Workers Worry Over Soaring Benefits Costs

Fear factor: Employees are increasingly concerned about rising benefits costs, according to Ameriprise Financial’s 2007 Workplace Financial Planning Benefit Decisions study. More than 40 percent of respondents said that stress about increasing insurance costs is affecting their health. Forty-four percent said that increasing benefit costs will impact their ability to fund retirement and other financial goals.

The findings also indicate that concerned employees are open to guidance. Eighty-nine percent of respondents said a financial plan that directly addressed their workplace benefit costs and contingent financial decisions would be helpful. Seventy percent of respondents said they would be interested in one-on-one financial planning if it was offered through their employers. Employer-sponsored financial planning could improve employee morale, according to the survey. Eighty-seven percent of employees surveyed said that they would feel more valued by their employers if they offered some type of financial planning.