healthcare options that provide access to quality care for retirees and their families.
Your years of service strengthened communities across North Carolina. The work you performed often was done quietly and without recognition, but its impact will be felt for generations. Children who received encouragement, protection, and guidance from dedicated public servants like you carry those lessons throughout their lives.
Thank you again for your commitment to the people of North Carolina and for continuing to care for the next generation by planning ahead for the future of your own families.