Dear Sisters and Brothers,
Most of you don't know me. I am 2009 graduate of LSTC and am in the third year of my first call, serving Trinity Lutheran Church in Lawrence, KS as their associate pastor.
After having been in a call for almost three years, I have been doing some reflecting on things that I could have done differently to make my life a little bit less stressful. Most of the past three years I would not change as my first call has been a great blessing to me. But there is one area I would definitely handle differently if given another chance to do things again.
Money
I graduated from seminary, as many of you are, with significant loan debt. In addition, moving half way across the country is not cheap, as many of you who are awaiting call are about to discover. Those of you awaiting call will also discover the glorious nature of the clergy tax system (I say glorious sarcastically). So here are some tips from someone who has made some mistakes and has learned a WHOLE bunch from these mistakes which will help me and my husband in the future.
1) If you have student loans, find the best payment plan that works for you NOW. If you have Stafford loans, you can consolidate them through direct loans (the federal government) which will allow you to extend your payment schedule to 20 years (but only if you need to). But do what you can to figure out what your payment amounts will be before you get that first bill and have a heart attack (or cry, like I did).
2) If you have any credit card debt, pay off as much as you can as fast as you can. When the student loan companies come calling, you won't have as much money to put towards your credit card debt and having that monkey off your back will be a great relief.
3) When you receive a call, find a tax accountant who specialized in clergy taxes (If you're in the Kansas City area, I know a great accountant). Meet with them as soon as you are able so you can talk through the clergy tax rules so that you have a working knowledge of what you need to do so you don't get penalized for not paying your taxes quarterly.
4) If you're in the market for a new vehicle, check out the tax laws in the state you will be moving to. Some states require you to pay property tax on your car so, at least for now, a used car might be a better option in multiple ways.
5) We have had faithful giving and tithing practices drilled into us throughout seminary. But this is what I was told by a Lutheran Planned Giving representative...don't give more in your offering than you are able to put into your savings account. It is the best financial advice I've received. We'll all be able to tithe at some point, but when we are just starting out that isn't always possible. So the important thing is that we give faithfully and not feel guilty because we cannot give more. (I tell folks that right now, that the majority of my giving is paying off student loans that allowed me to be faithful to God's call to ministry).
Some of this advice (particularly #4) will be more or less helpful depending on where your first call takes you but I do hope that at least one of these points will be helpful so that the stresses surrounding financial matters will be as minimal as possible as you set out on this amazing adventure called the ministry. God will provide you with so many blessings in this journey. It's not always easy, though, so having a handle on one of the few aspects in life that you do have control over (to a certain extent) is helpful.
I wish you blessings, hope, peace and love as you go out into the places that God is calling you to serve.
In God's love,
Jen Kiefer, LSTC class of 2009
Postscript: Dan K. has shared a lovely resource with me that provides help for folks paying back federal student loans. http://www.ibrinfo.org/ is the website. For those of us who have at least part of our loans through private lenders, however, it's a little more complicated and a lot more frustrating. The last time I tried to call Citiassist, they didn't even offer up an option to speak with a real human being. Moral of the story: if you can get most or all of your loans through the federal government, this is the way to go. They are willing to help you.
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