Providing financial literacy for employees (while protecting their privacy)

Financial literacy is important. According to CNBC, 77% of Americans are anxious about their financial situation. Intuit tells us 65% of Americans have no idea how much they spent last month. Only 32% of American households have a budget for the month. If employees cannot make ends meet, whoever offers them more money will get their loyalty. Trained employees will jump from job to job. Knowing how to live within your means is important.

Our American culture does not help get this message across. If consumer spending is almost 70% of GDP, the economy needs people to spend, spend and spend some more to keep the numbers up. This is not limited to people making at or near the minimum wage. CNBC reported not only are 63% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, 47% of Americans with six figure incomes are doing the same. The need for financial literacy extends across the earning spectrum.

Once upon a time, talking about money was simply not done. Then came the popularity of investing and the financial news channels on cable TV. What people do with money became a spectator sport. The problem of not knowing how to manage money became compounded because of bad advice.

Related: Financial facts of life: Teaching employees financial literacy basics can pay off in loyalty

Companies can help their employees by making financial literacy education available. You must be careful how this is done because although people talk about money freely, most would not like their employer to know how much they have or how much debt they have accumulated. You need to make financial literacy education available through the channels employees would choose to access while maintaining a curtain of confidentiality. Let us look at 10 ways this education could be delivered.

1. Outsource to your benefits provider. It is possible the firm supplying your 401(k) also has educational content available through various channels. The information might be basic, but that may be sufficient.
2. Hire retirement counselors for executives. It makes sense companies want executives to focus on their duties, not managing their money. Firms can hire a counselor to work with an executive a year or two before retirement to help them prepare. You can hire a consultant, but many financial services firms offer this service. It would be a live training or 1:1 coaching delivery system.
3. Write a book. Your HR department studies the market and surveys employees. They determine the areas of greatest need and prioritize them. The department produces their own guide. The advantage of in-house production is the variety of delivery platforms. You can produce the book in printed form. It can be available as an e-book or an audio book. Seminars could be presented, using the book as a study guide. Podcasts could be developed. The advantage is (with the exception of the printed book) the material could be updated as needed.
4. Buy a book. Financial literacy education is not new. Find a book that covers the topic. Buy enough copies for every employee along with future hires. The author would likely do some video intros you could use to launch the program.
5. Hold live classes. This works best if your firm has one central location. It can be presented as training provided by the firm. It could explain the benefits program in detail. You would want to hold a series of classes, film them and have videos available because people might miss classes due to travel schedules.
6. Produce a series of videos. Assembling a class of individuals takes time. People need to get there and back to their offices. It is also a very public format for a private subject. People might feel uncomfortable if feeling management was studying people’s faces. People’s attention spans can be short. A library of short videos will allow people to study at their own pace. They can do it in private. They can even do it from home.
7. Produce podcasts. According to Nielsen, 62% of Americans have listened to podcasts. It is a popular communication channel. People can listen while exercising, commuting or relaxing at home. It would need to be delivered without charts or visual aids, but an engaging speaker can hold their attention.
8. This is a 1:1 system, which is how many people prefer to learn. It creates confidentiality concerns, but these could be alleviated if a third party outside firm was brought in to coach individual employees.
9. Community school. Many towns and cities have evening adult education programs. The courses carry no college credit but are often reasonably priced. They address practical subjects like personal finance. The firm could raise the visibility of these programs and offer to pay for the employee’s tuition cost, which would be minimal.
10. Financial planning. This service can be provided by individuals who are Certified Financial Planners (CFP) or plans can be produced online through software packages. The firm could make this available through a third-party provider.

There are many ways firms could help their employees better manage their personal finances. These options are all arm’s length alternatives that should not cross the line concerning employee confidentiality.

Bryce Sanders is president of Perceptive Business Solutions Inc. He provides HNW client acquisition training for the financial services industry. His book, “Captivating the Wealthy Investor” is available on Amazon.