WORKPLACE PERSONAL FINANCIAL EDUCATION WORKS

With nearly 75% of all employees living paycheck-to-paycheck, personal finance issues can adversely affect the work performance. To combat this growing trend, employers are increasingly offering workplace personal financial education for their employees as part of their benefits program. They see this as a real need to help their employees. Further, they see this as an opportunity to fulfill obligations imposed by the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), and recent Depart of Labor (DOL) guidelines. Since 1990, DOL has encouraged employers to provide financial education to help workers better understand their employer-sponsored retirement plans.

The top 10 reason why employers embrace workplace financial education includes:

1. To increase participation in and contributions to 401(K), 403(B), and other retirement plans.
2. To help workers improve their personal financial wellness.
3. To help workers remove obstacles to fully funding their retirement plans.
4. To increase employee loyalty and morale.
5. To improve workers’ chances to retire early or on time.
6. To reduce workers’ stress.
7. To increase workplace productivity.
8. To reduce the incidence of employee theft.
9. To help employers avoid lawsuits.
10. To remove limits on tax-deferred savings for highly compensated employees.

Previously, most workplace personal financial education programs were offered via face-to face training seminars and workshops. This delivery method can be costly and requires that everyone be present. As result of these constraints, this delivery method has not always proved to be the most successful. To address this issue, Strativia Software develops branded workplace personal financial education web portals and sites that seamlessly integrate into a company’s existing intranet or corporate website. These portals are filled with unbiased financial education content, surveys, assessments, calculators, and other tools and resources.

Employers are not alone in recognizing the benefits of financial education. Workers also want personal financial education provided through their employers. They feel this service is more valuable than some other less frequently used benefits provided by their employer.

If a company does not currently offer a workplace personal financial education program to their employees, they should look to implement such a program as soon as possible. A personal financial education web portal or website can yield huge benefits for the long and short term for both the organization and the people involved. Regardless of your specific need in the area of financial education, there is a solution. In fact, Strativia’s branded portals are creative and user-friendly with a focus on personal financial literacy, retirement planning and preparation, and investor education.

Kenneth C. Kelly is the President of Strativia, a financial management software development and services company specializing in applications for personal and business use. Strativia is the developer of Budget Forecaster, a sophisticated home budget and personal finance management software package. Website: www.strativia.com. Contact:info@strativia.com.

Budgeting & Personal Finance

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