5 Retirement Challenges for Older Employees

5 Retirement Challenges for Older Employees

5 retirement challenges for older employees. New research highlights housing inequality on top of other barriers to retirement readiness.

A recent survey by Transamerica found nearly 70 percent of Baby Boomers expect to work past age 65 or don’t plan to retire at all. More than 80 percent of them say their decision to stay in the workforce is financially motivated. 

Older employees are facing considerable financial challenges as they approach retirement. Homeownership rates are lower and debt rates are higher for older workers aged 50 to 64, as compared to earlier generations, according to research by the Joint Center for Housing Studies (JCHS). 

“The falloff in homeownership rates among those approaching retirement, and the elevated levels of mortgage debt among those who do own, is concerning,” says Chris Herbert, Managing Director of the Joint Center for Housing Studies. 

The dip in homeownership rates and the spike in mortgage debt is just the tip of the iceberg sinking older employees’ timelines for retirement. Older workers are paying off credit cards and student loans, providing financial support for grown children, becoming caretakers for aging relatives and struggling to save for emergencies, let alone retirement.

5 Retirement Challenges for Older Employees

Click through the slideshow below for some fast stats on five of the biggest retirement challenges older employees are facing on top of housing inequality:

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How Employers Can Help Older Employees Get Ready for Retirement

More than 60 percent of Baby Boomers feel like they don’t know as much about retirement investing as they should and almost as many of them (55 percent) would like more education and advice from their employers on how to reach their retirement goals.

Financial wellness programs, like Best Money Moves, give employees personalized tools to help them better manage their money, pay off their debts, build their savings and plan for retirement. Best Money Moves provides practical, unbiased help to make it easier for employees to solve financial problems quickly and easily. And, for employers, less financially-stressed employees translates into a happier, healthier and more productive workforce.

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How to Help Employees Prepare for Open Enrollment 2020

How to Help Employees Prepare for Open Enrollment 2020

How to help employees prepare for open enrollment 2020. Being more knowledgeable about health insurance benefits will help them enroll in the plan that’s right for them.

U.S. workers dread open enrollment almost as much as going to the DMV to renew their driver’s license, according to a survey by MetLife. 

This level of apprehension may explain why employees make hasty benefits decisions. One in five employees spend only a few minutes reviewing benefits plans before making a selection. Another survey by UnitedHealthcare found nearly 40 percent of employees devote less than one hour to the open enrollment process.

It’s unfortunate employees are rushing benefits decisions, especially when employers are taking a more active role in driving down healthcare costs.

What can employers do to help employees better understand how different health insurance plans affect out-of-pocket costs for healthcare?

Terms Employees Need to Know for Open Enrollment 2020

One reason workers dislike the open enrollment process could be because they don’t understand the terms used when discussing health insurance and healthcare costs. UnitedHealthcare found that some workers struggle with health literacy and defining terms like:

  • Health Plan Premium – The amount of money a person pays for a health insurance plan each month. (Only 59% knew the correct meaning.)
  • Health Plan Deductible – The amount a person pays for health care services before insurance coverage starts. (Only 53% knew the correct meaning.)
  • Out-of-Pocket Maximum – The maximum amount a person must pay for covered health expenses during a plan year. (Only 33% knew the correct meaning.)
  • Co-Insurance – The share of costs for a covered health care service a person must pay after health insurance coverage is factored in. (Only 21% knew the correct meaning.)

Misunderstanding these terms when selecting health insurance benefits could lead to higher premiums, co-pays and out of pocket costs. 

Additionally, just over half of employees check if their doctors are in-network for the health plan they select. If their doctor happens to be out-of-network on their new plan, it could lead to serious headaches over higher co-pays or finding a new doctor that is in-network. 

How to Help Employees Prepare for Open Enrollment 2020

Seventy-five percent of employees told UnitedHealthcare they felt prepared for open enrollment, but there’s a disconnect somewhere since most employees struggled to define basic health insurance terms. 

Clearly, there are a lot of factors that employees need to consider when selecting healthcare benefits during open enrollment 2020. Here are four ways that employers can communicate with employees about open enrollment to increase their understanding of the process and prompt them to review selections more diligently:

  1. Build a guide, checklist or cheatsheet for employees to use when reviewing available benefits. 
  2. Hold a meeting before open enrollment to go over changes in costs and healthcare offerings.
  3. Send out an email before open enrollment that goes over terminology and the factors employees should consider when selecting their healthcare plans.
  4. Designate a contact for questions. If an employee has a question about open enrollment should they ask their direct supervisor? A member of the HR team? Call a representative from the insurance broker?

“Employees have the unique opportunity to leverage a growing number of benefits from their employers—benefits that are specifically tailored to their needs and the needs of their families,” said Meredith Ryan-Reid, senior vice president, Group Benefits at MetLife. “But first, they need to be armed with a better understanding of how these employer-offered benefits can play a central role in protecting them against the unexpected and helping them achieve their short- and long-term financial goals.”

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World Mental Health Day 2019: Supporting Employees at Work

World Mental Health Day 2019: Supporting Employees at Work

World Mental Health Day 2019: Supporting employees at work. These are five ways employers can reduce work-related risk factors and promote mental health at work.

World Mental Health Day 2019: Supporting Employees at Work

The World Health Organization (WHO) has outlined five ways employers can reduce work-related mental health risk factors, including high job demands, low supervisor and coworker support, job insecurity and long work hours. 

Plus, advances in technology are making it easier for employers to give employees access to mental health benefits that can help.

5 Ways to Promote Mental Health at Work

Research by Harvard Business Review found that less than half of employees felt their employers prioritized mental health and even fewer viewed their company leaders as mental health advocates. Most employees, 86 percent to be precise, think a company’s culture should support mental health.

Here are the WHO’s five ways employers can promote mental health, adapted from a guide from the World Economic Forum:

  1. Implement and enforce health and safety policies and practices, including identification of distress, harmful use of psychoactive substances and illness and providing resources to manage them.
  2. Inform employees that mental health support is available.
  3. Involve employees in decision-making, conveying a feeling of control and participation.
  4. Create organizational practices that support a healthy work-life balance and build programs for career development.
  5. Recognize and reward the contributions of employees.

A study led by the WHO found that for every $1 employers put into scaled up treatment for common mental disorders, there is a return of $4 in improved health and productivity. 

Mental Health Benefits During Open Enrollment

We’re only a month away from open enrollment and there have been plenty of technological developments that make it easier for employers to provide benefits that support the mental health of employees. 

A recent analysis from the National Business Group on Health found that more than 80 percent of employers will provide mental health services to employees virtually. One-third of employers will offer onsite mental health counselors. More than 25 percent will provide digital cognitive behavioral therapy for mental health issues. And nearly half will provide training for managers to help them recognize mental health issues and guide workers to resources. 

Now is the time to consider what kind of mental health benefits your organization offers and how you can use new technology to give employees access to programs and tools that can help. 

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Employee Benefits 2020: Why Employees Want Financial Wellness

Employee Benefits 2020: Why Employees Want Financial Wellness

Employee benefits 2020: why employees want financial wellness. Financial stress has permeated all corners of the workforce and employees need your help to stop it.

In their annual survey on employee benefits, the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) discovered that financial wellness is one of the top benefits most employees want in 2020. 

Employee Benefits 2020: Why Employees Want Financial Wellness

Why do employees want financial wellness? Well, they’re financially stressed. Seriously stressed. A Mercer study from 2017 found that employees spend an average of 3 to 5 work hours per week working on issues related to personal finance.

From an employer’s perspective, providing overall financial wellness tools and resources as an employee benefit would have been unheard of a generation ago. But today, 78% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, and financial stress has permeated all corners of the workforce. 

There are four generations of employees in the workplace (Gen-Z, Millennials, Gen-X and Baby Boomers), and all are dealing with most of the same financial issues. But, they experience that financial stress in different ways. That’s why providing the right mix of financial wellness tools and resources that can provide personalized and contextual assistance is table stakes. 

How Financial Stress Affects Your Employees

Here’s a quick look at the four generations and some of the financial issues they’re struggling to manage:

Gen-Z: They’re dealing with high student loans and credit issues due to late payments on bills. Nearly a third are worrying about paying for housing (renting, not owning) and 28% worry about hunger. Overall, there’s a lot of general money angst.

Millennials: This generation is $1 trillion in debt, which is more debt than any generation in history. Student loans make up the majority of that debt. A third have a credit score that is subprime or lower. The average age for buying a first home is 34, the highest in history and this cohort owns fewer homes than previous generations. Childcare can cost up to 50% of their income, and more than half are getting some sort of financial help from their parents.

Gen-X: This generation has the most credit card debt of any demographic. They’re in their peak earning years, but it’s also the peak debt years – and they’re caring for children and their aging parents (25% provide financial support to their parents) all at the same time. They’re saving for college tuition or paying their parental contribution, or just providing financial support (nearly 50%) to their adult children. That’s why they’re so retirement un-ready: One third has no retirement savings at all. 

Baby Boomers: Their financial stress centers around longevity – theirs. Baby Boomers are living longer and since they don’t have much in the way of retirement savings, they’re staying in the workforce longer, too. They worry about paying for their grandchildren’s college educations and their own healthcare costs in retirement. They need to work, but they want some flexibility, too. 

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National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2019: What Employers Need to Know

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2019: What Employers Need to Know

National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2019: what employers need to know. If nothing else, these basic cyber risk safeguards should be in place at your organization.

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month. According to the Chubb Cyber Claims Index, there has been a 1,215 percent increase in the number of commercial cyber insurance claims over the past decade.

It’s time for the 60 percent of employers who admit they haven’t implemented the most basic cyber safeguards (according to a recent survey by Chubb) to step up and protect their businesses.

What Employers Need to Know for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2019

If nothing else, these are the three most basic cybersecurity practices employers should adopt to protect their company from cyber risks:

  1. Hold annual employee cybersecurity trainings (only 33 percent of employers currently do this)
  2. Deploy filters for online content (only 40 percent of employers currently do this)
  3. Leverage social media blocks (only 33 percent of employers currently do this)

While putting these strategies into practice affords some cybersecurity (and some is better than none) it’s important to keep in mind that this is the equivalent of doing the bare minimum. When it comes to minimizing cyber risks and protecting your business, the bare minimum doesn’t cut it.

Defining Major Types of Cyber Risks for National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2019

When it came to defining cybersecurity terms most Americans were stumped:

  • Ransomware – a form of malware that restricts access to files unless a ransom is paid. (only 54 percent of employees knew the definition)
  • Credential stuffing – an attack by cybercriminals to programmatically target a single online user using an email address and multiple password attempts. (only 41 percent of employees knew the definition)
  • Emotet – a type of malware which is designed to steal financial information and online banking credentials. (only 28 percent of employees knew the definition)
  • Ryuk – a new strain of ransomware that infects the victim’s main computer systems and hides itself as a legitimate VPN user. (only 26 percent of employees knew the definition)

If an employee can’t define what cyber threats are, how can they spot the red flags for one on the job? This is where an annual employee training can come in handy. According to the report by Chubb, 

“As cybercriminals become increasingly sophisticated in their efforts to breach company systems, a general understanding of these common attacks — and how they are enacted — can be extremely valuable. By requiring employees to undergo annual trainings, much of which can be conducted online and limited to an hour, employees may be able to identify breach warning signs before they become full-blown attacks — allowing companies time to potentially intervene before significant losses occur.” 

How Much Does a Data Breach Cost?

According to research by IBM, globally, the average total cost of a data breach is $3.92 million. The U.S. has the most expensive data breaches, averaging $8.19 million. Healthcare is the most expensive industry for data breaches, averaging $6.45 million. The average size of a data breach is 25,575 records.

A data breach is only one kind of cyber attack, and all of them come with high costs to protect, identify, respond and remediate. Make the most of National Cybersecurity Awareness Month 2019 and take steps to further safeguard your business from cyber risks.

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Is Your Employee Doing Side Work?

Is Your Employee Doing Side Work?

Is your employee doing side work? Employees work side hustles to earn extra income in their off-time and these are the types of side jobs they’re taking on.

Is Your Employee Doing Side Work?

It’s called a “side hustle.” And, the latest research shows about one-third of U.S. employees, approximately 57 million people, are working side hustles to earn extra income. 

Should traditional employers be concerned about an employee doing side work, also known as “moonlighting?” Maybe, and for a variety of reasons. Perhaps the most important: More than 80 percent of Americans who currently have a side hustle are interested in doing it full-time, according to a recent SunTrust survey. 

Are your employees doing side work? If so, what job(s) are they doing and how much are they making? 

What Work Is Your Employee Doing On the Side?

AppJobs recently analyzed applications for side gigs to determine what the most popular side hustles are and how much they pay. The most popular side hustles are jobs that don’t necessarily require previous work experience, particular skills, or a degree, but still pay fairly well. Here are the top five most popular side gig categories according to the data gathered by Appjobs:

  1. Delivery (105,314 applications) pays an average rate of $17.10 per hour
  2. Freelance (95,866 applications) pays an average rate of $25.33 per hour
  3. Petsitting (21,620 applications) pays an average rate of $13.17 per hour
  4. Cleaning (14,143 applications) pays an average rate of $11.29 per hour
  5. Driving (11,199 applications) pays an average rate of $14.36 per hour

“Hundreds — maybe thousands — of companies are making it easy for Americans to make extra money,” says Kathy Kristof, an award-winning journalist and editor of $idehusl, a website that reviews and rates online platforms that offer ways for people to make money on the side.  “We’ve researched, rated and reviewed more than 300 of these online platforms. Where Uber and Lyft get miserable scores with our formula, there are probably 100 platforms that provide engaging, well-paid opportunities that could provide $500 to $2,500 per month in additional income. These opportunities involve teaching, cooking, creating tours, writing, programming and renting out everything from your carpet cleaner to your swimming pool.”  

Which Generation Makes the Most Money from Side Work?

The SunTrust survey looked at how much individuals in each generation demographic make working a side hustle and found:

  1. Millennials make an average of $10,972 from working a side hustle each year
  2. Gen Xers make an average of $8,791 from side work each year
  3. Baby Boomers make an average of $5,892 from side work  each year

“Millennials often take on side hustles because they’re not earning enough to pay off their student debt and still have a life. Baby Boomers, who are retiring (or near retiring), are in the market because they feel like they’re not quite financially stable enough to leave the working world without some other way to make money,” says Kristof.

Should Employers Worry About an Employee Doing Side Work?

“Smart side hustlers are using their extra income to pay off debts and boost savings. That makes them a bit more confident about their ability to withstand a job loss. So, if their bosses are mean and miserable, they’re in a better position to walk away,” says Kristof. 

“That said, what side hustles don’t give you are employee benefits and a work community. If an employer has a great benefits package and a positive, supportive working environment, most people won’t leave that — even if they have a side hustle.”

If you do notice a spike in your turnover rate, however, Kristof advises, “Ask yourself: How is my company faring in this changing workforce? Are we a place where people want to work, or are we just a place to collect a paycheck?”

“If you are nothing but a paycheck, you should worry — or, better, change. Ask yourself if you have tools in place to encourage your best workers to thrive. Are you talking to your workers? Do you know what they want/like/need from you? Are you listening? The freelance economy is bringing a sea change in the workforce. Those who are smart enough to adapt are likely to thrive.”

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