"...[T]o visit the fatherless and the widow, ...[f]or religion is not in believing [in the] the commandments only, it is [also] in doing them [and] I would to God that men would not only believe [as they are taught], but would broaden their beliefs to the extent of doing the things that are taught..., and   doing them in spirit."                 Joseph Fielding Smith (1838-1918)  6th PresidentLDS                                                               

Self-Insurance is not commercial insurance.

Your SIP has no insurance contracts or premium schedules involved. 

Self-Insurance is YOUR money which you have put aside to pay for something which is not insured, or not entirely insured.

A Self-Insurance Plan of any Mormon develops out of necessity to practice teachings passed along the generations.  One of America's great insurance companies, Beneficial Life Insurance, was in fact first built upon the individual reserves which Mormons kept available for their families in the event of their deaths.  This is history. 

Today, even with vast commercial insurance alternatives, the plain truth is that fixed contracts, regardless of their art of construction, will always lose effectiveness over time due to inflation, errosion of currency value and failure to grow with the economy.

Our Society is comprised of thoughtful people who make numerous plans for the future of their families. Commercial solutions are available and sound but often too expensive. 

A SIP is never a substitute for life insurance which, if you have some, you should not cancel because you have joined a benevolent group of the Society.

The first step in creating your own SIP is to consider all the obligations you already have that can be classified as "self-insurance".  Look at your home and health insurance contracts. Review the deductible clauses of these and your car insurance, warranty extensions and even the service contracts on your home appliances.  You will see that an average Mormon family today carries a burden of self-insurance as high as $10,000.

Even so, most people do not maintain a SIP or participate in any plan which provides for one. 

There is a peril to this: more credit card debt in an age of already overwhelming personal debt.

Your credit resources are not savings. Some savings can be secured through a bank.  Our members weigh the overall benefit of inadequate growth through banking and the greater risks involving investments in securities. A sound SIP should not be concerned with growth.

The objective of a SIP is to provide for the actual amount for all ones deductibles.

But life insurance does not have any deductibles. A SIP for life insurance is a personal reserve of money.  Mormons store up reserves of food and medicines and plan for any catastrophe.  It is something Mormons have always done. It is perfect logic therefore that some money is set aside which is not involved with an insurance contract.

Our Society facilitates your planning of a SIP. Most members reserve a small sum of $1,000 or less.  Many who put off this planning will need to reserve $5,000 or even $10,000 for their SIP because they are older.

Also, as a Society member you need to understand the elements of  aggregation, our gifting process and the naming of "entitled" persons.  SIPs without assignment are "poured over" directly to the Benevolent Fund. MWOS will not realize a penny from that.  But you should assign the SIP to your spouse and/or children. This step is a key to knowing to whom the aggregate is distributed.

Aggregates can be distributed in accordance with your assignment of the SIP. Otherwise, should there be no assignment, your SIP is sent along to the Benevolent Fund but the Society will commence its aggregation on behalf of your spouse and any dependent children in any case. 

Because tax rules are clear on these things lets speak about what we know now because we cannot know what changes will become a later part of the Code of the IRS or Office of Inland Revenue.

An aggregate is not a gift. An aggregate is the outcome of many gifts which the Charter refers to as Assessments. Each assessment  can be no more than $10.  When a member dies, the Society conducts a process of notification and aggregation of assessments and this is called the "Aggregation". 

Aggregation gets this name because it is a process of combining a lot of small things into one big thing. Because the gifts are not to the Society, each single assessment stands on its own as a gift to your spouse and children. Each member of the Society has promised one another that this will be done. The Society has not been promised any part of the gift and cannot receive any. 

There are rules concerning the taxes on these gifts. The gift cannot bear a stipulation or contingency. Your family can use the $10 gift for any purpose without restriction. An aggregate is  simply the receipt of the grand total of all assessments. 

The Society recommends that you fund your SIP with money you could be obligated to pay as deductibles.

Any SIP that is created is not "attached".  You can ask for this money back at any time if you want or need it.  This could affect your membership  if you are within a certain age range. You can see for yourself that the SIP minimum requirements are minimal at any age. Even so, a member may ask for their SIP funding without any questions or penalty fees. If there is an outstanding assessment, it could be deducted.

In summary, you create a SIP for your family or the Benevolent Fund and it is completely up to you.  As a return, you are accepted as a member if you have applied for membership, because you are Mormon.  Thus, you have also committed to remember any member who dies by aggregating $10 to the spouse and orphans of the deceased.

You are encouraged to also plan for a Mormon Funeral and act as a proxy during a Baptism (if you are able to) and assist the Society in promoting these religious practices.  You are encouraged to assist in recruiting others to join us.  

The Society has certain rules about recruitment. If you recommend an applicant you must tell them:

The Society is not a religion.

The Society and Benevolent Fund are not affiliated with any Mormon church.

We do not require church membership to join the Society.

Employees are hired, without any discrimination,  for the work they can perform.

Invitation to the Council cannot be used to discriminate and therefore any non-Mormon who otherwise meets the criteria for invitation may serve on the Council and receive remuneration.

The term 'Elder' is not used in a religious context, councilors are not 'conselors' and to become an Elder signifies membership of a person over the age of 60 and eligible to receive an invitation to serve as Elder Councilor.