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One of Gov. Kelly Ayotte’s first signature budget wins — increasing the pension payments for firefighters, police officers, and corrections workers — isn’t enough to stop disgruntled state workers from suing.

William Woodbury, representing several state and municipal employees in the Group II retirement pool, said Ayotte’s recent reforms don’t fix the fundamental problem: The system should never have been changed in 2011, he said.

“This [lawsuit] is to show those reforms were unconstitutional, and none of the reforms since then have made these plaintiffs whole,” Woodbury said this week during a hearing in Merrimack Superior Court in Concord.

Police officers, firefighters, and corrections employees, who are all part of the Group II pool, have been fighting to restore their pension benefits since the legislature changed the plan in 2011. At the time, a serious fix was needed to keep the New Hampshire Retirement System from fiscal disaster. The 2011 legislative fix took away benefits from Group II employees who were hired before 2011, but had not yet been vested with 10 years of service before 2012.

The result, according to the lawsuit, is an unconstitutional, retroactive law that forces employees to work years past their 20-year retirement date in stressful and dangerous positions, and still see the retirement benefits they were promised before the 2011 change cut by tens of thousands of dollars. 

Since the reforms, critics of the move say New Hampshire has experienced a first responder staffing crisis. They claim the state’s pension system is often cited as a factor in candidates going somewhere else. According to WMUR in 2024, New Hampshire State Police are down more than 60 officers, Manchester Police are down 24, and Rochester is down 11. The New Hampshire Department of Corrections (DOC) had a 52 percent vacancy rate in its entry-level jobs. Under the 2011 changes, DOC staff had to work 25 years for full retirement instead of 20. 

Supporters of the changes say Americans simply don’t hold jobs as long as they used to, and employees are pulled away by higher pay and better work options today, not potential retirement payouts in the future.

Ayotte’s budget showdown with her fellow Republicans in the legislature was over their disagreement on the Group II pension issue. There are about 1,500 employees in the Group II plan retroactively impacted by the 2011 change, and Ayotte campaigned on a promise to make them whole. 

Drew Cline, president of the  Josiah Bartlett Center for Public Policy, said Ayotte’s budget fight ended with a big win for her and the Group II employees. They didn’t get everything, but they came close, he said. New Hampshire’s pension system is underfunded, but in a much better position since the 2011 changes. Pushing benefits higher risks going back to unfunded mandates that ultimately burden taxpayers.

“We don’t want to go backwards,” Cline said.

The budget deal Ayotte got is appreciated, said Seifu Ragassa, President of the NH Group II Retirement Coalition, but it doesn’t completely close the gap.

“The NH Group II Retirement Coalition and its members are grateful to Gov. Ayotte and the legislators who supported her efforts to support our members and address the challenges faced by first responders over the past 14 years,” Ragassa said. “However, the fight to restore the benefits that were unjustly taken from first responders is far from over. We will continue to advocate until all benefits are fully restored—nothing more, nothing less.”

Disgraced financial advisor Thomas Chadwick agreed to pay more than $5 million last year for unethical investment practices that cost his Granite State customers millions.

But more than a year later, the New London-based businessman has yet to pay a penny of the restitution he owes to the victims of his failed investment firm, according to court records.

“As of the date of this filing, Chadwick has made no payment toward the $5,858,346.71 judgment owed per the Consent Order, and the [Secretary of State’s Securities Regulation] Bureau considers Chadwick to be in default,” Brian Linares, senior staff attorney at the Bureau wrote in a new amended complaint filed recently in the Merrimack Superior Court in Concord.

Chadwick agreed to the consent order in April 2024 after he was accused of investor fraud, losing his mostly elderly clients more than $11 million of their retirement savings. Chadwick’s consent order knocked the victim’s restitution down to $4.8 million, with another $1 million to cover state fines and investigation costs.

Secretary of State David Scanlan’s office, through the Securities Regulation Bureau, is now taking Chadwick back to court over the nonpayment.

Chadwick claimed that he had no assets to make payments when he signed the consent order last year. But the order gives Scanlan’s office the right to ask a judge to impose a collection process on Chadwick.

“The only way for the bureau to enforce an administrative order is through the Superior Court. If the bureau obtains an administrative order to pay back restitution, and the target fails to comply with the order, then the only way to enforce collection is through a court order in Superior Court, and that is what the bureau is doing with Mr. Chadwick,” a bureau representative told NHJournal on Tuesday.

But Chadwick’s attorney, Friedrich Moeckel, is opposed to the court’s intervention. In his objection to the bureau, Moeckel stated that going to court would be counterproductive and expensive for all parties concerned.

“Defendant does not quarrel with plaintiff’s right to use this court to register and enforce the parties’ consent decree. Defendant’s concern is that by amending the complaint in this matter, plaintiff effectively restarts this case. Thus, if the court grants plaintiff’s motion to amend, the next step is defendant’s compulsory answer to the amended complaint. And so on and so forth,” Moeckel wrote.

Chadwick reported having investments in real estate and cryptocurrency, among other assets, which were counted by the bureau last year.

Moeckel did not respond to a request for comment. Merrimack Superior Court Judge Daniel St. Hilaire heard from both sides during a hearing last week, but has yet to issue a ruling. 

Chadwick’s business had more than 100 customers in Vermont and New Hampshire when regulators began investigating. In 2019, Chadwick reportedly began moving his clients into a complex, unsecured debt security known as REML, which utilized capital to issue mortgage loans to real estate owners. 

The fund’s bank, Credit Suisse, warned investors that REML was a potentially volatile asset that should only be bought by people who could afford to lose everything they put into the fund. Chadwick, however, told his many clients that REML was a good bet for retirees, giving them a guaranteed income with low risk, according to court records.

“[S]everal clients stated that Chadwick never told them that they could lose all of their money if they invested in REML. They said that, had they been aware of the risk of total loss, they never would have agreed to invest in REML,” the Bureau’s complaint states.

By March 2020, Chadwick had his clients heavily invested in REML, some with more than 70 percent of their savings in the risky fund. When the bottom dropped out during the COVID-19 financial crash, REML’s share price fell to nearly zero. 

Chadwick wasn’t phased by the multimillion-dollar loss for his clients, according to court records. He wanted them to keep investing.

“Chadwick recommended [in an investor memo] his clients buy back into REML and declared that ‘the risk of not owning the shares has[d] become greater than remaining liquidated,’” the complaint states.

In 2021, Chadwick split from his original investment business, Chadwick and D’Amato, and began working with his clients as an unlicensed financial advisor through Fidelity Brokerage Services, according to court records. By the end of the year, Fidelity had cut ties with Chadwick, but he continued to advise clients. 

According to the complaint, Chadwick then used the Fidelity accounts of his clients to make trades and purchases, like buying and selling cryptocurrency and other securities. Fidelity’s system flagged 27 of the accounts as suspicious due to the trading activity and shut them down, according to court records. That left his clients, many of whom were retirees on fixed incomes, locked out of their own accounts and unable to access their money. 

A group of Chadwick’s former investors filed a complaint this year with the federal Financial Industry Regulatory Authority against Fidelity, accusing the firm of ignoring red flags that allowed Chadwick to operate. The state of Vermont has already paid 21 of Chadwick’s victims a total of $339,000 for their losses through the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation’s Victim Restitution Fund.

The Granite State was one of the 10 best places to retire in the U.S, and the only New England state to crack the top 10, according to a new analysis of affordability and quality of life.

New Hampshire ranked ninth in the latest WalletHub report, well ahead of Massachusetts (19), Maine (27), Vermont (28), and Connecticut (29). Rhode Island came in last among the New England states at number 44.

While New Hampshire was not the most affordable state on the list, ranked 34 by WalletHub for senior affordability, it did rank high for quality of life and access to high-quality health care. The overall Granite State lifestyle is the main draw for people, according to Business and Economic Affairs Commissioner Taylor Caswell.

“Tourists, businesses, young families, and retirees all come to New Hampshire for our access to the outdoors, strong economy and wide array of jobs, and overall quality of life,” Caswell said.

Bedford-based financial advisor Arnold Garron said New Hampshire attracts people who are interested in pursuing new interests and activities while maintaining life in a small, friendly community.

“New Hampshire is a great place to retire with access to the ocean, lakes, and streams; colleges and universities for activities and events; close to Boston for traveling; and great access to airports and transportation. There are also activities galore: Skiing, biking, hiking, beaching, fishing, hunting, and arts. You can find it all without the hustle and bustle of major cities,” Garron said.

While New Hampshire continues to draw people based on the small-town lifestyle, recreation, and natural beauty, it is also the best financial deal for retirees in the region. Moneywise recently raked New Hampshire at 5 on its best states to retire list.

“New Hampshire boasts picturesque towns, mountains, and trails — perfect for an outdoorsy retiree who prefers a quieter kind of life. This New England state might not be the cheapest place to live in — you’ll pay high property taxes and a 5 percent tax on interest and dividends greater than $2,400 — however, it ranks well for quality of life and health care. It also has one of the lowest crime rates across the country,” they wrote.

And on Monday, RetirementLiving.com also joined the bandwagon, naming New Hampshire the second-best state (behind Florida) for retirees.

“New Hampshire is ideal for active retirees, offering beaches, lakes, mountains, cities and countryside. Health care resources are readily available even in rural areas. Seniors make up nearly 20 percent of the population, so retirees can find many peers with similar interests,” according to their analysis. And they note, “there’s no tax on retirement income, so New Hampshire’s affordability index is above average.”

Erin Mitchell with New Hampshire AARP said the state offers a lot in terms of recreation, natural beauty, and community resources that can encourage people to retire here.

“To get people to stay in New Hampshire, we need to keep focusing on safe, walkable streets, public parks, and age-friendly housing,” Mitchell said.

Sixteen communities in New Hampshire are part of AARP’s age-friendly communities’ network. Those communities keep the over 50 population in mind when planning municipal projects. The goal is to keep people in their homes, and home communities, safe and happy, she said.

Garron said New Hampshire offers retirees what they want in the so-called Four Pillars of retirement.

“In 2019, Edward Jones first partnered with Age Wave on a landmark study, The Four Pillars of the New Retirement. We have continued this research and one of the biggest insights from this study is that the majority of retirees say that all four interdependent pillars—health, family, purpose, and finances—are essential to optimal well-being in retirement,” he said.

“When I meet with my clients I ask them, ‘What is most important to you?’ Their alignment to these four pillars and their focus on fun aligns with the activities we have in New Hampshire.