I have been figuring out a possible retirement budget as I get older. One of the things I have thought about is what kind of giving to charity will I be able to do when I retire. It dawned on me there are Mormons who have to keep working a couple of years longer just to be able to afford to keep that temple recommend! I look at my prospective retirement income and wonder how people fare when they retire -- it has to be even worse for Mormons because many retirees simply don't have a lot of money. This may be especially true for Mormons who have been paying tithing and supporting children on missions instead of investing for retirement. I guess the Bishop will support them, right?

If I remember correctly, there are "official" (as official as they get with TSCC) church statements saying you don't have to pay tithing on retirement income (like pensions and SS), because you paid tithing on the money when you put it in the system.

That doesn't keep older TBMs from doing it, though -- such is the depth of their indoctrination. And from worrying about losing their righteousness for a TR.

I have aunts and uncles in this position; one uncle has been fighting cancer for years (and mostly winning, but it's expensive), has a limited pension, and is getting by, but just barely. And he worries about how much tithing he's paying. It sickens me.

I left the church twenty years ago and paid my tithe to my 401k. I haven't had to touch it yet and we are doing fine. Of course I don't have to pay any tithe on my present income and that helps a lot. My wife is retired as well and she is only drawing her spousal benefit on my social security. When she turns 70 she will start drawing her SS from her account at the higher payout. She has a pension from her former employer and I also have a VA disability. All in all retirement is good. We worried about how we would survive but it is all good. If I was having to pay the church 10% I doubt things would be as good.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/27/2015 01:34PM by michaelc1945.

Supporting a church, parish or synagogue doesn't seem as much a strain as the LDS focus on 10% of gross.

I've known a family who was asked to leave the church they were attending when they weren't able to leave anything in the collection tray.

The minister told them they weren't welcome there, if they weren't going to help support it.

They were a young family with three little children. My heart broke for them when they told me this.

That "church" was in my community, and I went out of my way to be sure I didn't set foot inside it for one minute.

One of my brothers, a stake missionary where he lives, gives 10% on his gross. His wife only pays 10% on her net. He pays more in tithes than they do their taxes combined.

He's also a religious zealot.

What I really worry about are the younger people, those under about age 45. They probably won't have pensions and may have reduced Social Security benefits. What are they going to do in retirement since the 10% that they would have put in a 401k went to the greedy church instead?

* under the LDS system, the more you earn, the more U pay, so 'catching up' isn't easy

* the retirement exemption is only valid when the member has paid on his/her gross; not all do

in general, the LDS wear their donations like a Crown, they're glad to tell every/any about the 'extra' amount they pay.