While nap pods and kombucha-on-tap may be trendy perks in some offices, many workers are hungry for employee benefits that help them thrive financially. Here are some unique employee benefits that employers might consider offering their employees in addition to gym memberships and annual outings. You may find that these benefits attract top-tier talent and serve as employee retention strategies. With employees reporting higher satisfaction with their benefit plans when financial wellness programs are offered, read on to see some of the best benefits employers should consider offering their employees to help them achieve financial freedom.
Access to Financial Counselors
Teresa Hassara, head of workplace solutions at MassMutual, told BizJournals.com, “Most people come out of high school and college with relatively little understanding of how to create a retirement plan, how to manage or think about the different benefit structures and how to make the tradeoff between one type of benefit vs. the other.” And, yet, 40 percent of employers state that they do not offer their employees a financial education program because they’ve never asked for it. Paying for your employees to receive guidance from a financial counselor or planner might be a welcome fringe benefit.
Student Loan Repayment Assistance
According to U.S. News & World Report, the aggregate student loan debt in the United States as of June 2019 was $1.6 trillion. With 35 percent of workers saying they would like help repaying their student loans and of employers offering their employees assistance or incentive to repay student loans, finding a way to help employees with their debt is a huge missed opportunity in the workplace. According to Forbes, there are several ways employers can go about this, as demonstrated by companies like Fidelity and Aetna, both of which as of late 2018 were offering up to $2,000 in matching student loan payments up to $10,000.
Emergency Savings
According to a study by the AARP, 53 percent of all American households have no emergency savings. If an unexpected medical expense or home repair comes up, they’re likely to burrow into debt or even cash out retirement funds prematurely. Employers can help their workers prepare for the unexpected with an emergency savings benefit, which allows workers to split their paychecks through direct deposit into separate accounts, one being set aside for emergency savings. With Americans being 2.5 times more likely to feel confident about their long-term financial prospects if they have emergency savings on hand, employers who make it easy for employees to accumulate rainy-day funds are helping them to feel more financially free.
Credit Score Assistance and Fraud Protection
Many employers already offer credit and fraud monitoring, but what about a benefit that offers fraud protection in addition to helping employees achieve their best credit score? Especially helpful for employees on their way to purchasing their first homes or rebounding from the financial mistakes of their past, ScoreMaster uses gamification techniques to help consumers attain their best credit score in just 20 calendar days*. Eliminating stress related to credit issues, ScoreMaster uses an intuitive dashboard to help employees track their spending, see how payments can affect their credit score, and take action to take care of negative accounts. In addition, ScoreMaster monitors employees’ credit cards and credit reports to alert them of changes and detect fraud as soon as their credit score changes, and there’s $1MM in fraud protection for added peace of mind. By making ScoreMaster available to employees, employers might help them worry less about finances and perform better at work, as financial health has been linked to increased productivity.
Learn more about how ScoreMaster can help employees achieve their best credit score, and — ultimately — financial freedom.
*Legal Disclaimer – ScoreMaster is a patent-pending educational feature simulating credit utilization’s effect on credit scores via payments or spending. Your results may vary and are not guaranteed.
References:
- https://www.shrm.org/resourcesandtools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/financial-wellness-perks-expand.aspx
- https://www.bizjournals.com/bizjournals/news/2018/09/11/to-attract-and-retain-key-employees-offer-benefits.html
- https://www.usnews.com/news/elections/articles/2019-11-01/student-debt-explained-breaking-down-the-16t-in-loans
- https://www.aarp.org/ppi/info-2019/unlocking-the-potential-of-emergency-savings-accounts.html
- https://www.shrm.org/ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/benefits/pages/financial-health-boosts-productivity.aspx