A forum on financial literacy, convened by the Government Accountability Office last spring, underscored the necessity of improved financial wellness programs and the central role employers need to play in helping advance the country's financial future.
Twenty experts from government, the private sector, and academia, including Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis Borzi and Financial Finesse CEO and Founder, Liz Davidson, explored the importance of employers' role in promoting financial literacy, existing efforts to do so, outreach to low- and middle-income earners, and the government's role facilitating improvement.
Because many already provide retirement and health benefits, employers are well positioned to offer more comprehensive financial wellness programs, according to the GAO's summary of the forum.
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And employers' access to key information, like salary and retirement savings, gives them metrics in hand to help craft broader, and targeted, education initiatives.
Reviews were mixed on employees' perception of their employers' trustworthiness to provide educational advice, as one forum participant suggested employees might be leery of their bosses peering further into their personal lives.
And some forum participants noted challenges some employers face in providing financial wellness programs. Smaller companies might not view financial wellness as urgent, and other experts said some employers remain skeptical of the effectiveness of financial wellness programs.
One expert said some companies don't regard financial wellness as their responsibility.
Making the case for wellness and education programs to company executives falls at the feet of internal human resource teams, noted the GAO summary.
That means demonstrating evidence of the return on the investment a company might make in a wellness program. While some smaller-scale studies by wellness providers attempt to prove such programs' value, some decision makers might view that as conflicted data. More independent third-party assessments would help promote wellness programs' value proposition, according to several forum experts.
Several participants suggested greater clarification from the government on the difference between financial education and financial advice is necessary, something the Department of Labor's proposed fiduciary rule attempts, but not specifically enough, according to some of the proposal's critics.
Three members of the private sector said that reducing overall regulatory requirements on sponsors that provide retirement and other benefit plans would free up resources to implement more comprehensive wellness initiatives.
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Nick Thornton
Nick Thornton is a financial writer covering retirement and health care issues for BenefitsPRO and ALM Media. He greatly enjoys learning from the vast minds in the legal, academic, advisory and money management communities when covering the retirement space. He's also written on international marketing trends, financial institution risk management, defense and energy issues, the restaurant industry in New York City, surfing, cigars, rum, travel, and fishing. When not writing, he's pushing into some land or water.
