Finance Wellness, up until recently, meant offering employees a short-term loan, a car loan, a health package, provident funds, etc. It was viewed as a benefit added by the employer and nothing more. Despite this, financial stress is real; it has been simmering quietly in the background for years, but exploded in the past year, with the unexpected and un-welcomed pandemic. As a result, everyone is realizing how important financial planning is and how much it can accomplish. Exactly how do you improve your financial health? Most employees are unaware of how to navigate this process and look to their employers as guides.

What is Financial Wellness?

Financial wellness is just as important as physical and mental wellness. Financial wellness is the absence of financial stress and good financial health. Being able to manage your expenses and have a relatively stress-free relationship with your finances.

Benefits of Financial Wellness

The benefits of providing financial wellness programs to your employees will far exceed the expenses that you will incur as an employer.

• Happy and stress-free employees lead to increased productivity..
• Physically and mentally healthy employees will reduce absenteeism, boost morale and accountability towards work.
• It will also lead to Increased employee engagement, loyalty and retention.

As an employee you are immensely benefited by a financial wellness program

• Advice from a trusted source on how to manage your finances – budgeting, savings, and investments.
• It will boost your self-esteem and morale to feel like you are a part of a family.
• Besides being healthier and fitter, you’ll be more motivated at work.
• A healthy you, translates into a healthy family and a happy family.

How to go about improving Financial Wellness

• Educate your employees on topics they are interested in, like budgeting, emergency funds and retirement savings.
• You should hold workshops that discuss investment plans on a specific level, providing some DIY tools too.
• Credit counseling – how to make the most of the credit card rather than fall into its debt trap.
• Assistance with housing loans and providing attractive interest rates will help fulfill their wishful dream and ease the burden and stress of your employees.
• Workshops on taxation, will preparation, identity theft, investing in stocks, mutual funds, etc.
• Employ financial coaches to help your employees plan their financial futures. Taking the advice of a financial planner or coach may not be possible for all. This would be great for the financial wellness of your employees.
• Providing financial planning as an employee benefit would help ease the burden of employees when it comes to reaching out for financial planning services.
• Tie-up with an established and experienced firm in the personal finance space for Employee Financial Wellness and they will curate a financial wellness plan which would suit your employees and your budgets too.

All of us have experienced sweeping changes that were beyond our wildest dreams throughout this past year and a half. It has taken a huge toll on many people’s physical, mental, and financial health. Some people feel that saving for retirement is more important as you get older, you can afford health care, and others believe living in the present is more important as nobody knows what the future holds. Financial planning can help you achieve both and lead a stress-free life. Many employers are realizing this and are making changes in their wellness programs. Get the most out of them.

Need help putting together a well budgeted, heavy on financial wellness, light on the pocket plans? Reach out to our team of experienced and award winning financial planners, transitionists today.