Surveys have shown that employees are asking for financial wellness help. According to a 2018 PwC survey, 25% of employees would like financial wellness benefits. You’re organization has responded by updating your employee benefits package to include financial wellness. And…. {queue in cricket chirps} So just what is the problem? The stigma There are three things Americans don’t talk about: politics, religion and money; a familiar statement many of us have heard since we were children. It seems...

The Bible, Shakespeare and even Popeye cartoons caution us against borrowing money. We’ll lose friends, become an outcast to those around us. This may be accurate in some cases, but – and this is a big “but” – borrowing money, with a solid strategy to pay it back, is almost core to our daily lives and keeps our economy humming along. There are three main reasons why people borrow money. While businesses – and governments – borrow regularly, personal borrowing is often considered...

Joseph – Joseph comes from a family who never had a bank account. He recently started his first full-time job without a bank account of his own. He quickly discovers the inconvenience and added expense of finding locations where his paycheck can be cashed after work. Joseph and his family are not alone. Based on a 2017 FDIC survey1, an estimated 8.4 million households are unbanked. Bill – Bill appreciates the fact that he’s able to have a bank account, but it seems like the fees are...

For many, the post-holiday financial hangover is about to set in with the arrival of January credit card bills. Ouch. The National Retail Federation estimated the average consumer planned to spend more than $1,000 on their holiday celebrations1. If the average American doesn’t even have $1,000 set aside for an emergency2, and 41% of all households carry some sort of credit card debt3, you can bet, for many, the holidays were funded with plastic. Why is it particularly impactful to act now? The...

Consider the impact of seemingly inconsequential events. The prolific sci-fi author, Isaac Asimov, wrote a short story chronicling a time traveler who, back in the age of dinosaurs, stepped off the path and inadvertently killed an insect. When the traveler returned to the present time, language and the environment had changed. The insect was food for another creature, which consequently starved, and so on cascading through the eons. The eventual impact was catastrophic. Allen looks...

According to a 2017 CareerBuilder survey, 1 out of every 10 workers making $100,000 per year or more say they either always or usually live paycheck-to-paycheck. 59 percent within this salary bracket are in debt. And, 28 percent of workers making $50,000 – $99,999 per year either always or usually live paycheck-to-paycheck – 70 percent within this bracket are in debt. So it’s important to ask, if more than half of the employees in the mid-to-higher salary ranges are personally in...

According to the 2017 American Psychological Association study, “Stress in America,” money and work are the number two and number three sources of stress, affecting 62% and 61% of the population respectively. David Kilby, author of The New Productivity Engine, believes that “Money and work are amazingly intertwined. Stress from one negatively impacts the other, so you can hardly tell them apart.” “Small amounts of positive stress play a vital role in motivation, adaptation, and our relationship...

Americans experiencing financial challenges are bracing for the holiday season and the additional debt that will pile up as quickly as discarded boxes, bows and wrapping paper on Christmas morning. Last year, the average American accumulated more than $1,000 in holiday debt1. These Americans are some of your very own employees; distracted from their work, focused on money woes. And right now, they’re wondering how they’re going to afford another holiday season. If your organization’s employee...

With the unemployment rate at a historically low 3.7%, competition to recruit new talent is fierce. However, one important consideration as you work to fill new positions is the increasing rate of employee turnover. While you are focused on filling new positions at your company, so are other organizations – and they’re busy recruiting the experienced talent working for you! One way to retain employees is showing commitment toward improving their wellness – particularly, financial wellness....