How Financial Stress Impacts Job Performance

How Financial Stress Impacts Job Performance

How financial stress impacts job performance. Financial stress makes it harder for employees to concentrate, problem-solve and collaborate with coworkers.

Nearly 60 percent of Americans feel like their finances have taken control of their lives, according to research by Capital One and The Decision Lab. 

Financial stress impacts their performance at work and the more stressed they are the less likely they are to make smart decisions when it comes to spending and saving.

How Financial Stress Impacts Job Performance

More than 40 percent of Americans admit financial stress makes it difficult for them to concentrate at work. Research by John Hancock Retirement found the loss of productivity combined with absenteeism from financial stress costs employers more than an estimated $1,900 per year, per employee, and total an estimated annual loss of $1 million for midsized employers and $19 million for large employers.

Financial stress causes feelings of fatigue and interferes with sleep for more than 40 percent of employees. A survey by Bankrate found closer to 80 percent of U.S. adults are losing sleep worrying about everyday expenses, saving for retirement and healthcare costs. Sleep deprivation can impair cognitive ability, making it harder for employees to think and process information.

Financial stress has a significant impact on employees at work. It can lead to lowered productivity, impair the ability to problem solve and moodiness or irritability from loss of sleep could make it difficult for employees to collaborate and communicate effectively.

How Employees React to High Levels of Financial Stress 

In their research, Capital One and The Decision Lab found that even when they controlled for household income and FICO scores, high levels of financial stress were linked to worse financial attitudes and practices. Those who experience a high level of financial stress are:

  • Less likely to save on a regular basis
  • Less likely to plan their spending
  • Less likely to feel in control
  • More impulsive with how they spend their paycheck
  • Less likely to agree that success comes to those who work hard

How Financial Wellness Programs Help

Financial wellness programs, like Best Money Moves, can help employees regain control of their finances. 

Best Money Moves has tools and features that help employees measure their financial stress, budget for monthly expenses, pay down debt and plan for emergencies. Employees can talk to trained professional financial counselors and educate themselves about everything from investing to co-signing loans to buying their first homes with access to a library of over 700 articles, videos and calculators. 

Best Money Moves is also gamified, featuring a point-based rewards system where users earn points every time they log in, enter their information into their profile, work with their budgets, read articles and measure their stress. Each point translates into a chance to win a monthly contest.

If you want to learn more about how Best Money Moves can bring financial wellness to your company download our whitepapers and sign up for a demonstration here.

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What Does Financial Success Look Like?

What Does Financial Success Look Like?

What does financial success look like? Financial wellness month: how financial stress is changing the way Americans define success.

A big salary used to be the primary indicator of financial success for Americans, but that’s not the case anymore.

When Northwestern Mutual asked Americans to define success in a recent survey, having a big salary didn’t even break the top five answers. Instead, nearly half of the respondents agreed that being financially prepared for the future is the best sign of success.

What Does Financial Success Look Like in 2020

Financial success looks a lot like financial wellness in 2020. Not being stressed about finances, having enough money set aside for unexpected expenses and being able to retire when you want to are key indicators of financial wellness, financial preparedness and now, financial success.

Many Americans have a long road ahead of them to achieve their definition of financial success. A new survey by KeyBank identified some of the common money missteps they’re making. Twenty-five percent of Americans confessed to impulse buying. Over 30 percent admitted they don’t have any savings set aside for emergencies. More than 20 percent copped to not contributing to retirement savings. 

The good news is 60 percent of Americans are ready to take steps to prevent future money mistakes in 2020.

3 Steps Towards Financial Wellness for 2020

These are the three steps Americans plan to take to get their finances in order and avoid further money mishaps:

  1. Identify and prioritize “needs” vs. “wants” 
  2. Determine a monthly budget and revisit on a weekly basis
  3. Educate themselves through financial literacy courses

Financial wellness programs that allow for self-assessment, provide access to budgeting tools and a library of resources employees can use to educate themselves on various financial matters, like Best Money Moves, can help employees take steps towards financial wellness in 2020.

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Recruiting Trends 2020: Top 5 Features for Financial Wellness Programs

Recruiting Trends 2020: Top 5 Features for Financial Wellness Programs

Recruiting trends 2020: Top five features for financial wellness programs. Employees want features that are engaging and easy to use to help reduce financial stress.

Employers know that financial wellness benefits are a must, especially with the latest data from Financial Health Network indicating less than 30 percent of Americans consider themselves financially healthy.

But what makes financial wellness programs successful? 

Recruiting Trends 2020: Top 5 Features for Financial Wellness Programs

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If you want to learn more about how Best Money Moves can bring financial wellness to your company download our whitepapers and sign up for a demonstration here.

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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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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