Browsing Category Housing

Keep your mortgage so you don’t lose your housing allowance and mortgage interest deduction! How many times have you heard that advice? A reader recently asked me about it. Is that really good advice? I know for most people, keeping a mortgage just for the mortgage interest deduction doesn’t make financial sense (though a lot of people do it). But you pastors have an amazing benefit in the ministerial housing allowance. It made me wonder, could the housing allowance be enough to ...

Summer is in full swing and that means house listings are skyrocketing and people are moving. This has been on my mind as our neighbors behind us just sold their house and we have yet to meet our new neighbors. Hopefully, they’ll be nice! Moving is a big undertaking. Packing your things, transporting them, figuring out the logistics of it all, and trying to make sure nothing gets dented or dinged or forgotten in the process. It’s a lot of work, ...

I recently had a friend run some reports on my website to see how people are finding me. One of the most popular things that people search for, I learned, is “minister housing allowance calculator.” Now, I’ve written a lot about the clergy housing allowance, how to take one in retirement, what to do if you take too much, and things like that. But people weren’t looking for articles about the minister housing allowance. They were looking for a calculator. They ...

The ministerial cash housing allowance is limited to the fair market rental value of a pastor’s home. Here are two different ways to calculate that.

The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals just ruled that the cash housing allowance is, indeed, constitutional. Learn more about the case, the basis for their ruling, and what you should do about it.

Airbnb is a great way to earn extra income. However, renting out part of your home affects your ability to take the ministerial housing allowance. View post

The ministerial housing allowance is one of the greatest tax benefits available to pastors and now is the time to get yours approved for 2019. View post

There are two kinds of ministerial housing allowances here in the US. The parsonage allowance is for those living in church-owned housing. The cash housing (or rental) allowance is for those who provide their own housing.   Today, I want to go deeper into the parsonage allowance. Though parsonages are slowly becoming a thing of the past, many pastors still live in them. For those pastors, it is important to understand the different features of the IRS’s parsonage allowance. View post

A brief overview of real estate market cycles, where we are now, and what we should expect in the near future. View post

A look at what a reverse mortgage is, how do they work, and when they would be used. Then, do they really deserve the terrible reputation that they have? View post