wa wor s not k of E consi BRIde is m red a ade n iss possi ue b ble b y rey sponde fundin nts i g from it n the s membe retail trade rs a in nd sponsors dustry or st, who inc ate and loc lude a al g br ove oad ra rnme nge nt. of pu blic, private, for-profit and nonprofit organizations. For more infor mation go to www.ebri.org FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The survey also finds that employers implement financial wellness initiatives a wide array of ways. “The four most common employer ?nancial wellbeing initiatives being Contact: offered are quite traditional,” says Lucas. They include tuition reimbursement (64 percent), ?nancial planning education (60 percent), EAPs (55 percent), and basic money Betsy Jaffe management tools (49 percent). However, the survey finds a myriad of both student loan Director, Marketing and Public Relations debt assistance initiatives and emergency liquidity help. “Loans for student loan debt Employee Benefit Research Institute press-media@ebri.org through the employer-sponsored retirement plan are still common, but we also see 202.775.6347 everything from student loan debt payment counseling, student loan debt assistance through 401(k) contributions tied to employees’ student loan payment, debt consolidation/refinancing services, and more.” On the emergency liquidity help side, Employers Increasingly Embrace Financial Wellness Initiatives — But in Many Different Flavors employee relief/compassion funds remain the top offering (44 percent), but the survey Definitions of financial wellbeing and approaches vary widely also finds matching contributions to an employee’s personal account (35 percent), payroll advance (33 percent), and short-term loans through payroll deduction (24 percent). Washington, D.C. – September 26, 2019 — The Employee Benefit Research Institute’s As in 2018, the top ways that success of financial wellness initiatives are measured are (EBRI) second annual “Employer Approaches to Financial Wellbeing Solutions Survey” improved overall worker satisfaction (37 percent), improved use of existing retirement finds that among employers interested in offering financial wellness initiatives, 71 plans (31 percent), reduced employee stress (31 percent) and improved employee percent either currently offer or are actively implementing such initiatives. That compares retention (28 percent). Only worker satisfaction with financial wellness initiatives with 66 percent offering or implementing programs in 2018. However, the ways that dropped in the ranks a bit. It moved from third to fourth place at 26 percent of employers employers are engaging employees in the area of financial wellness — and even defining citing this as a measurement approach — which is tied with reduced health care costs. financial wellness and how to measure it — vary greatly. “While success measures often align with reasons for offering financial wellness According to the survey, just over a third of companies (34 percent) de?ne ?nancial initiatives, this is not always the case,” Lucas notes. For example, respondents in the wellbeing as having access to assistance and resources that enable good ?nancial health care industry ranked improved overall worker satisfaction as the top reason for decisions. Another 30 percent de?ne financial wellness as being comfortable or offering financial wellness initiatives (49 percent) and also as a top factor in measuring ?nancially secure overall, while 21 percent equate financial wellbeing with achieving the success of the initiative(s) (45 percent). However, while reduced health care costs (46 retirement security through planning and saving. percent) and improved employee recruitment (38 percent) scored high as a means of measuring success for respondents in the educational services industry, they did not rate “Employers have different goals when it comes to employees’ financial wellness, and as high when it came to reasons for offering financial wellness initiatives (25 percent and often it depends on their industry and employee demographics,” says Lori Lucas, CFA, 17 percent, respectively). President and CEO of EBRI. For example, while most employers name preparing for retirement as a top issue they seek to address with financial wellness initiatives (40 The Financial Wellbeing Benefits Survey is a program of EBRI’s Financial Wellbeing percent overall), educational services and state and local government respondents were Research Center. The Center focuses on how retirement, health, and other employee less likely to cite retirement preparation as a top issue — possibly because these sectors benefit programs contribute to financial wellbeing and broader work force effectiveness are most likely to continue to offer defined benefit plans to their employees. Instead, in goals — including productivity and engagement. these sectors, sufficiency of general financial planning (26 percent), budgeting and money management (21 percent), and not saving enough (21 percent) are of greater An Issue Brief summarizing the study’s findings can be found at ebri.org. concern than for many other sectors. About EBRI: Likewise, student loan debt was more commonly cited by respondents from the professional, scientific, and technical services sector as a top issue (17 percent), no doubt The Employee Benefit Research Institute is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research due to the fact that additional educational attainment required for these fields might result institute based in Washington, DC, that focuses on health, savings, retirement, and in a greater amount of student loan debt for such workers. In contrast, student loan debt financial security issues. EBRI does not lobby and does not take policy positions. The