You'd think the solution would be simple—pay workers more money. After all, they're not necessarily the cause of their financial stress.

Yet most of us know people who make more money than ourselves and still complain about not making ends meet. More money is not going to solve their problem. They are, you might say, financially ill.  

At a basic level, financial wellness is a way of helping employees manage their finances, both in the long term and the short term. Where you see differences between financial wellness programs is when employers and benefits solution providers get creative with definitions of "help" and "manage" and even "finances."

This creativity is actually important, as financial wellness programs aren't one-size-fits-all plans. They can depend on industry, geography, culture, employee age, and other considerations.  

However you define them, financial wellness programs are gaining in popularity among employers. According to a recent Fidelity and National Business Group on Health study, 76 percent of employers provide some type of financial health program. An Aon Hewitt study reported that 90 percent of 250 large employers said that they wanted to introduce or expand their financial wellness program.

Here are some basic components we're seeing in financial wellness programs.

1. Education and coaching

From resources to help at tax time, to courses on personal finance, education can be as simple as helping employees with a task such as taxes, or understanding HSAs or navigating college financial aid, or it can be as intensive as changing financial behavior. Almost three-quarters of companies surveyed by Fidelity and NBGH offer on-site financial seminars, and 59 percent make a financial coach available to employees.

2. Financial assistance

Gone are the days of simply offering membership in a credit union. Companies are offering everything from short-term loans to student loan repayment assistance.

Student loan repayment – a benefit typically only offered in the public sector – will now be offered by 13 percent of employers in 2016, and another 21 percent are considering adding it in the future, the survey says.

The effect of the massive student loan debt on the millennial generation is well known, as is its ripple effect on the housing market. No less than the Department of Labor Secretary Thomas Perez has said recently that student loan assistance is a priority. HR departments across America are eyeing student loan assistance as a viable employee benefit in itself.

3. Long term planning

Employees wallow through benefits meetings unsure of what choices to make. Allocating assets to retirement plans, investing, estate planning, and deciding about such benefits as long-term care or life insurance are all areas where employees can use some help.

4. A focus on employee needs

Do we even have to say it? Yes—you need to know what your employees need and want before you can attempt to help them.

No program, no matter how well-intentioned, will work for long if it doesn't take into account employee demographics such as level of education, years in the workforce, concerns of the workers, and the type of job they hold and its impact on their body/mind.

An example widely cited of a program that was tailored to its employees is that of the NFL. The National Football League instituted financial wellness programs after the lockout several years ago. One interesting aspect is the yearly assessments of a player's financial success compared to other players at that level. This simple feature helps to gamify financial planning and make it meaningful for an already competitive demographic. Additional offerings include online financial education and a phone line to call for assistance from a real human being. That preparation is becoming increasingly important as former NFL players succumb to illness or injuries caused by the years of battering their bodies took.

Financial wellness is not a set-it-and-forget-it type of benefit. It requires monitoring and evaluation once a program has started. Follow up is crucial, according to a study done by the Pension Research Council, which found that employee savings rates could be raised, but only if the knowledge gained as a result of the financial wellness program was retained by employees.