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Everyday Financial Health

Financial health is having the resources you need, confidence in your future, and an ability to live out and model generosity. Pastors who are financially healthy are likely to flourish, while those in financial peril have a proven deficit of wellbeing. You don’t have to go it alone. The Board of Benefits Services is here to help.

Fidelity NetBenefits

Fidelity is the custodian of the RCA retirement program. Through its NetBenefits website, Fidelity offers our plan participants a number of resources. From managing your account to consultations with retirement planners to a library of on-demand resources, NetBenefits should be your first stop when it comes to your financial health. 

Access Fidelity’s library: Find a comprehensive compilation of articles, interactive tools, and workshops to support your financial health and retirement preparation.

Visit Fidelity NetBenefits

From the Fidelity NetBenefits website, you can:

  • Access your portfolio: Check in on your investments, manage your funds, and find a record of your deposits, withdrawals, and distributions.
  • Update your profile: Update contact information and designate beneficiaries.

Financial counseling and coaching

Maybe you aren’t ready for a full financial planning experience. Maybe budgeting, debt, or other expenses are so stressful that it’s hard to get your head above water. LSS Financial Counseling might be the perfect choice for you. The Board of Benefits Services has partnered with LSS to offer our clergy, their spouse, and any adult children living in their household to receive up to six financial counseling sessions at no cost. 

Learn more about LSS Financial Counseling

Certified financial planners for pastors

Be confident in your future

The benefit to ministers

Here are three reasons you should jump at the chance to get your finances in order with the help of Everence:

1

The process is convenient.

Everence’s financial planners are set up to work with you completely online. From a secure web form to transfer sensitive documents to video conferencing, you’ll be paired with a planner who will do this work with you right from your own home.
2

The cost is subsidized.

BOBS is committed to making this process affordable for every pastor who wants to begin a full financial planning process. The degree to which BOBS is able to subsidize the cost changes depending on funds available. If you’d like more information about sharing the cost with BOBS, please contact us at retirement@rca.org.
3

The advice is tailored for ministers.

Everence is a faith-based organization whose certified financial planners know clergy finance inside and out. They have also met with the BOBS team to fully understand our retirement program. Their guidance will dovetail with your retirement benefits, rather than compete with them.

What’s included in financial planning

When you work with Everence, here’s what you can expect:

  • Cash flow planning: Set a smart budget and tell your money what to do, not the other way around.
  • Protection planning: Have the right insurance at the best price, to know that you aren’t paying too much, and that your family is protected.
  • Investment planning: Create an investment strategy that aligns with your values, goals, and risk tolerance.
  • Tax planning: Clergy taxes are a headache! Have confidence you are doing it right.
  • Retirement planning: Wouldn’t it be nice to know that your plan will provide you with the type of retirement you want to experience?
  • Estate planning: Having an estate plan in place helps you to care for those you leave behind, and it also allows you to be generous in bigger ways than you thought possible.
  • Charitable giving: This unique “seventh pillar” of the Everence planning process takes into account that being generous stewards of our finances is at the heart of our faith, and allows you to be as generous as possible with what God has entrusted you.

For a complete overview of process, view this brochure.

For more information or to begin the financial planning process, email bnorden@rca.org

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Housing allowance

A housing allowance is the most significant tax benefit that clergy receive. It’s important to do it right—both to maximize the tax benefit, as well as to be in compliance with federal tax code. You can claim a housing allowance whether you pay for your own housing or live in a parsonage. The EFCA has provided two worksheets for estimating a housing allowance, depending on your situation.

Once you know the amount of housing allowance you plan to claim each year, make sure that the number is recorded properly. 

Have a question?

We are here to help!

Board of Benefits Services
475 Riverside Drive, Suite 1606
New York, NY 10115
retirement@rca.org
866-221-5480