the ten dollar club By D. Ray Lewis   Join the $10.00 Club today by contacting the Free Will Baptist Board of Retirement and Insurance at (877) 767-7RET.

AT THE VERY HEART OF the Board of Retirement is our motto (taken from Psalm 78:72), "Serving those who serve others with the integrity of our hearts and the skillfulness of our hands." Thirty-eight years ago the National Association adopted the Board of Retirement as a national agency to serve the denomination’s retired ministers. The original purpose was three-fold: to provide for a minister's family in the event of his death, to furnish a regular income in case a minister should be permanently and totally disabled before age 65, and to insure income for the minister during retirement years.

After all these years, our purpose has not changed. It has been expanded, however, to include anyone who receives a taxable income from a Free Will Baptist Church or agency. This includes ministers and non-ministerial employees—any full time, part time (at least 20 hours per week), or bi-vocational employee.

Whether you are a pastor, teacher, office worker, or a member of the maintenance staff, you have an opportunity to invest in your future.

The decision to start investing for your future could be one of the best you can make for your church, your family, and for yourself. We want to help you gather the right amount of savings in order to live comfortably through your retirement years. The key is to start early and be consistent in maintaining your plan.

If the Lord tarries, and we live long enough, we will all go through two distinct stages in our lives. We all enjoy productive years followed by years when our economic productivity will be reduced or cease entirely. For most, this occurs at retirement. Therefore, it is critical to prepare financially for those times in the future when our earned income will decrease or cease.

Financial planners suggest that personal contributions to your retirement account each year equal a minimum of 5% of your salary. This should be in addition to any amount your employer may provide.
Many younger ministers and lay employees think that the recommended 5% personal contribution is too hard to do all at once. It is difficult to convince many young people to invest in a retirement account when they have trouble simply paying the monthly bills, making ends meet, or dealing with life’s little emergencies. When paying for student loans and the note on the new car take precedent over buying groceries, investing in the future sounds like a foreign language. However, it is those early years that can make the greatest difference in retirement.

We want to help you! Our newest endeavor, the $10 Club makes it easy for you to start building for the future. Begin by contributing at least $10 of your salary each month to your account with the Free Will Baptist Board of Retirement. As a club member, you will receive a Salary Reduction Agreement every year accompanied by a reminder to increase your contribution by at least $10. Over the next few years, you can increase contributions until you reach or surpass the goal of 5%.

We all know that $10 per month will not provide an adequate retirement, but let me share an amazing fact with you. If a 25-years-old joins the $10 Club and contributes $10 each month for 40 years, and never does any more than that (at our average rate of return, 8.68%), the account will grow to $41,004.02. Not enough to retire on, but not bad for a $4,800 investment.

Churches, if you aren’t contributing to your staff’s retirement, let me encourage you to start now by matching their $10 monthly contribution to their retirement account. Your concern will speak volumes. Most of us need some encouragement to save for retirement. Matching contributions provide that incentive.

And now the best part! If you join the $10 Club by opening a new account with the Board of Retirement, we will make a one-time $25 contribution to the account.

Don’t put off getting started. The Free Will Baptist Pension Plan is a great program. It is my goal to see every Free Will Baptist pastor and employee provided for adequately throughout retirement. Join the $10.00 Club today by contacting the Board of Retirement and Inbsuracne at (877) 767-7RET. We want to serve you.

D. Ray Lewis is the general director of the Free Will Baptist Board of Insurance and Retirement.