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Free Online Financial Wellness Resources to Support your Employees
Employee well-being is one of the critical factors driving employee success, and employers have been giving it more focus since Covid-19 became a part of our lives. Wellness has many different facets. With economic uncertainty in the air, 2023 may very well be the year of financial wellness.
Financial wellness focuses on improving financial well-being and literacy. It is one of the most important workplace wellness concepts because poor financial well-being has a direct impact on employees’ overall thriving and productivity. Employees who have financial challenges are more likely to be distracted at work and not engaged. According to Manulife Financial Research, poor financial wellness in the workplace means lower productivity, high absenteeism and presenteeism rates.
For so many people, Covid-19 is continuing to have an adverse impact on their finances. Many find themselves struggling to meet their financial obligations. According to PwC’s 2020 Annual Employee Financial Survey Report, 54% of employees stated that financial challenges are the primary cause of their stress. And the MetLife Annual U.S. Employee Benefit Trends 2020 Study shows that 52% of employees are more concerned with their financial health than their physical, mental, and social health.
Often when organizations look to improve the financial wellness of employees, they immediately focus on benefits. However, there is more you can do for your people. Employers need to take a holistic approach to financial wellness by helping individuals improve their financial literacy and then empowering them to put their new knowledge into action . When people have a high-level of financial well-being, one of the most distracting life stressors has been removed. That means better productivity, better focus, better confidence..
Below, we have compiled a variety of free financial wellness resources that are available online for you to support your employees’ financial well-being.
Four Free Sources to Support Employee Financial Wellness Literacy
1 Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB)
CFPB has various financial well-being resources. They provide a guide specifically designed to help employers of all sizes implement a workplace financial wellness program that gives their employees the knowledge, skills, tools, and resources they can use to improve their financial well-being. They also have a financial well-being questionnaire which gives you a score after you answer the questions and allows you to compare your financial well-being score to other adults in the United States.
Here are the links to CFPB’s Workplace Financial Wellness Program Implementation Guide and Financial Well-being Questionnaire.
2. Financial Health Federal Credit Union
Financial Health FCU has free financial health resources that address budgeting, credit, retirement, savings, emergency planning and assist you in building a healthy financial life. Some of their tools are retirement fund estimator, retirement planning quiz, savings challenge, personalized spending plan, debt-to-income ratio calculator, etc.
Here is the link to their free financial health resources webpage.
3. Free Financial Planning Software
Financial Planning Software helps individuals to keep track of their income and spending, create budgets, and work toward personal financial goals. It is a useful tool to have all the financial information in one place and it provides a clear picture of your current financial situation.
Below are some of the free financial planning software:
- Empower – Empower offers free tools to manage your personal finances and plan your retirement.
- PlansWell – PlansWell provides free financial planning where anyone can fill out a short survey and get a free financial plan. They also have an information page called Financial Planning 101 that has definitions of financial terms and concepts.
- HomeBank – HomeBank is a free, personal financial planning software that assists with managing personal finance and budget in detail using filtering tools, charts, and reports.
- KMyMoney – KMyMoney is a free, open-source financial management software. It’s easy to use and allows users to import their information.
- Firefly III – Firefly III is a free and open-source personal finance manager. It helps you keep track of your expenses and income. You can create and edit transactions and accounts, and give them budgets, categories, and tags.
- GnuCash – GnuCash is an easy-to-use, personal financial accounting software which helps you track bank accounts, stocks, income, and expenses. It supports different currencies, can run on different operating systems, and allows recurring transactions.
4. YouTube Channels
Below are some of the personal finance channels you can share with your employees:
- The Financial Diet – The Financial Diet talks about personal finance and everything else you might want to know about money. It explains complex financial information with digestible videos and provides practical recommendations for everyday life.
- Two Cents – Two Cents is an educational channel about personal finance. Hosts come from a finance background in which they had a financial firm assisting entrepreneurs. In this channel, you will find a number of videos about career, work, retirement, family finance, investment, etc.
- The Money Resolution – Creator of this channel, Frankie Calkins, uploads helpful videos about personal finance with actionable, up-to-date tips to help people save money, invest, manage debt, plan for early retirement, etc.
Financial wellness is an important facet of wellness no matter where you are in the world. Although WorkTango operates in 100+ countries, we were founded in Canada, and wanted to offer our Canadian community some additional Canadian-specific resources:
1. Financial Consumer Agency of Canada (FCAC)
FCAC promotes financial education and raises awareness about financial wellness in the workplace. There are various resources and information for employers on their website, such as videos, infographics, and a guide to plan your workplace financial wellness program. You will also find an interactive financial toolkit with different modules which provide basic financial information and tools to help adults manage their personal finances and gain the confidence to make better financial decisions.
Here is the link to FCAC Financial wellness in the workplace webpage.
2. Chartered Professional Accountants Canada (CPA)
CPA Canada has free resources and tools to improve your employees’ financial literacy and help them manage their finances. They provide financial information related to the Covid-19 crisis, a detailed financial wellness guide that has an interactive questionnaire that helps you understand money basics and how they apply to you, and a financial literacy podcast that talks about key issues, trends, and tips as they relate to financial education.
Here is the link to the CPA website.
3. Free Online Webinars
- Sun Life hosts financial wellness webinars that are designed to boost financial literacy and help to achieve financial wellness.
- Here is the link to their financial wellness resources.
- Manulife’s webinar series covers a variety of topics such as internet scams, budgeting, building an emergency fund, investing, and retirement income sources. Their 30-minute live learning sessions provide simple tips and ideas to help you make healthy financial decisions.
- Here is the link to their financial wellness webinars schedule.
While investing in employee well-being, make sure to take a holistic view of wellness and incorporate financial wellness into your strategy. There are plenty of free resources available online. However, it starts with an organization’s concentrated effort, strategy, and clear priority on the financial wellness of its people. Helping individuals improve their financial literacy and apply that knowledge in practice will help you reduce your employees’ financial stress, improve their overall well-being, and promote a healthy culture of engagement in your organization.
