"Despite employers' efforts, many employees have fallen behind" in financial planning for retirement, the report said. "Many employees report being ill-prepared to manage both current and long-term financial needs. Nearly all employees surveyed report being stressed about their financial situations and are seeking more help from their employers. Even most of those closest to retirement feel that they are not in control of their financial situation and have not saved enough for retirement."

Among the findings which BofAML called "surprising":

• 65 percent scored in the "not financially well" category; 
   
• 90 percent admitted to some degree of stress about their financial wellness, even when participating in retirement and health care plans at work;
   
• Only 11 percent scored in the "financially well" group;
   
• 25 percent fell somewhere in between "and may be poised to become financially well or to fall into the not financially well group";
   
• 76 percent think that suffering a health-related financial crisis that resulted in three months without pay would be a problem, and 26% say it would represent a major crisis. 

Other results pointed to a tendency for more women than men to fall into the lower financial well-being categories. "They are particularly concerned about paying for health care expenses, having enough money for basic necessities and paying their monthly mortgages or rents," said the report.

On a brighter note, nearly four in five respondents said "the financial benefits they participate in at work improve their financial wellness." And of married/living with a partner respondents, 71% with the highest financial wellness scores "regularly discuss their finances with their spouse or partner."

The study led BofA/ML to conclude that employers must provide more guidance to employees as they attempt to make the best possible retirement planning choices. Suggestions included:

• Review your plan data. See which benefits employees are using well and which they are not. Then reinforce good behavior to increase employee wellness and reduce the need for advice.
   
• Market benefits packages to employees. Help employees engage and change behavior by addressing how to take better advantage of the benefits they have today.
   
• Show employees how to maximize the benefits packages. Don't leave it up to the employees to figure out the value of their benefit plans — they don't often make the link. Put specific measurements and benchmarks in place to monitor behavior and corresponding financial wellness, and share with your employees.
   
• Provide more 1:1 advice and tools. Employees look to their employers to provide clear direction and resources from relevant research to online tools. And more than half of employees surveyed would like their employers to provide access to 1:1 financial advice.
   
• Consider automatic features. Automatic enrollment and automatic contribution increases can boost retirement plan participation. For those who are not financially savvy, this can make a huge difference in bridging their retirement readiness gap or improving financial wellness.