What is a Financial Wellness Review?

Money is a major stressor in the lives of most Americans. The specific challenges may vary from person to person – a young Millennial might be struggling with student loans and the excitement of a first marriage, while Gen X is trying to manage mortgages and prepare their children for college. With so many facets of financial health, a financial wellness review can provide insights that can help your employees move past their current challenges.

Companies may not realize the need to provide their employees with tools to take charge of their personal finances. Yet the numbers are clear: stressed employees take more sick days, are less productive, and may even have higher turnover. Offering solutions to these problems not only keeps your team on track, but leads to a happier workforce.

What is a financial wellness review, and how can it help your employees take control of their finances? In this article, we explore everything that a financial wellness review entails, what it can tell people about their personal finances, and how we use this information to create actionable steps that actively benefit your employees.

What is a Financial Wellness Review?

Financial wellness means different things for different people – there is no one-size-fits-all plan that will work for all employees. For this reason, our financial wellness review explores each aspect of a person’s financial health to figure out what approach would be most meaningful for them.

At My Secure Advantage, a financial wellness review starts as an assessment that explores everything from family structure, savings, plans for retirement, potential financial hardships, and more.

Based on the employee’s answers given during the self-assessment, a score is provided between 1-10 that indicates the financial stress that the employee has. A personalized action plan is then built around these answers to indicate where improvements can be made.

Using the information gathered, the assessment presents a series of actionable items the employee can complete, such as online courses and articles relevant to their unique profile. Financial coaches are available to follow up with them, offering related education on how to boost their financial wellness score.

What is the Impact of a Financial Wellness Review?

Nearly nine in ten Americans are stressed about their personal finances. Whether that means not having enough saved for emergencies and retirement, or even the ability to pay bills, getting a handle on finances is critical for personal well-being. Following up on a financial wellness review through an integrated wellness program can keep employees from stressing out and becoming less productive in the workplace.

A person’s finances can shift dramatically throughout the course of their life. Unpaid medical debt, for instance, is held by around 18% of Americans – a recent study found that collection agencies held at $140 billion in unpaid bills last year alone, nearly doubling in a period of five years. An emergency medical payment can completely change the way a person approaches their personal wealth.

For this reason, financial wellness doesn’t just account for the present, but unexpected contingencies that the future may bring. Being proactive in retirement planning, paying off loans and mortgages, and saving up for a child’s college fund can make a significant difference when managed before problems arise.

A financial wellness review can help an employee assess current priorities as well as short- and long-term goals. It can give them the opportunity to be proactive about financial responsibilities and needs, rather than reverting to reactive measures like dipping into retirement savings to meet higher education costs or going into debt to meet surprise medical costs because they didn’t have emergency savings.

My Secure Advantage is designed for employees at all income levels, building customized programs to benefit them where help is needed most. Knowing which actions to take and having a partner allows employees to focus not only on their short term finances, but on building a strong financial future.

My Secure Advantage: Helping Employees Find Greater Financial Security

The biggest challenge to achieving financial stability often boils down to not knowing where to start. My Secure Advantage identifies the biggest problem areas and gives employees insight to begin tackling their finances, one issue at a time. With live support, employees can tackle their financial wellness in real time, putting employees at ease with the state of their finances and making them more productive and less distracted workers.

_