Workers Turning Focus to Long-Term Financial Planning

February 15, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – While the recession led employees to turn their attention to debt management and budgeting, research from Financial Finesse finds that in 2010, they refocused on the future.

According to Financial Finesse’s analysis of calls into its Helpline service, in 2010, 24% of calls were related to retirement planning, compared to 15% of calls in 2009. Estate planning, education planning, insurance, and investing related calls also increased from a combined 20% in 2009 to 25% in 2010.  

On the other hand, debt management related calls dropped from 21% to 16%, while cash management related calls dropped from 23% to 17%.  

In total, the study report said, 55% of calls in 2010 were related to long-term financial planning issues.  

The research found that employees feel they have a handle on their short-term financial issues now, but only 17% feel on track with their retirement savings.   

Sixty-four percent of employees reported they have a handle on cash flow, and 51% said they now pay off credit card balances in full. Forty-eight percent of employees reported they have an emergency fund, and 82% said they pay their bills on time each month.  

Employees ranked retirement planning as their top financial planning priority in 2010, followed by money management and debt management.  

Rebecca Moore
editors@plansponsor.com