Monthly Archive for August, 2010

Financial Wellness – Breaking Down the Barriers to Adoption

In a new study conducted by the Personal Financial Employee Education Foundation (PFEEF) and Employee Benefits News (EBN), 70% of respondents thought that workplace financial education is important or extremely important to the overall level of productivity in their organization.

Other notable findings included:

  • 51% of employers surveyed saw an increase in employee wage garnishments
  • 42% of employers surveyed saw an increase in employee emergency loans
  • 34% employers surveyed saw an increase in employee requests for time off to deal with personal financial issues
  • While 88% of employers provide retirement plan education, only 28% provide basic financial education on critical items such as budgeting, debt reduction and credit management.

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Published by bbenedict on August 27, 2010

The Latest Symptom of Poor Employee Financial Health – 401(k) Loans/Hardship Withdrawals

Fidelity Investments recently reported a drastic increase in 401(k) hardship withdrawals and loans during the second quarter this year. Over the last 12 months, 11% of active participants initiated a loan, up 2% from the year prior.  Some additional statistics offered by the study included:

Financial Wellness

Retirement Plan Loans Symptomatic of Financial Health Issues

  • During the second quarter, 62,000 participants initiated a hardship withdrawal, as compared to 45,000participants who initiated one during the prior quarter;
  • 45% of participants who took hardship withdrawals one year prior also took a hardship withdrawal in the 12 month period ending in the second quarter of this year.

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Published by bbenedict on August 26, 2010

Benefits Communication Can Ease Impact of Plan Changes

Over half (53%) of large U.S. employers are making changes to their 2011 health plans in order to accommodate the new Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, according to a survey by the National Business Group on Health.

Providers face rising health care costs but still must supply the legally required amount of care.  To do so, 63% of employers who are changing plan details have decided to raise the percentage that employees contribute to the premium, while 46% aim to raise out-of-pocket maximums.  Another 61% will be offering consumer-directed health plans, or CDHPs, which are a proven method of increasing consumer flexibility while cutting costs.

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Published by Sophie Asmar on August 24, 2010

Financial Wellness – A Key Hiring Criteria?

An amazing 60% of companies used candidates’ credit reports to help make hiring decisions in 2009, according to a recent Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) poll.

So, the natural question is why a credit score of all things would be used to evaluate a prospective employee?

One likely reason might be that employers worry that a poor credit score indicates a lack of responsibility that could ultimately translate into poor performance.

Credit score indicative of a poor performer?

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Published by bbenedict on August 23, 2010