2018 - Page 13 of 18 - Best Money Moves

Money and Health Are Tied Together. Here’s What We Know

by Ilyce Glink | Apr 5, 2018 | Blog

The Connection Between Financial Stress and Poor Health Outcomes

I’ve been spending a lot of time lately thinking about the connection between money and health – specifically how the financial stress you feel translates directly into poor health outcomes.

In short, when you’re stressed about money you are much more likely to get sick, maybe even really sick.

This past week, I gave a talk about the connection between financial stress and health at the Health Benefits Leadership Conference, at the Aria hotel in Las Vegas. In doing the research for this speech, I looked at several studies that have proven this connection – something you probably knew inside your head and heart, but are probably glad there’s some hard data to back it up.

In 2014, researchers published a review of 33 peer-reviewed studies demonstrating serious health effects related to indebtedness. Individuals who couldn’t make their monthly loan payments thought about suicide and suffered from depression more than those without debt.

If you can’t pay your bills, you’re also likely to have poorer subjective health and health-related behavior. Like Cardio Vascular Disease. Turns out, financial stress may increase the risks of incident CVD and all-cause mortality, particularly among men.

The risks are greater in men living in single households and in women who don’t have cash in the bank at the end of the month. (Living with a partner seems to protect men, but not women, from getting sick because of ill-health associated with financial stress due to a lack of extra cash on hand.)

Of course, According to L Casey Chosewood, director of the Office for Total Worker Health, a the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, work influences critical choices around tobacco use, physical activity and other health behaviors. Workplace stress affects these choices. But when you feel like you don’t earn enough, you’re much more likely to smoke more, workout less, take worse care of yourself, use drugs and eat less healthily.

All of this factors into poor health outcomes. And, much of it can be reduced, if not avoided, over time. But it take times to implement new programs that will lower workplace stress, and help employees take back control over their financial lives, lowering financial stress.

Turn Financial Stress into Financial Wellness with Financial Literacy Month

by Nicole Smith | Apr 3, 2018 | Blog

In this week’s Best Money Moves roundup, we take a look at news stories and new research studies that may impact employee benefits and HR issues. We hope you find this news roundup helpful, and we’d love your feedback.

Are you looking for a way to turn your employees’ financial stress into financial wellness? Giving them actionable information may just be the ticket – and it’s your lucky month!

This month marks the 18th April in a row to celebrate Financial Literacy Month. Originally promoted by the Jumpstart Coalition as an evolution from the National Endowment for Financial Education’s Youth Literacy Day in 2000, Financial Literacy Month has come a long way. Reaching from family living rooms to high school classrooms and into corporate boardrooms, decision makers across the spectrum are taking this opportunity to implement conversation, educational programming and benefits plans to meet this important need among people at every age, position and income level. And at the end of the month, the Federal Reserve Banks across the country will celebrate Money Smart Week, where tens of thousands of free money classes will be offered in more than 100 languages.

Read through the Huffington Post’s collection of articles highlighting the importance of financial education and financial wellness during April’s Financial Literacy Month, here:

Financial Literacy Month – Information to Last You Well Beyond April

It’s common knowledge that financial stress is the leading cause of lost productivity, unplanned absences and greater distractions among employees. More than half of your employees say that they want their employers (you) to provide financial literacy education in order to boost their own financial wellness. Let Financial Literacy Month help you to help your employees in order to get everyone on the right track to their own financial wellness.

Don’t forget: there’s not one down side to employee financial wellness. What are you waiting for?

Engage Employees for Successful Financial Planning

Reduced financial stress may reduce health care costs. Financial wellness and physical wellness are directly linked – so, it makes sense that providing financial wellness programs for your employees will inevitably reduce company healthcare costs. And, shouldn’t you apply the same “healthcare metrics” used to track our health – to our money behavior as well?

The Tipping Point of Financial Wellness Looks Like This

When was the last time your company invested in upgrades for its employees? Far too often, employee wellness benefits miss the mark when it comes to blue-collar workers. And these dedicated employees are missing out. Hilton and Hyatt Hotels recognize the importance of investing in all ranks of its employees, both full and part time.

Hilton Hotels’ Newest Upgrades are Strictly for Staff

Despite the rumors, your millennial employees are pretty good savers. Unfortunately, they still don’t know how to properly invest their savings funds. Approximately 42 percent of millennial employees aren’t investing enough for retirement. Here’s why.

Millennials Are Saving Well, But…

Human Resources departments are being digitized – on a massive scale. And, they’re incorporating everything from metrics to contests to training. Here’s a list of the fastest growing, most transformative and innovative HR tech trends.

Emerging Tech Trends that Will Upend the HR Practices

Yes, it’s still tax season. Thirty-seven percent of young people rely on their parents to file their federal and state income tax forms. If your population is heavily Millennial, they could be distracted this month by the upcoming April 17th deadline. Point them in the direction of IRS.gov for their free file help. And, Money Magazine has a few good last minute thoughts, too.

The Tax Deadline, Early Retirement, & Better Credit

Have something to add? Email info@bestmoneymoves.com.

From Employee Wellness to Wellbeing: Transforming Your Workforce

by DHS Group | Apr 3, 2018 | Blog

Best Money Moves and DHS Group are working together to transform employee wellness programs into employee wellbeing. DHS Group believes that employee wellbeing encompasses physical health, mental health and financial wellness. The opinions expressed in this blog belong to the author and DHS Group.

Regardless of whether you view employee wellness from the perspective of the industry professional, one who is tasked with finding and implementing wellness strategies for groups of employees or that of a participant engaged in wellness programming, you’re sure to have noticed a shift from “wellness” to an all-encompassing “wellbeing” strategy.

“Historically, employee wellness programs have had this focus on physical health – specifically through things like step programs and activity programming,” Jim Pritchett, DHS Group CEO, said. “However, we’re quickly seeing these programs expand to include more as people ask questions about pieces like mental health and [how to fix their] finances.”

Will Herold, DHS Group’s VP of Employer Solutions, agrees. “A wellbeing approach is more of a holistic approach to help employees improve on all aspects of wellness – those being physical, mental, financial and health,” Herold said. “What we knew as ‘employee wellness’ only ever focused on one piece of the complete wellbeing pie.”

What’s behind the shift that’s changing employee wellness programs to define “health” more inclusively?

The Expanding Mission of HR. While it may seem like common knowledge, HR and benefits managers realize that not every employee is at the same point in their life. With this realization, the mission and definition of “employee wellness” has expanded to include financial wellbeing training and mental health information – areas that some employees might need in order to solve issues and help them reach their full potential.
Return on Investment (ROI). According to HR Magazine, “leaders of organizations with knowledge of their return on investment reported a return of $1 to $4 for every dollar spent” on employee wellbeing programs. While the true return is often difficult to quantify, the benefits for employees themselves – better overall wellbeing – is highly valuable.
Improving Employee Satisfaction. “As employees are more satisfied with their lives outside of work (reduced stress and financial stability) they have healthy behaviors that often reflect on their work life as well,” Herold said.
Recruit and Retain Employees. “Free beer isn’t enough anymore,” is almost a cliche in the recruitment world because employees are looking for more when weighing both current and future employers, including retirement options, healthcare benefits and wellbeing options.

At the end of the day, benefits and employee wellbeing programs need to be about engaging employees and encouraging them to improve – not just their physical health, but their mental and financial health as well – which is where DHS Group’s HealthSpective Engage platform comes in. It’s not just something that benefits the employee, but impresses a positive impact on the employer as well.

“Our goal has always been to help companies achieve better health outcomes with lower costs,” Pritchett said. “With HealthSpective Engage, companies can both enhance their benefits system – adding pieces like financial wellbeing to the puzzle – and simplify the process. A decision that ultimately helps companies improve their population health and leads to employees and families that are healthier in multiple areas of their life and not just one single focus.”

Learn more about bringing complete wellbeing to your employees with DHS Group’s HealthSpective Engage program, including Best Money Moves, now an official part of DHS Group’s HealthSpective offering.

CEO Ilyce Glink to Speak at the 2018 HR Women in Tech Conference

by Nicole Smith | Mar 28, 2018 | Blog

Will we see you at September’s HR Technology Conference in Las Vegas?

It’s official: Best Money Moves’ CEO Ilyce Glink will speak on employee financial wellness at the 2018 Women in HR Technology Pre-Conference Event. This annual event attracts industry experts, thought leaders, software vendors, senior HR Executives, and IT innovators.

“The HR Technology Conference is the world’s leading event on HR technology covering all the latest trends – Talent Acquisition, Employee Engagement, Diversity & Inclusion, Big Data and more.”

At the 2017 HR Tech Conference, Best Money Moves placed third out of more than 150 entries in the Next Great HR Tech Company competition. This is the second year the company will exhibit at HR Tech.

Get the inside scoop on the upcoming event and learn more about why you should be at the HR Tech Conference – we hope to see you there!

Does Financial Wellness drive employee engagement? It can – if the program is designed correctly. Research shows that offering employee financial wellness benefits not only contributes to your employees’ overall health – which has innumerable positive effects – it lures top talent and improves employee satisfaction. Here’s more:

Is Wellness Just a Perk?

Are you evaluating candidates’ credit scores as well as their accomplishments? You may want to reconsider. More than one in 5 consumers have an error in their credit report, lowering (or sometimes raising) their credit scores. Here’s what you need to know:

Credit Reports and Their Errors

Companies are taking Parental Leave Benefits into their own hands – how does yours measure up? Maternal leave is important – but fathers need paternity leave rights as well. Companies offering parental leave are seeing a change in office culture – for the better.

Parental Leave Benefits for All Parents

Do your employees know how much they need to live on post-retirement? Many don’t. Financial experts claim that $1 million is an “ideal” retirement savings goal, but that’s just not realistic. Workers that are 55-64 years old have saved about 12 percent of that: an average of $120,000. The average retiree needs around $46,000 per year. Can you help your employees fill that financial gap?

Your Older Employees Need Financial Education, Too

Can government-sponsored retirement programs save your small business money? Legislation is in the works for small businesses to create government-sponsored payroll-deduction retirement programs. Fifty-two percent of American households aged 55 and up have no retirement savings, with just a few working years left to save. Could this work for your employees?

Govt. Sponsored Retirement Plan?

Do your employees understand how to prepare for retirement? Companies offering a 401(k) are beginning to offer Roth 401(k) contributions as well. The different tax status of the Roth 401(k) (funds are added post-tax) can give your employees more flexibility as they prepare for retirement.

Roth 401k(s) and Your Employees

HR representatives have heard it all before. Employee complaints require more than just listening. You have to handle each employee issue with kindness, understanding and required legaleze. Forbes columnist Liz Ryan compiled the top ten issues most HR representatives will handle on a regular basis.

Top Ten Issues That Every HR Rep Will Deal With

Have something to add? Email info@bestmoneymoves.com.

Just a Fad? Why Financial Wellness Benefits Are Growing

by Nicole Smith | Mar 21, 2018 | Blog

You might think financial wellness is a fad. Today, employers are focusing on their employees’ financial stress, but will it last?

Given the amount of financial stress employees are feeling – even as the economy continues to improve – it’s clear that financial wellness programs are here to stay.

Over half (52 percent) of America’s hard-working employees have anxiety about dealing with their financial stress – and are completely lost when it comes to doing something about it. They want their employers to step forward and provide the financial education and financial planning tools they need, according to the 2017 PwC Employee Financial Wellness Survey.

Further, 77 percent of stressed employees say that their stress levels have increased over the past 12 months. This means that in order to have effective employees, employers need to take a hard look at their benefits plans and make serious steps towards providing comprehensive financial wellness benefits in 2018.

But providing reading material and investment advice doesn’t help employees reduce financial stress. Easily measuring their level of financial stress and offering personalized action plans based on deeply specific, personal insights is what your employees need, and what Best Money Moves does best.

Here are five predictions about this year’s employee financial wellness offerings:

2018 Predictions: 5 Trends in Financial Wellness Benefits

Employees with money angst are found to have higher absenteeism and lower engagement. Financial worries not only keep employees awake at night, they also can spill over into the workplace and create significant costs for the employer. Here’s the breakdown on helping your employees that are financially stressed in the workplace.

How Improving Financial Health Boosts Productivity

Employers are taking notice, in droves. Employees who are stressed are more likely to be distracted by their finances at work, miss work due to their personal financial issues and cite health issues caused by financial stress. Most Americans are seriously anxious about their finances. The time to take action is now – here’s what you can do to help your employees build financial wellness.

Why Workplace Financial Wellness Programs Are Hot

Talent acquisition and retention are struggles that all employers face. Chipotle Mexican Grill and Lowe’s have begun offering their employees courses and skills training, while Walmart and State Street Corporation have started their own employer-provided adoption benefits. They’re expanding on their available perks in order attract and retain top talent. And it’s working. Here’s what you can do to compete in 2018’s tough hiring market.

Tax Reform, Tight Labor Market Bust Open the Lid on Benefits

The U.S. is the only industrialized country that doesn’t legally require paid family leave. Ninety two percent of the U.S. has no legally required healthcare policies – important healthcare provision decisions are left to employers. Just 15 percent of American employees have access to paid family leave through their workplace, and roughly 60 percent can be fired for taking unpaid leave. Does your company offer Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) benefits? If not, perhaps it should.

Millennials Struggling to Care for Aging Baby Boomer Parents Call for Better Paid Leave

Your company still doesn’t offer a 401(k) plan? Here’s why that might actually be a good thing for your employees. The Tax Cut & Jobs Act lowered marginal tax rates, but those rates revert to higher levels in 2026. No one knows if this will actually happen. Assuming that it does, tax rates may never be this low again. Putting retirement funds into tax-free savings plans now can turn into a significant boost to after-tax wealth later.

Why New Tax Rules Make Roth Accounts Better Than Ever

Conflicting information on Millennials has a lot of people confused. Recent research pegs Millennials as either responsible savers far outpacing their Baby Boomer and Gen X counterparts, or self-indulgent and immature, living only in the moment. This hyper-focus on spending and saving habits of the largest generation in history is causing a variety of opinions. So, which are accurate?

Millennials: Serious 401k Savers Or Struggling Spendthrifts?

Will this affect your business? A new legislation calls for a three-tiered state tax on short-term rentals, giving cities and towns the option of imposing additional excise taxes. The bill would impose 5.7 percent and 8 percent taxation for short-term rentals made through a professional property manager or investor host.

House Bill Would Tax, Regulate Airbnb, Other Rentals

Have something to add? Email info@bestmoneymoves.com.