Financial literacy for employees

Financial literacy is an unclear area for many. It’s a topic that’s often overlooked in school, oversaturated in bookstores and in blogs, and overwhelming for those wanting to educate themselves. With no proper financial education or a clear path to follow, those with low financial literacy may not be well equipped to make decisions related to essential personal finance choices like saving, investing, credit, debt, and more. Unfortunately, many Americans fall into this worrisome category.

The current state of financial literacy

Financial literacy rates have been consistently low for some time. For nearly a decade, Americans could correctly answer only around 50% of P-Fin Index questions that measure financial literacy.¹ Nearly a quarter of U.S. adults demonstrated an extremely low level of financial literacy by correctly answering just 24% percent of questions.²

Despite 35 states now requiring K-12 students to take a course in personal finance to graduate, up from 12 in 2022, today’s working generations, Gen Z to baby boomers, didn’t share the same access to the same financial literacy during their time in school.³

Guardian's report, Mind, Body, and Wallet® 2025 What’s your well? How Americans define well-being, found that money is been the top source of stress for the majority of US adults.⁴ An insufficient financial education can cause serious struggles. Uninformed financial decisions can greatly affect the areas of one’s life from mental health, physical wellness, and even work productivity.

Why should employers want to improve their employees’ financial literacy?

Employers can provide a high-value benefit by offering financial literacy programs to their workforce. It’s a strategy that may help to improve the productivity and retention of current workers and attract top-level talent.

Financially stressed employees are nearly five times as likely to admit personal finance issues have been a distraction at work.⁵ Financially stressed employees are also more likely to leave. Only 54% feel there is a promising future for them at their employer, compared to 69% of employees who are not stressed about their finances.⁶

Financial stress can also have an impact on physical health, leading to increased absenteeism and higher healthcare costs. Seventy-four percent of US adults with poor physical health also report having poor financial health.⁷ Half of American workers say they’ve skipped or avoided doctors’ appointments, missed routine screenings, or put off seeing a specialist.⁸

By helping employees with financial literacy, productivity and the amount of focused, working hours could potentially increase.

Financial stress may also influence employee retention and loyalty. Those who are stressed about their finances have a greater chance to be attracted to another company that cares more about their financial well-being. Seventy three percent of financially stressed employees say they would be attracted to another employer that cares more about their financial well-being compared to just 54% of non-financially stressed employees.⁹ Yet, despite this demand, only 28% of employees report having access to financial education or guidance through their workplace.¹⁰

Providing financial education programs can help to reduce the levels of stress that could drive current employees to pursue a new job.

When companies step up to fill this information gap, it can be seen as a sign of your organization’s commitment to culture and investment in its workforce.

How to financially empower your employees

Whether it’s to resolve the concerns of distracted and disgruntled employees or to recruit the best talent, providing financial education programs can elevate your company’s productivity and culture. Once your organization buys into the importance of improving the financial literacy of its workers, where and how can you get started? Let’s outline five steps to building a well-rounded program that can help financially empower employees.

1. Survey employees to learn about their financial concerns

When starting from scratch or re-evaluating your current benefits offerings, it's important to open a line of communication with employees. Survey them to understand their needs and struggles. It's crucial to know how many employees own homes or have student debt, as this information can be leveraged to better support them. Tracking these details can reveal opportunities to enhance your benefits offerings and improve employee satisfaction.

You may assume that most of your employees would like a 401(k) program, or perhaps they’d want access to a financial professional, but that may only be the tip of the iceberg. Send out a simple survey to see what they’re interested in. It should include a wide range of topics such as:

• Paying off debt

• Credit management

• Saving for major goals

• Preparing for retirement

• Investment strategies

• Budgeting and spending

• Buying a home

Once the survey is fielded, you’ll understand the most important areas to focus on in your financial literacy programs.

2. Offer targeted guidance for a financially diverse workforce

Employees in different stages of life may want different financial guidance and the survey you conduct can help to identify this. Millennials may be interested in saving for a house or paying off student loans. Gen X workers could be interested in maximizing college savings for children or resolving credit card debt. Baby Boomers could be focused on retirement and end-of-life benefits. Offering opportunities that align with the specific financial concerns of your employees will help ensure that they’re getting the information they want most to alleviate their personal financial stresses.

3. Raise knowledge with customized communication

Ensuring your workforce knows about what benefits are available is crucial. However, as workers from different generations will have specific financial concerns, communication also isn’t a one-size-fits-all model. Customizing financial benefits awareness campaigns to fit the different generations of your workforce will help amplify their impact. Here are some options to consider:

• Emails

• Internal social media posts using platforms like Yammer

• Articles on your company’s intranet site

• Webinars

• Lunch and learn presentations

• Infographics that summarize key points

• Videos

Some testing may be needed to learn what sticks best for your workforce, but this deeper understanding will enable your internal communications to be more effective in all its campaigns. It’s a win-win.

4. Build and leverage partnerships

When offering options like long-term disability insurance, term and whole life insurances, and a 401(k) program, having a well-coordinated and in-depth enrollment meeting is important. Around annual enrollment time, leverage your benefits provider to bring in a professional and go through the options that are available, highlighting where there’s value relative to your employees’ specific circumstances. Ask them to set up a seminar/webinar to provide an overview and try to include 1-on-1 availability so they’ll be able to answer more nuanced questions clearly. There are also lots of helpful apps and companies that specialize in financial literacy. Reaching out to create a relationship could lead to offering a tangible new tool or a knowledgeable voice to help guide your employees.

5. Create a clear culture of support

Personal finances and asking for help can each independently be viewed as rather taboo topics. When combined, there’s a likely chance that some employees may feel embarrassed or uncomfortable about coming forward to utilize their benefits. Seek to create a clear and apparent culture of support. Do your part to reduce stigma and invite open conversations about financial literacy that can work to dispel the “money script” that talking about finances is inappropriate. Lead by example and show your workers the importance of financial education and transparency, which will in turn help employees to reduce their own financial stress and promote a more productive workplace.