Employers helpworkers with personal finances
With one credit card paid off and two more to go, Bill Stiner was determined to stick with his plan of total debt elimination after finishing a nine-week course at his Pittsburgh church with other members of the congregationwho also had declared war on their debt.
“Everybody in class paid off debt,” he said, referring to the program. “But I didn’t pay off all the debt. I’m still in the middle of that.”
Not long after the church program ended this summer, Stiner was surprised to find out that his employer — Aerotech — had decided to offer the same course to its employees for no charge.
Hewas one of the first employees in his workplace to sign up.
More employers are starting to focus on the financialwell-being of workers. In addition to basic employee benefits such as health care and life insurance, financial wellness programs sponsored by companiesarehelpingmoreworkers overcome personal financial challenges, reduce their debt and prepare for retirement.
Aerotech, aglobalmanufacturer of motion control components and systems, is one of four companies in the Pittsburgh region that are bringing financial education into theworkplace through a money management course createdbyNashville, Tenn.-based talk radio host Dave Ramsey called SmartDollar.
Nationally, workplace financial education is also offered by companies such asWiseWealth based in Liberty, Mo., and FourSeasons Financial Education based in St. Louis.
Brian Hamilton, vice president of SmartDollar, said 4,000 companies currently provide his company’s program to about 2 million employees. Representatives from parent company Ramsey Solutions declined to provide information concerning how much it charges businesses for the program.
Ramsey Solutions has for 25 years been offering a debt elimination course called Financial Peace University that is taught to groups of people in churches and communities. Families pay $93 for the nine-weekFPUcourse held at churches andcommunity centers. The FPU course costs $129 online.
The workplace program contains the same course material, but it is designed for workers to access the program from their personal computers at home. There is no religious content in the SmartDollar version of the money management plan, unlike the church version that touches on Biblical principles.
“Financial Peace University is traditionally a gathering, or small group of 10 to 20 families sitting together and holding each other accountable, which is great, and that’s been very effective in the church and community space,” Hamilton said.
That doesn’t work in the corporate world, he said. “Those employees don’t want to sit around with their co-workers and talk about their money problems.”
Topics covered include saving, budgeting, eliminating debt, investing, planning and retiring with dignity. The online version allows users to import their bank statements, keep track of their debt paydown and pull information from investment accounts.
Employees have access to the course for one year.
More employers are finding that companies have a stake in the financial wellness of their employees.
Human resource departments spend valuable time dealing with garnishments fromunpaid credit card bills. Employeesmay be distracted atwork if they are getting calls during work hours from collection agencies. Financially stressed employees often produce less and call in sick more. Employees under financial stress alsomay start looking for a higher paying job tocover their expenses.