Principal Financial Group—Account Login
Online Payment System—Login
Online Payment System—Set-up
Online Payment System Info
WPF utilizes the services of Stewardship Technology Inc for making payments to a participant’s account on a regular basis. To get your account started, click on the First-Time Users button and add your basic information, employee information, the employer bank account and frequency of payments. Once the initial setup is complete, you can let the system process your payments and receive a confirmation email when the transaction has completed.
If you are a Returning User and adding a new member to your current list of employees, an enrollment form MUST be completed and mailed or faxed to WPF before the contribution can be processed. If he/she is already a member, please do not have them complete another form.
For enrollment forms, please download Enrollment Form (includes Beneficiary Form) or the Principal Financial Group Custom Enrollment Kit (with Enrollment Forms) under Forms on this site.
wpf@wesleyan.org
PHONE
Toll-Free: 800.595.4131
Office: 317.774.3954
Fax: 317.774.3955
2019 YEAR-END PROCESSING
Withdrawals due Dec 13
Contributions due Dec 20
PFG YE Blackout Jan 1-15
KEEPING YOU INFORMED
We now wait to hear the ruling which has been in the courts for several months. If the court upholds the ruling of the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, which ruled the housing exclusion unconstitutional, the matter could be appealed to the US Supreme Court. However, there is no guarantee the Supreme Court would review the matter. (This court case does not impact the housing benefits for ministers living in parsonages provided by churches.)
As further developments arise, we will keep you posted on this site.
ENROLLING AN EMPLOYEE INTO WESLEYAN PENSION FUND:
-ALL employees are eligible to participate in WPF – both lay and clergy staff.
-Give Enrollment Forms or PFG Custom Enrollment Kit to employee (on website under “Forms”). If there is an agreement between the employer and employee to also have a salary reduction voluntary employee (EE) contribution, you will need to sign the form in Section C. Fax or mail completed forms to WPF. If a new employee is already a member of WPF, please do not have him/her complete another enrollment form, just give us any updated information.
-The WPF Summary Plan Description is a document you should suggest to your new employees for an understanding of the Plan policies. It is available in several places on our website.
-Begin Contributions. Enrollments are not processed until a contribution from the ministry is received by WPF. We recommend and prefer receiving contributions through the Online Payment System available through our website. Setup your account by clicking the “First-Time Users” button. You’ll need basic contact information plus bank account routing numbers, employee names and social security numbers. (If paying by check, please mail it with a completed Remittance form, available on the website under “Forms.”)
-WPF recommends contributing an amount equal to 12% of the employee’s gross salary. Salary is equal to cash salary plus housing. If the employee is provided a parsonage, the value used should be the taxable year-end amount. A portion of the employer contribution totaling 1% of the gross salary is used to purchase disability and life insurance for the employee and for such other purposes as the Board of Pensions may determine. The rest is invested in the Plan account.
OTHER TIPS:
Exit Interviews. Remind the outgoing employee about their pension funds. They will need to keep WPF informed of contact information changes. Lay personnel can access their employee (EE) funds one year after job termination date and in five years for employer (ER) funds. They will no longer have the insurance benefits in the Plan. Clergy members can only access their funds if they file/surrender their credentials with the General Secretary’s office of The Wesleyan Church World Headquarters and then it’s five years from the date of the vault receipt. ALL participants may access their funds at the age of 62. *Also see “Employee Job Termination.”
Employee Job Termination. When an employee leaves their job and processes a Lump Sum Distribution for the balance of their funds, which closes their account, they are committing to not returning to a job that would require a future enrollment in WPF. If they plan to seek a position in another ministry where WPF is utilized, they must leave their funds intact.
Employer (ER) and Employee (EE) Funds. When adding employees to your Online Payment System account or using a Remittance form to accompany a check for contributions, be sure to mark the correct option for posting. ER funds are contributions paid by the ministry. (Insurance premiums are paid from these funds.) EE funds are contributions made from voluntary salary-reduced funds of the employee. If the funds are not posted correctly, it can effect the employee’s insurance coverage.
Year-End Contributions. All Employer (ER) and Employee (EE) contributions are due into WPF by December 20 to have them credited to their accounts in the current year.
Year-End at Principal Financial Group (PFG). The first two-three weeks in January are blackout dates for Principal while they process year-end. Contributions to accounts and withdrawals from accounts are put on hold during that time. The Annual Statements are usually sent by the end of January or first week of February. If you want your contributions to show up in the current year statements, those must be sent in by the third week of December. If your employees need to withdraw funds and want them before the end of January, they need to have their forms in by the second week of December. (See dates under Office Info.)
-For information on Voluntary Salary-Reduction (EE contributions), contribution limits and housing allowance for ministers, see the “Plan Benefits and Information” section on this website.
-FAQ-Frequently Asked Questions Tip Sheet:
- When can I access my funds? – What if I leave my job?
- Why am I not seeing the total contribution in my PFG online account?
- Can I give personally to my pension?
- Isn’t 4-47487 my account number?
- What about forms and payments?
-FORMS: Available for download on our website under “FORMS” or we can email or mail them. We do not recommend emailing completed forms to WPF as email is not secure. Our contact information is available on the forms.
-ONLINE PAYMENTS: All District Offices should now be on the Online Payment System as an example for their churches and to help answer questions their local church treasurers might have.
-PORTAL USAGE: We use The Wesleyan Church Portal to check ministerial credential status, to find local church leaders and email addresses. Please help us by keeping the Portal continually updated.
FORMS
-Downloadable forms
-Completed forms faxed or mailed
-WPF does not recommend unsecured email to send completed forms
-Allow 7-10 business days for processing withdrawal of funds
Pension team.
Craig Dunn
CEO
Bob Haymond
Director of Finance
Debra Levite
Director of Administration & Benefits
INVESTMENTS
To begin, simply select the Target Date Retirement Portfolio that most closely matches your projected retirement date. Over time your portfolio allocations will automatically shift from being more equity-oriented to more fixed-income oriented thereby becoming more conservative to protect your capital as your retirement date approaches.
PLAN BENEFITS & INFORMATION
The Plan is a church retirement income account program described in section 403(b)(9) of the Internal Revenue Code. The Internal Revenue Code permits denominations and churches to set up retirement plans designed to provide current tax savings on plan contributions and plan earnings to be paid in the form of pension benefits during retirement. The Plan provides tax savings, while at the same time providing you with investment vehicles through which your retirement funds can grow.
For enrollment forms, please download Enrollment Form (includes Beneficiary Form) or the Principal Financial Group Custom Enrollment Kit (with Enrollment Forms) under FORMS on this site.
Employer Contributions – Your ministry employer is strongly encouraged to contribute an amount equal to 12% of your gross salary. Salary is equal to cash salary plus housing. If your employer provides a parsonage, the value used should be the taxable year-end amount. A portion of the employer contribution totaling 1% of your gross salary is used by WPF to purchase disability and death protection for you and for such other purposes as the WPF board may from time-to-time determine. The rest is invested in your account in the Plan.
Salary Reduction Contributions – These are contributions made by you by means of payroll salary reduction. This type of contribution allows you to contribute a certain portion of your compensation to the Plan on a pre-tax basis. This type of contribution reduces your current taxable income by the amount of your contribution, saving you current tax dollars. Non-ordained/licensed employees must pay Social Security taxes on their salary reduction contributions.
2019 Contribution Limits:
- Salary Reduction of $19,000
- Over 50 Catch-up of $6,000
- 15 years or more service in the ministry of $3,000 ($15,000 lifetime max)
It is possible to contribute up to $28,000 for 2019 if you are eligible for items #2 and #3. Review the Summary Plan Description for further details on limits and examples.
If you are an active or retired minister, a portion or all of your annual pension may be designated as available for housing allowance, pursuant to Internal Revenue Service Ruling 75-22. However, the amount actually excludable as housing allowance cannot exceed:
- The fair rental value of the furnished home plus the cost of utilities, furnishings and maintenance; or
- The actual expenses of operating a home; or
- The amount designated by WPF as a housing allowance.
As a retired minister, pension distributions are NOT subject to SECA tax.
To review the latest housing allowance information, please see Preparing Tax Returns for Clergy, a booklet provided for easy review and downloading in our Resources section below.
The Extended Payment Form is to be completed for a monthly (or quarterly, semi-annually or annual) benefit. You have the option to have the benefit funds directly deposited into a checking or savings account.
The W-4P Form is a Federal tax form where you can indicate if you want to withhold tax or not.
These forms may be mailed or faxed to our office for processing. Once received and processed to Principal Financial Group, please allow 7-10 business days to receive your funds.
Please call our office if you have further questions.
The Extended Payment and W-4P Forms are available for download. See FORMS on this site.
GROUP INSURANCE BENEFITS
The formula for determining the life insurance benefit for individuals age 30 and younger is 4.0 times your salary, determined as described in the preceding paragraph. The salary multiple drops 0.1 for each year of age past 30, leveling out at 1.0 times compensation at age 60 to 70. Coverage is .5 times at age 70 and over for active participants. See insurance links below. This benefit is only available before retirement. Once you retire or terminate employment, you will no longer be covered under the WPF group insurance plan. The maximum amount of life insurance benefit is $550,000.
In order to receive disability benefits, you must be an active participant in the Plan. You are considered an active participant if contributions have been made to the Plan on your behalf by your employer during the previous 12 months. You will also be required to provide proof of your disability. Once approved by UNUM Insurance Company, your benefits will commence following a six-month waiting period and continue for as long as you are disabled up to age 65.
WPF Group Long-Term Disability booklets provided by UNUM are available for plan members to download for further details of this coverage. You may also select a document below to learn more about the assistance programs provided by UNUM in addition to your Life and Disability coverage.
RESOURCES
These annually provided booklets are available to download and will assist treasurers and financial administrators of churches with tax issues to housing allowance guidance. The author, Daniel D. Busby, is the President of Evangelical Council for Financial Accountability and also a former General Treasurer of The Wesleyan Church.
- Housing Allowance Chapter
- Life Insurance Age Table
- Life Insurance Calculations
- Principal Financial Group-Access Account
- Special Tax Notice-Plan Payments
- Unum Group Life Insurance Plan
- Unum Group Long-Term Disability Plan
- Unum Travel Assistance Info
- Unum Work-Life-Balance Info
- WPF Summary Plan Description
