Last month I brought up the idea that we're going to see a lotof change in the industry over the next 10 years--change that isin the best interest of both plan sponsors and their employees.This change will include adding a new benefit that offers lastingbehavioral change and lower health care costs: financialeducation.

For brokers, this will mean changing the individual benefits youinclude in the comprehensive benefits package you offer yourclients. These changes will develop subtly over time, tied to manyof the changes already being seen in sponsored programs today. Hereare three major ones to watch for in the next 10 years:

#1: Financial wellness will become a common branch of companywellness programs. As the wellness movement grows, more plansponsors are realizing that physical as well as financial healthare equally important factors in reducing costs and helpingemployees reach their wellness goals. Once enough has been done todetermine the effectiveness of wellness programs that include bothrelated benefits, we'll most likely begin to see insurancecompanies offering discounts or cost advantages to plan sponsorswith these programs.

#2: New recruits will consider financial education when weighingjob opportunities. There's no doubt employees who have access tofinancial education at work value it. Our own studies at FinancialFinesse show that over 98 percent of employees who've used theirfinancial education benefit find it an important one. In 10 years,when the benefit is more widely recognized as part of largerwellness programs, employees will not only value it, they'll choosecompanies to work for based on how thorough their benefits, andparticularly their wellness benefits, are.

#3: Health care plans will begin to incorporate financialwellness or brokers will sell the benefit individually.Employee assistance plans also may begin to incorporate financialwellness into their plans. For brokers, that means a changein the landscape of health care benefits packages. Companies willwant the benefit and brokers will want to provide it.

John M. Richardson, Jr. once said "When it comes to the future,there are three kinds of people: those who let it happen, those whomake it happen, and those who wonder what happened." Which one willyou be?