Compass

Compass is available to bishops and clergy with full-time appointments to the UMC who are members of annual conferences. Part-time clergy may be eligible based on annual conference choices.

Compass is an account-based plan with shared responsibility between clergy and the UMC to build retirement savings during the clergy’s active ministry.

  Church/Conference Contributions

There are three types of Church/Conference contributions:

*2026 amount: increases 2% annually ($5 increments)

Plan sponsor contributions make up the directed balance of the clergy’s retirement account. This balance is managed by LifeStage Investment Management, per plan rules.

  Personal Contributions

Personal contributions are a critical component of Compass. Clergy should consider contributing 4% of their plan compensation early in their career to reap the benefits of long-term investment growth, qualify for the full matching UMC contributions and experience tax benefits (with before-tax personal contributions)

By making personal contributions of at least 4% of their compensation, clergy receive the full matching contribution—resulting in more dollars invested toward their retirement.

Personal contributions comprise the flexible balance of Compass. Clergy can choose to have LifeStage Investment Management manage the investment of this balance or self-manage the investments.

Compass provides for matching contributions on qualified student loan payments made by clergy so that student debt doesn’t stand in the way of saving for retirement.

In general, the plan treats clergy’s student loan payments as if they were personal contributions. The plan sponsor provides a match of up to 4% of compensation as if such payments had been clergy personal contributions to the plan.

To receive this match, clergy must periodically certify how much they made in student loan payments.

In retirement, Compass provides two kinds of retirement income:

The directed balance is distributed as monthly income through Wespath’s award-winning LifeStage Retirement Income program based on clergy elections.

Clergy have access to 100% of their flexible balance at retirement. They can elect LifeStage Retirement Income to create monthly income or take distributions in retirement as they see fit.