A rule-of-thumb that many have used to plan for retirement is that an individual or family will need 70% of their pre-retirement income to sustain the quality of life in their retirement years. That was the conclusion of The Center for Retirement Research at Boston College as they sought a proper income replacement amount.1 Barry S. Warner, CEO of Informed Family Financial […]
Over the recent past, I have had the opportunity to have many conversations with a cross section of people about their individual financial situations. That is not unexpected when you are serving as the CEO/Administrator of a Pension Plan, served for more than a decade in the financial services industry, and in ministry. One of the primary questions asked is, “Am I (Will I be) in a […]
The relationship between Social Security and those serving in ministry has been a difficult and confusing one. Should ministers opt out of Social Security or not? Until 1951, those serving in nonprofit organizations were not allowed to participate in the government sponsored program.
In that year things changed, and ministers were given the option of entering the Social Security system. Unfortunately, […]
In 2015, a survey was commissioned to study the personal and congregational financial situations of more than 4,000 pastors across the USA. The results were, in a word, alarming. Ninety-two percent identified a lack of retirement savings as a major personal concern. Thirty percent reported having absolutely no personal savings, either emergency or retirement. Seventy-six percent knew others who had left the ministry […]
The defined benefit pension plan was once the gold standard of retirement benefits. It was offered by the best employers, sought by virtually every employee, and the center of many difficult contract negotiations. “There once was a time when…you could expect to be rewarded for your loyalty and hard work with a gold watch and a steady stream of checks […]
Harkening back to the days of childhood (some 5 decades plus ago), there was a common theme among the families of our neighborhood. Our neighborhood was eclectic, including textile mill laborers, small business owners, school teachers and principals, salesmen in local stores, as well as managers and owners of textile mills. Parents ranged from high school dropouts to graduates of Duke University.
However, there was a common vision […]
I have found many questions suggested about retirement planning. Where will you want to live in retirement (beach, where you call home now, the desert)? Do you intend to continue working? How much will your hobby activities cost each month? Will you be financially assisting children, grandchildren, or other family members? Do you, or your spouse, have health issues requiring treatment […]
On June 7, Michael Fischer asked, “How Prepared for Retirement Are American Workers?”1 According to the 2017 Aegon Retirement Readiness Survey, the American public compares favorably among fifteen nations spanning Europe, Asia, Australia, and the Americas. Ranking second behind only India, U.S. workers exhibited, “a medium level of readiness.”2
Still, there were challenging statistics reported throughout the survey. While 89% of Americans […]
On the Christian Churches Pension Plan Facebook page, we recently shared advice from GuideStone Financial Services noting the risks ministers accept when they opt out of Social Security.1 One minister responded, “I opted out many years ago when the thinking was that Social Security would not be around anyway. I was advised by my CPA who specialized in […]