The number of retired PCA teaching elders will triple in the next 25 years. One-third of them won’t receive Social Security benefits, and many more haven’t saved for the golden years. That’s why in October the PCA’s Retirement & Benefits, Inc. (RBI) hired David Anderegg.

“The alarm bells have been going off for a couple of years,” said Anderegg, who left his pastoral post at Pinewoods Presbyterian (Pensacola, Fla.) to serve as a financial planning advisor for fellow pastors. With an M.B.A. from Auburn University and two stints in the finance world (Mutual of New York, and Ron Blue & Company), Anderegg recognizes a financial crisis when he sees one. In the PCA’s early days, many pastors opted out of Social Security. The loss of benefits didn’t have much impact then, Anderegg explained, but they’re feeling it now.

That’s where Anderegg’s expertise and his pastor’s heart come into play. “I’m a financial guy and I’m a ministry guy.” This brings the two together.

Anderegg is developing creative solutions to help offset the retirement conundrum, such as encouraging churches to give more to the PCA Ministerial Relief Fund. RBI is also developing guidelines to help churches create more robust financial packages — ones that include retirement benefits — when extending a call to a new pastor.

“Often pastors get the bare minimum of what they need and try to make ends meet,” Anderegg said. It doesn’t seem like a problem today, but it becomes one as their financial obligations grow.

To that end, he loves speaking with young pastors, encouraging them to establish a financial plan, and to “invest sooner and invest more.”

(From The Chattanoogan.com)