Companies increasingly realize that employee financial wellnessis crucial to their bottom lines, and to employees stressed overmoney—particularly as they approach retirement knowing theirsavings are falling far short.

A study at TradeSchools.net unearthed some of thereasons that people are doing so poorly at saving for the future:the timing and circumstances surrounding their education (if any)regarding personal finances.

The situation is serious. Financial stress takes a toll not juston employees but also on a company’s bottom line, via reducedproductivity, increased health issues with correspondingly higherhealth care costs and lost time at work.

And that financial stress is increasingly getting worse, to the extent that a recentstudy finds that American workers are suffering from a form offinancial post-traumatic stress disorder.

So employers are trying to take action.

With 49 percent of employees admitting to spending time at workdealing with their money troubles—something that can cost companies1–2 percent of payroll for the time lost, which can amount to thehundreds of millions of dollars for large corporations—not tomention the toll that financial stress takes on employee health andthus adds to the cost of health care benefits, the rise in wellnessprograms is understandable.

What may be one of the most important facets of those wellnessprograms could be the way they tackle financial education andwellness.

Not only are employers trying to help employees better manage theirfinances, so that they won’t spend so much of their time mooningover their money woes instead of working, employees themselves aregoing so far as to work past retirement age or take outside jobs inthe gig economy—women in particular—as they try to make endsmeet and still keep up with such financial objectives as paying offstudent loans or preparing for retirement with a too-smallretirement account.

According to Aon Hewitt’s report “Hot Topics in Retirement and FinancialWellbeing,” 92 percent of employers are likely to expand theirfinancial well-being programs beyond a focus on retirement; infact, 86 percent are likely to tackle the link between financialand physical/emotional well-being.

But for some, those educational moves might be too little, toolate—particularly for those close to retirement. Among the findingsof the TradeSchool.net study were the number of people already indeep financial trouble, as well as just how deep that troubleis.

For employers debating whether to add a financial wellness facetto their benefits packages, here are 8 financial woes that causefinancial stress for workers.

8. The average U.S. household is $90,000 indebt.

It’s really easy to get into debt if you’ve never been taught tomanage money—or if the lessons came after you were alreadyunderwater. And what’s really scary is that between credit cards,student loans, and car payments, the bills mount at an alarmingrate.

The median household income in the U.S., by the way, is justover $55,000, which means that household debt isalmost twice the amount of household earnings.

7. Many say they were never taught about finances.

While it was more common for people to learn about finances fromtheir parents while they were growing up (43.11 percent say thiswas how they learned), an unfortunate 3.38 percent of respondentssay they never learned. How sad is that?

Others learned from friends (2.04 percent), peers and colleagues(3.13 percent) or in school (3.68 percent in middle school, 11.93percent in high school and 14.52 percent in college).

6. Many more learned after facing financial hardship.

A shocking 16.81 percent didn’t experience an education infinances till after they faced financial hardship—a terrible way tolearn.

If you need verification of that, bear in mind that those wholearned about finances only after facing personal financialhardship were the most likely to report being $100,000 to $249,000 indebt.

On the other hand, respondents who say they learned about therigors and repercussions of debt in middle school were the mostlikely to report no debt. Over 31 percent had no debt, and around20 percent owed less than $5,000.

5. Many were already in debt by the time they learned what debtis and can do.

Only 11.3 percent of respondents who say they learned aboutfinance after facing financial hardship say they were not in debtat the time.

Others were not so fortunate, with more than 74 percent ofrespondents acknowledging that they held various levels of debt bythe time they learned about finance—and only after facing financialhardship.

4. They wish they knew more about personal finance.

The top 5 areas of personal finance respondents say they wishthey knew more about are how to grow their income; how to invest;how to save; understanding the stock market; and budgeting.

A lack of understanding in any of these areas can prove deadlyto a person’s financial well-being, and while many financialwellness programs try to address these issues after the fact, forsome it’s a tough road back from debt.

3. Women in particular are short on funds.

Less than 63 percent of Americans don’t have enough money insavings to cover a $500 emergency at any given time, and many livepaycheck to paycheck.

While doing so may still mean having enough money to cover billsand immediate needs, it’s not enough to save toward retirement orother long-term goals.

Scraping by is something more often done by women; 74 percent ofmale respondents say they never live paycheck to paycheck; only 26percent of women could say the same. In fact, 53.71 percent ofwomen say they “always” live paycheck to paycheck, with 42.89percent saying they “often” do.

2. Debt levels are higher for women.

Women are less confident about finances, and it unfortunatelyshows in their levels of debt compared with their malecounterparts.

While 17.2 percent of male respondents admit to between$1–$4,999 in debt—higher than the 15.6 percent of women who doso—women are far more likely to carry debt loads of $25,000–$49,999(13.7 percent compared with 10.6 percent), $50,000–$99,999 (12.0percent compared with 8.8 percent), $100,000–$249,999 (12.5 percentcompared with 10.1 percent) and even $250,000–$499,999 (4.9 percentcompared with 4.0 percent).

That highlights the need for financial wellness programs to bemore directly targeted for certain demographic groups, rather thana one-size-fits-all approach.

1. Lack of financial literacy can directly affect retirementpreparedness.

A study from the Pension Research Council foundthat people who better understand finance are more likely tocontribute to retirement plans and even contribute more to thoseplans.

The study, “Employee Financial Literacy and Retirement PlanBehavior: A Case Study,” considered whether, and how much,variation might result from financial literacy or the lack thereof,and also examined changes in employee plan behavior one year afteremployees completed a learning module about retirementplanning.

Those who took part in the learning module increased theirparticipation and contributions, leading to the conclusion thatincreased financial literacy does boost employee awareness andenhance retirement readiness.