Log in
Book a Demo

5 Surprising Symptoms of Financial Stress (And 5 Helpful Solutions) Read it here.

Book a Demo
Student Loans Are Coming Due. Are You Ready?

Student Loans Are Coming Due. Are You Ready?

by | Oct 5, 2016 | Blog

It’s the start of fall, a few weeks until Halloween, and another significant milestone as well; student loans are coming due for May 2016 graduates.

Federal student loans typically have a six-month grace period after graduation to allow borrowers an opportunity to find work, accrue some savings and prepare to start making payments.

Although this grace period sounds like a relaxing break, it can be a financially stressful time as recent graduates might be thinking about how their new monthly student loan bills will impact their monthly expenses. Studies have shown that Millennials are already more financially stressed than other working generations, so this upcoming shift could make things even worse.

Here are some of the ways student loans can impact the financial stress levels of your employees, and what you can do to help them manage this transition.

Student loan stress

Americans owe more in student loans than ever before. The average spring 2016 graduate has nearly $40,000 in student debt and many of these grads will be facing their first bill in a matter of weeks. The six month grace period is an opportunity to prepare for the higher bills that are now due each month, but for financially inexperienced recent grads it’s still difficult to anticipate these monthly payments – often hundreds of dollars – and then factor them into their budgets. The result is a shock to their system, and stress comes with it.

The more money you owe, the more financial stress you’ll feel. A 2015 study from the University of South Carolina found that the more debt a student loan borrower carries, the more likely they are to be depressed.

In the workforce, if you tend to hire younger workers, your employees are likely already paying down their student loans – 43 million Americans are – and the amount they owe could vary wildly. Even if it’s not their first payment they’re reacting to, struggling to cover them each month take its toll, especially when it’s not the only thing giving them anxiety.

Millennials are already stressed out

The American Psychological Association’s annual ”Stress in America” survey found that Millennials, including recent college graduates and young employees, have the highest self-reported stress levels of any generation in America. Student loans have a lot to do with this, as many of these young employees are handling things like a budget, an apartment lease and a full-time job for the first time on top of their loans.

To make things worse, the student loan payment process isn’t always as easy as it should be. Even if a borrower wants to make their payments on time and in full, the CFPB notes that plenty of obstacles can get in their way, like a lack of answers from their loan servicer about whether they qualify for more manageable payment plans. In some instances, loan servicers can intentionally apply borrowers’ payments in a way that causes them to pay more interest or fees in the long run, rather than helping them pay off their loans as quickly as possible. These issues, combined with debt inexperience and ignorance (in some cases), means you’ll be dealing with financially stressed employees in your workplace.

How employers can help

If your workers are showing signs of severe financial stress or depression, whether they’re less focused or productive, they’re missing work frequently due to anxiety-related illnesses or they’re worried about managing their money in the face of student loan payments, you can help. When it comes to financial knowledge, a little bit can make a huge difference.

Unfortunately, student loan burdens are common for employees today, but financial literacy isn’t. The more you can help educate your workers about setting a proper budget, maximizing their emergency savings and efficiently paying off their debt, the less stress they’ll feel about their finances. The result is more productive employees who are focused on accomplishing their money goals instead of worrying about their money fears.

Feeling Sick? Financial Stress Isn’t Just About Numbers

Feeling Sick? Financial Stress Isn’t Just About Numbers

by | Sep 28, 2016 | Blog

Are you feeling sick? Do you find yourself just sniffling away, coughing and sneezing? Unable to shake what should be a two-day head cold? The problem might not be germs, but what’s in your wallet.

There are plenty of money-centric benefits to lowering your financial stress, from increased savings to cutting out monthly debt payments, but we don’t often talk about the health benefits that go along with them.

Imagine if your heart didn’t race when you opened up your bills each month or got sick to your stomach thinking about your next mortgage payment.

While it’s easy to write these worries off as purely mental or emotional problems, they can cause serious physical problems over time. The latest research ties your health to your level of financial stress: Lower your level of financial stress, feel better.

Here are some of the major physical benefits researchers have linked to lower financial stress levels and how you can help your workers (not to mention you and your family) achieve them.

Feeling the symptoms

According to the Mayo Clinic, stress manifests itself in all sorts of ways: anxiety, heart disease, depression, headaches and problems with memory and concentration are all common symptoms. These can come from any kind of stress, but with so many Americans reporting elevated levels of financial stress, there’s a good chance your employees have felt sick and experienced these health issues because of their finances.

According to the American Psychological Association’s annual ‘Stress in America’ survey, ‘Money’ and ‘Work’ are the top causes of significant stress for adults-67 and 65 percent-and they’re seeing the effects on their health. More adults reported their health as being ‘fair’ or ‘poor’ in the past year than ever, 23 percent of adults, and there were increases in physical symptoms of stress and poor health as well, including chronic illnesses, high blood pressure, poor sleep, overeating habits and mental health concerns.

According to the survey, nearly one-third of adults claim that their stress has a strong or very strong impact on their physical and mental health, so when your employees face these symptoms they could have problems focusing, feel depressed or even face heart disease in part due to their inability to properly manage their finances.

So, imagine what happens when they lower their level of  financial stress – whether by creating a budget that works for them or paying off a longstanding credit card debt – these physical symptoms might start to go away.

If you’re wondering whether you should offer help, consider this: If the choice is between seeing your employees healthy-both physically and financially-or hurting in these ways, the decision is simple.

Changing the system

Too often, we experience the physical symptoms of stress and think the only solution is to breathe deeply and find time to calm down. While dealing with stress in the moment is a good thing (and research shows daily meditation helps, “even a few minutes” according to the Mayo Clinic), it doesn’t solve the real issue: the underlying financial worries causing the stress.

We think financial stress is solvable and you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to do it. Maintaining a positive attitude while solving financial problems is tougher, and we’re sure your employees are doing what they can to keep focused and productive.

But that’s pretty tough, especially if you’re wondering whether you’ll have enough money to pay both the rent and the babysitter at the end of the month. So, without taking action to ease or eliminate their financial problems, the stress will keep coming back and cause more health harm in the long run.

As an employer, financial anxiety distracts your team, decreases retention and increases unexplained absences and health costs. If reducing financial stress also positively impacts these metrics, it’s well worth the time to figure out this piece of the puzzle.

Best Money Moves – helps reduce poor health outcomes caused by financial stress

If your employees are less financially stressed, they’ll experience fewer stress-related physical issues. This means your employees are more likely to be focused, productive and healthy overall, which translates to a more positive work environment. It also means they’ll have lower healthcare costs.

As an employer, you can help by encouraging your employees to not only find ways to manage their stress throughout the day but to eliminate it entirely. Best Money Moves is designed to guide your employees in targeting the areas which cause them the most stress and work to solve them.

You can also help in other ways. Encourage your workers to take advantage of their vacation days or lead by example. Keep an eye on how your own stress manifests itself and show empathy when your employees display similar signs. The more tools they have-and the more support they feel-the better chance your workers will have at lowering their financial stress and enjoying better physical health.