I don’t know about your neighborhood, but in mine, real estate is on fire. Houses that usually take several months to sell are now under contract within a matter of days. This sudden housing boom has caught a lot of people by surprise, especially since everywhere else you look the economy is struggling under the weight of COVID-19. However, with interest rates at record lows and people spending a lot more time at home with their families, it does make sense. In addition to the houses on my street selling quickly, I have also been getting questions from readers who are jumping into the fray and buying homes. The big question for pastors is, Does a down payment qualify for the housing allowance? The answer is yes, but with a few caveats.  A Housing Allowance Must Always Be Pre-Designated First of all, the minister’s housing allowance is always proactive, never retroactive. It must ...

If you pay any attention to the news (and I don’t blame you if you don’t), you’ve probably heard that Congress is suddenly eager to pass another coronavirus stimulus bill after months without progress. Why the sudden rush? I doubt it’s to get on Santa’s good list this year. It’s much more likely that they’re feeling pressure because a number of key provisions of the original CARES Act are set to expire at the end of this month.  The CARES Act is the $2 trillion stimulus that was passed in March, back when everyone thought life would be back to normal by fall. Boy, were we wrong! Because they didn’t realize things would drag on as long as they have, Congress set a number of key benefits for individuals to expire on December 31, which is less than 4 weeks away. If nothing changes between now and then, these benefits will ...

Many pastors don't have a solid understanding of how Social Security works and don't think they need to because they have opted out. However, there are some things everyone should understand about Social Security, even pastors. View post

Whether or not you believe that Joe Biden won the election, let’s set aside politics and talk about taxes. Because there’s no way I’m going to go there. I don’t care who you voted for or who you think will be president next year, today we are going to talk about Biden’s tax proposals. I should also remind you that US Presidents are not dictators and it is Congress that has to make the laws, so just because this is what Biden wants to do doesn’t mean it will actually happen. Now that I have all of those disclaimers out of the way, let’s get to the fun part. Taxes. How does Joe Biden want to tweak the US tax code? Changes That Might Affect You The good news is that most of Biden’s tax increases will not affect the average American, at least directly. Of course, raising taxes on business can lead ...

I am officially a homeschool mom. While my kids have been home since March, I decided to officially cut ties with the local elementary school and go out on my own this fall. And I can honestly say that I have had no regrets whatsoever. So far in third grade math, my daughter has learned how to count coins and different kinds of bills. This week, my daughter is going to be learning how to write a check. It is all very helpful (her older brother never learned to write a check in school!), but it isn't enough. Kids learn in school the difference between a dime and a nickel, but they don't learn what to do with them. That's our job as parents. Some schools now offer financial classes, which you really should encourage your kids to take, but learning about compounding interest is still only a piece of ...

Despite being a hot topic over the last couple of decades, the cost of health care is still a major problem for American families. Healthcare costs tripled between 2001 and 2016, and the average non-elderly family now pays $8,200, or 11% of their income, each year. That is a national average where many people have employer-provided health insurance. Many churches cannot afford to pay as much of their pastors’ premiums or even offer health insurance at all. If you are without health insurance, it is open enrollment right now for the Affordable Care Act and you can sign up right now on the national exchange. You can also read about your other health insurance options here. Even with insurance, most of us don’t have an extra $8,000+ just laying around for medical costs. It’s something we should be saving for on a regular basis so we can be prepared when something does ...

A big part of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, legislation was the creation of the Marketplace where people without access to a workplace health insurance plan could shop for and purchase an individual policy. This was good news for many independent pastors because a lot of small churches simply cannot afford to offer health care benefits.  How Obamacare Subsidies Work Not only did Obamacare create the Marketplace but it also created government subsidies, or tax credits, to help people pay their premiums. Subsidy eligibility is based on income, beginning at 400% of the federal poverty level. For example, the federal poverty level for a family of 4 is $26,200 so if a 4-person family’s income is $104,800 or less, they should be eligible for a subsidy. Those at or below the poverty level are usually eligible for Medicaid instead of subsidies. Click on the link above to see the federal poverty ...

I’ve always assumed I had good credit based on my behaviors, but I never knew my credit score. Then, we bought a house 6 years ago and had to apply for a mortgage. The mortgage broker was downright giddy when he pulled our credit reports and got our scores. He excitedly told me that he could count on one hand the people that he had worked with with an 800+ score. Yay, I’m a celebrity in his world! View post

Do you feel like your money is all gone before you have a chance to spend it on what really matters to you? Here are 4 steps that you can take to ensure that your spending habits match up with your values. View post

How much do you have saved for retirement? Do you think it will be enough? A quarter of American adults have absolutely nothing saved for retirement. This is why you may have heard talk of our nation's retirement crisis. Most seniors have not accumulated enough money to live on in retirement. This is an even bigger problem among pastors since many have exempted themselves from Social Security. For most people, the majority of their retirement savings are in a workplace retirement plan, like a 401(k) or 403(b). However, many independent pastors and employees of small businesses have no workplace retirement program available to them. How are they supposed to save for retirement? What Is An IRA? If you don’t have access to a retirement plan at work, your only tax-advantaged option is an individual retirement account (IRA). IRAs are available to anyone with an income and their spouse. IRAs are tax-advantaged because depending ...