Paying for a mission

[Chilean]

Hello,

Ignorant question.   I've been a member all my life, but I don't know how missions are paid. And I'm asking as my husband and I are working towards paying off our car and House within the next 5 years, and we want to be in a position where we can help our 3 kids with their missions (11, 8 and 4), and ours (We're in our 30's).

I know the average mission cost about $400 a month, which is about $10,000 for the 2 years. So, the family pays the whole mission? do they pay a lump sum or every month?

how does all that work? 

Thanks!

 

[Guest MormonGator]

4 minutes ago, Chilean said:

Ignorant question.

It's not an ignorant question at all. I look forward to the answers too! 

[Sunday21]

I think that you negotiate with your bishop. From what I have seen the parents pay if able, then reach out to other relatives, then the ward. If the ward helps to pay, the bishop approaches members of the ward but he needs a good story. 

You do not have to pay allup front but rather instalments. 

[zil]

@Sunday21 has it - immediate family, extended family, others may donate explicitly to a particular missionary's mission fund, ward members, and a general mission fund are all used to pay for missions.  Pay by the month (unless you wish to pay more upfront).

Pre-mission expenses (like clothing and whatnot) are generally covered by the family / missionary.

The bishop can help you work this out, if needed.

[Sunday21]

@Chilean So happy to hear from you! Hope to hear from you again!

[estradling75]

Your Bishop is the person you need to ask...

 

But here is generally how it works (for the USA at least)

The missionary needs all the supplies before they leave.  Generally the missionary, missionary's family supply this (although the bishop might help depending on the needs)

Every month Salt Lake will pull the set about (400 or 450 currently I think) from the ward missionary fund (per missionary from that ward).  The Bishop is responsible for making sure the funds are there.

Generally the missionary (through prior saving) and/or the missionary's family pays to the ward every month the set amount.  How they pull together and how far/much extended family help is up to them. That is the expectation.  In cases of hardship there is almost always someone on the ward that is willing to help.

[Vort]

1 hour ago, Chilean said:

I know the average mission cost about $400 a month, which is about $10,000 for the 2 years. So, the family pays the whole mission? do they pay a lump sum or every month?

Yes, the individual or family bears the entire cost, and it is paid monthly. This has been equalized worldwide, so that the Tokyo missionary pays $400 a month as well as the Ecuadorian missionary, rather than paying $1500/month vs. $75/month or something. (Numbers made up for illustrative purposes only. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Past performance does not guarantee future returns. This is not legal advice.)

There might be special rules in place for couple missionaries. I strongly encourage you to help your children begin saving for their missions now. My children have earned their own mission funds; if they had not, they probably would not have gone on missions. A plan that has worked for us is that the child is required to save half of all money he earns and, of course, pay tithing. He can then do what he wants with the balance: Save, invest, spend it on candy and Pokemon cards, whatever. By the time he's pushing 17, he knows he needs at least $10,000 for his mission + college, so he starts kicking it into high gear, working at Dairy Queen or the old folks' home or whatever.

In some cases, ward members can help out a struggling preparing missionary who needs money. This is something coordinated with the bishop.

[Chilean]

1 hour ago, Sunday21 said:

So happy to hear from you! Hope to hear from you again!

Thanks Sunday 21

 

33 minutes ago, Vort said:

(Numbers made up for illustrative purposes only. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, is purely coincidental. Past performance does not guarantee future returns. This is not legal advice.) 

 

That's so funny!!

 

Thanks everyone, now I have a better idea on how to plan it! You guys are so smart! LOL
 

[Vort]

Note that $10,000 is pretty much a bare minimum today. (It's sure to be a bigger number by the time your sons get to mission age.) That amount really doesn't include the costs to get the missionary outfitted or cover other expenses (e.g. passport fees) that might arise. Better to shoot for $12,000 or more. Any left over after the mission can be a college fund.

[Chilean]

4 hours ago, Vort said:

Note that $10,000 is pretty much a bare minimum today. (It's sure to be a bigger number by the time your sons get to mission age.) That amount really doesn't include the costs to get the missionary outfitted or cover other expenses (e.g. passport fees) that might arise. Better to shoot for $12,000 or more. Any left over after the mission can be a college fund.

True!

[anatess2]

So... this doesn't really answer the question, it's just a "isn't the wild?" kinda thing.

So, my son's best friend in our ward got sent to the Philippines for his mission.  He still pays $400 per month even when the cost of the rental is only around $150/mo whereas the other missionary from our ward who got sent to Utah also pays $400 per month living in an apartment that is much much more expensive.  Also, the guy who went to the Philippines is serving with a Filipino missionary.  I was too polite to ask him how much he is paying into his mission but I am 100% certain it is waaaay less than $400 per month.  I would expect something like $100 per month - and that's pushing it to the limits of what's affordable for the regular Filipino family with one kid serving a mission.  That's about what you'd pay for a standard college tuition.  You wouldn't have a single missionary from the Philippines if it would be more than that.  So there's also a Filipino missionary I know who is serving in Japan.  Now, Japan is a whole lot more expensive than the Philippines, and I'm sure he pays the same amount as the Filipino guy serving in the Philippines.

Anyway, all this just amazes me... how LDS Missions logistics work and how it all just somehow gets paid for regardless of the ability of each missionary to fund the cost of their own missions.  From what I understand, senior missions work differently.  They get to pay for their living expenses, including apartments and stuff, themselves.

 

[anatess2]

Regarding the OP:  You also need to save up for more than just the $400/mo we give to the mission fund.  The missionary would also need personal money for stuff like... new socks.  Our friend who got sent to the Philippines got his feet covered in blisters after a week in the mission.  He was sweating non-stop and couldn't keep his socks dry.  He needed to bring lots of socks with him while working in the mission field so he can change out of wet socks.

Edited July 27, 2018 by anatess2

[NeuroTypical]

Ward finance clerk here.  We have around half a dozen missionaries out.  Every month, SLC takes $400 out for every missionary (and they are all over the globe).  Each missionary is being paid for differently.  Some had it paid for up front by someone.  Some pay monthly.  Some have two or three parties paying some every month, and I print a report for the parents so they know how much to pay.  Sometimes a random ward member will donate something into a general missionary bucket with their tithing.  (It's really cute and heartwarming to see an envelope full of coins where some kid is doing this.)

Yep - work with your Bishop - he'll have suggestions and maybe some options.

[askandanswer]

On her mission, my eldest daugher just barely managed to save for herself the minimum $400 per month that she needed and my wife and I took care of all the other incidental expenses, which came to about $2,500 over the life of her mission. My oldest son managed to save all that he needed and enough to cover all of his incidentals, and still have some money left when he came home. My second son, currently serving, was strongly encouraged by the Bishop to go much sooner than he had planned, so consequently didn't have all that he needed to pay for his mission. The shortfall is being met by myself, my wife, my parents and my three children. 

You need to look at the $400 a month as an absolute bare minimum. There are always additional expenses. For example, when my second son arrived on his mission we found out that he needed $600 to buy a bike, which all missionaries have to do. Then in August we need to come up with another $200 or more to buy a phone which all missionaries are now receiving. Then there's new clothes, sending them packages, and all sorts of other things.