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Good Resolutions for 2023: Adopt healthy financial habits
2022 was a busy year! After a holiday season of normalcy, celebration, family time and well-deserved rest for you and your employees, it’s time for renewal and opportunity in 2023.
The end-of-year festivities intertwined with the beginning of the new year means resolutions and the return of responsibilities for many of you. It’s time to plan your RRSP contributions, optimize your taxes and manage your credit card and line of credit balances, which are sometimes higher than expected.
For many working Canadians, the past year has been financially challenging. Recent studies suggest that six out of ten employees feel stressed about their finances, the highest level in over 14 years. The lost productivity caused by these worries is costing Canadian businesses $50 billion[1].
Contrary to popular belief, people with higher incomes are also affected. One-quarter of Canadians with annual incomes over $80,000 say they are just getting by financially[2].
This data demonstrates that there is a critical need to improve the education and financial health of Canadian workers, which has an immediate impact on their productivity at work.
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What are you doing to promote healthy financial habits?
As an employer who cares about the well-being of your employees, it is important to ask yourself what actions you are taking to promote healthy financial habits among your employees. Actions that, as a result, can help reduce the negative impact that stress can have on their personal and professional well-being, and therefore, in turn, on their productivity at work.
To support employees in this aspect of their lives, often at their own request, more and more employers are implementing or considering an education and financial support program for their employees. Studies show that 63% of Canadian and U.S. employers offer financial literacy activities and 19% are considering doing so[3]. This is a good way to improve the total compensation package offered to employees at a reasonable cost, while reducing the stress felt by employees, with benefits for their physical and psychological health as well as their well-being at work and their productivity.
With salary increase budgets limited, offering a comprehensive corporate financial education program is a complementary way to help reduce employee financial stress. According to a survey by the Canadian Payroll Association, 84% of employees want an employer-sponsored financial education program. The vast majority want to deal with experienced, independent, accredited professionals[4].
The year 2022 was also a turbulent one for financial markets. Almost all asset classes posted negative returns, adding to the financial stress felt by Canadians. In a time of historic rate hikes leading to significant increases in mortgage payments and an inflation rate not seen in decades, the relevance of a financial education program has never been greater[5].
This is a good time to implement a financial education program to support your employees or to revise your current program. You can provide all the necessary tools to reduce the stress related to the financial health of your employees and improve your attraction and retention by enhancing your employer brand with a distinctive offer.
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Solertia
At Solertia, we offer a professional and independent financial education program. This program has been developed to accompany our clients’ employees. You will have access to a complete offer covering all areas of personal finance, from different angles to meet all types of requirements. The program covers a wide range of topics that go well beyond the traditional retirement topics. Our program is generally offered at no additional cost when the company offers a participating pension plan.
With Solertia’s financial education program, you can offer your employees:
- Conferences and in-house workshops on over 40 different personal finance topics;
- Confidential one-on-one meetings with independent financial planners with no sales objectives;
- Personalized retirement planning;
- Monthly webinars on current topics;
- Access to a library of over 300 reference documents verified and approved by our professionals.
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Please contact your Solertia consultant to learn more.
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[1] https://www.ceridian.com/company/newsroom/2022/ceridian-study-finds-financial-stress-among-north-americans-highest-since-2008
[2] https://www.canada.ca/fr/agence-consommation-matiere-financiere/programmes/recherche/vulnerabilite-consommateurs.html
[3] https://www.ifebp.org/aboutus/pressroom/releases/Pages/As-Financial-Challenges-Impact-Workers,-Employers-Are-Ready-to-Help.aspx
[4] Association canadienne de la paie, « CPA NPW 2018 Employee Research Survey, Profile », préparé par Framework Partners Inc., (2018), p.48.
[5] https://www.bankofcanada.ca/rates/indicators/capacity-and-inflation-pressures/inflation/
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