How do you promote financial wellness and literacy among your employees?

The number of options for financial wellness that an employer can provide can be overwhelming for many employees. The list here does not even include all of them (such as HRAs). Yes, the various options offer different vehicles that meet different needs and have different types of incentives. But, all of that just makes it even MORE confusing for the average employee. Therefore, the emphasis has to be on education (on demand when it is most likely to be accessed) and direction (including auto-enrollment and escalation) for these to offer meaningful benefits to employees.

All of these are the basics for financial education. The real key is finding a financial advisor that can go above and beyond the 401(k) plans, IRAs, HSAs, FSAs and provide people with ACTUAL financial education. There should be quarterly presentations done that help employees become better with their finances.

Remember to review the datapoints on workplace savings programs. If the retirement account is getting raided with early loans and hardship withdrawals, this is a datapoint that suggest employees need more liquidity. Having an Emergency Savings Account (ESA) will encourage employees to accumulate liquid wealth, thereby driving down the retirement leakage, requests for advances on wages or for internal personal loans, payday loans and credit card debt - all of which are too common. Let's help employees swing the pendulum away from debt resources and back to savings strategies that protect their retirement account for the long haul.

Why are so many employees financially stressed? Do they lack information? Motivation? Personalization? In my conversations with employees, it's often that they're overwhelmed and don't know where to start. There are 4 or 5 "Majors" that impact the majority of employees: * Little or no emergency savings * High debt, especially credit card and consumer debt * Don't know where their money goes (no tracking) * Little or no retirement savings Just focusing on simple, easy, step-by-step actions to address these 4 will dramatically improve employee health, wealth, and productivity.

Offer a variety of educational resources, including workshops, webinars, and online tools, covering topics like budgeting, debt management, investing, and retirement planning. These resources are tailored to different life stages and financial goals. Everyone's financial situation is unique. I encourage employers to let employees have access to confidential one-on-one counseling with financial advisors to discuss their specific needs and develop personalized plans. Reward smart financial choices. Design incentive programs that encourage employees to participate in financial education, save for retirement, and take advantage of available benefits.

Make it a quarterly lunch & learn that is a mandatory attendance for your employees. That is the best way. Make it a meeting where half is the financial education and half is something else. And feeding them something as simple as pizza will bring them!

One of the problems with benefits focussing on financial education is that they self-select for people who are already interested and engaged in that sort of thing. But what if you're not? What if sorting out your finances is a long way down your priority list/makes you anxious/is something you actively avoid etc? Those people likely need help the most, but are least likely to get it from a financial education programme. Which is not to say they don't have their place. Just that the real opportunity is to help the people who aren't focussing on this stuff. That's why I'm so proud of what we've built at Nous - a solution for the vast majority who really don't want to think about this stuff, but don't deserve to be ripped off, either.

Most people view financial wellness in terms of aligning their risk tolerance with a return on investment (ROI). Conservative, moderate or aggressive investments should have a correlating return (high risk, high reward). However, many forget about the tax implications. Not all investments are taxed equally. Qualified investments (those made with pre-tax dollars) will be taxed at your going rate when you withdrawal. Non-qualified investments accumulate tax free. This becomes extremely important in how you leverage your retirement savings. With a combination of withdrawing pre- and post-tax investments, the effective tax youre paying when you retire can be significantly less.

Imagine financial education as equipping your employees with a reliable compass and map in the vast financial wilderness. While the terrain might be unfamiliar and intimidating, the right tools and guidance can help them navigate it with confidence. By providing a variety of resources, you're ensuring they have multiple reference points to guide their journey, making their financial expeditions more informed and purposeful. And it doesn't even need to be expensive, a lot of insurance brokers and pension providers will have a lot of free resources for their corporate clients, ask yours! It's not going to be as comprehensive as standalone products, but it's a start.

This can be a challenging one as most people do not want to admit that they have money challenges in their personal lives. It is beyond the culture of your company and more societal. Having said that, the key is in having leaders share a time when they were having financial issues and what they did to overcome it. Like anything else, if a leader can be open and share, the organization will follow. Once you get people talking about it, a professional resource should be brought in to help individuals get through their challenges, which shows that there is action behind the words.

Cultivating a supportive culture is akin to planting a lush garden where financial literacy can blossom. Just like plants need sunlight, water, and care to thrive, employees need trust, communication, and engagement to flourish in their financial endeavors. Peer-sharing platforms or mentorship programs serve as natural pollinators, fostering cross-pollination of ideas and experiences that enrich the garden's ecosystem.

If you do not have the resources to do this yourself, you may want to look to a third party vendor to help. In the pandemic I came across a company that does all of this and more. Burnalong They have online courses to support employees physical, mental, and emotional health. As well as financial (I am a presenter on the platform). So if you can't do this yourself, and most companies cannot, find a vendor that can help boost your employees morale and productivity.

Now this point is very important in my opinion. Furthermore, engaging employees in the design and feedback process ensures every part of your full benefits program resonates with your people.

Make part of the employee review a discussion about how to improve the personal finances of the company. Make it something that you can measure by providing assistance.

I believe most people consider themselves to be “values-centered” by nature, meaning we have a set of core values we strive to adhere to & live by. When our company supports employee benefits for our many clients, we place the emphasis on “how” to understand and use those benefits in alignment with your values & what is most important to you. Employee Benefits are an extension of company culture, and they will either enhance that culture, or detract from it if not delivered well. Helping employees gain personal understanding is critical as is showing them how these benefits work in their daily lives. Since money is the #1 stressor in America, we need to work to create a values-centered benefits experience that elevates them in the process.

If our goal is to improve the financial outcomes of the workforce, we need to see the barriers that have impeded them on their own. How will a solution as a benefit deliver different results? For example, financial literacy tools often tell employees they need to develop emergency savings, but the how is often on the employee to figure out. However, if they have credit challenges, have been justice involved, or only have $13 to their name, they cannot just go open a high yield savings account and set up a split direct deposit. Bringing in an ESA as an employee benefit tears down these barriers by providing uniform access to financial resources that many would not qualify on their own. These opportunities help employees take action.

While it's tempting to introduce a financial literacy or education model and hope employees hit the ground running with it, many times that's not the case. Low to moderate income workers sometimes see financial wellness conversations as being for people that have money so "that doesn't apply to me." It's important to meet employees where they are. Don't worry about the optics of what they should have - identify what they need the most. Retirement savings is not the first step in every employees' saving journey. So understanding how actionable financial benefits work, like a Workplace Emergency Savings Account for example, are critical to tearing down financial barriers that keep many employees from finding financial success on their own.

Imagine financial wellness as a vast mosaic made up of individual tiles, each representing an aspect of financial understanding and practice. While the aforementioned strategies lay down significant portions of this mosaic, it's essential to remember the edges and interstices filled by the less conventional, innovative financial tools and philosophies. Encourage employees to explore alternative financial philosophies, like the community sharing model, for example. Diverse perspectives can sometimes lead to the most holistic picture of financial wellness.

The most important thing is to care. Once you show that you care then this is something that can easily be done. If you are in leadership, share something that you messed up in your past so others can learn from you.