• Disaffiliations—Understanding Impact on Benefits
• Registration is Closed for "Delivered to You"
• Pre-Retirement Webinar Invitation to Clergy 55 and Older
• Conference Mini Forum Nov. 18
• In Case You Missed It: Q3 Investment Webinar
• An Update from the Virgin Pulse Compliance Policy Team

Disaffiliations—Understanding Impact on Benefits

Wespath offers several resources to help sort through questions, facts and rumors regarding how potential disaffiliation from The United Methodist Church may impact clergy, local churches and annual conferences. Please refer to these materials in response to questions you may receive:

• Disaffiliation Information web page
• Disaffiliation FAQs #1—highlights clergy pensions (active and retired), withdrawal liability payment (local churches’ “exit payment”), Wespath legislation for new ¶2555 (included in the Protocol and other restructure plans), other benefits (i.e., disability), and more
• Disaffiliation FAQs #2—focuses on the Protocol and other plans for separation or restructure: impact on pensions and institutional investors
• Benefit Plans for Disaffiliating Local Churches—outlines retirement, health, death and disability plan options available to local churches that disaffiliate.

Other information about General Conference legislation is available here.

Registration is Closed for "Delivered to You"

Wespath Events is thrilled to announce that the number of clergy registering for the November 8-9 "Delivered to You" event has surpassed expectations! Unfortunately, this means that we have reached our capacity and registration is now closed for this event. We appreciate all the conferences who promoted this event and/or provided scholarships to cover the $59 fee! Thank you for your support. We plan to host Clergy Benefits Academy (March 28-30, 2022) and revitup! (March 30-April 1). More details will be provided closer to the event as to meeting format (in-person or virtual).

Pre-Retirement Webinar Invitation to Clergy 55 and Older

Wespath will send an eblast on Tuesday, November 2 to clergy participants aged 55 and older about an upcoming pre-retirement webinar presented by Benefits Education. Two identical sessions will be offered Tuesday, November 16, 2021, 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. and Thursday, November 18, 2021, 11:00 a.m. to 12 noon (Central time). This pre-retirement webinar is designed specifically for participants who are planning to retire in the next few years and will include information about distribution options, options for deferring benefits, navigating Benefit Access to choose options, and more. There is no cost to attend this webinar.

Conference Mini Forum Nov. 18

Wespath Benefits and Investments (Wespath) invites conference benefits officers, treasurers and conference board of pension members to attend a Conference Mini Forum on Thursday, November 18 from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m., Central Time. Click here to register. The afternoon's topics will include insights on managing risk, a legal and Congressional update, and a preview of upcoming new features of Wespath's LifeStage Retirement Income program. Click here for the afternoon's agenda. A recording of this session will be available if you are unable to attend. Questions? Please contact Margaret Sanders at msanders@wespath.org.

In Case You Missed It: Q3 Investment Webinar

As a reminder, the third quarter webinar is now available! Watch as our investment team recaps last quarter's investment activity and economic trends. The webinar is available here.

An Update from the Virgin Pulse Compliance Policy Team

On Monday, November 1, 2021, Virgin Pulse is launching updated membership agreements for our Engage, Ignite, VP Transform, and VP GO products and the user agreement for our VP Passport product. We are providing this notice to you as a courtesy so that you are aware of the changes and the date they will take effect. There is no action needed from you at this time.

Please note that we make a distinction between member and user for the VP Passport product since it is not a voluntary wellness program. We are also updating the VP Transform Privacy Notice.

The changes that will be made to the membership agreements, user agreement, and privacy notice will help our organization to:

• reflect existing features available in our products
• describe the scope of the products in a more accurate manner
• better align our membership agreements across our products

Starting on or after November 1, the platform will prompt your employees to accept the applicable updated Virgin Pulse agreements the next time they log in. View the support article demonstrating an example of that experience.

For your added convenience, we created a list of changes outlining the updates we will make across all agreements and specific changes to individual agreements.

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