Survey: Younger Workers More Likely To Buy Voluntary Benefits

Traditional benefits, paid for by the employer, still dominate the workplace benefits market, with more than 50% of the employers surveyed offering products such as basic life insurance, dental insurance, disability insurance and vision care insurance.

In addition to traditional benefit offerings, less traditional protection products and investment offerings — normally bought outside the workplace — are making significant strides as voluntary benefits, with the employees paying all of the cost, MetLife says.

A significant number of companies surveyed now offer — or are planning to add — the following products in the next 18 months: optional term life insurance (40%), long-term care insurance (37%), critical illness insurance (21%), travel accident insurance (19%), auto insurance (15%), group legal services (14%) and homeowners insurance (11%).

A growing number of companies also currently offer — or are planning to add — personal finance products in the next 18 months, such as stocks/bonds (21%), financial planning (16%), mutual funds (14%), 529 college savings plans (14%) and annuities (11%).

Sixty-one percent of the employees surveyed are interested in having access to a financial planner at work, according to the study. Researchers found that 76% of employees are concerned about having a financial plan, but only 18% indicate that they have a formal financial plan.