Asunemployment has soared, accompanied by salary or benefit rollbacksfrom many employers, millions of people are under financial stressthat most people are simply not prepared to manage.

I was recently asked what benefit I would recommend adding to anemployer's portfolio in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. My answerwas that financial wellness benefits are now more important thanever. As unemployment has soared, accompanied by salary or benefitrollbacks from many employers, millions of people are underfinancial stress that most people are simply not prepared tomanage.

Financial wellness needs span the generations. As an older babyboomer, I remember my own experiences. We hear a lot about membersof Generation Z and millennials who have college loan debt, whichis nothing new. When I went to college, I paid my way through acombination of scholarships, college jobs and loans. I never hadmore than two weeks when I wasn't working at least part-time, andover winter break and summers, I worked full-time every year. Istill had to borrow some money and it wasn't easy to repay thedebt, but I did.

Related: COVID-19 threatening Americans' shaky financialsecurity

Marty Traynor is anOmaha-based consultant in the benefits field.

Once out of college, I worked a succession of full-time jobs inthe insurance and benefits business until I retired from Mutual ofOmaha last spring. Since then, I've done some independentconsulting. During my career, I faced the usual sources offinancial stress, starting with repaying college loan debt andplanning major purchases like a car. After getting married, my wifeand I saved to buy and furnish a home, and faced the expense ofraising four children.

When we started a family, we went from two incomes to onebecause my wife and I decided she would be a stay-at-home mom, eventhough she had been making more money per year than me. So, we wentthrough the next level of financial wellness needs: planning andbudgeting for big expenditures, trying to stay reasonably debtfree, putting aside some money for the kids' college, and managingour finances through the exigencies of life.

The biggest source of stress today is losing a paycheck; did weever go through that? Yes, when our two oldest were in high school.For six months, our insurance was via COBRA and I had to cash in anIRA, among other sacrifices.

What about retirement? Well, after 51 years working in theinsurance and benefits business, we have our 401(k) money plussavings and investments. We are relatively lucky compared with mostpeople. If all my wife and I had for retirement income was SocialSecurity, our household income would be under the federal povertylevel. We've managed to be debt free and are able to live inreasonable comfort.

But there's still insecurity about how long our investment moneywill last, given the fallout from the pandemic. We still have worrythat the assets we have may not be sufficient.

So, there's evidence of the need for financial wellness, basedon my own life story. Over the years, I could have used helpin:

1. Repaying college loans. 2. Budgeting family expenses andmajor purchases. 3. Planning for children's education. 4. Payingfor children's education. 5. Managing finances after job loss. 6.Saving for retirement. 7. Investing and planning to make aretirement fund last for a lifetime.

That's why people need financial wellness tools. It's ourresponsibility to meet that need and help employers provide thebenefits their employees deserve.