Financial engagement, wellness up in 2013

Additionally, 22 percent of respondents cited not knowing who to trust when investing money as a source of stress, down from 24 percent. And 43 percent cited the stock market and/or U.S. economy as a source of stress, down from 47 percent.

“Unlike previous spikes in financial stress which were heavily correlated with external factors beyond employees’ control, in 2013, the percentage of employees citing external factors as the source of their stress actually dropped, while those citing internal factors notably increased,” the report adds. “We believe this shows a trend towards employees taking greater responsibility for their finances, as opposed to the sense of helplessness we saw during the recession, when employees overwhelmingly cited the economy as the source of their stress.

The survey finds that financial wellness overall increased between 2012 and 2013, with the strongest increases in proactive financial planning:

• 80 percent review their insurance coverage annually, up from 76 percent;
• 47 percent have taken a risk tolerance assessment, up from 44 percent;
• 47 percent are maximizing available federal tax credits and deductions, up from 44 percent;
• 39 percent are confident in their asset allocation, up from 33 percent;
• 39 percent have run a retirement projection, up 38 percent;
• 36 percent rebalance their investment accounts, up from 31 percent; and
• 20 percent are on track for retirement, up from 17 percent.

See also:

• Workers stressed over finances
• Financial wellness programs boost retirement outcomes
• LIMRA: Innovative approaches to financial literacy