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NC Conference

Healthy Congregations and Effective Leaders in Every Place Making Disciples of Jesus Christ for the Transformation of the World

Pension

Clergy Compensation Calculator

Want to know how much to budget for your church’s pension costs?  The Clergy Compensation Calculator on the Treasurer’s Office Pension website can provide the answers you’re looking for.  This tool performs the mathematical functions of the Clergy Compensation Worksheet without interfering with official compensation reports.  Pastors, Finance Committee and SPRC members (anyone, really!) can run any number of compensation package scenarios to learn how different choices will impact the church’s pension budget line items and the pastor’s pension-related payroll withholdings.  For questions, contact JoAnna Ezuka, Benefits Coordinator, at jezuka@nccumc.org.

Trying to Make Sense of the Church Pension Plans?

Download the Clergy Pension Benefits Guide 2020 for answers to the most commonly asked questions and current years’ pension rates.  See the Pension Plan History outline for previous years’ CRSP and CPP billing rates.  Ready for 2021?  Download the Clergy Pension Benefits Guide 2021 to see plan design and cost changes coming next year.

Registration Open & Funds Available to Attend the Virtual Clergy Event: Wespath Benefits and Investments “Delivered to You”

With the pandemic still in our midst, Wespath is working to continue providing education to help clergy make informed benefit decisions. Thus, the inaugural Wespath Benefits and Investments “Delivered to You” event will bring education and five dimensions of well-being to all active clergy in their workplace/home space in October.

Wespath Benefits and Investments “Delivered to You” will be hosted on Monday and Tuesday, October 26-27, 2020, and will be two half days—(2:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. ET on Oct. 26 and 2:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. ET on Oct. 27). The event will provide information that will inspire and encourage clergy of all ages and stages in ministry.

Register for the event here.  The registration fee is $49.00, which offsets the cost of an event Care Package that will be delivered to each person, registered in advance, to help them participate fully and enjoy the event more.

Clergy are invited to apply for continuing education funds to put toward the cost of this event.  Register for the event first and then submit a receipt with your continuing education funds application.

Wespath Letter to 2020 and Future Retirees

We realize some participants in the UMC retirement investment accounts may have questions about their pending or future retirement.  Please see Wespath’s Retirement FAQs for participants for answers to key questions.

NEW EY Website Launch

EY Financial Planning Services has launched a new website—EY Navigate—to replace the previous website.

EY Navigate includes added technology and functionality, such as:

  • Direct messaging to help participants connect with their financial planners
  • New, more focused questionnaires with smaller actions participants can take to improve their financial situations
  • Account aggregation so that they can link financial accounts (checking, savings, etc.) and retirement account balances at Wespath and other providers for a more comprehensive view of their progress toward goals and cash flow
  • A new Confidence Checkup that replaces the Financial Wellness Assessment

Impact on Participants:
Accessing the new website will require participants to register, even if they are registered for the current site, to ensure security. In addition, participants who uploaded documents to their secure mailboxes on the current EY website, will need to download and save them by November 1. The documents WILL NOT BE accessible from EY Navigate. If participants need access to these documents after November 1, their EY planners will have to retrieve them manually.

UMPIP Automatic Features

The North Carolina Conference values the future financial security of its members.  To make saving for retirement easier, the NC Conference has added two automatic features to the United Methodist Personal Investment Plan (UMPIP) – automatic enrollment and automatic escalation.  To read more about these features, view the attached notice.

Accessing Retirement Funds

Considering withdrawing your retirement money to meet a current financial need? The United Methodist Personal Investment Plan (UMPIP) is designed to provide retirement income. During difficult economic times, however, participants may feel forced to access these funds to relieve immediate financial obligations. This article describes and compares two methods of withdrawing money from your UMPIP account prior to retirement.

Online Access to Your Pension Benefits

Benefits Access is the website designed to help participants in Wespath-administered retirement accounts manage their benefits and prepare for retirement.  The website offers enhanced security, tools to project pension benefits in retirement, the ability to view and update beneficiary designations, online applications for in-service loans and post-retirement benefit elections, electronic delivery for statements and Hark! newsletters, and other educational resources.