Does Black Friday Put Your Employees in the Red?

This exercise is appropriate for all employees because its objective is to emphasize key aspects of financial wellness. The training instructions are simple: Have trainees circle YES or NO in the list below. Then discuss the results as a group and answer any questions.

Do you:

• Have a budget for monthly spending? YES NO
• Stick to your budget? YES NO
• Take effective steps to control spending if you’re overextended? YES NO
• Save some money every year? YES NO
• Take full advantage of your 401(k)? YES NO
• Understand investment options? YES NO
• Invest wisely, considering the risks before you put up money? YES NO
• Know what kind of investor you are—conservative, moderate, or aggressive? YES NO
• Choose credit cards wisely and use them carefully? YES NO
• Pay credit card and other bills on time? YES NO
• Pay off as much of credit card balances as you can each month? YES NO
• Know your credit score? YES NO
• Know how to improve your credit score? YES NO
• Check your credit report periodically? YES NO
• Think carefully before you take out loans? YES NO
• Read the fine print on loan contracts and understand interest charges? YES NO
• Take prompt action when you experience financial problems? YES NO
• Consult a reputable financial counselor if you need help solving problems, investing, or developing a financial plan? YES NO
• Handle major life events successfully from a financial point of view? YES NO

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Discussion Points

• Review the checklist item by item, and ask trainees to discuss their responses. To achieve financial wellness they should have circled all or most of the Yes responses.
• Review information from the training session concerning any of the checklist items where any trainees circled the No response. Emphasize that this information can help trainees achieve and maintain financial wellness, so they should take special note of it. Also, recommend that trainees develop a financial plan to help them reach their financial goals and stay out of financial trouble.
• Remind trainees that to achieve financial wellness they must live within their incomes. This means balancing spending with income so that they can pay all their bills, not run up a lot of debt, and still have something left over for savings. Maintaining this balance is not always easy. For many people, it requires a budget and sometimes the help of a financial counselor.
• Recommend that whenever trainees are confronted with financial problems they take swift action to resolve these problems before they become overwhelmed by debt and risk, losing what they’ve worked so hard to attain.

The exercise in today’s Advisor is adapted from BLR®’s PowerPoint® training session, “Financial Wellness.”

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Why It Matters

• In good economic times and bad, maintaining healthy finances is important to us all. Like physical wellness, financial wellness is essential for a good life. That’s why your employees need to learn about what financial wellness actually is and how to achieve it.
• No matter what their current income or expenses, with the right information and strategies, all employees can improve the way they manage their money so that they can create more financial security and a better financial future for themselves.
• Employees who run into serious financial problems sometimes have their wages garnished to repay debts. Garnishment is difficult on employees and it also creates extra work for your organization.

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