multigenerational workforce Archives

3 Ways Financial Stress Impacts Different Generations

by Amirah Ford | May 31, 2023 | Blog

3 ways financial stress impacts different generations. Learn more about how financial stress can vary across generations — plus what you can do to dial down your employees’ financial worries.

Money habits vary across the generations in your workforce. After all, the financial needs of a Gen Z employee are going to be different than those of Baby Boomer. However, financial stress affects all Americans, regardless of their age, income or how they choose to spend their money.

Learn more about how financial stress can vary across generations — plus what you can do to dial down your employees’ financial worries.

3 Ways Financial Stress Impacts Various Generations

Millennials and Gen Z are less likely to afford a $2000 emergency.

When it comes to saving for a rainy day, older generations fare better than their younger counterparts. In the face of a financial emergency, Millennials and Gen Z are less likely to come up with $2000, according to KeyBank’s Financial Mobility survey. A quarter of Gen Zers said they certainly cannot come up with $2000 in a pinch, whereas most individuals over 50 are confident they can afford a $2000 emergency.

Baby Boomers’ top financial priority is preparing for retirement.

For most generational cohorts, affording everyday bills is their top financial priority. However, for Baby Boomers, their number one financial priority is preparing for retirement, according to a Society of Actuaries study.

A potential reason why retirement readiness is more of a concern for Baby Boomers, compared to other generations, is because they are the generation closest to retirement age. While younger generations have decades, Baby Boomers have a limited number of years to prepare for retirement.

Nearly 1 in 5 employees over the age of 59 do not have a retirement account, per a Credit Karma poll, the highest percentage for any generation. With retirement near on the horizon, this leaves less opportunity for older generations to save for the later years.

Employees under 35 are more likely to ignore their finances when facing financial stress.

For many Americans, their worries and stress around money have only exacerbated in the past few years. However, when it comes to coping with financial stress, different generations tend to use different tactics.

About 4 in 10 employees of all ages spend less and budget more to cope with financial stress, according to a KeyBank survey. However, for employees under the age of 35, almost 1 in 5 cite ignoring their bank and investment accounts to cope with financial stress.

By ignoring their finances, employees are at risk for burnout and compounded financial problems. Overtime, this can worsen employees’ financial wellness, productivity and overall wellbeing.

3 Ways Financial Stress Impacts Various Generations

Find engaging ways to educate employees across different generations on how to build a rainy day fund. For instance, to target Millennials and Gen Z, consider offering digital financial wellness tools and resources, instead of relying on literature and seminars. Younger generations prefer to manage their money and banking digitally, according to Bank of America’s Workplace Benefits report, so they may be more receptive to receiving financial wellness tools and support digitally.
Offer employees an objective financial wellness provider and source. For many employees, a common source for retirement and financial advice for employees is their retirement plan provider. However, a PwC study found that employees across all generations want an objective financial wellness advisor or program not tied to their retirement plan provider. Think about which vendors are providing financial wellness benefits and consider where you may be able to add choice and variety of vendors.
Invest in 1:1 financial advising and money coaching. Managing financial stress is difficult, especially when managing it alone. However, by investing in financial advisors, employers can provide a trusted guide to help employees navigate their most personal financial problems and stressors. Rather than relying solely on online resources, like budgeting tools, financial advisors provide employees with live, human support — this personalized touch can make it easier for employees to discuss sensitive financial matters.

Need a financial wellness program suitable for all generations? Try Best Money Moves!

Best Money Moves is a mobile-first financial wellness solution designed to help dial down employees’ most top-of-mind financial stresses. As an easy-to-use financial well-being solution, Best Money Moves offers comprehensive support toward any money-related goal. With 1:1 money coaching, budgeting tools and other resources, our AI platform is designed to help improve employee financial wellbeing. Our intuitive, easy-to-use program platform is fit for employees of any age and level of financial literacy.

Whether it be retirement planning or securing a mortgage, Best Money Moves can guide employees through the most difficult financial times and topics. We have robust benefits options for employers, regardless of their benefits budget.

Our dedicated resources, partner offerings and 700+ article library make Best Money Moves a leading benefit in bettering employee financial wellness.

To learn more about Best Money Moves Financial Wellness Platform, let’s schedule a call. Contact us and we’ll reach out to you soon.

The 3 Best Benefits for a Multigenerational Workforce

by daniel@bestmoneymoves.com | Aug 18, 2021 | Blog

The 3 best benefits for a multigenerational workforce. In a multi-generational workforce, it can be difficult to find employee benefits that address the needs of every employee. This article highlights the top 3 benefits that work well for multi-generational teams.

It’s no secret that employees of different generations expect different kinds of support from their employers. A gen Z employee, fresh out of college, is going to have significantly different challenges than a millennial or gen X employee who’s balancing work and childcare. Meanwhile, older employees will have greater concerns about retirement.

Multigenerational workforces pose a unique challenge for employers and HR teams: How do you build a benefits package that’s equally attractive to all members of your workforce, when your team members are at radically different stages of their lives? The answer involves big ideas, realistic expectations and room for nuance.

Here are the three benefits to satisfy all members of your multigenerational workforce.

1. Accessible and comprehensive health benefits

Over half of all Americans receive health insurance from their employers, according to 2019 census data. So it’s not surprising that in a 2020 survey of 2000 multigenerational participants, dental and vision insurance topped the list of most wanted Employee Benefits. Health Insurance is especially useful for a multigenerational team because it’s applicable to individuals of all ages and situations, even those who are otherwise healthy individuals.

In addition to standard group health insurance, you might consider offering your team access to a health savings account, or HSA. An HSA is a specialized savings account that lets you aside pre-tax funds for later use on qualified medical expenses. HSAs can allow employees additional flexibility in covering significant health expenses.

2. Widespread flexibility and emphasis on work/life balance

The same Fractyl study found one other consideration to be equal to health benefits. Almost everyone takes flexibility into account when weighing jobs. An equivalent 88% of respondents said they would give “some consideration” or “heavy consideration” to a job with more flexible hours, even if it is lower pay. What’s more, flexibility has never been more important to employees than it is now, in a workforce still recovering from the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. Research consistently supports the pivot to remote and hybrid work models and many workforces are expected to pivot to full remote and hybrid models in the months to come.

3. Holistic financial wellness that can target individual employee needs

Multigenerational teams need benefits that work for employees of all ages, and regardless of what life phase employees might be in, there’s always a need for financial wellness. Whether your employees need to pay off student loans, manage their daily finances, plan for their retirement or something in-between — all employees deal with financial issues. Financial wellness platforms are a strong way to appeal to a variety of demographics with different needs.

To learn more, check out this article and consider Best Money Moves:

Best Money Moves is a human-centered and individualized approach to financial wellbeing. The comprehensive and user-friendly platform provides a plethora of financial resources and educational tools. The library of resources contains over 700 articles, videos, and calculators. Each Best Money Moves user has their personal feed tailored to the several distinct factors that monitor their personal stress. This means your employee can use Best Money Moves to educate themselves on anything from investing in the stock market to co-signing loans to buying their first home.

Employee information is always private but employers do have access to key analytics that show overall employee financial stress and stress levels over time. The Employer Dashboard also features information on program usage, debt and savings levels and more so employers can see just how valuable Best Money Moves is to their employees.

If you want to learn more about how Best Money Moves can bring financial wellness to your company, download our whitepapers.

What the Multigenerational Workforce Needs From Employers

by ryanwangman | Sep 9, 2019 | Blog

What the multigenerational workforce needs from employers. Millennials, Baby Boomers and Gen X need a personalized financial wellness program to reduce financial stress.

In today’s rapidly evolving workplace, you’ll likely need specially designed strategies to keep up with the various needs of your multigenerational workforce. From Millennials to Baby Boomers to Gen X, each generation has specific financial goals and pain points. To best help these employees, you need to understand which areas impact their wellbeing the most.

Financial Wellness Is Top Priority for Multigenerational Workforce

If you want to prepare your employees for what’s to come, Millennials and Gen X say that better job security is the number one thing that would most help them achieve their financial goals, according to research by PwC. When asked the same question, Baby Boomers are largely looking for lower healthcare costs.

Providing resources to promote employee financial wellness can improve workplace retention. Two in five Millennials and Gen Xers say their loyalty to their company is affected by how much the business cares for their financial wellbeing, and at least 75 percent of people surveyed in both generations say they’re more likely to be attracted to a different company that cares more about their financial wellbeing.

Multigenerational Workforce and Financial Stress

As the cost of living rises and wages struggle to keep up, employees are also having a tougher time keeping up with their day-to-day expenses. Fifty-seven percent of Millennials and 50 percent of Gen Xers say its difficult to meet their household expenses each month, an increase of 17 and 11 percent from last year respectively.

As you may well know, student loans are a rising financial concern for younger generations, particularly Millennials. Nearly half of all Millennials have student loans, and of that group, 80 percent say that their educational debt has a moderate or significant impact on their ability to meet their financial goals. To combat this problem, 37 percent of employees rank a student loan repayment benefit as their most desired employee benefit they’d like to see added in the future.

One thing every generation can agree on is that more employees than ever report they are stressed when dealing with their financial situation. There has been a double-digit percentage increase (ranging from 15-23 percent across generations) in the number of employees who reported financial stress since last year.

Financial wellness programs like Best Money Moves can help. Best Money Moves is mobile, gamified and easy-to-use. It provides practical, unbiased help so employees can make smarter financial decisions and manage the debt they have.

More on the Multigenerational Workforce and Financial Stress

3 Financial Stressors Affecting Every Generation

5 Must-Have Benefits for Millennial Employees

How Financial Stress Affects Gen X at Work

Top 3 Financial Stressors Affecting Gen Z

Financial Wellness as an Employee Engagement Strategy

5 Fast Financial Stress Statistics

Hiring Trends to Watch in 2020

4 Big Employee Benefit Trends for Family Planning

How Can Financial Wellness Be Improved?

Top 10 Employee Benefits for 2020

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.