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.

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.

When it comes to money and stress, women and men are not created equal.

Women make up roughly half the U.S. workforce, but female employees often feel financial stress differently from men. Studies show that women will often have more financial stress than men, causing other issues. Moreover, today’s female employees often deal with stress in other parts of their lives, as well as the stress of doing more than their spouse or partner at home.

In her recent post for Shortlister, Best Money Moves Founder and CEO Ilyce Glink took a hard look at how workplace stress, homelife stress and financial stress affect female employees – and what their employers can do to help reduce their levels of stress.

Women and Financial Stress: Reducing Financial Stress for Women Can Help Your Workforce Overall

Financial education begets financial wellness. Seventy percent of your Millennial employees say they’d welcome financial planning assistance through their employer. Nearly 50 percent of the rest of your employees feel the same. The numbers are staggering – budgeting assistance, education on saving for retirement, guidance on personal finances – it would all be welcome. Your employees aren’t asking for higher salaries, they simply want assistance in managing the money they earn. Employee financial wellness is so easy to obtain – with just a little help from Human Resources.

Employees Want More Financial Education, Report Says

Investing in employee wellness, engagement and development. Target employees are now seeing a minimum wage of$12 an hour, up $1 from 2017. In two years’ time, Target’s minimum wage will hit $15 an hour and that’s on top of the other benefits they offer, including tuition reimbursement, free counseling services, a leadership program, product knowledge, service skills training and merchandise discounts. Why should your company invest in your employees’ overall wellness?

Target Boosts Wages to $12 an Hour

Are you exhausted as well? Your employees may be more tired than usual this week, after losing an hour to daylight savings time. Losing just one hour of sleep isn’t small potatoes, as it can cause fatigue and create safety hazards, both at work and while commuting. Here’s how you can help:

With Clocks Springing Forward, Employees May be Unusually Tired

Are these family-centric benefits ahead of the times? Dollar General announced that it will  start offering paid parental leave and financial assistance towards adoption – for full time and part time employees. Has your company caught up with the new benefits standard?

Supporting Employees and Their Families

Is high interest debt causing you – or your employees  to lose sleep? If you’re consistently making payments but not seeing any progress in paying them down, it can be tempting to take a loan from your retirement plan to pay it off. But, should you?

Should You Pay Off Credit Cards With A 401(k) Loan?

Tax identity theft: What you need to know. Over the past few years, the IRS has cracked down on fraudulent tax returns. But it still happens – and can feel devastating when it does. Here’s what you can do to prevent it now and in the future, and what to do if you happen to become a victim.

Your Guide to Avoiding Tax Identity Theft in 2018 and Beyond

Technology is reshaping Human Resources. HR departments are fundamentally changing how they operate due to emerging and innovative technology and tools. Let technology help you reach your department’s objectives – and have fun while you do it!

5 Trending HR Technologies

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