Paul McWilliams is a pastor’s kid turned financial advisor specializing in helping pastors and churches make wise financial decisions that align with their mission. On April 30, 2026, President Trump signed an Executive Order creating TrumpIRA.gov, a new federal platform…
Whether or not you ever want to stop working, it is important to plan and prepare for retirement just in case your health or your spouse force you to slow down at some point. A lot of people say that…
Pastors who save into their church’s retirement plan are eligible to withdraw some of that money as a tax-free housing allowance in retirement. It’s a great benefit to have. Unfortunately, a lot of church retirement plans have investments with higher…
This post mentions some specific investments. They are only examples and not an endorsement of those investments. Perhaps the most difficult, or at least most intimidating, thing about saving for retirement isn’t finding money to set aside, but rather choosing…
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…
Back in 2017, the president timed things just right so that I spent the first day of my family’s Christmas vacation researching the tax reform bill and how it affects pastors. Now, almost two years to the day, he signed…
It was 25 degrees Fahrenheit when I took my kids to the bus stop this morning. That’s freezing! Even though there were kids there in shorts and without jackets, for someone from Southern California like me, that’s a bit too…
Today’s post was inspired by one of my loyal readers who had a very frustrating time trying to figure out the answer to that simple question. Unfortunately, I’m too late to come to his rescue, but my hope is that…
Here in the Pacific Northwest, it is strawberry season. For most of us, that means we get to chow down on juicy berries that make us avoid the bland store-bought strawberries for several months afterward. For my daughter, it means…
If you give to charity and have an IRA, you may be able to save on taxes by doing a qualified charitable distribution.
If you’re a pastor, you know that your ministerial housing allowance is perhaps the biggest financial benefit of being in the ministry. It allows you to avoid paying taxes on all of your housing expenses, including things like cable television and…
It can be hard to save for retirement. Especially for pastors who need to because they’ve opted out of Social Security. A lot of big denominations have pensions, but what about independent pastors? Non-denominational pastors usually don’t have workplace retirement…