Guide to Financial Wellness

By Andy Bandyopadhyay, Ph.D.
HEAD OF SCIENCE AT EVEN.COM
A Guide to
Financial Wellness
The Employer’s Handbook for
Understanding On-Demand Pay
and Financial Wellness Benefits.
BY ANDY BANDYOPADHYAY, PH.D.
HEAD OF SCIENCE AT EVEN.COM

2Chapter 01: Americans are stuck
Over the past 30 years, income has stagnated for 90% of Americans.
Healthcare costs have gone up by 400%, and the price of housing
has increased by 200%. Americans are moving outside cities to
marginally more affordable areas, taking on greater commute
expenses, and grappling with childcare costs 1
which now often
exceed college tuition 2
.
Americans at all income levels live paycheck to paycheck, saving
nothing for next week, let alone for their future. The research
summarized in this book is clear: despite prevailing wisdom, paying
people more, or paying them on-demand, are band-aids that will
not solve the underlying problem. The best employers differentiate
themselves, improve their bottom lines, and help their people by
giving them a holistic set of tools designed to solve the underlying
problem: the many factors that contribute to how difficult it is to
save money.
www.even.com
A Guide to Financial Wellness
© 2019 Even Responsible Finance, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including
photocopy or recording, or any information and retrieval system, without permission in writing
from Even Responsible Finance, Inc
Author
Andy Bandyopadhyay, Ph.D.
Editors
Jon Schlossberg, Juli Fischer, Jane Leibrock, Megan Boone,
Tiffany Frye

which now often
.
Foreword p04
Americans are stuck p06
Starved for savings p17
Bringing stress to work p23
Progress starts with savings p32
Five secrets to success p38
Next Steps p43
01
02
03
04
05
+
→
Contents

Bryan is a 32-year-old general manager of a local Walmart. He
graduated with his master’s degree in chemical engineering at the
height of the recession, when there weren’t many good-paying jobs at
all—let alone in chemistry. So he gladly took the position at Walmart.
“I really like my job,” Bryan says without hesitation. “The pace, the
challenges, the people.” Walmart feels grateful to have him: Bryan’s
store is one of the best performers in its region.
He makes good money, but the rent where Bryan lives with his wife
and young daughter has doubled in the past ten years. The loans
he took out (for the degree he’s not using) are crippling. And after
paying the monthly daycare bill—he can’t believe how expensive it
is, but someone needs to watch his kid, you know?—Bryan and his
family are living paycheck to paycheck.
Bryan is an incredibly responsible manager, father, and husband. He
tries to save money. But his parents, also chemical engineers, never
really taught him how to manage his finances, and the public school
system cut home economics long ago. The financial literacy videos
he’s watched on YouTube seem simple enough, but they don’t help
him save when there’s not enough money and too much month.
You wouldn’t know it by talking to him, but Bryan and his family are
struggling. He feels it the most when he can’t afford to put gas in
Foreword

his truck, which, cruelly, makes it hard to get to work and earn the
money to pay for gas. Or when his wife calls, exasperated in line at
the supermarket, phone in one hand and toddler in the other, because
her card was just declined at the register. Or when his daughter needs
medicine for yet another something she picked up at daycare, and
Bryan has to pick between caring for his child or paying bills.
“I think it’s time to make a resume,” Bryan tells his wife. “We just can’t
keep struggling like this.”
Bryan’s situation is not unusual. It is the new normal. The majority of
Americans live paycheck to paycheck, struggling to make ends meet.
And the stress of that struggle does not magically disappear when
people leave their home and enter your workplace. They bring their
stress with them, affecting their attitude, their performance, and
ultimately, their desire to stay and grow with your company.
This short book summarizes the research that explains why so many
people like Bryan are struggling, the measurable impact it’s having on
your business, and what you should consider when starting a project
to help. I hope you find it useful.
Jon Schlossberg
FOUNDER & CEO
EVEN

Rising costs,
overwhelming
debt, and
nowhere to
turn: The vast
majority of
Americans can
no longer afford
a good life.

expenses, and grappling with childcare costs1
which now sometimes
exceed college tuition.2
1X
0
2X
3X
4X
5X
1980 1990 2000 2010
YEAR
BASE PERIOD: 1982-84 = 1X
COST
INCREASE
Transportation
Housing
Medical
Food
Costs are soaring, and Americans can’t keep up
Between 1980 and 2018, it’s become increasingly difficult for people
afford life’s basic necessities.
Source: Consumer Price Index-All Urban Consumers (Current Series), Bureau of Labor Statistics,
Retrieved for 1979-2018 from https://data.bls.gov/PDQWeb/cu on August 22, 2019

Conventional wisdom tells young people: Go to college, and you’ll
succeed. Yet between 1989 and 2016, the cost of attending college
has doubled—even after accounting for inflation.3
Meanwhile, the
economic returns on those degrees have flattened,4
leaving young
people stuck paying back debt—with interest—on degrees that
simply aren’t as valuable as the ones gained by past generations.
Source: “How Many Hours Would It Take You to Work Off Today’s College Tuition?” The New Republic,
October 6, 2015
WEEKS OF WORK
40 hours per week at minimum wage
2015
1979
55.72 weeks
9.6 weeks
0 60
Is it still possible to “work your way through college?”
In 1979, students could earn enough to pay for a year of college
during a single summer. Now, it would take over a year, leaving no
time for actual classes.

This is especially true for students who never finished: Between
2014 and 2016 alone, 3.9 million college students with federal
student loan debt dropped out. Those who take out loans, but never
finish their degree, are three times more likely to default on their loan
than students who graduate.5
And this type of default precludes
people from getting more financial aid to resume classes later in life.6
As of 2018, Americans are carrying $13.5 trillion in debt. Student
loans account for $1.4 trillion of that debt, an increase of $64
billion from 2017. Mortgage debt is at $9.1 trillion, and the average
household has $8,284 in credit card debt. Total consumer debt has
been increasing for 17 consecutive quarters.8
As higher education gets more expensive,
the actual economic returns to a university
degree are about flat. People who are more
educated make more money than people
with less education, but overall, most
educational groups are just treading water.”7

– THE ATLANTIC
“

The products that should be helping are making
things much worse
As Americans struggle to get by, they’re being offered dozens of
products and services that promise relief. But instead of helping
people make progress, financial institutions are digging deeper holes
for their customers to fall into—all while pocketing billions of dollars
per year for their efforts.9
Hard-earned wages that could be growing savings accounts are
being wasted, going towards banks’ profits. In 2017 alone, Americans
paid over $34.3 billion in overdraft fees.10
As consumers become wiser to these punitive practices, banks
adjust accordingly. Customers hit with overdraft fees began to work
harder at avoiding them; to compensate, banks raised the average
overdraft penalty from $20 to $30.11
A new breed of fees has also
emerged, designed to siphon money from customers at every
turn. Fees for low balances, ATM withdrawals, and balance checks
penalize already-struggling people for simply trying to utilize their
own money.

The people who need help the most are the ones susceptible to
the most harmful “services.” The $9 billion payday loan industry is
predicated on taking money from people at the precise moment
they’re most vulnerable. Payday loan stores—which outnumber
McDonalds and Burger Kings combined12
in the United States—offer
short-term loans that can have fees that are equivalent to 400%
APR. When compared with APRs for traditional personal loans, which
range from 6% to 36%,13
the rates on payday loans fall squarely into
predatory territory.
Overdraft fees are at record highs
Source: Amanda Dixon, “Survey: ATM fees hit a record high for the 14th year in a row.” Bankrate,
October 10, 2018
30
$35
25
20
1998 2003 20132008 2018
$33.23 Average
overdraft fee
In 1998, the average overdraft fee was $21.57. Today, it tops $33.23.

Payday loans are profitable because the providers trap customers in
cycles of debt. The Center for Responsible Lending found that only
1% of these loans are given to borrowers who can pay their loan off
within the allotted two weeks. According to the Consumer Finance
Protection Bureau, 80% of borrowers can’t repay their loan within
two weeks,15
at which point the fees soar to the equivalent of a 521%
interest rate16
—and keep going up every time a new due date comes
and goes. When all is said and done, the average consumer pays
$1,105 to borrow just $325.17
“Payday lenders target millions of low-income
consumers who have little to no savings and live
paycheck to paycheck.”14
– MOTHER JONES

which now often
.
“The average payday loan
customer spends $1,105 to
borrow just $325.”
Source: Lawrence Korb, Jenna Churchman, “Defend All From
Payday Loans,” Mother Jones, July 19, 2006

15Chapter 01: Americans are stuckHow payday loans work
Payday loans might seem like a simple solution to an everyday cash
flow problem. But how well are they understood? Here’s a deep dive
into how they work—and how hazardous they can be.
Fill out a registration
form at the payday
loan store, providing
your ID, paystub, and
bank account number.
Loan amounts range
from $50 to $1,000,
depending on local
laws. You’ll receive
cash on the spot.
Full payment is due
on your next payday
(usually around two
weeks).
Post-date a personal
check coinciding with
your next paycheck,
or give the payday
lender permission to
electronically debit
your bank account.
The loan amount is
recouped either via the
post-dated check or
direct debit—plus a flat
fee of $15 – $20 per
every $100 borrowed.
Step 1: Get the loan
Step 2: Pay the loan back
1
1
2
2
3
!
When calculated
using the same APR
model used for credit
cards, mortgages, and
auto loans, payday
loan interest ranges
from 391% to more
than 521%.

$431.25
64.69
$431.25
Loan 1 total
New Loan fee
Total
431.25 x 15% fee
EXAMPLE
If you miss your two-week repayment deadline, you can “roll over”
the loan, adding new finance charges to your existing debt. This
happens with over 80% of loans.
But what if you can’t make it
to step 2?
The average payday loan is $375.
If your loan has the lowest finance
charge available ($15 per $100
borrowed), you’d pay a fee of $56.25
on the principal of $375, for a total
loan amount of $431.25.
If you can’t pay on time and have to
“roll over” the loan, the new amount
would be $495.94. How? Because
the “new loan” amount is the $431.25,
plus a brand new round of interest
that totals $64.69, coming to a total of
$495.94.
This is how a $375 loan becomes
nearly $500 in less than a month.
Loan 2
$375.00
56.25
$431.25
Loan 1 amount
Loan fee
Total
375.00 x 15% fee
Loan 1
New total $495.94
How payday loans work
Source: “How Do Payday Loans Work?” InCharge Institute of America, Accessed August 20, 2019

Starved for
savings
02
Starved for
savings
02

18Chapter 02: Starved for savings
Problem: We’re
asking people
who can’t save
for next month,
“Why aren’t you
saving for 30
years from now?”

Between declining incomes, rising costs, and profit-hungry financial
institutions, Americans simply can’t save money. In the 1980s, the
saving rate for the bottom 90% of earners exceeded 10%. After 2011,
that dropped to around 2%.18
Another study found that in 2018, 58%
of Americans had less than $1,000 in savings; 32% had nothing
saved at all.19
This isn’t about budgeting
Despite what some “experts” would have us think, the problem isn’t
as simple as unchecked spending and frivolous lifestyles. So-called
“unnecessary spending” on things like lattes and avocado toast are
a popular scapegoat for Americans’ dwindling savings accounts.
This narrative is pervasive because it’s visible, convenient, and less
uncomfortable than the truth.20
The reality is, savings rates are flagging despite Americans’ best
efforts. U.S. Financial Diaries’ Savings Horizons research shows
that people are saving money—but it gets wiped out over and over
again.21
Income fluctuations and unforeseen expenses cause people
to continually dip into their savings, depleting what’s there, and
forcing them to start all over again.

“An income or expense shock can, and does, push
consumers like this into the red when they have to
dip into their minimal short-term savings to meet an
immediate need.”22
– THE ASPEN INSTITUTE
If people can’t save money, they can’t build long-
term financial stability
Multiple research bodies such as The Aspen Institute and the Financial
Health Network have identified having reliable short-term savings as
the most important precursor to long-term financial stability.
But unreliable short-term savings undercuts long-term progress. One
stark example of this is the 27% of employees who have withdrawn
retirement funds to pay for unforeseen expenses or medical bills—
plus the 49% who haven’t yet, but anticipate needing to in the
future.23
Workers are so strapped that 18% of workers have cut
back on their 401(k) contributions in the past year, while 38% don’t
participate in plans at all.24

“On average, households say most of their accounts
will be spent down in the shortest time horizons: 73%
of accounts are used for funds to be spent within
six months and 84% of accounts are for funds to be
spent in less than a year.”25
– U.S. FINANCIAL DIARIES
Americans’ savings account balances simply don’t reflect how hard
they’ve been trying. The median household’s end-of-year savings
balance was one third of the total amount deposited throughout the
year. Less than 10% of savings account balances are intended for
use beyond three years in the future. Americans’ savings accounts
now resemble checking accounts: They’re used frequently, with
multiple deposits and withdrawals each month.26

which now often
.
“78% of Americans feel stress
over retiring comfortably,
while 21% have no retirement
savings at all.”
Source: “Planning & Progress Study 2018,” Northwestern Mutual Studies & Research, 2018

24Chapter 03: Bringing stress to work
Your employees
are getting sick,
losing focus, and
missing shifts
because they’re
consumed by
financial stress.

If Americans are struggling to save enough money to handle short-
term problems, they’re unable to devote any resources—financial
or cognitive—to planning for the long term. And this leads to
debilitating stress.
“If people can’t cover a very small, unexpected
expense, how can we expect them to save for
retirement?”27
– ANGIE CHEN, CENTER FOR RETIREMENT RESEARCH AT BOSTON COLLEGE
Northwestern Mutual’s 2018 Planning & Progress study reports
that 78% of Americans feel stress over retiring comfortably, while
21% have no retirement savings at all.28
The same study found that
money is the top cause of stress—a finding that’s echoed by the
American Psychological Association, which reports that money
causes more stress than work, health, or relationships. Similarly,
PwC’s Employee Financial Wellness Survey found that 67% of
employees feel stressed about finances.29

All this stress is associated with increased migraines30
and other
physical pain,31
insomnia,32
and depression.33
Financial stress causes
declines in cognitive abilities,34
and can cause household instability
that impairs the development of young children.35
And according to
the APA, it’s only getting worse: Between 2017 and 2018, average
levels of anxiety jumped by five points, with the greatest increases
found in anxiety around paying bills.36
Employee financial stress is bad—and getting worse
Percentage of employees who
say finances are their #1 stressor
in recent years.
Employees’ answers to “which
of the following causes you the
most stress?”
45% 46%
40%
59%
2016 2017 2018 2019
0
60
30
Source: “PwC’s 8th annual Employee Financial Wellness Survey,” PwC US, April 24, 2019
10%
Health concerns
4%
Other
59%
Financial
or money
matters/
challenges
15%
My job
12%
Relationships

“But is it really my employees?”
Nearly 55% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck.37
But it’s
not just low earners—the debilitating stress caused by this affects
people up and down the income ladder, in all areas of the economy.

That means it’s impacting people who work for you, from hourly
staffers to salaried employees. Of families making $150,000 per
year or more, 25% are living paycheck to paycheck. The number
increases to roughly 33% for families earning between $50,000 and
$100,000. And of families learning less than $50,000, one half are
living paycheck to paycheck.38
$100k+$50-100k
% % %
ANNUAL INCOME
% LIVING PAYCHECK TO PAYCHECK
>$50k
2550 33
A surprising number of high earners live paycheck to paycheck
Percentage of families living paycheck to paycheck based
on total earnings
Source: Ted Knutson, “Nielsen: Even Many High Earners Live Paycheck To Paycheck,”
Financial Advisor Magazine, August 6, 2015

“44% of Americans would
rather talk about death,
politics, or religion than
personal finances.”
Source: Ingrid M. Paulin, Wendy De La Rosa, “Why Is It So Hard to Talk
about Money?,” Scientific American, March 22, 2018

“If your finances cause you stress and anxiety, it’s
natural to want to keep this to yourself because you
might feel embarrassed or ashamed.”39
– THE NEW YORK TIMES
This is a problem that affects nearly the entire American workforce.
Meanwhile, study after study shows that Americans aggressively
avoid talking about money. Wells Fargo found that 44% of Americans
would rather talk about death, politics, or religion than personal
finances.40
A whopping 43% of Americans don’t know how much
money their spouse makes.41
One in five doesn’t even talk about
money at home, period.42
Is it any wonder employers are in the dark
about their employees’ struggles?
All this stress is bad for business
In a recent PwC survey, 35% of employees report being distracted
by finances while at work; 49% of those employees admitted
spending three or more hours each week dealing with personal
finances at work.43
Another PwC survey showed 12% of financially
stressed employees missing work occasionally due to financial
stress, and 31% saying their productivity has been affected.44

Employers report that the problem could be even worse. In a
survey conducted by the International Foundation of Employee
Benefit Plans, 60% of employers report that financial stress affects
their employees’ ability to focus, and 34% report absenteeism and
tardiness.45
A study published in the Journal of Financial Counseling
and Planning found that financially stressed employees are less likely
to be productive, and that stress as a reason for absenteeism has
increased over 300% since 1995.46
Employee financial stress has a dramatic effect on business
Absenteeism
→
2x
more likely to miss
work due to financial
issues Engagement Productivity
→
→
5x
more likely to be
distracted by finances
at work
3x
more likely to spend
5+ hours at work
dealing with finances
Source: Kent Allison, “Employee Financial Wellness Survey: 2017 Results,” PwC, April 2017

For an employer with 10,000 workers, that adds up to 3,000
distracted employees, and 1,380 workers spending more than three
hours per week dealing with financial stress. According to PwC, this

can mean losses of up to $3.3M per year. And that doesn’t even
include the 12% of employees who admit missing work from time to
time—PwC estimates that could cost as much as another $166,000
per year for an employer of 10,000.47

04
Progress
starts with
savings

33Chapter 04: Progress starts with savings
Employees
can’t become
financially well
until they can
build savings as
a foundation for
further progress.

Positive cash flow is the most fundamental
piece of short-term financial stability
because when income exceeds needs,
consumers have money left over to build
savings cushions or invest in wealth-
building activities.”48
– ASPEN INSTITUTE
“
The research is clear: Employees don’t have enough savings to
keep themselves afloat. They’re living paycheck to paycheck,
embroiled in day-to-day battles to pay bills and handle emergencies.
They’re bringing that stress to work, and it’s hurting bottom lines at
businesses around the country.
The key to putting employees on the track to financial wellness—thus
reducing their financial stress and its effects on business—is to help
them save money. The U.S. Financial Diaries found that Americans are
withdrawing their savings too much for it to be useful for the future. In
addition, authors and researchers Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir
emphasize the importance of short-term savings for financial wellness
in their book Scarcity. Employees need sufficient savings to cover cash
flow problems caused by income fluctuations.

But as numerous data points tell us, saving is easier said than done.
Employees need more than just an instrument to save. They need
solutions that enable and maximize savings, while simultaneously
addressing the reasons saving is so difficult—as well as the reasons
savings accounts get plundered in the first place.
A product will be successful if it helps employees save money more
successfully than they would on their own. First, employees need to
get on stable ground with a healthy and inexpensive solution to cash
flow problems. Then they need features to help them keep track
of bills, and spend within their means—which means avoiding lost
wages due to penalties and fees.
This leads to positive cash flow: a point at which income exceeds
expenses, allowing savings to grow to the point where they can
absorb a cash flow problem without being decimated. Over time,
savings balances continue to grow, which is an integral part of
making progress towards financial health.
ProgressSavingsCash flow

This is backed up by data from the Financial Health Network
(formerly CFSI) which has done extensive research on what it means
to be financially well:
Borrowing
With a lower-cost way to
solve cash flow problems,
such as on-demand pay,
employees can move towards
building emergency savings
for future use.
Spending
Tools to help people spend
within their means—while still
getting bills paid on time—
make saving money possible.
Planning
When employees have a clear
picture of money coming in, as
well as what’s needed for bills,
surprise cash flow problems
become less frequent.
Saving
When all the previous pieces
are in place, employees can
think ahead towards long-
term planning and saving.
Ultimately though, only so much can be done in a world where
expenses outweigh earnings. Another mark of a successful product
is the presence of forward-thinking plans to help employees not
only manage their savings in the face of expenses, but to also help
lower those expenses by deploying innovative business strategies,
partnerships, and design.

37
which now often
.
Chapter 04: Progress starts with savings
Affordable for the short term; insufficient
for the long term
When someone is living paycheck to paycheck, cash flow
emergencies can be a “normal” part of everyday life. In order to get
a bill paid on time, or put gas in the car, people need to get cash
somehow. One way to get cash is with expensive and predatory
payday loans. A more affordable alternative is “on-demand pay,”
otherwise known as earned wage access (EWA).
While on-demand pay can be an affordable way for employees to get
the cash they need in a pinch, it is not a long-term solution. By itself,
on-demand pay fails to address the underlying problems of why
employees need to get cash in the first place: a lack of savings. A
healthier solution for employees is one that provides on-demand pay
when they need it—and also helps move them into a situation where
they no longer need it.
In fact, offering on-demand pay by itself may do more harm than
good, because on-demand pay suffers from the same problem
as payday loans: Once payday comes, employees often don’t
have enough money left for the coming week, and must take their
pay early again. Solutions that only offer on-demand pay—but
don’t address the reasons people don’t have savings—can create
a cyclical dependency for employees to take their wages early,
while paying fees for the privilege.
On-demand pay

39Chapter 05: Five secrets to success
Most tools
currently
available to your
employees aren’t
helping—and
may actually be
holding them
back.

The existing tools for getting
unstuck aren’t effective
Nonessential → Immediate
When employees are in crisis, a plan that helps their future self—
instead of their current in-crisis self—is nonessential. An employee
can’t think about increasing their 401(k) contribution when their
immediate concern is whether there’s enough gas in the car to get
to work and keep their job.
NONESSENTIAL EXAMPLES: 401(k) programs with auto-enrollment, HSA/
FSA, financial literacy programs
Complex → Simple
Financially stressed employees are already dealing with high
cognitive load and depleted resources; in this state, an overly
complex solution is not useful. Most of the tools available take
precious time and energy to learn, which reduces not only
effectiveness but adoption in the first place. If a solution breaks
down the complexities of personal finances and presents them
NONESSENTIAL COMPLEX DEMOTIVATING SCATTEREDSTAGNATING

in a simple, easy-to-understand way, employees can make more
progress.
COMPLEX EXAMPLES: savings programs, financial planning assistance
programs
Demotivating → Personalized
Tools meant to help employees improve their situation often have
the opposite effect due to their demotivating design. When a tool
offers negative feedback or unrealistic advice—like telling a user
that they exceeded their monthly budget by spending too much on
medicine for their child—users will abandon the tool and become
far more likely to develop a psychological condition called learned
helplessness. A more successful approach will use personalized,
motivating design that uses positive reinforcement to help
employees develop learned optimism, significantly improving the
likelihood of making sustained progress.
DEMOTIVATING EXAMPLES: traditional budgeting programs, consumer
finance apps
Scattered → Centralized
Employees’ financial lives are complicated: Loans, multiple checking
accounts, pay cards, credit cards, and multiple sources of income.

Methods of interacting with personal finances—or even getting
information about them—are incredibly scattered. A solution that
gives employees a centralized place to manage finances will
increase the chances of making progress, simply because it’s more
convenient.
SCATTERED EXAMPLES: offering different tools for scheduling,
budgeting, saving, retirement planning, each from a different vendor
and accessed in a different place
Stagnating → Healthy
Many solution providers profit when their customer is stagnating—
when people only need their service because they are stuck and
cannot save money. This misaligns the relationship between the
provider and their customer: The provider has no interest in helping
the customer succeed at saving money, because then the customer
won’t need to pay for the solution anymore. A healthy approach
aligns the solution provider’s goals with the individual’s such that the
provider makes more money when the customer saves money. This
way, the provider is motivated to actually help people save.
STAGNATING EXAMPLES: on-demand pay providers, payday lenders,
credit cards

44
Best practices
for organizations
looking to
improve their
employees’
financial wellness
Next steps

45Next steps
The most successful organizations are run by leaders who realize their
most important asset is their people. These employers differentiate
themselves by giving employees something that impacts them more
than higher wages alone: tools for moving forward.
The first step is to redefine your benefits strategy. Yes, you’re
offering financial tools—but are they the right ones? If the tools
available are overly complex, hard to manage, or simply not giving
employees what they need at the time they need it, then they’re
effectively useless.
Your hard-working employees are trying to make ends meet.
They’re drowning in debt, and reaching for services that claim to
be a life raft, when in reality they’re just anchors in disguise. The
financial institutions that should be helping are taking billions of the
wages you’re paying out—annually—in the form of payday loans,
overdraft fees, and credit card interest. It’s institutional wage theft.
But employers have the power to step in.
A holistic financial wellness program can address all these
problems. It’s not just about higher wages, just like it’s not about
making a budget. Before employees can plan for their futures by
participating in things like 401(k) programs, they need to address
today’s needs: getting bills paid, and building their savings.
Employees need access to healthier solutions that don’t dig their

46Next steps
holes even deeper. They need solutions that turn their paychecks
into progress.
Only then will your employees leave their financial stress behind,
and bring their best selves to work. Only then will your business see
measurable impacts on productivity, engagement, and turnover.

47Sources
1. Megan Leonhardt, “The average parent expects to pay almost $1,000 for child care
this summer,” CNBC, June 20, 2019, https://www.cnbc.com/2019/06/19/the-average-
parent-expects-to-pay-almost-1000-for-summer-child-care.html 
2. Sarah Goldy-Brown, “The Average Cost of College in 2018,” Student Debt Relief, May
19, 2019, https://www.studentdebtrelief.us/news/average-cost-of-college-2018/ 
3. Camilo Maldonado, “Price Of College Increasing Almost 8 Times Faster Than Wages,”
Forbes, July 24, 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/camilomaldonado/2018/07/24/
price-of-college-increasing-almost-8-times-faster-than-wages 
4. Lyman Stone, “The Boomers Ruined Everything,” The Atlantic, June 24, 2019,
https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/06/boomers-are-blame-aging-
america/592336/ 
5. “Fact Sheet: Focusing Higher Education on Student Success,” U.S. Department
of Education, July 27, 2015, https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/fact-sheet-
focusing-higher-education-student-success 
6. Elissa Nadworny, “‘I’m Drowning’: Those Hit Hardest By Student Loan Debt Never
Finished College,” NPR, July 18, 2019, https://www.npr.org/2019/07/18/739451168/i-m-
drowning-those-hit-hardest-by-student-loan-debt-never-finished-college 
7. Stone, “Boomers.” 
8. “Key Figures Behind America’s Consumer Debt,” Debt.org, Accessed August 20, 2019,
https://www.debt.org/faqs/americans-in-debt/
9. “Average U.S. Credit Card Debt in 2019,” Magnify Money, March 26, 2019, https://www.
magnifymoney.com/blog/news/u-s-credit-card-debt-by-the-numbers628618371/
10. Maria Lamagna, “Overdraft fees haven’t been this bad since the Great Recession,”
MarketWatch, April 2, 2018, https://www.marketwatch.com/story/overdraft-fees-
havent-been-this-bad-since-the-great-recession-2018-03-27 
11. Julia Chang, “Americans Paid $34 Billion In Overdraft Fees Last Year. Here’s How
To Stop The Charges,” Forbes, April 5, 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites /
learnvest/2018/04/05/americans-paid-34-billion-in-overdraft-fees-last-year-heres-
how-to-stop-the-charges 
12. Lawrence Korb, Jenna Churchman, “Defend All From Payday Loans,” Mother Jones,
July 19, 2006, https://www.motherjones.com/politics/2006/07/defend-all-payday-
loans/ 
13. “Best Personal Loan Rates for August 2019,” Bankrate, Accessed August 20, 2019,
https://www.bankrate.com/loans/personal-loans/rates/

48Sources
14. Korb, Churchman, “Defend All.” 
15. “CFPB Finds Four Out Of Five Payday Loans Are Rolled Over Or Renewed,” Consumer
Financial Protection Bureau, March 25, 2014, https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-
us/newsroom/cfpb-finds-four-out-of-five-payday-loans-are-rolled-over-or-renewed/ 
16. “How Do Payday Loans Work?” InCharge Institute of America, Accessed August 20,
2019, https://www.incharge.org/debt-relief/how-payday-loans-work/ 
17. Korb, Churchman, “Defend All.” 
18. Emmanuel Saez, Gabriel Zucman, “Wealth Inequality in the United States since 1913:
Evidence from Capitalized Income Tax Data,” The National Bureau of Economic
Research, October 2014, https://www.nber.org/papers/w20625 
19. Cameron Huddleston, “58% of Americans Have Less Than $1,000 in Savings,” Go
BankingRates, May 24, 2019, https://www.gobankingrates.com/saving-money/savings-
advice/58-of-americans-have-less-than-1000-in-savings/ 
20. Helaine Olen, “Why do we believe Americans spend too much money on coffee and
avocado toast?,” The Washington Post, April 8, 2019, https://www.washingtonpost.
com/opinions/2019/04/08/why-do-we-believe-americans-spend-too-much-money-
coffee-avocado-toast 
21. Rachel Schneider, Jonathan Morduch, Timothy Ogden, Anthony Hannagan, Julie
Siwicki, “U.S. Financial Diaries: Savings Horizons,” Financial Health Network, June 15,
2015, https://finhealthnetwork.org/research/savings-horizons/ 
22. Julie Siwicki, “Short-Term Financial Stability: A Foundation for Security and Well-Being,”
The Aspen Institute, 2019, https://www.aspeninstitute.org/publications/short-term-
financial-stability-a-foundation-for-security-and-well-being 
23. “PwC’s 8th annual Employee Financial Wellness Survey,” PwC US, April 24, 2019,
https://www.pwc.com/us/en/private-company-services/publications/assets/pwc-2019-
employee-wellness-survey.pdf 
24. “Living Paycheck to Paycheck is a Way of Life for Majority of U.S. Workers,”
CareerBuilder Press Room, August 24, 2017, http://press.careerbuilder.com/2017-08-
24-Living-Paycheck-to-Paycheck-is-a-Way-of-Life-for-Majority-of-U-S-Workers-
According-to-New-CareerBuilder-Survey 
25. Schneider et. al, “Financial Diaries.” 
26. Schneider et. al, “Financial Diaries.”

49Sources
27. Anqi (Angie) Chen, assistant director of savings research at the Center for Retirement
Research at Boston College as quoted in: Annie Nova, “Many Americans who can’t
afford a $400 emergency blame debt,” CNBC, July 20, 2019, https://www.cnbc.
com/2019/07/20/heres-why-so-many-americans-cant-handle-a-400-unexpected-
expense.html 
28. “Planning & Progress Study 2018,” Northwestern Mutual Studies & Research, 2018,
https://news.northwesternmutual.com/planning-and-progress-2018 
29. PwC, “Wellness Survey.” 
30. Jessica Firger, “Got a headache about your finances? There’s research to back that
up,” Newsweek, September 2, 2017, https://www.newsweek.com/migraines-money-
finances-stress-problems-genetics-658839 
31. “Experiencing Financial Stress May Lead to Physical Pain,” Association for
Psychological Science, February 22, 2016, https://www.psychologicalscience.org/
news/releases/experiencing-financial-stress-may-lead-to-physical-pain.html 
32. Brady Porche, “Poll: 2 in 5 Americans lose sleep over health care costs,” CreditCards.
com, April 20, 2017, https://www.creditcards.com/credit-card-news/losing-sleep-
money-worries-poll.php 
33. “Debt, Mental Health Problems May Be Linked,” HuffPost Wellness, September 28
2013, https://www.huffpost.com/entry/debt-mental-health-problems-depression-
suicide_n_3997159 
34. Anandi Mani1, Sendhil Mullainathan, Eldar Shafir, Jiaying Zhao, “Poverty Impedes
Cognitive Function,” Science Magazine, American Association for the Advancement of
Science, August 30, 2013, https://science.sciencemag.org/content/341/6149/976 
35. Conger RD, Conger KJ, Martin MJ, “Socioeconomic Status, Family Processes, and
Individual Development”, Journal of Marriage and Family, June 2010, https://www.ncbi.
nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20676350/  
36. “Americans Say They are More Anxious than a Year Ago; Baby Boomers Report
Greatest Increase in Anxiety,” American Psychiatric Association, May 7. 2018, https://
www.psychiatry.org/newsroom/news-releases/americans-say-they-are-more-anxious-
than-a-year-ago-baby-boomers-report-greatest-increase-in-anxiety 
37. “Survey of American Family Finances,” The Pew Charitable Trusts, March 2015, http://
www.pewtrusts.org/~/media/assets/2015/03/fsm-poll-results-toplines_artfinal_v3.pdf 
38. Ted Knutson, “Nielsen: Even Many High Earners Live Paycheck To Paycheck,” Financial
Advisor Magazine, August 6, 2015, https://www.fa-mag.com/news/nielsen--even-
many-high-earners-live-paycheck-to-paycheck-22704.html

50Sources
39. Kristin Wong, “We’re All Afraid to Talk About Money. Here’s How to Break the Taboo,”
The New York Times, August 28, 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/28/smarter-
living/how-to-talk-about-money.html 
40. Ingrid M. Paulin, Wendy De La Rosa, “Why Is It So Hard to Talk about Money?,”
Scientific American, March 22, 2018, https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/
observations/why-is-it-so-hard-to-talk-about-money/ 
41. Betsey Guzior, “Most Americans avoid talking about money,” The Business
Journals, September 27, 2018, https://www.bizjournals.com/bizwomen/news/latest-
news/2018/09/most-americans-avoid-talking-about-money.html 
42. Christina Heiser, “Why Talking About Money Helps You Hold On to It,” NBC News,
October 17, 2017, https://www.nbcnews.com/better/money/why-talking-about-money-
helps-you-hold-it-n759646 
43. PwC, “Wellness Survey.” 
44. “Special Report: Financial Stress and the bottom line,” PwC, September 2017, https://
www.pwc.com/us/en/private-company-services/publications/assets/pwc-financial-
stress-and-bottom-line.pdf 
45. Stephen Miller, CEBS, “Employees’ Financial Issues Affect Their Job Performance,”
Society for Human Resource Management, April 29, 2016, https://shrm.org/
ResourcesAndTools/hr-topics/benefits/Pages/Employees-Financial-Issues-Affect-
Their-Job-Performance.aspx 
46. Jinhee Kim, E. Thomas Garman, “Financial Stress and Absenteeism: An Empirically
Derived Model,” Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning, 2003, https://
search.proquest.com/openview/56c30fe9789aea1d19e18d668beb19ea/1?pq-
origsite=gscholar&cbl=38873  
47. PwC, “Special Report.” 
48. Siwicki, “Short-Term Financial Stability.”

which now often
.
Schedule your demo today
even.com/demo

Guide to Financial Wellness

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

Similar to Guide to Financial Wellness

Similar to Guide to Financial Wellness (18)

More from Bruno Gremez

More from Bruno Gremez (16)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (20)

Guide to Financial Wellness