FICA and such

by Phil 4 Replies latest jw friends

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  Phil

  As you all know, my daughter is presently housed in the Patterson complex to work for the Borg for little remuneration. My question is, Does the WTS have a program that offers the equivalent of Social Security on retirement? I know that under certain circumstances large corporations are permitted to have such a plan in lieu of the FICA and must conform to the governments FICA plan or better. As we all know the contribution to FICA is based on your salary which in turn governs the amount you will receive on retirement. (ie. the more you pay into it the more you will receive with a minimum of 40 quarters or 120 months). If the WTS has such a plan what "salary" is used as the basis of donation and ultimate remuneration at retirement?

  This may be asking too much from you folkes but I am interested in obtaining good solid evidence of what these figures are.
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  Nathan Natas

  I have never been a "bethelite," but I was a JW in NYC for more than 20 years, and I have NEVER heard of any program of the sort you are describing.

  Consider the case of Ray Franz, the nephew of Fred Franz, who served the WTS for 40 years in the field and at bethel, rising to the position of as one of the "governing body" members in 1971. He was disfellowshipped nine years later when he was in his late 60's and received not a single penny from the WTS.

  The WTS "plan" is this: stay here for the rest of your life. If you leave (or are asked to leave) you are on your own.

  Of course, during the time that Bethelites perform their volunteer work for the WTS, they have no taxable income from the society, so most are ineligible for Social Security benefits too.
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  Elsewhere

  There is no severance or retirement plan. Anyone there is purely a "volunteer" living in "poverty". When they leave, they leave [Period]

  Regarding Ray Franz, according to his COC book, he did receive a gift of $10,000 when he left bethel, which he did not expect. Of course that was for 40 years of work and serving on the GB.

  $250 per year... not bad huh.
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  Euphemism

  Unfortunately, I don't remember who I heard this from, so take it with a grain of salt.

  But what I heard about the $10,000 gift to Ray was that the Society was worried that he would sue them, and force them to give him some sort of severance or retirement pay. By accepting the "gift", he was implicitly waiving his rights to any more.
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  Nathan Natas

  I didn't know about the $10k that Ray got. I stand corrected, and I apologize for my error.