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April is Stress Awareness Month.  Some stress is normal and, in fact, can be positive.  For instance, feeling butterflies before an athletic event, getting nervous before presenting to a large group or that feeling you get before going on a first date are examples of positive stress.  Positive stress allows us to live outside our comfort zones.  Stress becomes negative when it makes us feel overwhelmed.  This type of stress can lead to health problems, exhaustion and loss of productivity.

One source of negative stress is caused by our financial situation.  In fact, according to the American Psychological Association, money is the top cause of stress in the United States. (1)  In a recent survey, 77% of Americans reported they are anxious about their financial situation. (2)   It is very apparent that employees need help with their finances and there has never been a better time for employers to provide financial wellness benefits to them.  For way too long, many have been living paycheck to paycheck with little or no hope of doing better.  With just a few changes, they could not just be surviving, but thriving!

When choosing a financial wellness company, it is important to do some research.  There is a big difference in offering true financial wellness and just checking a box.  Unfortunately, many financial wellness companies offer solutions that do not modify behavior and, thus, long-lasting financial change does not occur.  This can lead to disappointing results for both the employer and employees. 

What is true financial wellness?  It is when your employees:

• Learn how to gain control over their financial situations
• Understand why they make certain choices when it comes to how they view and spend money
• Have enough money saved to handle financial emergencies that could (and will) happen
• Implement and work a strategy to eliminate their debt
• Understand their retirement savings plans and are saving enough to meet their retirement goals

While there are many stressors your employees face, financial stress does not have to be one of them.

To learn more about financial wellness benefits please visit www.mentorogroup.com or call us at 844-324-2411.

 

Footnotes:

1. Elizabeth Scott, “The Main Causes of Stress,” Verywellmind, June 29,2020, https://www.verywellmind.com/what-are-the-main-causes-of-stress-3145063

2. Alexandria White, “77% of Americans are anxious about their financial situation - here’s how to take control,” CNBC.com, October 30, 2020, https://www.cnbc.com/select/how-to-take-control-of-your-finances/

Have you ever noticed that people who are in shape and healthy very rarely, if at all, discuss dieting?  They could care less about the latest eating plan that will “help you trim inches off your waist.”  Financial wellness is similar.  People who handle their money well don’t need restrictive “no spend months” or fancy apps to help them achieve financial wellness.  Just like with those in shape, they consistently make healthy decisions when it comes to how they spend money.

Why does staying in shape and managing money seem so easy for some whereas next to impossible for others?  On paper, it is pretty easy to be skinny and rich.  Eat less than you burn and spend less than you earn – that might be a great t-shirt saying!  Yet, a majority struggle with being healthy and managing money.  Why is this?  It’s because we are all humans and have difficulty with being disciplined.

How Mentoro Changes This

At Mentoro, we focus on the individual.  In fact, we put the “personal” in personal finance.  Most of us have unique hopes and dreams we wish to accomplish.  Mentoro places an emphasis on human interaction and we meet all of our participants where they are.  We focus on each person’s overall financial situation and empower them to be the hero of their financial wellness journey.

To do so, we focus a lot on behavioral finance.  Behavioral finance looks at the reasons why we make certain financial decisions even if they don’t seem rational.  One area of behavioral finance is called loss aversion.  Loss aversion is when we focus on avoiding losses rather than gaining something.  For example, if I gave you the option of being handed $25 no questions asked or the possibility of getting $50 by flipping a coin and having it land on heads (if it landed on tails you would get nothing), you would probably take the sure thing and walk away $25 richer.  However, if I offered you the choice of either automatically giving me $25 or flipping a coin and, depending on what side it landed on, either owing me $50 or nothing, you would probably flip the coin. 

In both of these situations, the odds of the coin landing on the side you want are the same.  However, rather than taking the sure loss in the latter scenario, you would more than likely look at the possibility of regaining a loss as more important than the possibility of a greater gain.  Loss aversion is important for us to analyze because many make financial mistakes and try to right these wrongs.  This can lead to disaster!

Once again, saving money is pretty easy – on paper.  It is usually behavior that gets us into trouble.  By taking a look at the behaviors that shape the way a participant views and handles money, Mentoro implements a financial wellness plan that will stick. 

 

 

A majority of Americans feel financial stress.  In fact, 73% of us say finances are our number one stress in life! (a)  Here at Mentoro, we feel the workplace is the last great hope for many to learn how to manage their finances better.  To illustrate what some of your employees are facing, here is a fictional story that, unfortunately, is factual for many:

John and Lisa started off their marriage like a typical American couple.  They met at college, dated a few years and started to get serious shortly before graduating.  While they tried to be careful, they each graduated college with student loan debt.  In fact, they each owed the average balance, almost $30,000. (b)

After being in their careers for a few months, John and Lisa began discussing their futures and decided they wanted to take that next step.  Yep, you guessed it, they decided to get married.  John wanted to make this engagement as memorable as possible.  Even though he only had $1,000 in his savings account, he decided to buy a $10,000 engagement ring!  He went to the jewelry store in the mall and financed this ring.  He paid no attention to the 20% interest rate on this loan – love can be blind.  Besides, the minimum monthly payment was only $100, and John figured once he and Lisa were officially a couple, they would combine their salaries and add extra to this minimum monthly payment.

After John got down on one knee and Lisa said yes, they began planning for the big day.  They talked about keeping the costs to a minimum but, because they were both well liked and had a lot of friends, it was difficult to cut the guest list down.  Lisa’s parents were able to pay for half of it, but the newlyweds were on the hook for the rest.  As fate would have it, the cost was the average price a couple spends on their wedding – almost $34,000. (c)   While this was a steep price, John and Lisa felt it was worth it.  All of the guests had so much fun, and they started off their marriage on the right track (at least they thought so at the time).

The following day, they flew off to an island in the Caribbean for a week-long honeymoon spent in the sun.  Even though this entire trip was paid for with a credit card, it was a great week.  After the honeymoon, Lisa and John decided to start off their married lives by renting a small apartment.  They signed a one-year lease and figured they would move out after twelve months and into a starter home.  However, one month later, the credit card bills (along with the added stress) started to arrive.  Their wedding expenses alone totaled more than $30,000!  This included the cost of the engagement ring, their part of the wedding and the honeymoon.  When they were planning these events, they sounded like worthwhile expenses.  However, they now have doubts.  After adding their student loan payments to their other debts, John and Lisa barely have enough left over to cover their current living expenses let alone save any money for a future down payment on a house.  Even though they both love kids and want a large family, they don’t see how it will be possible to support even one child.  Once the honeymoon ended, it seemed like the fun did, too.

Many would agree that this is not a great way to start off a marriage.  Unfortunately, numerous couples fall into this debt trap and begin their lives already behind the eight ball.  While this may not be the exact story some of your employees have, some of the numbers probably are.  The silver lining is Lisa and John’s story can have a happy ending with some help.  We are here to help your employees on their financial wellness journeys and believe each one of them has the capacity to be financially well no matter their salary or current financial situation.

 

Footnotes:

a. https://www.cnbc.com/select/73-percent-of-americans-rank-finances-as-the- number-one-stress-in-life/
b. “Student Loan Debt Statistics – Updated July 2020,” Credit Summit, 
https://www.mycreditsummit.com/student-loan-debt-statistics/
c. “Couples Spend an Average of $33,931 on Weddings, Creating Completely Personalized Celebrations With Emphasis on Reclaiming and Redefining Tradition, According to The Knot 2018 Real Weddings Study,” Cision PR Newsire, February 14, 2019, https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/couples-spend-an-average-of-33- 931-on-weddings-creating-completely-personalized-celebrations-with-emphasis- on-reclaiming-and-redefining-tradition-according-to-the-knot-2018-real-weddings- study-300795628.html

 

 

Did you know that almost 90% of Americans say COVID-19 has caused them to feel stress about their financial situations? In fact,

• 41% are worried about having enough saved for emergencies
• 28% are concerned about paying their utility bills
• 28% are worried about paying their rent and/or mortgage
• 23% are concerned they don’t have enough saved for retirement
• 17% are putting off major financial decisions (a)

This financial stress also has a direct impact on your business. In fact, the annual cost an employer faces due to lost productivity and absenteeism caused by this stress is $2,169 per employee! (b)

This is where Mentoro will help both the employee and the employer. Our year-long program focuses on each participant to help them become the hero of their financial wellness journey. We focus on four key areas to accomplish this:

Human Interaction

We believe that everyone has the capacity to be financially well no matter their salary or current financial situation. We customize a financial wellness plan that is specific to each participant and his/her unique needs.  Everyone has different financial needs, hopes, and dreams. We develop a plan that is unique to each participant to help them achieve their financial goals. Self-help financial wellness solutions usually have low participation rates. Accountability partners are crucial in achieving financial success and Mentoro has educators that walk hand-in-hand with our participants to help them achieve this success.

Engaging Technology

To help our participants stay motivated on their financial wellness journey, we have a unique portal they interact with that gives them specific actions to take based on their own unique financial situations. Many enjoy making progress and getting rewarded for doing well and accomplishing a goal. Mentoro gives points to participants as they achieve certain financial milestones. Each participant can easily track this progress and the points provide an incentive to keep improving.

Behavioral Finance

Mentoro focuses heavily on behavioral finance. We evaluate each participant on 48 behavioral insights. This allows our educators to get a better understanding of why participants handle money the way they do. Most of us have beliefs that shape the way we view and handle our money. Taking an in-depth look at these helps us develop a financial wellness plan that will best serve each participant.

The Mentoro solution engages, examines, educates, and empowers each participant so that the workplace will be happier and more productive. 

 

 

Footnotes:
a. https://www.nefe.org/news/2020/04/survey-covid-19-crisisi-causing-financial-stress.aspx 
b. https://retirement.johnhancock.com/us/en/financial-stress-survey.html cid=US_JH_RE_PT_NAPANet_FinancialStress_FinancialStressSurvey__________20201111_WhitePaper_NapaProductProfileEmail1&utm_source=PT&utm_medium=NAPANet&utm_campaign=FinancialStress_FinancialStressSurvey&utm_term=WhitePaper_NapaProductProfileEmail1&utm_content=US__RE__________20201111#the-cost-of-financial-stress 

Working can be stressful sometimes: it’s a fact of life. However, just because it’s stressful doesn’t mean it has to impact a person’s physical or mental health. These days, businesses are embracing company wellness programs, offering services that improve their employees’ mental and physical health and increase morale and productivity.

Here are some of the most effective wellness programs you can implement in your organization.

Five Important Company Wellness Programs with Great Returns

1. Offering flexible hours

One thing that became obvious during COVID-19 pandemic is that many modern businesses really didn’t need to be tied to the traditional 9-to-5 work schedule. Offering flexible hours to your employees, if possible, may be one of the best wellness programs of all. As work-life balance is becoming increasingly important to many people, offering the option of flexible office could even be a great advantage.

2. Physical wellness programs

When people think ‘corporate wellness programs’ they’re usually thinking of physical fitness, which is a large component of any workplace wellness program. According to CareerBuilder, the top five symptoms causing missed work are fatigue, aches and pains, sleeplessness, high anxiety, and weight gain. There are a number of benefits of implementing a health and wellness program in the workplace, including the fact that employees in good shape will have more energy and be more productive, they’ll also get better at setting and achieving goals. Additionally, regular exercise can help burn away stress and make it easier for employees to get through the day.

Lastly, implementing a workplace wellness program that encompasses health benefits will lower healthcare costs for businesses.

3. Mental wellness programs

Corporate gyms and other physical wellness programs are fantastic, but don’t overlook your employees’ mental health. Sponsoring meditation sessions or yoga programs can help your employees achieve better mental stability,

4. Offering healthy food choices

According to the American Heart Association, four out of five employees agree that having healthy food options at work is important to them. So, what sort of food options do your employees have access to at the office? By ensuring your cafeteria is stocked with low-fat/low-sodium snacks, you’ll also help prevent increased health costs down the road.

5. Financial wellness programs

Financial problems can pose significant stress for employees throughout, which is why financial wellness programs are such a good solution for addressing those concerns. You can improve the lives and morale of employees by offering financial counseling to help them save for the future, and meet their daily financial obligations more comfortably.

Did you know that nearly one-third of Americans are often or always stressed about money? That can have significant and negative impact on your company. Employee financial programs can help. When your employees feel confident about their finances, they are more optimistic about their future, they are more productive at work, and able to reset and refresh at home. Additional benefits of financial wellness programs include increased employee satisfaction, greater employee retention, reduced absenteeism, and even stronger employee recruitment.

Learn About Company Wellness Programs Today

Mentoro seeks to spread financial literacy in your workplace by creating custom programs that ease financial stress and equip your employees. For more information, contact us online today to learn more about our employee financial wellness programs or call 1.844.324.2411.

Every year, more and more employers recognize the benefits of having workplace wellness programs – particularly during difficult times such as these.  Wellness programs are inexpensive to implement and bring a range of benefits to employees as well as employers. Happy, financially stable, and confident employees are more productive, and a small investment into their wellness turns into big gains for your company.

But how do you recognize the best corporate wellness programs and separate them from the rest? The leading corporate wellness programs stay on top of trends in addition to offering a range of services to their clients, everything from financial insight to health and wellness solutions. Let’s look at a few of the most popular ones.

Three Must-Have Services from Your Corporate Financial Wellness Programs

1. Mental wellness programs

When people think about “corporate wellness” they usually think of physical health, such as access to company sponsored gyms and physical health programs.  While that is part of the equation, your employees’ mental health is just as important. According to the World Health Organization’s Mental Health and Work study, depression and anxiety cost the global economy approximately $1 Trillion (USD) each year in lost productivity. That’s why an increasing number of corporate wellness programs are beginning to add guided meditation and yoga to their offerings in order to enhance employees’ well-being.

2. Financial guidance

According to PwC’s annual Employee Financial Wellness survey, more than half of employees indicated that they stress about their financial situation and they worry about money – and those surveys were conducted before the Coronavirus outbreak. That number is expected to increase dramatically in 2021. Many employees lack the knowledge or the practice of good financial habits and therefore, could be in a troublesome situation that causes them stress. But corporate wellness programs can improve money management habits among employees, helping them move away from living paycheck to paycheck and increasing retention. Having a great program can even help you attract better talent to your organization.

3. Advanced analytics and data tracking

When choosing your workplace wellness provider, make sure the program offers extensive analytics and regular cadence reporting. Knowing the trends, identifying concerns and problems, can help you address them in a proactive manner. Corporate wellness programs benefit businesses as well. By tracking statistics involving morale, productivity, and attendance, a corporate wellness program provider can show you how the situation is improving. For example, according to Sun Life, companies with successful health and wellness programs are 40% more likely to report an improvement in financial performance.

Learn more about Mentoro Group and how can we benefit your employees and your company. Contact us to learn more.