Five financial education topics to shout about

Employers can play a pivotal role in fostering financial resilience in the workforce by offering financial education. With poor financial resilience affecting health, productivity and motivation, it’s important that employers help.

A more holistic approach to workplace financial wellbeing means we shouldn’t just focus on retirement as a topic in isolation.

If we only talk to employees about retirement, it’s like trying to interest them in the end of a book they haven’t read.

It’s hard to understand because they’ve had no prior engagement with it. They’re not invested in the story and it doesn’t mean much to them.

We need to start at the beginning.

We need to give employees the opportunity to develop a relationship with their finances, so they’re engaged with good money habits before moving onto the bigger things.

They may never have had financial guidance before, so it’s vital to offer help with the basics.

Build the foundations

Offering employees support on how to create – and stick to – a budget is the first step to becoming more financially resilient.

And factoring in saving for an emergency fund as part of that budget will help people be prepared for spending shocks like car repairs or a broken boiler.

Help with debt management could be useful for a lot of people.

With the ever-rising cost of living putting more and more people under strain, its likely some have turned to borrowing.

Offering access to debt management tools or education will help employees to feel in control of any money they owe, as well as highlighting what to look out for when borrowing is the only option.

Engage with life events

Now the financial foundation has been built, it’s good to recognise some of the life events people might experience.

Offering sessions like “How to save for a house deposit” or “Investing for children” could be really useful for many employees.

Engaging them with subjects that are relevant to them right now will help to develop their financial confidence and maintain their interest for later down the line.

An easier way to save

If employees have access to payroll enabled savings accounts, it’s worth highlighting the benefits.

There are a number of workplace saving schemes on the market, but some commonly offered are: ISAs, Save As You Earn, or Share Incentive Plans.

These accounts offer a ‘set it and forget it’ approach, where money comes straight into the member’s nominated savings account via payroll.

The automation means the money is in the member’s savings account before they’ve had a chance to spend it, removing the conscious decision and manual effort needed each paycheque.

People are then more likely to form lasting habits, strengthening their financial resilience.

Invest for the future

Offering education on investments is important.

Once people are saving what they need, investing can provide an opportunity to grow wealth over the long-term.

But with so much information available online, especially from unregulated sources, it can feel like an overwhelming subject.

But because investments can go down in value as well as up and people could get back less than they invest, it’s important for employees to learn at least the basics.

Offering support and education means employees can start understanding their risk appetite to help them make informed decisions.

It gives them – with the power of compounding – the potential to build on their savings and investments, improving their confidence and resilience.

The final financial chapter

The idea with these topics is that engagement encourages engagement.

Employees learn the basics to build confidence – they then think about saving, life events and investing.

They’ve built a relationship with their finances where they’re no longer a passive participant in their financial futures.

They’ll then be more inclined to think about retirement.

Providing sessions on topics like how a pension works, the benefits of increasing contributions and pension tax allowances will encourage members to think more actively about life when they stop working.

And because a pension can’t normally be accessed until 55 (57 from 2028), it’s important to dispel the illusion that a pension can wait until later.

Planning ahead is vital for employees to be financially resilient in the long term.

There are resources available

With lots of useful topics to cover, it's important to remember that financial education doesn’t have to be created from scratch every time.

Some companies may have limited resources or budget to devise a whole programme.

Benefit providers may already offer financial wellbeing material or sessions, so employers may readily have the opportunity in their remit – they just haven’t accessed it yet.

National campaigns can be really useful too, like Pension Wise, National Pension Tracing Day or Talk Money Week.

A lot of the work will be done, as regulated content is created – employers just need to communicate it to their workforce.

But due diligence should be done on sources before signposting.

This article is not personal advice. If you are unsure of a course of action, please ask about advice.