Lutheran (EL
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Be rooted in Christ!
Posted on 10/12/2010 10:38:29 AM PDT by SmithL
Most Americans have watched their retirement plans suffer over the past two years. But the 500 members of the Augsburg Fortress pension plan have had it worse than most.
The publishing arm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) folded its plan in December, forcing beneficiaries to accept a significantly reduced income. The announcement, as well as similar ones from other church-affiliated organizations, has opened debate on how such pension plans are regulated.
As a church plan, Augsburg Fortress's is not insured by the federal agency that insures private pension plans. The 1974 pension law's exemption for churches has expanded to include church-affiliated nonprofits, such as hospitals, social service agencies, and publishers. Now the IRS is considering limits on such organizations' ability to convert to church plans.
(Excerpt) Read more at christianitytoday.com ...
fyi
That doesn't even come close. All they get is a small pennies on the dollar one time payout as the fund liquidates itself.
And the magnanimous liberal ELCA bosses, devoted as they are to "social justice," has refused all pleas for assistance, saying "tough sh*t, guys. Not our problem."
I used to belong to the ELCA (or one of its congregations, anyway) and they seemed to believe that the members had bottomless pockets and could be tapped forever. The level of giving was extraordinarily high, something like $2,500 per family in 1990, but their comes a time when the well runs dry. They ran the church as a cross between a social club and a social welfare agency.
Meanwhile the retirees under the ELCA Pension plan suffered a 9 per cent reduction in their monthly payments this year; they will have another 9 per cent reduction in 2011 and yet one more 9 per cent reduction in 2012.
At the same time, the pension assessment on congregations has increased—six per cent last year adding a line for “retiree support” and 8 per cent this year for survivor benefits, which previously had been bundled with the basic pension assessment.
Someone should be asking tough questions but so far, the only sounds are crickets....
* as of August 19, AD 2009, a liberal protestant SECT, not part of the holy, catholic and apostolic CHURCH.
Be rooted in Christ!
The gross mismanagement of the ELCA Pension system may be one reason why the Board of Pensions has been very lenient in permitting congregations departing from the ELCA for the Lutheran Congregations in Mission for Christ (LCMC) to continue to participate in their plan.
They need the $$$.
And the magnanimous liberal ELCA bosses, devoted as they are to "social justice," has refused all pleas for assistance, saying "tough sh*t, guys. Not our problem."I know absolutely nothing about the demographics of the AF retirees, but based on the ELCA's treatment of them, I'd bet there are an awful lot of white males affected by this.
Right. From their perspective everything is the GOVERNMENT’S problem. The fund managers aren’t to blame. ELCA leadership isn’t to blame. You are for not voting for liberal statist politicians.
From the article:
“The publishing arm of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) folded its plan in December, forcing beneficiaries to accept a significantly reduced income.”
Wait till all the “beneficiaries” of the preaching arm of ELCA find out how significantly reduced their eternal income is.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.