A non-profit organization located in Indianapolis, IN, Pension Fund’s mission is “for the support of the ministry.” They support ministry by providing pensions, and retirement savings accounts for clergy and lay employees of churches and church-related colleges and organizations, as well as supporting clergy in their Ministerial Relief and Assistance program. Pension Fund help their members save for retirement, and while that is a huge aspect of financial wellness, it’s not the only one. In order to provide their members with retirement plans, Pension Fund realized they needed to fill the financial wellness gap: a software solution that connects their members to financial experts to guide them through their financial lives. Pension Fund provides retirement plan options, and Your Money Line delivers the resources and financial education to ensure the members receive a holistic financial wellness experience. Pension Fund doesn’t leave anyone behind.
Pension Fund of the Christian Church partnered with Your Money Line because their pastors were experiencing significant financial stress. Most pastors in the United States face financial challenges and don’t have access to or aren’t familiar with resources to help them. In fact, 90% of pastors feel some level of financial stress, according to the National Association of Evangelicals.
Many church industry members face issues such as living paycheck to paycheck, battling debt, and feeling the effects of increasing inflation. Also, clergy members don’t receive enough financial education, which was one challenge that Pension Fund of the Christian Church knew they could confront.
Julie Richardson, Vice President of Development at Pension Fund of the Christian Church notes that her Pension Fund colleagues recognized the financial wellness challenges the staff and the people they serve were facing.
“We know that financial stress is significant for pastors, especially when it comes to managing educational debt. We wanted to provide the kind of support that would both empower their financial decision-making and give them concrete tools for debt management and elimination, budgeting, and future-saving.”
Julie Richardson, Vice President of Development at Pension Fund of the Christian Church
Clergy members experience burnout just like any other industry. Research has shown that a lack of financial knowledge and stress over both personal and congregational finances are significant factors in clergy burnout. 76% of pastors know pastors who leave the ministry due to financial pressures, according to a study done by the National Association of Evangelicals.
The research speaks for itself; pastors, clergy, and churches are struggling financially. “Because we are committed to supporting our clergy members from their first day of seminary up to and through retirement, it was important to us to find a way to address that particular stressor,” Richardson said.
As a church plan, Pension Fund staff is not able to give financial advice, and their members may have questions they can’t answer. Because of this, they needed to find a service to provide their employees and members with answers from a trusted and credible source. Your Money Line is exactly what they needed.
Your Money Line provides Pension Fund with the resources to make its employees and clergy members more financially stable. One of the ways Pension Fund utilizes Your Money Line is requiring their Excellence in Ministry (EIM) participants to engage with our platform. However, Richardson has found that it’s easy to get them to commit once they are engaged.
Pension Fund EIM program helps reduce the financial pressure pastors face and is a part of the Lilly Endowment Inc.’s initiative to address economic challenges facing pastoral leaders.
“We desire to provide a strong, smart, and secure retirement for our members, but we also want them to be able to work on their finances prior to that so that when retirement comes, they’re able to enjoy the return on their investment of both their call to ministry and their intentional financial fitness,” Richardson said.
A few ways our Financial Guides have helped Pension Fund members is by guiding them through The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program, which is now available to members of the clergy and student loan borrowers engaged in religious-oriented work. Prior to July 1, 2021, clergy members weren’t eligible for PSLF, and so, with this recent change, our Financial Guides understand that members of clergy might need extra assistance and guidance. The program is a tricky process to navigate in general, but our guides know exactly how to steer participants through the red tape. Our Financial Guides have also discussed budgeting, debt, and payment plans to help them along their journey.
Your Money Line is a benefit for a financial group like Pension Fund because although they provide retirement plan options, they didn’t previously provide access to a holistic financial wellness program. Pension Fund chose to partner with Your Money Line because they wanted to go above and beyond for their employees and members. Through this partnership, Pension Fund fully supports its employees and members.
*Name and identifying details have been changed for anonymity
Below is real participant feedback from Pension Fund Employees and EIM participants who benefited from the Your Money Line platform.
"Your Money Line helps us make decisions that contribute to our financial security rather than making decisions based upon a sense of feast or famine. Your Money Line representatives take the time to listen to our concerns and ideas. It helps to talk through possibilities with someone who asks questions we might not have considered on our own."
Carol, real Your Money Line participant
“In ministry, we walk along with our fellow Disciples through the peaks and valleys of life. It is our calling to give words of life, affirmation, and wisdom during these moments. In the same accord, Your Money Line walks alongside pastors as we are needing to make important financial decisions in our lives. Your Money Line brings their expertise into our lives so that we can focus on our callings as pastors, spouses, family members, parents, etc.”
Jaclyn, real Your Money Line participant
"I have been blessed by Your Money Line because it has enabled important conversations in the life of my family. In ministry, we help people ask better questions instead of giving shallow answers. Similarly, Your Money Line helps pastors ask better questions about their financial situation. Your Money Line ensures that we can tell our resources what to do instead of them telling us what we can and cannot do. They help pastors with their unique situations, including student loan debt, medical bills, making budgets, preparing for a large purchase, and much more. I cannot recommend Your Money Line highly enough!”
Joe, real Your Money Line participant
“I recently had a stellar experience with Your Money Line, namely with Stacy Livingstone-Hoyte, who helped me understand what I could do to support, provide resources, and limit my liability, as I am helping a good friend improve their credit. Stacy was, first of all, knowledgeable, and second of all, prompt to follow up with additional resources by email. Third, she even called me back after a couple of days to confirm I had all the information I needed. This whole experience was wonderful. Thank you to the Pension Fund of the Christian Church for this great resource".
Bonnie, real Your Money Line participant
Your Money Line provided Pension Fund of the Christian Church with a resource crucial to their employees and clergy members. Your Money Line is a leading corporate financial wellness software solution connecting employees to personalized, confidential, and empathetic financial guidance through real people and technology. You will enroll in Stability Academy to start the Your Money Line journey. Stability Academy helps you improve financial stability in a measurable and meaningful way by determining where you are right now, where you want to go, and exactly how YML can help you get there. Our platform provides courses, assessments, videos, and guidebooks to help create a unique and individualized learning experience for each user. Along with our dashboard, we also have Financial Guides when you need a human touch. Our empathetic and experienced experts lead the way with one-on-one coaching available 5 days a week, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST, and are all Certified Financial Planners® and Accredited Financial Counselors®. They are a friendly voice through your financial journey to make tomorrow easier. Your Money Line is here to help you conquer your financial goals and challenges, decrease your anxiety around money, and tackle life’s curveballs with guidance.
