When you’re designing your financial wellness benefits, it’s helpful to know what employees actually have on their minds financially so you can best address their needs. Our Certified Financial Trainers (CFTs) work with employees across the country and throughout various sectors, and the same topics come up again and again: budgeting, retirement, and debt management.
Budgeting
We’ve all heard the advice “you need a budget,” but about 50% of people don’t use a budget or even know how much they spend last month. When employees are taking control of their finances, this is often where they start because cash flow affects all other areas of their finances. Their most frequently asked questions include:
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How do I make a budget?
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How do I stick to a budget?
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How do I stop living paycheck to paycheck?
While budgeting is not complicated, it is intimidating to people who don’t know where to start or who feel anxiety about tackling their finances. A CFT can walk them through understanding their income and expenses. They can help employees calculate how much they can reasonably spend on their day-to-day expenses while contributing toward their goals. CFTs also suggest strategies for sticking to a budget and adjusting when unexpected expenses come up.
Retirement
Retirement takes intimidating to a whole other level. Employees are definitely concerned about saving for the long-term, especially considering that more than half feel like they are behind on saving for retirement. They want to make sure they are doing it correctly, but they don’t know where to start. They often ask our CFTs:
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How much should I be saving for retirement?
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What should I do with the 401(k) from my last job?
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How do I choose my retirement investments?
Our CFTs help employees make sense of their employer match and investment options. They take an employee’s whole financial picture into consideration when recommending how much they should be saving for retirement.
Debt Management
Paying off debt is a major goal for many employees—if they have it, they want to get rid of it. Carrying debt is often accompanied by unnecessary and unhelpful feelings of shame that keep employees from tackling their debt. They ask our CFTs the following questions:
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What is the best way to pay off my debt?
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Should I consolidate my debt?
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How can I increase my credit score?
Our CFTs help employees create a strategy for debt repayment that makes sense for their budget, credit score, and type of debt. Debt often goes deeper than the numbers so CFTs also offer strategies for changing the habits and behaviors that contributed to the employee’s debt in the first place.
The Financial Gym Advisors is a national, personal financial services company with a fitness-inspired approach. Certified Financial Trainers™ work with employees one-on-one via corporate partnerships virtually across the country.
