Awareness and participation still a challenge

Despite increased adoption of financial wellness programs, employee awareness and participation continues to be a challenge, said the report. Of those employees who report having access to a financial wellness program through their employer, only 8% say they participate in the program, illustrating the importance of promoting and encouraging employees to access these programs.

Financial wellness program users typically are white and male and have higher household incomes, a scenario that highlights both an opportunity and a need among at-risk populations such as women, people of color and those with lower incomes, said RRC.

Higher participation among retirement plan participants

Awareness and participation in financial programs are highest among respondents who reported they were participating in their employer-sponsored retirement plan, indicating a potential opportunity for employers to leverage the existing plan to garner interest in and usage of financial wellness programs, the report said. In addition, employers must decide whether to use in-house or vendor-supplied programs, what types of offerings to promote and what topics to address.

Most-requested financial wellness plan components

Most respondents said they are interested in having access to financial education and advice as part of a financial wellness program. That preference was significantly higher for those who participate in a retirement plan than for those who don't.

The second-most requested offering was general education, followed by advice, counseling services and the ability to make transactional changes in an account.

When asked how employers could best help them, employees indicated they preferred that employers bring in financial experts to provide training and education or to use employees' personal financial information to give them advice.

Preferences for topics vary by age, life stage

The study also found preferences about financial wellness topics were influenced by employee age and stage of life. For instance, employees early in their career were interested in help with budgeting and mortgage information, while mid-career employees wanted help with healthcare costs, saving for college and investment advice. Pre-retirees were focused on topics related to spending in retirement and catastrophic care coverage, said the report.

"Offering diverse topics that appeal to the various interests of an organization's employee population should be a cornerstone of any successful financial wellness program," said the report.

One-on-one in-person and virtual meetings topped the list of preferred delivery methods, followed by Web-based, paper and chat tools.

Group classes were the least preferred delivery method, according to the report. Respondents were most open to their employer bringing in experts and were least receptive to direct involvement by their employer in financial training and education.

Trust is key

Trust is an important factor for employees when considering a financial wellness offering, and employers should take this into consideration when they choose a program provider, said the report.

Respondents expressed the most trust that a bank would act in their best interest in providing financial education and advice, followed by investment companies, the administrator of a savings plan, an advisory firm, a human relations specialist, their employer, an insurance company and lastly high-tech firms like Google.

Kristen Beckman is a freelance writer based in Colorado. She previously was a writer and editor for ALM's Retirement Advisor magazine and LifeHealthPro online channel. She also was a reporter for Business Insurance magazine covering workers compensation topics. Kristen graduated from the University of Missouri with a degree in journalism.

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