Welcome to the Legislative Retirement System
The Legislative Retirement System (LRS) is a defined benefit plan qualified under Section 401(a) of the Internal Revenue Code. Defined benefit plans use a formula to calculate monthly retirement benefits once eligibility requirements have been met. This handbook explains LRS benefit eligibility requirements and the formula used to calculate benefits.
You, the state of North Carolina, and the investment earnings on total contributions pay the cost of providing your retirement benefits.
Your share of the cost is currently 7 percent of your compensation and is automatically deducted from your paycheck. Your compensation includes all wages paid to you as a member of the General Assembly, including the expense allowance, but does not include your travel allowance and per diem.
The state bases its contributions on calculations prepared by an actuary.
Since November 1, 1986, your contributions have been tax-deferred. This means your contributions are deducted from your pay before taxes are calculated, and you pay taxes on them when you begin receiving monthly retirement benefits or if you elect a refund of your contributions. Thus, your current taxable income is lowered and the amount of annual taxes you pay is less than if you made contributions after paying taxes.
ORBIT is a secure site that allows you to view your personal account information, download retirement forms, and access retirement resources 24 hours a day, seven days a week. To set up or log in to your personal ORBIT account, go to the ORBIT website ORBIT.myNCRretirement.com and follow the log in instructions, or register for an ORBIT account.
When creating your account, you are required to use your personal email address. If you already have an account and use your work email, we recommend logging in and changing this to your personal email so you will continue to have access to your account should you switch jobs or retire.