R-10 and Counting is a comprehensive retirement planning seminar sponsored by the Florida United Methodist Foundation that helps clergy who are retiring within 10 years consider the steps they should take to be financially and emotionally healthy in retirement.
The popular, annual seminar provides information critical to helping clergy gain a better understanding of what to expect in retirement. Topics include how to remain physically healthy and active, clergy taxes, Social Security, pension and benefits, financial planning, health insurance, housing issues, estate planning and more.
Benefits educators from Wespath Benefits and Investments, the denomination’s pension and health benefits ministry, provide information to help attendees anticipate their retirement income and stay financially healthy in retirement. Specialists in Social Security issues, estate planning, clergy taxes, housing, risk mitigation and long-term care insurance share tips that help participants make the most of their options. Participants also have an opportunity to meet one-on-one with a Wespath benefits educator on a first-come, first-served basis.
“I learned so much it made my head spin. It’s a weight off my shoulders, and I feel well prepared. Every time someone got up to speak, it rung a bell about something.”
-Rev. Owen Stricklin, R-10 attendee
Overall, the seminar strives to help clergy gain a better understanding of the realities of retirement.
“It is indeed a time of change and opportunity,” said the Rev. Tom Marston, a retired clergyperson, former Florida United Methodist Foundation president and a past seminar presenter. “A time where new growth will occur if you open your minds to the possibilities and if you understand that probably a year after you retire, you … won’t be doing what you thought you were going to be doing.”
And retirement is not what it used to be. “We are healthier and more active as we move into retirement than were our parents and grandparents,” Marston said. “It is not a time just for sitting and rocking. … Retirement should be about active living.”
