About the plan

The Rabbis and Cantors Retirement Plan is run by a non-profit corporation, The Rabbis and Cantors Retirement Board, Inc., which is incorporated in the State of Delaware. The non-profit corporation is run by a volunteer board of directors.

The Retirement Board was founded by the Alumni Association of the Rabbinical School of Hebrew College and Yeshivat Maharat.   The Board Chair is Rabbi Jeff Fox, an alumnus of Yeshivat Chovevei Torah Rabbinical School, and board members include Rabbis Van Lanckton and Minna Bromberg, musmachim / alumni of Hebrew College Rabbinical School.

The retirement plan is a 403(b)(9) plan (a “church plan” in IRS language). The plan rules allow Jewish clergy from all denominations to participate. As a church plan, the plan has benefits over regular 403(b) plans, including being able to designate distributions in retirement as parsonage for its participants.

Each participant opens an individual account at Vanguard which holds all the participant’s contributions. As a participant, you can allocate your funds directly with Vanguard and can invest in most Vanguard mutual funds (index and actively managed). These individual, segregated accounts ensure the protection of your funds.