Financial Wellness Programs for Employees in 2025
Record inflation, pay increase freezes, credit card debt, falling behind on saving, affording unexpected expenses, and supporting family members: these are all major concerns that weigh heavily on your employee's minds.
It's time for employers to focus on the financial side of employee wellbeing and become a resource for their employees — according to a Financial Wellness Survey by PwC, 74% of employees are looking for guidance on how to manage their personal finances.
The same survey found that 73% of financially stressed employees would be interested in another employer that cares more about their financial wellness.
Read on to find out how companies can provide guidance and support financial wellness for employees.
What is financial wellness for employees?
Supporting your employee's financial wellness means establishing programs and resources that help your workers have a healthier financial life. To help employees, companies can provide one-on-one financial counseling, access to tools and platforms, and offer workshops on money management.
Financial wellbeing is defined as "people’s economic stability and standard of living and whether or not they the funds they need to provide for themselves and their families." In short, this is how employees feel about their financial health and how it affects their focus and productivity.
While the two go hand-in-hand, there is a difference. Financial wellness is action-oriented, while financial wellbeing is centered around emotions. By helping your employees care for their financial wellness, you'll improve their financial wellbeing.
Why is financial wellness important?
When employees are preoccupied with thoughts surrounding their finances, they'll be unhappy, disengaged, and distracted. This turns into a decrease in morale among individuals and your culture, while a lack of focus will cause productivity to drop.
Companies will also notice a dip in retention. Employees who are worrying about their finances are more likely to be looking for a new job. In fact, workers who are stressed about their finances are twice as likelyOpens in a new tab to be looking for a new job than an employee who is not stressed about money.
Simply put, when your employees are struggling, your business will struggle. All of these factors combined have the potential to make a negative impact on your workforce.
Causes of financial stress for employees
It shouldn't be a surprise that employees are stressed when faced with inadequate income, student and consumer debt, unexpected expenses, and a lack of financial knowledge.
And with wages stagnating behind the cost of living at a historic rate, it's more likely than not that an employee is struggling to make ends meet. Data backs that up: 57% of employees report that finances are the top cause of stress in their lives.
Factors like insufficient income and high levels of debt are compounded when an individual is part of a group that has historically been paid less. Employees who are part of these groups will be starting off behind their colleagues, making it harder for them to catch up, never mind getting ahead.
Many employees bear the responsibility of providing food, safety, and comfort to people beyond themselves. There will also be employees that are grappling with being the first in their social circle to learn how to manage wealth or tackle student debt.
All of these scenarios highlight a lack of financial resources that can trigger a scarcity mindset. This is when a person's mindset shifts to focus only on what they don't have.
The 2013 report "Poverty Impedes Cognitive Function" found that scarcity mindsets make it nearly impossible to think about anything other than what the person lacks. It has been linked with anxiety, depression, and low self-esteem.
Employees struggling with their finances will understandably become distracted at times during work.
Benefits of financial wellness for employees
When employees feel financially secure and have access to resources and support to manage their finances effectively, they experience a range of benefits like:
- Employees will experience better mental health overall with less stress, anxiety, and depression.
- With their mind wandering less to their money worries, workers will become more deeply engaged in their work.
- Happier, less stressed employees will bring a more positive impact and higher morale to their teams.
- Their ability to focus increased coupled with engagement, workers will experience heightened productivity.
- Because employees will be experiencing better mental health, there should be reduced absenteeism.
- Less stress - PwC's 2023 Employee Financial Wellness Survey found that employees who are not stressed about their finances are 5x less likely to be looking for a new job.
- Additionally, the same survey shows that workers who aren't stressed about money are more likely to see a career path at their current company.
Benefits of financial wellness for employers
When your workforce is comfortable with their finances, your company will benefit as well. Employers will notice benefits like:
- Employees will be happy, focused, and more satisfied with their jobs. This creates a stronger workplace culture and increases the likelihood that workers will recommend your company to their friends.
- Naturally, less stressed employees will experience a deeper engagement in their work, resulting in higher productivity and happier customers.
- Workers who are experiencing financial stress are less likely to feel valued at work. When some of that stress is eliminated, workers are more likely to feel valued, increasing their chances of staying at your company.
- Your company will have reduced healthcare costs from a decrease in stress-related ailments. Additionally, a report by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) found that financially strained employees are more likely to avoid going to the doctor when they aren't feeling well due to costs, leading to more sickness. When employees have health insurance and are less worried about the cost of seeing a doctor, your company is likely to see a decrease in sick days.
Understanding employee financial wellness programs
Now we know what we're up against when employees are facing distractions about their finances, let's talk about how companies can help by setting up a financial wellness program.
A financial wellness program is a range of offerings that an employer provides for their staff that helps to support and educate on personal finances. Consider this an additional offering that will run alongside your other employee wellness programs.
Financial wellness benefits are being used and taken advantage of more than they were a decade ago, with 68% of employees reporting that they access the programs their company offers according to PwC. Among the benefits of wellness programs — research has found that there is a 6-to-1 return on investment for every dollar spent.
Your program will likely consist of these key components:
- One-on-one personal finance coaching
- Budgeting and expense tracking
- Debt management strategies
- Savings strategies
- Retirement planning
- Insurance education (life, health, disability)
How to implement a financial wellness program
While all financial wellness programs will look different based on your company's needs, use these guidelines to help build out a program that will provide relief and support for your workers.
Figure out what your employees need
Your first step should be collecting data so you can understand your employee's pain points and gaps. Survey your employees so your company can understand what your employee's main financial concerns are. Ensure that the survey is anonymous so employees feel comfortable answering honestly.
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Assess internal challenges and select an approach
Use the internal data you've collected to establish pain points. If your employees are struggling with making everyday purchases, you might consider doing what you need to raise wages. If there are various concerns about long-term plans, consider offering retirement planning-focused workshops and peer-led initiatives.
Figure out how much your company is willing to invest in the offerings that will benefit your employees. Then figure out the ROI of these offerings so HR can get leadership's buy-in. Research your options and make a decision for the initial program offerings.
Educate employees about the program
Once you've implemented the programs, ensure that your employees are aware that they can opt-in for these services. Make sure that your offerings are accessible to the people who will benefit from them most.
For example, don't offer workshops during certain times of the day, such as school pick-up, that might prevent a large group of employees, primarily working parents, from being able to attend.
Additionally, let employees know that it's okay for them to complete these programs during working hours.
Define metrics to measure success
It's important to define what will make the program a success for your organization. Companies might look for a decrease in sick days or certain participation rates in the program to determine success. This data will be useful in getting increased leadership buy-in so the program can be built out to support employee's needs.
Evolve the program based on changing needs and feedback
Employers should understand that before employees can tackle long-term plans like retirement, they have to feel comfortable and capable of tackling their day-to-day money management. Because of this, the priorities of your program might shift as more employees are able to start moving their focus to more long-term planning.
Continue to collect employee data by sharing regular feedback surveys, and as the economy and your employees' needs change, adjust your offerings. Consider collecting employee testimonials and success stories to promote the programs internally.
21 financial wellness program ideas and examples
Below are more ideas and examples to inform your planning. You might want to share a list like this when surveying employees so they can rate what would be most useful.
Benefits and integrations
1. Health and disability insurance
2. Paid time off
3. Employee retirement plan with employer contributions
4. Emergency loans
5. Financial incentives and challenges
Educational workshops and resources
6. Budgeting and saving workshops
7. Investment basics
8. Managing credit and debt
9. Preparing for major life events like buying a house, having children, career pauses, and retirement
10. Student loan counseling
11. Access to one-on-one financial coaches and counselors
Tech platforms and tools
12. Financial wellness apps and software recommendations
13. Digital financial planning tools
14. Gamified learning platforms
15. Employee portals for benefits and financial resources
External financial advisors
16. Offer education on the benefits of third-party financial advisors
17. Set up individual or group consultations
18. Assistance and criteria for selecting a qualified financial advisor
Peer-led initiatives
19. Financial mentoring programs
20. Employee-led workshops or roundtables
21. Testimonials and success stories
FAQs
What is an example of financial wellbeing?
Any scenario where an employee feels an absence of fear, stress, or worry about money is a good example. This could look like:
- An employee knowing they have enough money to pay their credit card balance,
- A worker feeling empowered to open up a retirement savings account, or
- An employee budgeting to pay their student loan payment.
How do you promote financial wellness?
Offering a range of financial wellness programs will help to ease employee's financial concerns and prepare them for their futures. Doing so will promote the financial wellness of your workers and allow employees to work without stressful distractions about their finances.
Conclusion
Financial stress is pervasive in today's uncertain economy. When employees are feeling strained and unable to manage their money, they become distracted and disengaged. This will trickle through your workforce, causing an increase in turnover and negatively affecting the employee experience.
Your responsibility as an employer is to provide a financial wellness solution for employees that will help them achieve their personal financial goals and feel confident in tackling both everyday purchases and future planning. Offering a varied financial wellness program sets both your employees and your business up for success.
About the author
Alicyn Zall
Alicyn Zall is a writer dedicated to creating a more equitable and fulfilling workplace. With a focus on actionable, data-driven insights, her work empowers individuals and organizations to foster positive change. In addition to her contribution at Workhuman, Alicyn has served as an editor at Harvard Business Review where she developed books and articles about mental health and the future of work.