Mercer Launches Total Wellness Campaign

July 14, 2014 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – Consulting firm Mercer has launched a total wellness education campaign, known as Mercer Benefits U, for employees whose retirement and health plans it administers.

Designed to take a holistic approach to managing one’s health, wealth, and well-being, Mercer Benefits U (www.MercerBenefitsU.com) features a college-campus visual theme and app-like functionality developed especially for mobile devices.

It also offers interactive courses in three different “schools”: The School of Retirement, School of Health, and School of Total Wellness. By engaging with educational “courses” such as “Diversification 101”, “Saving for Health Care” and “Intro to Flexible Spending Accounts,” employees learn strategies for taking greater control of their overall well-being, including their physical and financial health.

The need for such resources is supported by the results of a recent Mercer Workplace Survey, which finds that 86% of employees say they need to save more for retirement due to rising health care costs, and 34% consider doing so a major savings objective, which is a 100% increase since 2007. At the same time, the vast majority of employees believe they bear primary responsibility for both their retirement income (84%) and their retiree health expenses not covered by Medicare (71%).

“Mercer Benefits U is our latest in a series of interactive tools and educational programs that help employers better ensure that their employees are able to live, work and retire well,” says Rich VanThournout, partner in Mercer’s benefits administration business, based in Norwood, Massachusetts. “It also directly addresses in an engaging way the undeniable shift of accountability from employer to employee self-sufficiency. As employees are asked to plan and direct their careers, retirement and overall well-being, employers need to ensure that they have access to help and guidance through resources such as Mercer Benefits U.”

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