Webinar: 'Live From Wespath'
A new virtual clergy education experience, "Live From Wespath," that will take place on Wednesday, May 17. This no-cost, four-hour event will feature information and insights about benefits, well-being and investments from Wespath to help clergy better navigate their daily lives and the general church environment. Registration coming.
Accountable Reimbursements
| Long form | Short form |
Discretionary Funds
Extension Ministry
EY Financial Planning
Whether you’re new to the Church, or 30 years into your career or ministry, finances play a significant role in how you live — today and in retirement. You may have managed your own finances, but it’s a good idea to make sure you are on the right track by speaking with a financial professional. Wespath Benefits and Investments (Wespath) offers confidential, objective financial counseling at no charge* to eligible participants** from EY, formerly known as Ernst & Young.
EY financial planners have special training in topics important to participants, including Wespath-administered plans and programs, and the clergy housing allowance.
* Costs for these services are included in Wespath’s administrative expenses that are paid for by the funds.
** Financial planning services are available to active participants and surviving spouses with an account balance in Wespath-administered plans, and to terminated and retired participants with an account balance of at least $10,000.
| At a Glance | Website |
To speak to a financial planner, call 1-800-360-2539 (Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.)
Housing and Tax Ramifications
| Clergy Housing Allowance Explained | Video |
Ministerial Compensation Report
Moving Procedures
Retirement
Every year the NTC Board of Pension and Health Benefits sponsors a Retirement Benefits Seminar for all clergy in November. Representatives from the Wespath as well as a local CPA are present to provide information on pensions, health insurance in retirement (OneExchange) and taxes.
For questions, contact Shirley Miller at 972-526-5008.
Housing Allowance Resolutions
| 2022 | 2021 |
| 2020 | 2019 |
| 2018 | 2017 |
| 2016 | 2015 |
| Exclusion Worksheet |
Resources
| Eligibility and Process | Planning Resources |
Via Benefits
Wespath’s Center for Health partners with Willis Towers Watson’s Via BenefitsTM, one of the nation’s leading providers of health care solutions for Medicare-eligible retirees. The Via Benefis program offers assistance in selecting Medicare supplemental health coverage for eligible retirees, spouses and certain disabled participants using individual Medicare supplement plan markets. Via Benefits provides a portal to Medicare supplemental plans available from more than 90 health insurers (“carriers”) nationwide, as well as administration for tax-advantaged Health Reimbursement Accounts (HRAs) from which retirees can pay their Medicare supplement premiums.
| At a Glance | FAQs |
Wespath Retirement Videos
| Online Application Overview | Begin Your Benefits the Easy Way |
| Get Guidance the Easy Way |
Social Security
| Reasons not to opt out | Opting out |
Student Loan Forgiveness Program
For clergy members and other employees of not-for-profit organizations engaged in faith-based work, recent changes to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) Program might remind them of the Cinderella fairytale. But the opportunity only lasts “until the stroke of midnight,” or in this case until October 31 to take advantage of the limited-time waiver.
While initially clergy and others were excluded from the PSLF Program because “religious instruction, worship services, or any form of proselytizing” didn’t count toward the full-time work requirement, the U.S. Department of Education, which administers the program, reversed the exclusion effective July 1, 2021. The Department of Education then issued a limited waiver of the “sometimes-onerous provisions for PSLF qualification,” according to NerdWallet.com.
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