Americans, though optimistic, are devoting more of their energy to maintaining their financial and physical health, according to a new report from Charlotte-based Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

While 87 percent of the workers surveyed for Merrill Lynch's 2017 Workplace Benefits Report were at least somewhat optimistic about their financial future, nearly two-thirds of the respondents felt worried about running out of money in retirement.

Top concerns for the survey’s respondents included having to work longer than they had hoped for, becoming seriously ill and unable to work and not being able to pay for their children’s education,

All that financial stress is having an impact on employee well-being, according to the report. Nearly six in 10 of the survey’s respondents said financial stress was beginning to impact their health.

Simultaneously, rising health care costs are threatening employee financial well-being. A growing number of workers in the Merrill Lynch survey are experiencing increased health-care costs, and more than half are contributing less money to their financial goals as a result. Most significantly, more than three-fifths of the respondents said they were saving less for retirement due to health-care costs.

Declining financial well-being can have a negative impact on worker productivity, according to Merrill Lynch. More than four in 10 employees, or 43 percent, spend an average of three or more working hours on their personal finances each week, and one in five spend five or more hours worrying about the subject.

Millennials, aged 18 to 34, dedicate the most work time to their personal finances, averaging four hours each week, while Generation X, aged 35 to 50, devotes two hours of their workweek to personal finances. Baby boomers aged 51 to 69, are only spending one hour at work each week, on average, on their personal finances.

Many of these workers are looking to their employers for some help: More than two-fifths of the survey’s respondents want their employees to take a more active role in supporting their financial lives. Respondents across all generations named retirement saving as the No. 1 financial issue that they need help with.

Employer responsiveness already leads to better retirement readiness, according to the survey, two-thirds of respondents (67 percent) report that their employer was influential in getting them to save.

For the study, Bank of America Merrill Lynch surveyed 1,242 employees between Sept. 22 and Oct. 7, 2016.