As most of us can attest to, it is difficult to leave life’s challenges and stresses at the door when we arrive at work. These challenges and stresses can be quite aggressive, competing for attention normally dedicated to work responsibilities.   The top source of this productivity killer? Money-related stress. 46% of employees say financial challenges cause them the most stress in their lives. It’s certainly understandable. Medical insurance costs continue to increase. Student...

Financial wellness, as an employee benefit, benefits from digital technology. “The rise of self-service applications, machine intelligence and e-learning approaches have allowed financial wellness providers to deliver personalized education to employees when and where they want it,” says Dave Zielinski in a recent SHRM article. “Experts say the best of these approaches use technology to improve employee access to and the efficient use of financial information, enabling financial counselors to...

Jean, a longtime employee with a track record of dependability has recently started to miss work, is distracted and always seems tired. Jean’s manager has noticed these changes but isn’t aware of Jean’s growing role as caregiver. Jean’s aging mother is now requiring increased daily care and her adult son, struggling to afford his student loan debt, has recently moved back in with Jean and her husband. Jean is a member of a growing population of American workers who are supporting adult children,...

That sounds quite simple when you say it quickly, but there are plenty of instances where the solutions to problems result in unintended consequences. The Beijing Problem Take this example. Beijing, China, has an air pollution problem. The thick smog which often envelops the city is a combination of vehicle exhaust, smoke from coal-fired power plants, and industrial contamination. Residents often wear surgical masks to filter out the particulates. What’s the solution? The obvious solution is...

May is filled with month-long observances promoting health awareness. It is the National Awareness Month for Arthritis, Celiac Disease, Lyme Disease and Blood Pressure, as well as Melanoma / Skin Cancer Detection & Prevention. May is also Disability Insurance Awareness month. There is a good (and concerning) reason for this observance – only one out of five consumers own disability insurance.1 Makes sense that one of the top five concerns for consumers is paying for basics if becoming...

The carefree months of summer are almost here. But does that carefree feeling seem far far away? It could be due to the sting of financial stress many families face during this season: added expenses for childcare, extracurricular activities, vacations… ice cream! Even the little things add up. This year, twenty-six percent of Americans are opting out of summer travel. For most of them, they just can’t afford it1. However, fifty-two percent of Americans still plan to take a summer...

FICO™ is changing up the traditional credit scoring system with the introduction of UltraFICO™. The UltraFICO™ score is aimed at providing an opportunity for consumers with credit scores in the 500-600s to push their scores over a potential lender’s credit score cut-off. According to FICO™, 79 million US consumers have credit scores below 6801. Included in this demographic are the millennials. Just getting started with building a credit history, this generation’s credit scores fall within the...

The concept of financial wellness as a highly desirable employee benefit is spreading rapidly across the U.S. This is confirmed by Prudential’s 10th annual Benefits and Beyond: Employer Perspectives on Financial Wellness. The data shows that 83 percent of the employers surveyed are offering financial wellness, compared to just 20 percent in 2015. There are at least two good reasons for this, in my opinion. One: Employees Want It Offering financial wellness benefits improves recruiting and hiring...

April is National Financial Literacy Month. It’s a good opportunity for all employers to evaluate how well their organization supports the financial well-being of their employees, as well as spotlighting the financial benefits available. Start with your retirement plan. Does your company offer 401(k) matching? Of the eligible employees that aren’t participating, why not create a Financial Literacy Month awareness campaign around retirement planning? Review your plan, emphasize the benefits of...