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Pension Fund Board Meets, Finalizes 2025 – 2027 Strategic Plan Read the Full Press Release

Pension Fund of the Christian Church

Employer-Sponsored Retirement Products

Overview

As a church plan, Pension Fund is able to offer flexible and worry-free retirement options for employers and their employees. Our team of Area Directors will meet with you to discuss your needs and help you get started.

Individual Savings & Retirement Products

Overview

Whether you’re just starting out or closer to retirement, choose from a variety of products to help you reach your retirement and savings goals.

Program Applicants

Ministerial Relief & Assistance

Our relief programs meet the evolving needs of new, active, and retired clergy and their families to ensure all ministers and lay workers can enjoy a strong, smart, secure retirement.

Supporters & Donors

Make An Impact with a Donation

Your gifts and financial support helps ministry workers in need bridge the unexpected from now until retirement (and beyond).

Resources

Overview

Discover planning and educational tools & resources to help you navigate your financial wellness journey.

For Members & Clergy

For Members

Guides, factsheets and resources to aid you on the Road to Financial Wellness.

For Clergy

Clergy-specific resources to support your call to ministry.

Retirement Readiness

Ready to retire soon? Get answers to common retirement questions to help you prepare for the next step.

For Employers

For Employers

Hiring tip sheets, tax guides and more to help you manage your employees' benefits.

Your Money Line

Pension Fund has partnered with Pete the Planner® to provide members with access to financial guides who will help answer your tough financial questions & online tools such as calculators and eLearning courses.

Stay Connected

Employer-Sponsored Retirement Products

Overview

As a church plan, Pension Fund is able to offer flexible and worry-free retirement options for employers and their employees. Our team of Area Directors will meet with you to discuss your needs and help you get started.

Individual Savings & Retirement Products

Overview

Whether you’re just starting out or closer to retirement, choose from a variety of products to help you reach your retirement and savings goals.

Program Applicants

Ministerial Relief & Assistance

Our relief programs meet the evolving needs of new, active, and retired clergy and their families to ensure all ministers and lay workers can enjoy a strong, smart, secure retirement.

Supporters & Donors

Make An Impact with a Donation

Your gifts and financial support helps ministry workers in need bridge the unexpected from now until retirement (and beyond).

Resources

Overview

Discover planning and educational tools & resources to help you navigate your financial wellness journey.

Your Money Line

Pension Fund has partnered with Pete the Planner® to provide members with access to financial guides who will help answer your tough financial questions & online tools such as calculators and eLearning courses.

Social Security Income: How Can You Maximize Your Social Security Benefits?

Brought to you by Your Money Line

Tips for Social Security Income

Have you thought about your social security income as part of your retirement savings? Hopefully, you have, but if not, here are some strategies and things to know to help you maximize your social security benefits.

Work for at least 35 years.

One of the most important things you can do is work for at least 35 years. The Social Security Administration (SSA) totals your earnings from your 35 highest-earning years. It uses an average indexed monthly earnings formula to determine the benefit you’ll receive at your full retirement age. The more you earn during your career, the higher your social security benefits will be in retirement.

Be aware of the Social Security/Medicare gap.

You also need to be aware of the gap between 62-65 years of age when you are social security eligible but aren’t Medicare eligible yet. You can start receiving social security benefits at 62, but you must be 65 to qualify for Medicare.

Consider delaying your Social Security benefit until age 70.

If born after 1960, your full retirement age (FRA) is 67 and this is when you can start accepting social security income. However, you also have the option to delay your benefits until age 70, and can effectively earn an 8% increase in annual return on your available benefits. Figuring out whether to delay your benefits or not can be tricky because we don’t know how long we’ll live. If you expect to live a long life and have another stable source of income, like Pension Fund’s Pension Plan, delaying your benefits may be the right choice. If you have health issues or cannot work for a long time, claiming it earlier might be the right choice.

Social security benefits are complicated and seem daunting, but you want to ensure you make the right decisions for yourself and others involved. Regardless of which options you choose. It’s important to know your benefits and work with a financial advisor or other financial professional, like the Financial Guides at Your Money Line, regarding which options work best for your specific financial situation.

You can easily create your online profile and estimate your benefit at retirement. Visit https://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/ to create your online profile. You can also estimate your monthly pension at retirement on the Pension Fund Member Portal.