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Rising prices, health care expenses, debt, unexpected bills and uncertainty about the economy are all affecting how financially secure workers feel. The Federal Reserve's 2025 household economic well-being report found that just over 9 in 10 U.S. adults remained concerned about price increases, making them the most common financial concern.
Only about 55% had enough emergency savings to cover three months of expenses, compared with 59% in 2021. Among adults ages 18 to 29, the figure was just 37%.
Inflation remains a current concern, too. The July 2026 Consumer Price Index showed prices up 3.4% year over year, including a 3.0% increase in food and a 14.7% increase in energy.
Workers are telling employers these pressures matter, and EBRI's 2025 Workplace Wellness Survey found that 89% of workers were concerned about inflation, 87% about health care costs and 86% about health insurance costs.
Eighty percent were concerned that a recession could affect their finances during the following year, yet just over one-third rated their employer highly for helping improve their financial well-being.
As an employer, you can't control the economy or manage employees' personal finances, but you can provide education, resources, tools, and benefits that help your employees make informed financial decisions. That's where employee financial wellness comes in, and here's what you need to know.
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Employee financial wellness is an employee's overall ability to manage current financial needs, prepare for unexpected expenses and work toward longer-term financial goals. It goes beyond retirement planning and may include the ability to:
You don't need to — and shouldn't — become an employee's personal financial adviser, but you can make financial education, coaching, tools and financial wellness benefits available through your workplace.
Financial wellness in the workplace is especially important when your employees are dealing with higher everyday costs and limited financial cushions. The Federal Reserve found that 59% of adults experienced at least one major unexpected expense in 2025, while just 63% said they could cover a hypothetical $400 emergency using cash, savings, or a credit card paid off at the next statement.
Financial wellness at work through company financial wellness programs can help your employees better understand and use benefits already available to them, strengthen your overall benefits package, and address workers' financial concerns.
Employee financial wellness programs are organized sets of resources designed to help your employees improve financial knowledge, behaviors, and financial security.
A program may combine areas like financial education, individual financial coaching, budgeting and savings resources, retirement education, and more. Financial wellness employee benefits are one part of a broader employee benefits strategy that includes benefits, perks, and rewards.
An employee financial wellness program can address multiple areas of financial well-being, and your organization should consider what your employees need most when deciding which resources to provide.
Budgeting education can help employees track expenses, recognize spending patterns, manage recurring costs and prioritize competing financial needs. Debt and credit education may cover different types of debt, repayment strategies, credit reports, credit scores, interest and responsible borrowing.
Emergency savings resources can help employees set attainable savings goals, consider automated contributions and prepare for unexpected expenses. Employees may also need help balancing immediate financial demands with longer-term goals, including saving for major purchases, life events and other financial milestones.
Retirement education can help employees understand their retirement plan, contribution options, employer matching, investment basics and available calculators or projections. With 401(k) retirement plan support for small businesses, you can get the information you need to help your employees make the most of their plans.
One-on-one coaching, workshops, webinars and access to qualified financial professionals can provide more personalized education. General financial education, however, should always be distinguished from regulated individualized investment or financial advice.
Financial wellness tools can also give employees practical ways to put that education to use. Options may include budgeting and savings calculators, debt repayment calculators, retirement calculators, credit education resources, financial education portals, mobile financial wellness platforms and benefits decision-support tools.
Employer financial wellness programs and financial wellness benefits are related but not identical. Education, coaching and tools help your employees build knowledge and improve decision-making, while benefits can provide concrete options that support their financial security.
The right mix of financial wellness benefits will vary by organization based on workforce needs, existing benefits, available providers, budget and program goals. Here are some options employers may consider.
A 401(k) or other employer-sponsored retirement plan can provide a foundation for long-term financial planning, and the benefits of a 401(k) for employers help your business while 401(k) employer matching provides a valuable incentive for your employees to save.
Some employers offer workplace emergency savings options that allow employees to build savings for unexpected expenses, including programs funded through payroll deductions. SECURE 2.0 also created pension-linked emergency savings accounts (PLESAs), which eligible employers may offer in connection with certain defined contribution retirement plans.
Earned wage access (EWA) gives eligible employees the option to access a portion of their already-earned wages before their regular payday. This financial wellness benefit can give employees greater flexibility in managing unexpected expenses or short-term cash-flow needs without changing the employer's regular payroll schedule.
Axcet clients can offer earned wage access through ZayZoon. Learn more about earned wage access and how it works.
Employers may offer financial wellness benefits that help employees manage the costs of education or student loan debt. Depending on the program, these may include tuition or educational assistance, student loan repayment assistance or, where applicable, employer retirement plan contributions tied to an employee's qualified student loan payments. Learn more about employer student loan repayment programs.
Tax-advantaged accounts can help eligible employees manage health care and dependent care expenses, and it's worth learning more about FSA vs. HSA comparison and employee benefits resources to determine if this is a perk you want to offer.
Other financial wellness benefits and resources available in the marketplace may include identity protection, credit monitoring, homebuying education, college savings resources, legal or financial resources through an EAP, hardship assistance, payroll-linked savings and financial planning resources.
The right mix will depend on your employees' needs, existing benefits, available providers and overall financial wellness strategy.
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Building an employee financial wellness program starts with understanding your employees' financial needs. You can use anonymous employee surveys, benefits utilization patterns, common employee questions and recruiting or exit feedback to identify needs. You don't need — and shouldn't solicit — detailed information about individual employees' finances.
Next, take inventory of the benefits and resources already available to your employees. Retirement providers, EAPs, health plans, payroll providers, benefits vendors and PEO services may already include financial wellness resources you can incorporate into your program.
Compare those existing resources with the needs you've identified to find potential gaps. When evaluating additional options, consider factors such as cost, accessibility, privacy, administrative requirements, vendor quality and long-term sustainability.
Once you've selected your resources, make them easy for employees to find and use. Consider different access points and communication formats so resources are available to both desk-based and non-desk employees.
Continue communicating about financial wellness throughout the year rather than limiting it to open enrollment. Onboarding, payroll communications, benefits newsletters, employee portals and workshops can all help keep available resources visible.
Finally, review participation, utilization, employee feedback, costs, vendor performance and changing workforce needs over time. Low utilization doesn't necessarily mean low need; employees may be unaware of a resource or find it difficult to access.
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There's no single model for employee financial wellness programs examples because programs can scale according to employer size, workforce needs, and budget. However, a basic program could include budgeting education, retirement education, EAP financial resources, and online financial wellness tools, while an expanded approach might add individual financial coaching, a 401(k) with employer matching, earned wage access, debt education, and emergency savings resources.
A comprehensive program could combine personalized coaching, retirement benefits and education, emergency savings support, earned wage access, student loan or education assistance, tax-advantaged accounts, and ongoing financial education.
You could accidentally undermine an otherwise useful program by:
You don't have to solve your employees' financial problems to make a meaningful difference. An employee financial wellness program can give workers access to education, tools, resources and benefits that help them make informed decisions and prepare for both immediate and long-term needs.
Financial wellness can be an important part of a broader employee benefits strategy. Axcet HR Solutions helps small and mid-sized businesses access and administer competitive employee benefits, including retirement plans, health savings and spending accounts, employee assistance resources and more.
Explore our employee benefits services to learn how professional benefits support can help you build a stronger overall benefits strategy.
Written by
Kellie Rondón, SPHR, is a Human Resources Consultant at Axcet HR Solutions with over ten years of progressive HR experience and a Senior Certification in Professional Human Resources. Kellie enjoys providing clients with professional employee relations guidance, training and development, and compliance expertise catered specifically to small business. She has a passion for helping business owners and leaders strengthen their culture and business trajectory through strategic HR consulting. Her commitment to delivering peace of mind and fostering long-term client relationships is evident in her work and contributions to our team.
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