Paying bills late. Straying from a budget. Not saving enough for retirement. Are these suitable topics for the workplace? Increasingly, employees say, ‘Yes,’ as they turn to their employers for help in easing financial pressures.

The money-stress-health through line emerges in numerous study results, including one from the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health that found an additional $5,000 per year in income can help contribute to a longer and healthier life. Other research also shows a boost in general health and well-being among individuals who receive some kind of increase in financial support from cash or tax credits, which can have an outsized impact among those who earn lower wages, according to Oscar Jiménez-Solomon, a research scientist with the New York State Psychiatric Institute who is based in New York City at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.

Jiménez-Solomon, who has studied the effects on reducing anxiety and depression, says he sees a strong tie linking extra funds to lower stress. Specifically, he points to studies showing the impact of an additional $2,000 from the earned income tax credit on mental health and overall well-being in New York.

“What [researchers] actually saw over the course of those three years is the risk of depression or anxiety reduced significantly by about 8%,” he says. “We have fairly strong evidence that cash transfers that can take multiple forms, not only in the United States, but also across other countries, can have a very positive impact on mental health and overall well-being.”

Help at Work

Employers may be well-positioned to help their employees, since studies show their workers are increasingly looking to them for assistance and advice in managing all manner of stresses. The number of American workers who turn to their employers for guidance and resources for short-term financial needs has doubled over the past two years, according to Bank of America’s 2025 Workplace Benefits Report. This year, 26% of employees reported seeking help with emergency savings, paying down debt and overall financial wellness, up from 13% in 2023, according to the report.

“More and more employees are asking way more of their employers now,” says Lorna Sabbia, head of workplace benefits at Bank of America, who also says stress associated with debt is top of mind for many employees who regard their employers as able to help them cope with it.

“About 85% of American workers carry some form of personal debt, and that’s a growing number of people saying, ‘I need help paying down debt; that’s a stressor,’” she says, pointing to survey findings in which about 45% of employees described paying down debt as an important priority, up from 39%. “That is playing a role in saying, ‘Wait. I can’t even get to retirement,’ which everyone says is their No. 1 goal.”

Digging into the numbers more deeply, Sabbia, based in Boston, says that in addition, interest in financial wellness topics have also doubled over the last two years particularly related to emergency savings, mortgages and paying for college, rising to 26% of respondents this year, up from 13% in 2023.

“Debt is driving the focus of employees asking their employers to help out, so that’s the first part,” she says. “The second part is employers are doing a better job at least recognizing that financial wellness is actually really important to retain really good talent or find really good talent.”

When weighing the significance of how an additional $5,000 can make a substantive difference for many people, Sabbia notes the importance of employers helping employees develop emergency savings. One method Bank of America employs with its clients is a straightforward survey and optional financial wellness tracker that asks two basic questions: Do you have a budget? Do you have emergency savings?

“It has nothing to do with balances; it has everything to do with behaviors,” Sabbia says. “The confidence that folks get from answering those questions positively, regardless of the balances, is meaningful.”

Just-in-Time Messaging

Megan Yost, a senior vice president for thought leadership and insights at Segal, based in Boston, also considers communication an essential tool for employers to help employees tame money stress. In the past five years, she has noticed some employers have changed what facets of well-being they highlight to employees.

“It’s not solely physical well-being as it was 10 or so years ago,” she says. “It has evolved to include financial, mental and even social well-being, so [employers] often look at it and organize their benefits through a broader framework now.”

In conducting focus groups with employees, Yost consistently finds that people—at a range of employers—are not aware of all the benefits available to them. To solve that problem, some employers try to highlight underutilized options by effectively driving usage to different programs. And they may communicate about benefits at different times of year. She also sees employers succeeding in simplifying how they present benefits.

“If they’re spread across different systems, it makes it really hard for employees to connect the dots or understand that there might be a program that they could take advantage of,” she says.

Yost recommends promoting all benefits, but doing so in a strategic way, so employees do not feel overwhelmed. She suggests helping employees connect to the right benefit at the right time in the year and in their careers and to benefits that are meaningful, appropriate and relevant.

Yost also sees—as Columbia’s research highlights—employers adding wellness programs that complement defined contribution plans and health savings accounts. Some include access to unbiased financial advice, while others provide programs and webinars on topics such as budgeting or repaying student debt.

“It’s important for employers to work with … vendors to customize or identify programming that’s most relevant to their populations,” she says. Managers can often help steer employees to help when team members come to them with concerns about navigating both personal and professional challenges. “The most effective communications are positive and encouraging and not shaming employees about what may have led them to the situation that they’re in; just reminding them about the resources that are available to them and helping them find the first, next, best step to tackling whatever challenge they may face. Financial education is most powerful when it’s delivered just in time.”

MRIGlobal’s Plan Redesign

Monica De Agostino, director of total rewards and human resources information system with MRIGlobal, based in Kansas City, Missouri, sees how essential financial security is to employees’ overall well-being. The firm redesigned its retirement plan around the idea of boosting financial planning and confidence and launched it in January 2022. As part of the redesign, the firm conveyed to employees that planning for their own futures is a partnership with the company. That concept was reinforced by introducing a dollar-for-dollar match to its 403(b) retirement plan, up to 8%, urging employees to aim for total savings of 16% of pay, including the company match.

“I’m a big believer that there’s no peace of mind without financial peace,” De Agostino says. “When they feel their future feels solid instead of seeing the future with fear and anxiety, they start feeling really excited.”

Reducing complexity and building engagement helped boost plan participation to 96% from 92%, and by October 2025 the average employee saving rate reached 10.2% before the company match. Even younger employees’ saving rates are high, with savings in the under-30 cohort hitting 9% before the match, she says.

“It clicked, and it generated a lot of word of mouth, and then the fun part was watching mentorship,” she says. “They started promoting and being champions about it, so then, when it comes to the financial conversations—which can be so heavy sometimes, or wrapped in fear and shame—instead, you welcomed these conversations about, ‘If you engage in this, the future can be quite solid.’”

MRIGlobal is continuing to modify its plan. In January 2026, the automatic enrollment default rate will rise to 8% from 6%.

In a different approach from plan redesigns like MRIGlobal’s, Jiménez-Solomon encourages employers to lean on financial wellness programs that are already established. This may be especially helpful for employers who do not have a program in place. (While 80% of employers say financial wellness matters, only 50% provide financial wellness programs, according to Sabbia.) Jiménez-Solomon points to efforts, such as New York City Financial Empowerment Centers, that offer free financial advice; can steer people to no-cost help in filing tax returns; and may aid low-income earners secure earned income tax-credits, for which many people may not realize they are eligible.

“I would strongly encourage employers to find out what financial empowerment supports are available in their communities for several reasons,” he says. “One is: Those services have been developed by organizations who already specialize in financial literacy and providing financial advice. Two: They could be more sustainable, because it also means employers may not need to invest ongoing funds. Three: Some employees may have some concerns about receiving those kinds of supports directly from their employers because of privacy issues.”

Keep Track

Measuring progress is a key step employers should incorporate into their approaches, according to Yost. They can do so in several ways, including by working closely with their providers and vendors, reviewing data—ranging from how many people are taking advantage of the available classes or tools to tracking participation rates in defined contribution or health savings account plans—as well as engagement with emails, QR codes and website usage.

At times of uncertainty, employers can also nudge employees toward tools for managing stress generally. Companies can also review their health-claims data and use of the employee assistance program to determine if and how stress is impacting employees’ physical and mental health, Yost says. For instance, is depression on the rise? What is the pattern of hardship withdrawals or loans from retirement plans?

“It’s important for employers to remind employees about their mental health benefits, as well as the financial benefits, and do to do so in an empathetic, supportive manner, reminding people that there are different tools or resources depending on their individual needs,” she says. “All of these can help them feel better about their finances or other challenges that they may be facing in their lives.”

More on this topic:

	Financial Wellness Programs Can Help Improve Employee Performance
	Personalized Guidance, Face-to-Face Communication Drive Benefit Usage and Satisfaction