Emily Pfund, Author at Best Money Moves

Vacation Time Matters. Why Aren’t More People Using It?

by Emily Pfund | Jun 7, 2017 | 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.

When was the last time you took a vacation?

Vacation time is a basic part of most employee benefits packages, but it turns out many employees don’t take full advantage of the perk.

According to a recent travel industry survey, more than half of American workers didn’t use all of their vacation time last year. In total, employees sacrificed an estimated 662 million vacation days.

There are a lot of reasons workers don’t take advantage of their vacation time, like worrying about how much work they’ll have when they get back (60 percent), fearing that no one else can do their job while they’re gone (47 percent) and wanting to impress their boss by appearing dedicated to the job.

The benefits of taking breaks are clear: Employees who pause for rest and relaxation are happier and more productive at work. When employees don’t take use their vacation time, however, they are more stressed and less likely to get promoted, according to the Harvard Business Review.

How can you change the vacation culture in your company?

Millennials spend four hours a week on average handling their personal finances at work, according to a new Bank of America Merrill Lynch study. That’s twice as long as Gen Xers and four times as long as Baby Boomers.

President Trump’s executive order on religious liberty could lead to discrimination in the workplace, some experts say. The order allows lots of room for interpretation in how it is enforced.

Will working out make you rich? Maybe not, but there’s a correlation between physical and financial wellness.

Do you have a pet-friendly employee benefits policy? From bringing Fluffy and Fido to work to allowing for pet-related paid time off and bereavement leave, these policies could boost employee morale.

What are your goals for retirement? Millennials know their goals and are already taking big steps to prepare for retirement: 80 percent are saving for retirement and 75 percent have plans to cut expenses so they can save even more.

Life insurance is making a comeback. More than half of employees say this is a must-have benefit.

Do women feel more financial stress? Between balancing family and work obligations and saving more for retirement due to their longer life expectancies, only one-third of women are confident they’ll save enough for retirement.

Remember people predicting financial wellness benefits would be more popular this year? Turns out, they were right. SHRM’s 2017 Employee Benefits survey found almost half of employers now offer some type of financial advice or education.

Many Americans struggle to save for retirement because they’re caring for family members. About one-third of investors are supporting an adult child, a parent or both, leading to more financial stress.

Employees’ Student Debt Stress Blocks Their Financial Goals

by Emily Pfund | May 31, 2017 | 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.

Did you know your employees’ student debt is keeping them from pursuing their financial goals?

According to a new study from Prudential Financial, 55 percent of college graduates say their student debt keeps them from saving for emergencies, 42 percent say it’s made them delay buying a home and 40 percent say it keeps them from saving for retirement.

On top of that, many grads don’t completely understand their loans. Almost three-quarters of those surveyed didn’t know how long they’d be making payments, 53 percent didn’t know their future monthly payment amounts and 25 percent didn’t know whether their loans were from the government or private companies.

Here’s what your employees wish they’d known before taking out student loans.

By 2050, the world could face a $400 trillion retirement savings shortfall. People are living longer, so they need more money to fund longer retirements. Our current savings systems aren’t set up to handle it. What can be done?

Would your HR department take a “listening tour” of your company? That’s what the team at Uber did following recent HR (and PR) issues. Here’s what they learned about their employees.

Best Money Moves made Shortlister’s inaugural Top 20 list of financial wellness providers! Check it out.

Don’t forget about your deskless workers when it comes time for employee training. Because retail workers, warehouse staff, truck drivers and other employees without a cubicle often don’t have company email addresses, they could fall through the cracks in corporate training programs.

Even older, wealthier workers struggle with basic retirement planning concepts. In a study by the American College New York Life Center for Retirement income, 74 percent of these workers failed a 38-question retirement planning quiz.

While low unemployment is good for the overall economy, it makes hiring new employees more difficult. Six tips for hiring in a tight labor market.

America’s teens lack basic financial literacy skills and fall far behind their peers in other nations. According to the Program for International Student Assessment, the U.S. ranked seventh out of 15 countries for financial literacy, with China, Belgium and Canada taking the top spots.

A third of older Latinos say they’ve borrowed money from their retirement accounts, more than people of other races in the same age group, according to a new Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research poll. In contrast, about a quarter of older whites and blacks said the same.

Changes in the workplace make employees more likely to quit, according to a study from the American Psychological Association. The study found people who’d recently experienced organizational changes at work were more stressed, less trustful of employers and more likely to leave.

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

Millennials Want an Employee Benefits Package With This ‘Boring’ Benefit

by Emily Pfund | May 24, 2017 | 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.

Looking to attract young talent? You’d better review your employee benefits package.

A recent survey by the Anthem Life Insurance Company found that one in three millennial workers has turned down a job because it offered less-than-stellar health insurance. Across all age groups, 27 percent of U.S. workers have turned down job offers because of the company’s poor or nonexistent insurance benefits.

Despite generational stereotypes, not all millennials are looking for a foosball table, office keg or lunchtime volleyball league. The employee benefits they want are much more practical.

In addition to healthcare and dental insurance, many older millennials say they want disability insurance.

Are your company’s employee benefits up to snuff?

More than half of Americans don’t count saving for retirement among their long-term financial goals. Unsurprisingly, one-third are also worried they won’t have enough saved to retire when they want to. Why aren’t your employees saving?

Your employees want financial stability. When asked whether they’d prefer economic mobility or financial stability, 92 percent of workers say they want stability. Employers can help them get there.

Does your company have a policy for grieving employees? Does the office send flowers? How long is the standard bereavement leave? Here’s how some HR pros handle these delicate situations.

Loan defaults make already-difficult financial situations worse and hurt employees’ retirement preparedness. Can employers help protect workers’ retirement savings?

Your employees are more likely to leave than you think. A study by staffing company Robert Half found that 42 percent of workers say they’re somewhat or very likely to look for a new job in the next 12 months.

Setting aside money for the future can be hard – really hard. It turns out that our brains are hardwired against savings behaviors. Behavioral economists offer five tips you can pass on to help your employees save more.

Too many workers don’t take advantage of their employee benefits packages, and they could be missing out on thousands of dollars. Make sure your employees use these seven benefits.

Young employees save more than past generations, but many aren’t saving for retirement. Instead, they’re focusing on “financial freedom.” What does that mean for their golden years?

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

Retirement Planning: What Employees Don’t Know Could Hurt Them

by Emily Pfund | May 17, 2017 | 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.

How much do your employees (or you, for that matter) know about retirement planning?

Probably not as much as you think.

According to Fidelity Investments’ Retirement IQ survey, most American employees struggle to understand basic retirement planning concepts. For example, two-thirds of respondents significantly underestimated how much money they’ll need to fund their retirement years, setting themselves up for significant financial stress.

Overall, the average grade on the retirement survey was only 30 percent – an F.

But employers can help their employees understand and improve their retirement planning. The authors of the survey suggest that financial education – particularly in the workplace – is a great step toward reducing retirement planning stress.

Which retirement concepts are confusing your employees?

Your older workers are sticking around longer to pay for retirement. The number of workers ages 65 and older in the workforce is at its highest level since 1962 because many lack the savings they need to retire.

Offering financial wellness benefits doesn’t help employees if they never use them. So how can you get them to take advantage of the benefits you offer? Learn five ways to encourage enrollment.

Not every money move is a good one, and some can come back to haunt you. Here’s how to help your employees avoid three big financial mistakes.

Should you review your employees’ company emails? If you suspect your employee is using their company email, computer or other resources for personal business, you’ll want to find evidence of this misuse. Know when you can (and can’t) monitor employees’ emails.

Nothing lowers employee engagement and feeds unhappiness like a bad company culture. Don’t let your managers make these eight morale-killing mistakes.

Millennials are now the biggest segment of the workforce, but they approach work differently than previous generations. Check out three ways to engage your young employees.

Benefits brokers are looking at company culture as a new employee benefit. Culture is essential for employee retention, and brokers see this as an opportunity to offer more benefits services.

Which has a better ROI: student loan repayment or employee training programs? Some argue that employers won’t see as much return from paying off loans as they will from teaching employees new skills, but it all depends on the demographics of your office.

Dental insurance is just as important as basic health insurance to many employees. Many smaller businesses don’t offer dental plans, but 70 percent of employees say this benefit is essential for deciding whether they take a job.

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

It’s hard to stay on top of everything in the news. That’s why each week our Best Money Moves newsroom will bring you the most important news in financial wellness, employee benefits and financial stress. We hope you like the information and, if you do, please spread the word. For midweek developments, follow us on Twitter and on Facebook.

5 Ways the AHCA Could Change Healthcare Benefits for Employees

by Emily Pfund | May 10, 2017 | 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.

Healthcare benefits for employees could look very different very soon, and the anticipation has many benefits pros wringing their hands. Last week, the House of Representatives passed the GOP’s American Health Care Act. Now it’s headed to the Senate, where the bill is likely to face heated debate.

The AHCA is a big step toward fulfilling Republicans’ longstanding promise to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act. Among its other provisions, the AHCA would remove the ACA’s mandate that employers provide healthcare benefits for employees.

These are the top five ways the American Health Care Act could impact the healthcare benefits your company provides to employees.

An increasing number of employers now offer financial education to employees, but does it work? The International Foundation of Employee Benefits conducted and in-depth study of workplace financial education initiatives and the effect they have on workers. How does your company’s plan stack up?

Employee wellness programs are highly regulated and employers are always working hard to ensure their companies are in compliance with the law. Need a quick refresher on the rules? Here’s what you can (and can’t) do with your company’s employee wellness program.

Financial stress distracts employees from the task at hand. That distraction can turn deadly for servicemembers working in conflict zones. Here’s why military members are so vulnerable to financial stress.

Can your company’s office improve employee wellness? “Wellness architecture” – designing workspaces with health and productivity in mind – is changing the way Americans work. Learn how to upgrade your space.

How much will millennials need for retirement? The number is higher than you think: Experts place it between $1.8 and $2.5 million (though of course it’s different for everyone). Why will your young employees need that much?

Employee error is the most common cause of corporate data breaches, and those employees are probably making the same mistakes with their personal data. Help protect them from identity theft in and out of the workplace.

Is your budget preventing you from investing in benefits technology? A new study found many employers let the price tag keep them from adopting more efficient, streamlined systems. Learn why the companies that adopt HR tech really seem to like it.

It’s never too early to start saving for retirement. Even though they’re not yet part of the full-time workforce, many Gen Z-ers under the age of 18 are already putting money away to set themselves up for a secure retirement.

You don’t want your employees to leave and work for a competitor, but how can you get them to stay? With a proactive focus on employee engagement.

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

It’s hard to stay on top of everything in the news. That’s why each week our Best Money Moves newsroom will bring you the most important news in financial wellness, employee benefits and financial stress. We hope you like the information and, if you do, please spread the word. For midweek developments, follow us on Twitter and on Facebook.