New year, new focus on financial habits
How to support employees’ health and wealth resolutions
As the New Year approaches, many employees resolve to adopt healthier habits, including improved financial habits. Pew Research Center found that across age groups, health and wealth are the most popular topics for New Year’s resolutions, with 61% resolving to focus on money or finances.1
An opportunity for employers
Employers have a unique opportunity to support these resolutions by promoting financial wellness offerings, inclusive of education and guidance, that encourage positive actions and enhance overall wellbeing.
New York Life’s Wealth Watch Survey found in 2024 nearly every adult reported some financial concern, with higher costs of living (63%), rising cost of everyday expenses (56%), saving for the future (42%) and having emergency expenses (40%) being main concerns.2
Why financial education is essential
Most Americans manage their personal finances despite a lack of financial education. Two out of three Americans cannot pass a standard financial literacy test.3 In 2023 it was estimated that a lack of financial knowledge cost Americans, on average, over $1,500.4 Many don’t know where to start or would welcome guidance along the way: Seventy-one percent of individuals either don’t have a financial strategy in place or have one but need help with it.5
Improving wellbeing in the workplace
Access to workplace benefits can improve confidence levels and help people on the path to lifetime financial wellbeing. Here are five ways you can support employees’ wellbeing and keep their resolutions, leading to financial security.
1. Encourage leaders of people to be wellbeing ambassadors.
Managers, new and experienced, can integrate financial wellbeing into their roles and assist with benefits navigation. As they are often the first to know about team changes, they are key for benefits guidance. Provide them with regular updates on health options, wellness incentives, and affordable programs to share with teams.
2. Help employees visualize their progress and reinforce positive behavior.
Just as employees regularly schedule physical health check-ups, encourage them to schedule financial check-ups, reviewing accounts, balances, and opportunities to assess their current financial health in alignment with goals.
3. Promote benefits and educational content throughout the year.
The new year is ideal for promoting educational content like financial seminars, budgeting tools, and articles. Schedule communications year-round, especially during open enrollment and compensation cycles, when employees review their finances. Highlight content that explains financial decisions and shows how small actions, such as pre-tax savings or budgeting, build lasting financial security.
4. Prioritize Emergency Savings Needs.
Consider out-of-plan emergency savings solutions, making it easy to deploy or provide an employer match, while being easy to set up and administer. Access to emergency savings is provided within Balance Wellbeing with New York Life, contact your broker or New York Life Group Benefit Solutions representative to learn more.
5. Automate actions and nudges.
Auto-enrollment and auto-escalation in retirement or health savings accounts can enhance savings rates and overcome the tendency for employees to stick with default options. For voluntary benefits, consider making enrollment more accessible with opt-out structures or nudges, keeping financial wellness top-of-mind.
Create a culture of well-being
Research suggests that, on average, it can take anywhere from 18 to 254 days to form a new habit.6 By guiding employees to build money habits in the New Year, employers can help influence positive actions, enabling employees to become financially resilient, leading to increased confidence and a more financially secure and healthy workforce.
1Pew Research, “New Year’s resolutions: Who makes them and why,” January 29, 2024
2New York Life, “Wealth Watch Survey,” June 25, 2024
3FINRA Investor Education Foundation, 2019
4National Financial Educators Council (NFEC) 2023 Survey, “Cost of Financial Illiteracy in 2023”. Survey conducted December 4 – December 17, 2023
5New York Life, “Wealth Watch Survey,” December 2022
6Phillippa Lally, Cornelia H. M. van Jaarsveld, Henry W. W. Potts, Jane Wardle, “How are habits formed: Modelling habit formation in the real world,” European Journal of Social Psychology, Volume 40, Issue 6, October 2010, Pages 998 – 1009
SMRU 7219333 Exp. 10.22.2027