Medical and health insurance benefit costs are competing for retirement savings dollars, according to a majority of workers who say that how much they save for retirement depends on how much they have to spend for health insurance.

That’s according to new LIMRA research, which found that 59 percent of workers agreed or strongly agreed that the one exerted a direct effect on the other.

Read: Retirement savers must plan for health care sticker shock

It’s another example of the financial stress on workers—something a larger LIMRA study was designed to evaluate.

Not only are employees balancing the cost of health benefits against the necessity of retirement savings, but between a quarter and half of full-time employees experience high levels of financial stress, according to the study.

Read: EBRI offers new way to calculate retirement savings needs

And those with the most financial stress spend the most time thinking about their health insurance and the least amount on other benefits.

In contrast, those who are under the least amount of financial stress are most likely to think about their retirement plans “very often.”

While 20 percent of employees claim that financial stress affects their personal relationships and their health more than it impacts their ability to get the job done, employers aren’t so optimistic about how those people perform in the workplace. In fact, some believe employee financial stress will cause enough problems at work to affect the company’s bottom line.

As a result, many employers are opting for financial wellness programs, believing that the financial education such programs provide can deliver returns on investments similar to health wellness programs by reducing sick leave, disability, etc., and increasing worker productivity.

But employers aren’t necessarily offering the kind of financial wellness programs that employees actually want and find the most helpful.

Although they’re available to just a quarter of employees, those that provide guidance on such topics as debt management, scam avoidance and general budgeting are the ones that are ranked highest by employees compared with any other financial education topics.

Instant Insights /

Majority of workers say retirement savings depends on cost of health insurance

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