financial stress Archives

BENEFITS OF OUR FINANCIAL WELLNESS PROGRAM

by admin | Jun 19, 2016 | Blog

What is a financial wellness program? That depends on how you define it.

For most employees, financial wellness translates into a 401(k) program with perhaps a side dish of information about why you should open up a health savings account (HSA).

It feels sort of meager, like a plate of diet food. But it isn’t that your company doesn’t care about you and your personal finances – they do. But most so-called “financial wellness” programs actually fall into one of two categories: (1) They’re trying to sell you something (that most employees can’t actually afford); and (2) they’re trying to get more assets under management.

Best Money Moves is a different sort of financial wellness program because we’re built around the idea that if you solve employees’ pain points – problems that are causing a lack of focus, falling productivity and retention, and higher health care costs – then employees will be happier, healthier and more engaged overall.

Our program offers a number of features we think will help employees better understand and manage their personal finances, including:

Our financial Stressometer (R) helps you measure your level of financial stress in 14 categories
Easy-to-use and understand calculators that help you understand what’s happening with your finances, including a budget calculator that gives you your very own Best Money Moves, based on your income
A unique content-mapping system that gives you the information you need, when you need it
Non-profit money coaches, who can help you more deeply understand and tune your budget to help solve critical issues
Point-based reward system that gives you points every time you log in, read an article, work on your budget, set a goal, or measure your financial stress; each point translates into one change to win out monthly contest
And more…

Financial wellness programs are great – if they work. Best Money Moves will work to bring down your level of financial stress, and make you a happier, more engaged partner in your professional success. Contact us today for a quote!

BUILD A BUDGET AND CONTROL YOUR FINANCES

by admin | Jun 19, 2016 | Blog

Some would argue that to be happy, you need to be in control of you life. And, nothing makes you feel more out of control than being underwater with your finances.

Debt, shopping cravings you can’t control, loans that wind up costing more than you thought, and being unable to pay your bills at the end of the month – all of these events (and more) make us feel like life is spiraling out of control.

The best way to regain control of your finances is to build a budget. Put yourself on a money diet – which means you have to make some relatively unpleasant choices so that your spending is much more in line with your income.

And while it’s much more fun to just whip out your credit card, debit card, or phone and pay for the next meal or round of drinks, there’s a very real cost associated with that behavior – kind of like a hangover, it’s no fun to face a budget that’s way out of control the next morning.

So here’s what most people do when facing their own personal financial crisis – they bury their head in the sand and pretend like it isn’t going on. And, then they get stuck.

You don’t have to be stuck. You don’t have to feel as though the debt that’s weighing you down is going to be there forever. Because it doesn’t have to be.

You can get your budget back under control by making a few tiny (though tough) choices and sticking with it. It’s like a money diet.

The diet metaphor works because what you’re doing is putting yourself on a spending diet. You’re only going to spend the minimum you can in order to nurse yourself back to full financial health. We know you can do it: You can build a budget and get your finances back under control.

Best Money Moves can help. We have terrific, easy-to-use and understand tools and information that will guide you through each move, along with our Stressometer(R), which can help you figure out what’s causing the most financial stress right now. And if all seems overwhelming, you can call one of our nonprofit Money Coaches for personal, one-on-one guidance.

Imagine that. Help from someone real, who will pick up the phone when you call, and guide you through the toughest period of your financial life. And, it’s all part of the Best Money Moves program.

If your colleagues are in financial trouble, show this to your employer. Ask them to add Best Money Moves to the company’s financial wellness offerings. Our program is affordable, comprehensive and features award-winning information from some of the most distinguished financial writers and authors.

Best Money Moves. We can help! Contact us today for a quote.

HOW FINANCIAL STRESS AFFECTS EMPLOYEES

by admin | Jun 19, 2016 | Blog

Making ends meet remains a daily struggle for women, millennials, African-Americans, Hispanics and those without a high school education, according to the National Financial Capability Study (NFCS) published by Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA).

That means your employee are suffering from the effects of now knowing how to manage the income you pay them, running up extraordinary amounts of debt, and the high emotional costs of expenses they haven’t planned for, including cars and mechanical systems that break down, health care costs (including from high-deductible health care plans), and aging relatives.

Two-thirds of North American employers offer their workers financial education, according to a new report from the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans (IFEBP) in Brookfield, Wisconsin.

Even so, nearly half of organizations rate their workforce as only a little bit or not at all financially savvy. According to the IEFBP’s report, “Financial Education for Today’s Workforce: 2016 Survey Results,” employers are reporting more financial challenges among employees today than five years ago and are seeing these challenges reflected in the day-to-day operations of their workplace.

The report, which includes responses from organizations in the U.S. and Canada revealed that employees are struggling financially and are stressed over:

Debt (66 percent of respondents)
Saving for retirement (60 percent)
Saving or paying for children’s education (51 percent)
Covering basic living expenses (48 percent)
Paying for medical expenses (36 percent)

Financial stress is causing all sorts of issues for employees, which in turn cause headaches for employers. According to another study, “Finding the Links Between Retirement, Stress and Health,” published by Lockton Retirement Services, highly or moderately-stressed employees are much more likely to miss work and be less productive.

According to the executive summary, financial stress finds its way to the workplace in the forms of illness, absenteeism, and decreased productivity. Respondents with high levels of stress were more than four times as likely to suffer from symptoms of fatigue, headache, depression, or other ailments. They were also twice as likely to report poor health overall.

Often, this group would be absent or disengaged from their work. They were twice as likely to use sick time when they were not ill and more likely to report being nonproductive. Half of all respondents reported using work time to review financial statements or pay bills. Those with lower levels of savings felt especially distracted; 10 percent of people with less than $100,000 in assets said their work productivity suffered a great deal due to financial stress.

If you’re worried about how financial stress is affecting your workforce, call us. Best Money Moves measures and dials down financial stress. You’ll see a more productive, empowered and healthier workforce as a result.

How you can help lower employee financial stress

by admin | Jun 19, 2016 | Blog

Maybe you’ve noticed a faraway look in your employees eyes as you approach them. The few extra personal days they take. Leaving a bit early. Coming in a bit late.

Then you get the productivity reports: They’re down. Turnover is rising. Employee engagement is down.

And, this: More of your employees are spending time in the HR corridor, talking with your HR staff about their own personal financial problems.

We’ve heard this story all over the country, as HR staff talk about trying to counsel employees about their personal financial troubles – but they don’t feel qualified, since many of them are in debt and struggling to make the numbers work, too.

We know stress makes people sick. Financial stress makes them even sicker. But up until now, employers haven’t wanted to engage on this topic because it speaks to the heart of the biggest issue between employees and employers: pay.

Employers believe is they ask their employees why they’re so stressed financially, the answer will be “I need more money.” And, no employer wants to hear that.

The truth is, if you don’t know how to control your cash, no amount of money will be enough. How do we know? Look at lottery winners. Most people who win the lottery are broke in two years.

Sure, everyone will take a raise, but the simple truth is that no matter how much you earn, if you spend more than you take home each year, you’ll be broke. And, that is true whether you earn $35,000 or $350,000 per year.

But you can help your employees lower their stress levels. Just give them Best Money Moves. We’re a mobile-first tool that helps employees measure their financial stress in 14 different categories, and then use a unique content-mapping system to provide the exact information they need to help them solve their problem and dial down financial stress. We utilize a a point-based reward system that encourages your employees take a fresh look at their finances. And if it’s all too overwhelming, and financial stress levels soar, we push them to call our nonprofit Money Coaches, who can walk them through their budget and help find ways to reduce their financial stress.

Mostly, we help your employees understand that they can control their cash and lead less stressful, more productive lives.

Call us today. Best Money Moves. It’s the best move you can make to help your employees become a more productive, engaged and empowered workforce.