MetLife Finds Many Employers Want Targeted Benefits Advice

MetLife finds almost a quarter of employers are interested in targeting financial information for employees to individuals’ life stages.

The carrier’s recent Employee Benefits Trend Study finds 23% of all employers, and 44% of companies with 25,000 or more employees, are interested in offering targeted benefits communications based on employees’ life stages or demographics.

More than 80% of employees believe their companies need to provide better benefits education to help them select the best benefits options, MetLife reports. Only 38% said they understand which benefits best meet their life-stage needs. Among singles, 31% said they understood the point, while 34% of those with young families said they understood.

Life stages are key trigger events, such as getting married, buying a home or having a child, that create a need to reevaluate insurance coverage and savings contributions. Ideally, open enrollment and benefits communication channels need to be customized to such life stages, MetLife suggests.

Its study finds 40% of all employees buy more financial and protection products such as life and dental insurance through the workplace than outside of work. Singles (41%) and those with young families (40%) were slightly more likely than baby boomers (38%) and pre-retirees (25%) to buy most of their financial products at work.