What’s Holding Back Financial Wellness?
Financial wellness – it remains a hot topic among advisors – but among plan sponsors? For all the coverage that the subject engenders – and it’s considerable in this space – it’s not unusual to find awareness gaps among plan sponsors, with perspectives ranging from ignorance to ambivalence to downright skepticism. About a year ago, the Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI) conducted a survey of 250 large employers. At the time, the report claimed that while many employers were interested in offering financial wellness programs to their employees, there didn’t appear to be a consensus on the approach. So, what’s changed in in the past year? Well, as it turns out, not much. Once again EBRI surveyed large plan sponsors – this time in June 2019, the online survey of 248 full-time benefits decision-makers from companies with at least 500 employees (17% had more than 10,000). Last year’s survey canvassed employers with an “expressed interest in financ...