Employee financial advice must help employees tackle debts holistically
Employees are struggling with debt, increasing stress and distraction in the workplace. However, current employee financial advice focuses on long-term benefits, especially retirement. A solution for employee financial health must help employees with the cause of their stressor: debts, especially credit cards, personal loans, and student loans.
Employee financial health
Employees are overwhelmed with debt and struggling with their financial health. 63% of employees have credit card, medical, or personal debt with 37% of employees in mid-size companies saying they had more debt than they could handle (*Financial Health Network).
Financial insecurity is the number one cause of stress. This stress leads employees to worry for over 13 hours a month. Employees are also delaying medical expenditures due to financial instability.
Types of employee benefits companies currently offered
Current employee financial benefits focus on the long-term, focusing on retirement primarily through 401k matching.
A newly emerging trend is tuition reimbursements and assistance with student loan debt. About 8% of companies offer a form of tuition reimbursement. But what about other debts, or helping to prepare employees for the biggest one of all, home ownership and a mortgage?
Gaps in current employee financial advice
Employees are asking for help from their Human Resources departments. 87% of employees would like financial advice offered by their employer (PWC survey). About half of those surveyed wanted validation of their financial decisions. In contrast, 36% of respondents wanted to hand over their financials to a trusted advisor.
Financial assistance to increase employee financial health and retention
Two-thirds of employees said they would stay with a company that would help with their short-term debt. Employee retention is essential as companies with engaged employees have better customer experience and productivity while saving costs on training new employees.
Solutions for employer debt benefits
Solve offers a unique solution for employers to complete their employee financial advice and offer more than just a 401k. Solve Finance provides tools for employees to manage all their current debts and begin to plan for the future.
Solve’s core product, the Debt Optimizer allows employees to monitor and scan for opportunities to borrow better. Our automatic employee debt advisor includes the table stakes of credit score and how to improve that, but most importantly strategies to lower debt payments on all types of debt, including auto, mortgage, student loans, personal loans, and credit cards. It also provides critical financial advice for employees on how to improve their debt-to-income ratio.
In addition, Solve Finance has a range of debt tools, such as “How much home can I afford” to help employees plan for the future.
Are you interested in offering your employees solutions to their most pressing financial issues? Reach out to Solve Finance at [email protected] for a demo of our independent borrowing advice, or to discuss custom debt benefits for your team.