One day, you may wish to retire. According to the Book of Discipline, clergy must retire when they turn 72 years of age. The one question that must be asked and ultimately answered is, will you be ready? Will your finances last for 10 or 20 years in retirement? As our life expectancy continues to grow, what does that mean for your future financial state?
As part of a comprehensive benefit stragedy, the West Ohio Conference offers a robust retirement plan through Wespath Benefits and Investments. This plan consists of the Clergy Retirement Security Program (CRSP) which is an Internal Revenue Code section 403(b) retirement program available to eligible clergy of The United Methodist Church. The plan is designed to be one part of a participants’ overall retirement portfolio which also includes Social Security, the United Methodist Personal Investment Plan and Individual Retirement Accounts (IRA). CRSP consists of two pieces: a defined benefit (DB) and a defined contribution (DC). The DB provides a monthly benefit at retirement based upon years of credited service to the Church. This is what most people think of when they hear the word “pension.” The DC provides a retirement account balance established and funded by annual conferences. Please see information below regarding CRSP and how you can be retirement ready. The CRSP Summary Plan Description is also below for review.