Background: Financial wellness programs are top of mind across the retirement plan industry. Programs include various tools, solutions, and educational offerings with the ultimate goal of increasing employees’ financial well-being.

A short employer survey, which included questions about financial wellness, was deployed by the RRC in late 2022. Employers were questioned about which financial wellness tools and services are currently offered to employees, and which tools they are likely to adopt in the next 12-18 months. In total, 83 plan sponsors responded.

Findings: Topics such as financial planning, budgeting/debt management, and healthcare/HSA planning remain prevalent and continue to grow incrementally. In comparison, a greater number of employers are responding to the needs of their workforce by adopting emergency savings and student loan debt solutions, which currently are less prevalent. However, based on the survey findings, the RRC projects that each of these solution types could more than double in prevalence over the next 18 months.

Bottom line: Employers are increasingly looking to support the financial needs of workers. These findings show that employers are seeking to meet those needs through expanding beyond traditional offerings into areas such as emergency savings and student loan debt management. Both types of offerings will likely see near-term growth.