How to make your workplace a hub for financial wellbeing
It’s an old adage said that a problem shared is a problem halved. But in a world where it is easier than ever to share information, people often find it hard to talk about what’s troubling them.
As an employer, it can be difficult to know what is worrying staff, although those worries could be affecting their workplace performance. Employees may be reluctant to share problems if they don’t think the employer can help.
That’s a shame, because there are areas of modern life where organisations are particularly well-placed to provide information and support, such as financial wellbeing.
Despite that, research from 2022 found that almost three-quarters (73%) of employees have never spoken to their employer or line manager about their financial wellbeing, with that reluctance to mix personal issues with professional ones particularly marked among the 45-64 age groups.
Stressed about retirement
Rising prices and mortgage costs are grabbing the news headlines, but even those who are managing today’s tougher financial conditions have creeping concerns about how they will cope in the long term and particularly the transition from working into retirement and beyond.
Among the 40-44 age group, planning for retirement is regarded as a ‘stressful life event’. Figures from 2021 found 16% of over-40s said feeling anxious about retirement had kept them awake at night, 13% said it had affected relationships, and 14% that it had affected their work.
Anxiety often comes from uncertainty or not feeling in control. When asked who they would trust most to guide them on pensions and long-term savings, respondents prioritised their own research and information from their pension scheme, financial advisers and friends and family ahead of guidance from their employer.
Trust me – I’m an employer
That’s strange, because surveys such as the highly regarded Edelman Trust Barometer put employers in the top position. More than three in four (77%) employees put ‘my employer’ at the top of the trust list, higher than business (61%), non-government organisations (59%), the government (52%) and media (50%).
Any solution needs to get over reluctance that people may feel about signalling to their employer they are thinking about retirement some years ahead, and also any embarrassment people may feel about their level of retirement planning and their level of financial capability.
Confronting demons
One option is to give employees access to tools that let them face their retirement anxieties and take control of their futures.
Until relatively recently that was easier said than done because there are strict rules governing how financial information, guidance and advice is provided to consumers and by whom.
Financial wellness programmes now make it easy for employers to offer staff services that enable them to get to grips with financial planning early for retirement.
Hub’s Pension Buddy is a digital service that helps people from their mid-40s understand how their planning for retirement is going and what tweaks they might need to make to better achieve their objectives.
Those closer to retirement can access Destination Retirement, which is a financial planning service, providing fully regulated advice to ensure a smooth transition into retirement and in the following years.
It lets people review different scenarios for using their state and private pensions and other savings and investments to support their retirement goals, handling investment, tax and estate planning. It is a digital service with experts on hand to provide extra knowledge and reassurance if it is needed.
Your future in your hands
These new services offer a vision of the future so people can see how their retirement is shaping and practical steps they can take to achieve their goals. They can offer the tools, guidance and fully regulated advice to bring that vision to a reality.
When someone takes control, it often flips a switch in their head about the future. Employers who help staff deal with financial stresses better can look forward to more focused employees and lower rates of absenteeism and presenteeism too, which, together, are estimated to cost businesses about 4% of payroll costs each year.
Retirement is seen as a looming problem by far too many workers – by sharing better solutions we can start to make it less stressful.
Supplied by REBA Associate Member, HUB Financial Solutions
We are totally focussed on finding the right financial solutions for people approaching, or in, retirement. We don’t do anything else. Our purpose is to help people achieve a better later life.
