YOUR PERFECT FINANCIAL WELLNESS PROGRAM
The 2017 Stress in America™ Survey revealed that 62% of Americans reported that money was a significant source of stress in their lives. Financial stress and anxiety remains a prevalent issue with far reaching implications. The side effects of poor financial health include stress-related illness, decreased work productivity, absenteeism, marital discord, depression and anxiety. So no matter how you interpret the Stress in America survey, personal financial wellness and the future of the country are indeed intertwined.
If you’re looking for step-by-step guidance on how to build a financial wellness program that will build real relationships with your employees, graduate students, or associations day after day, then you need to take a look at CashFit.
Over the years that I’ve been helping retirees and other high income professionals stop doing dumb stuff with their money, I’ve learned that most of them aren’t hobbyists. They don’t find personal finance and investing all that interesting. In fact, if given the choice, they’d rather not do it at all and risk leaving a lot of money on the table and go through life with a sense of unease that they are doing something wrong with their finances.
Does that describe you? If so, it’s time to get rid of that unease. I know you’re busy. I know you don’t actually enjoy this stuff. But you also know that you need to learn this stuff. I’m going to help you do it in the least painful way possible. No more wading through dozens of books at the library, scrolling through hundreds of blog posts on dozens of blogs, or checking in daily with online forums trying to gain a financial education the way the hobbyists do. This course is the material that should have been taught to you in college but never was.
Benefits of the Course
- You have all the insurance you need at the best possible price and none of the insurance you don’t need
- You are managing your student loans the right way, maximizing the benefits of government programs, minimizing interest paid, and getting out of debt as soon as possible
- You are either capable of managing your investments yourself, or you are paying a competent advisor a fair price to do it for you
- You are saving enough money to reach your goals and can spend the rest on whatever you like without feeling guilty
- You aren’t paying any more taxes than you need to
- Your children and your assets will be taken care of if something should happen to you
- Your assets are protected from lawsuits as much as possible with a simple, straightforward, and inexpensive plan
- You have a written plan to follow that will guarantee your financial success
IS THIS THE YEAR OF YOUR FINANCIAL WELLNESS PROGRAM?
For employers with workers paid $25 per hour or less, offering a financial wellness benefit is a non-negotiable. The illnesses and mental distractions that come with financial stress disconnects an employee from their in-the-moment job responsibilities and the ability to connect to a company’s mission. These issues also drown HR departments in sky-high paperwork such as dealing with high turnover, increased healthcare costs, absenteeism, and payroll advances.
Financial wellness programs educate employees about overcoming personal finance challenges. Training topics could include debt reduction, asset management and saving for current and future needs—such as purchasing a home, financing their children’s education or preparing for retirement.
Leading-edge employers will be marrying Financial wellness education with employee 401(k) education in 2019. Many employers are finding that employees who don’t know how to create a budget can’t begin to understand how to diversify their 401(k) plan accounts. Without basic Financial knowledge, employees have a hard time understanding more advanced concepts like risk and volatility.
How well your plan is designed can impact employee participation. As with most benefits programs, an effective financial wellness program won’t be one-size-fits-all and will depend heavily on the resources made available to it. I recommend that employers consider these questions during the design phase of a financial wellness plan:
How will we measure the success of the program? Because the outcomes will be less apparent and not as easily quantified as health and retirement benefits.
How in-depth will the program be? Obviously, the more individualized your program is, the more effective and expensive it will be.
Will your program be mandatory? Incentives we see frequently used can range from small, one-time bonuses to subsidized sessions with a financial coach.