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May 20, 2013 at 12:55 PM
Employees appear to be taking responsibility for their retirement saving and financial situation over all. Employee behavior data from Financial Finesse suggests workers were more proactive about their financial situation in the first quarter of 2013. Financial wellness scores are also up, rising to 5.2 from 4.9 for the same period in 2012.
“There has been a major paradigm shift in how employees view their benefits and their employers’ roles in helping them achieve their financial goals,” Liz Davidson, CEO and founder of Financial Finesse, said in a statement. “We’re seeing that employees, on a mass scale, are proactively taking responsibility for their finances at levels not seen before.”
Data in the report is based on calls made to Financial Finesse’s hotline. Three-quarters of questions received were about planning and improving financial behavior, rather than reactions to a financial emergency.
While overall financial wellness has wavered since 2010, employees have been increasingly more proactive. In 2010, less than two-thirds of employees asked proactive questions about financial planning and wellness.
In being more proactive about their finances, workers are more involved with their retirement planning. Nearly half reported taking a risk tolerance assessment, up from 43% in the first quarter of 2012, and 40% have tried to determine whether they were on track by using a retirement calculator.
Whether they actually are on track though, is another matter. Just 19% of employees reported being on track to replace at least 80% of their preretirement income or to meet their retirement income goal. While low, that number is at least trending up: in 2012, 14% of respondents said they were on track, and 15% agreed in 2011.
