Tool Helps Employers Measure Employees' Financial Fitness

Once areas of weakness have been identified, FFG provides recommended, individualized financial fitness courses for each employee’s specific needs.

Financial Fitness Group (FFG), a company that offers unbiased personal finance education to organizations, notes that studies show financially unfit employees can waste up to 20 hours per month while on the job.

So, for a limited time, it is offering employers the ability to determine their “Financial Fitness Score”—for free. The “Financial Fitness Score” benchmarks the personal financial health of an organization’s employees by measuring their knowledge, attitudes and beliefs about their personal finances.

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“Struggling employees are risky employees,” says Joe Saari, founder of FFG. “Productivity, engagement and ultimately turnover are areas where companies feel the impact. Understanding the risk that companies face, we developed the ‘Financial Fitness Score’ to help them make sound decisions to improve the financial wellness of their employees.”

Similar to a health assessment, employees take an assessment using FFG’s “Financial Fitness Checkup,” an online tool that guides staff through a series of questions via a smartphone, tablet or computer in just 10 minutes. Once complete, the employee and organization receive an anonymous view of the data rolled up to an organizational score to learn any risk associated with the worker’s financial illiteracy.

Once areas of weakness have been identified, FFG provides recommended, individualized financial fitness courses for each employee’s specific needs. Following the recommended courses, staff is reassessed, providing both employees and employers with benchmarked reports and key metrics on their progress.

To sign up for the “Financial Fitness Score” and to learn more about Financial Fitness Group and its financial fitness program, visit http://financialfitnessgroup.com/financial-fitness-report/.

Financial Elder Abuse on Advisers’ Radar

Protecting aging clients is advisers’ foremost ethical concern.

Eighty percent of retirement income planning professionals are concerned about protecting their clients from financial elder abuse, according to a survey by The American College of Financial Services. In fact, of all of retirement advisers’ ethical concerns, this is the leading worry.

Although 64% believe the overall ethical climate of the industry is in good hands, the same percentage believes that retirement income professionals are not adequately trained. Sixty-eight percent do not think that advisers are keeping up with legal changes that impact their clients’ retirement income plans.

Eighty-eight percent think their clients may not completely understand their retirement income plans, and 85% think they do not understand other financial products and services.

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Nonetheless, only 6% think advisers lie outright to their clients, and only 27% think that they overcharge clients.

“Retirement income planning is extraordinarily challenging,” says Jamie Hopkins, retirement income program co-director at The American College. “Retirement income professionals are expected to manage a variety of client risks, legal changes and ethical issues when developing a comprehensive plan. The survey responses show that advisers are well aware of the challenges but worry that they industry as a whole lacks the proper training and education required to effectively serve aging clients.”

In fact, a 2015 survey of certified public accountants (CPAs) by the American Institute of CPAs found that 47% had witnessed an increase in elder fraud and financial abuse in the previous five years.

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