It's easy to get so caught up in our work, focusing on others and enjoying life today that we forget about retirement. Especially when we're young, retirement seems so far off, we sometimes say, "I'll get to that later." But "later" has a way of sneaking up on us!

That's why the Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church is a plan sponsor of Wespath's United Methodist Personal Investment Plan (UMPIP). This program allows you to make optional personal contributions to your UMPIP by payroll deduction and provides you with one important piece of your overall retirement portfolio.

Learn more about UMPIP

Who is eligible?

If you're an active TAC clergy appointed 3/4 or full-time to a TAC local church or TAC-responsible Extension Ministry, you're automatically eligible on your first day of appointment. Other Extension Ministers are eligible if their employer is a UMPIP plan sponsor.

Clergy Personal Contributions to UMPIP

The UMPIP is a Defined Contribution (DC) retirement plan and is subject to the rules for Internal Revenue Code 403(b)(9) retirement plans.

  • You can contribute to your UMPIP account through convenient payroll deductions. You can specify a flat dollar amount or a percentage of your compensation. You can also roll over money into your UMPIP account from most retirement plans and IRAs. You are immediately 100% vested in all contributions to your account.

  • In order to make personal contributions to your UMPIP, complete a UMPIP Contribution Election Form.  Complete Parts 1-5 of the form, have your church payroll administrator complete part 6, and submit the form directly to Wespath as indicated on the last page of the form.  Merely indicating a UMPIP contribution amount in your salary sheet is not sufficient since salary sheets are not sent to Wespath. 

  • Upon receipt of the UMPIP Contribution Election Form, Wespath will invoice your church for your monthly UMPIP contribution amount, and your church needs to remit your UMPIP contribution directly to Wespath each month.  The TAC Benefits Office does not draft for clergy personal UMPIP contributions in our monthly church Pension drafts.

  • You have the following three options for your UMPIP contributions:
    1. Before-Tax or tax-deferred contributions reduce your taxable income at the time the contributions are made. Taxes will be paid on both the contributions and earnings at the time of distribution in retirement.

    2. Roth contributions are after-tax contributions which do not reduce your taxable income at the time contributions are made. Contributions are not taxable at distribution in retirement, since taxes were paid at the time of contribution. Earnings on Roth contributions are qualified, or tax-free at distribution, if your first Roth contribution was made at least five years prior to distribution and you are 59½ or older, permanently disabled, or deceased.

    3. After-Tax contributions do not reduce your taxable income at the time contributions are made. Contributions are not taxable at distribution in retirement, since taxes were paid at the time of contribution. Earnings are taxable at distribution.               

  • You direct how your account is invested among various investment fund options. 

  • You can monitor your retirement benefits via your online Benefits Access account at benefitsaccess.org, or you can speak to a Wespath representative at 1-800-851-2201 between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. CT, Monday through Friday. If you have not set up your Benefits Access account, click on New User Registration at the link above.

  • You can take hardship withdrawals and loans from your account if necessary.

  • Generally, if you withdraw money from your account before age 59½, you will owe a tax penalty in addition to any regular income tax you may owe.

  • You can take a lump-sum distribution of your account, a partial lump sum or cash installments.

  • Individual needs to contact Wespath at 1-800-851-2201 in regard to terms and conditions of hardship withdrawals and loans, and any other withdrawals.

  • If you have questions, please contact Patricia Goforth-Rakes, Senior Pensions and Retiree Health Benefits Specialist, at 713-533-3702 or .  

Clergy Appointment Changes

  • A clergy who has an appointment change to a new TAC local church no longer needs to submit a new Contribution Election Form as your optional personal contributions to your UMPIP will continue at your new appointment. Make sure that the payroll administrator at your new church is aware of your UMPIP contribution amount and type.

  • If you are not currently making personal contributions to your UMPIP and would like to start, you must complete a UMPIP Contribution Election Form at your new church appointment and provide it to your church payroll administrator. Follow the directions above for completing the UMPIP Contribution Election Form.

Clergy CRSP Matching Contribution

  • Clergy who make personal contributions to their UMPIP will receive a dollar-for-dollar match up to a maximum of 1% of their Total Pension Plan Compensation specified on their salary sheets.

  • This match will be paid for out of TAC pension reserves rather than by your church, and the match will be added to your Defined Contribution (DC) account. 

  • Clergy are highly encouraged to make personal contributions into their UMPIP over and above the 1% amount required for the DC match. 

TAC "Over and Above" UMPIP Contributions

  • Your church makes a 1% “over and above” contribution into your United Methodist Personal Investment Plan account.  In addition, in 2018 – 2024 the TAC is making an additional 2% “over and above” contribution into your UMPIP out of TAC Pension Reserves for a total of 3%. 

  • The 3% “over and above” UMPIP contributions are not part of the required CRSP program, and the TAC is the only conference in the denomination making these additional UMPIP contributions for their clergy.

  • The 3% “over and above” UMPIP contributions are non-matching, meaning that you are not required to contribute personally to receive these additional contributions. The “over and above” UMPIP contributions paid out of Pension Reserves are subject to renewal each year based on pension reserve assets and Annual Conference approval.

Unsure about investing?

You don't have to be a Wall Street insider to make sound investment decisions.

  • Active participants, surviving spouses, and terminated and retired participants (retirees with an account balance greater than $10,000) can receive valuable investing and financial planning guidance from Ernst & Young Financial Planning Services (formerly Ernst & Young) at no charge. Just call 1-800-360-2539 between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. CT, Monday through Friday.

  • LifeStage Investment Management Service is a free Wespath investment tool that makes investment recommendations based on your age, risk tolerance and other factors.

The importance of saving for your retirement

Even if you participate in a pension plan, you should be investing in the UMPIP for your future.

  • People are living much longer and have more active lives in retirement than they used to—which also means they need more money for retirement than they used to.

  • Virtually all pension plans (including ours) are designed with the assumption that you'll also save for retirement on your own.

  • By the time you retire, Social Security benefits may not cover as much of your expenses as you think.

  • The sooner you begin saving, the longer your account has to grow through the compounding of investment earnings.