The "Financial Boot Camp" is the current version of Wedel's original "11 Financial Tips You Can Implement Today" and his "10 Commandments of Money Management." Wedel observes that "the EAP educational programs are appreciated by employees, and they get involved in the presentations since the subject matter is all about them and how they can improve their lives."
A recent study by Deloitte Consulting LLP and the International Society of Certified Employee Benefit Specialists shows 77% of those employees surveyed are worried about their ability to afford retirement and 60% are worried about staying employed. Also, 45% plan on contributing more to their 401(k) or other benefit plan, up from 33% in 2009.

The study also found that 78% of the employers who responded anticipate changing their benefit programs over the next 12 months. The number one anticipated change is adding and/or redesigning their learning and development programs.
"These results demonstrate the significant need for employer-sponsored educational programs," Hobart says. The study also confirms what these two industry pioneers observed in the early 1980s-that both employees and employers benefit from the worksite educational programs.

"I have to admit the recession has been good for us," Hobart adds. "In the last 18 months, we have had a fourfold increase in the number of requests from employees for our financial programs. But whether it is good times or bad times, employers seem more aware now about the connection between the employees' emotional and financial wellness. The return on the investment for the employers when they assist employees is significant."

Wedel agrees that a dollar spent on EAP services is returned to the employer in multiples of the expenditure. "The return on life is what the employees are constantly seeking, not the return on investments, as most advisors assume," he says.
Hobart adds, "An employer can measure absenteeism from illness or drugs or alcohol, but he can't measure the 'presentee-ism' when people are at work but not productive because they are worried or distracted. That's what an effective EAP financial program will attack."

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