Money Dysmorphia: A Simple Guide to Why it Matters. Financial wellness programs help combat Money Dysmorphia, with tools to empower employees and help them develop a more accurate view of their financial life.

According to Credit Karma, almost half of Gen Z and 41% of millennials struggle with comparisons and feel behind financially. This phenomenon may also be triggered by negative experiences with money, like extreme poverty or debt. Money Dysmorphia causes preventable stress, which can affect workplace productivity, retention and quality of life.

To help your employees, try Best Money Moves.

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Best Money Moves is an interactive financial wellness benefit that helps employees make smarter choices about their money. Whether employees are building their first budget, paying down debt, working toward homeownership or planning for retirement – Best Money Moves has the tools they need to turn financial goals into reality. Best Money Moves users gain access to a suite of debt trackers, budgeting calculators and a library of 900+ articles, videos and webinars. Our tools empower employees with actionable solutions to real-world problems. Best Money Moves users also receive exclusive member deals from our library of trusted benefits partners, including discounts on insurance, college planning prescription medications and so much more.

Schedule a call with a member of our team to learn more about Best Money Moves. Contact us and we’ll reach out to you soon.

Financial Burnout in 2025: How to Address Employee Concerns. Financial burnout is affecting employees of all generations. Learn the ins and outs of this issue, including ways to improve your workforce’s wellbeing.

There’s a new term to describe how employees feel about money: Financial burnout, a condition marked by prolonged financial pressure that results in mental exhaustion and physical strain.

Eighty-eight percent of American workers report feeling some level of financial burnout, and 65% say finances are their biggest source of stress, according to a recent survey by MarketWatch Guide. Another 41% of employees say their finances have “destroyed” their mental health, and 64% reported feeling “financial fatigue,” when dealing with money.

Like other types of burnout, financial strain affects more than mental wellbeing. Respondents also report symptoms such as loss of sleep (56%), physical fatigue (47%), headaches (45%), weight gain or loss (38%), changes in appetite (34%) and digestive issues (33%).

It’s clear that financial burnout is taking a significant toll on the overall health of American employees, yet many workplaces still struggle with how to effectively curb the issue. Here are the key factors driving this issue and actionable steps employers can take to provide support.

Healthcare costs and employee financial burnout

Many workers face especially high anxiety over healthcare costs. According to the 2023-2024 Aflac WorkForces Report, 50% of workers report anxiety about out-of-pocket health care expenses, even beyond what insurance covers. Furthermore, 51% of employees would need to dip into their savings or checking accounts for unexpected medical bills. Younger generations are particularly vulnerable, with 72% unable to afford $1,000 in out-of-pocket healthcare costs.

Employers can help by offering more comprehensive health plans that minimize out-of-pocket costs from the start. Employees can further prepare for unexpected medical expenses and diagnoses by partnering with financial planning services that guide saving for medical emergencies. Encourage employees to set aside income to cover future medical costs through pre-tax income programs such as health savings accounts.

The gap between perception and reality

There is also a gap between employer and employee perceptions of healthcare. While 79% of employers think their teams understand healthcare costs, only 48% of employees agree. Furthermore, 41% of employees would be unsure of where to seek support after a serious medical diagnosis.

Employees can provide support by offering financial literacy programs like workshops or tools to help employees better understand the costs of healthcare and other essentials. Employers can also establish a fund to support employees facing financial hardships due to unexpected events.

How poor habits can intensify financial stress

However, it is not just limited access to resources that causes financial burnout. Employees’ financial habits may also exacerbate already existing issues. Poor budgeting, overspending and procrastination are common issues leading to financial burnout when employees avoid dealing with their financial challenges until it is too late.

According to MarketWatch Guide, 58% of employees don’t use a detailed financial budget. 57% procrastinate on important financial decisions, 44% overspend to deal with stress, 44% make purchases they cannot afford and 41% avoid opening bills or reviving card statements. 44% also admitted they ignore a financial problem until it becomes a crisis.

Employers can partner with financial institutions to offer debt consolidation services or low-interest loans for employees struggling with debt. Providing access to budgeting apps or financial planners can also encourage employees to create and adhere to a financial plan. Organizing employee challenges that reward participation in financial planning and debt-reduction programs can also help employees reach their financial goals.

Financial burnout affects the mental, physical and financial health of employees nationwide. Employers can play a crucial role in mitigating this stress by offering comprehensive healthcare benefits, financial literacy programs and resources to support better budgeting and debt management. By taking proactive steps, organizations can both improve the well-being of their teams and foster a more productive workforce.

Tackle financial burnout head-on with direct help from Best Money Moves.

Best Money Moves is an AI-driven, mobile-first financial wellness solution designed to help employees with varying levels of financial knowledge dial down their most top-of-mind financial stresses. As an easy-to-use financial well-being solution, Best Money Moves offers comprehensive support toward any money-related goal, ranging from debt management to purchasing a home. With 1:1 money coaching, budgeting tools and other resources, our AI-driven platform is designed to help bolster employee financial wellbeing.

To learn more about Best Money Moves Financial Wellness Platform, let’s schedule a call. Contact us and we’ll reach out to you soon.

On October 16, 2024, Best Money Moves Founder & CEO Ilyce Glink accepted the Social Impact Award from Smart Business Dealmakers at their annual Chicago conference. This is her acceptance speech.

Marne, thank you for that gracious introduction. And, thank you to the nominating committee for honoring Best Money Moves with a 2024 Dealmakers’ Social Impact award.

When I began my career in financial journalism, appearing on the radio, television and writing hundreds of newspaper articles and columns each year, an advisor of mine told me I needed to have a motto for my career. After trying out a few, I landed on this: Helping people make smarter decisions with their money.

As is so often the case these days, my career has expanded from its service journalism beginnings. I started a second company, Think Glink Media, to help connect financial services companies in better, smarter, more innovative ways with the clients and customers they serviced. I co-founded a third company that connected a Fortune 100 healthcare company with healthcare consultants, experts, influencers and healthcare journalists. Once that was sold, I started thinking about how consumers were experiencing financial stress in the wake of the Great Recession. And, given that nearly 70% of our population lives paycheck-to-paycheck today, including a third of those earning more than $250,000 per year, they still are.

That’s the foundation of Best Money Moves, my financial wellness company. We help employers measure their employees’ level of financial stress with a variety of assessment tools, then leverage artificial intelligence to help personalize the information, tools, and solutions we push to each employee. (We use Anthropic, by the way, since my son works there and, well, family first!) And, we can even send employees information about their own company’s benefits. So they make smarter financial decisions every day.

For employers, we offer an unparalleled level of customization and curation out–of-the-box, the ability to build in your own benefits, grouped for specific portions of your workforce, as well as analytics that would be difficult to get anywhere else.

Today, around 1,000 companies trust Best Money Moves with their employees’ financial wellbeing. What I’ve learned is that when employees feel less financial stress, there’s a real ROI for employers: Less chronic illness and addiction issues, fewer heart attacks, better health outcomes, sure. Also, less turnover and more focused, productive employees. Their employees feel happier and sleep better. Bonus: They’re less grouchy, too.

Since Black and Brown families have about one-tenth the wealth of White families, we’ve found creative ways to work with nonprofits, religious organizations, colleges and universities, local governments and for-profit companies enmeshed in those communities. We’ve developed give-back programs to help fund their initiatives. We’ve created special versions of Best Money Moves, which we call “Pro,” to cater to micro-businesses and start-ups packed with partnerships that we believe will resonate with those employers and their employees. And, we work to make sure everyone who needs access to Best Money Moves has it.

The feedback, testimonials, and ratings we’ve received make it all worthwhile. We are helping people make smarter decisions with their money everyday. Which is enormously gratifying. Less so is the hard work we’ve done over the past eight years to educate employers on the very real benefits of a less financially-stressed workforce.

Financial stress is the #1 reported workplace stress. Financial wellness has been the #1 requested benefit for the past few years. We must all look for ways to turn down the volume on our highly stressed workforce and find opportunities to help our employees feel better about themselves, their earning potential and their financial futures.

I have a few people I’d like to thank starting with our incredible Best Money Moves team, who make us look good every day, my family for all their support, and in particular, I’d like to thank my husband, Sam, who always believes my wildest dreams will come true.

In closing, I’d like to leave you with a quote from the late Herb Kelleher, co-founder, CEO and Chairman Emeritus of Southwest Airlines until his death in 2019: Your employees come first. And if you treat your employees right, guess what? Your customers come back, and that makes your shareholders happy. Start with your employees and the rest follows from that.

Thank you.