AFS’s research found that most participants prefer to receive financial education and assistance in person, either one-on-one with an advisor, preferred by 63 percent of respondents, or in groups with an advisor, preferred by 58 percent. “The typical answer in the industry has been for the recordkeepers to offer digital tools, add on bells and whistles like calculators and questionnaires,” says Kent. “From the research that I’ve seen, very few people take advantage of those tools.”
Advisors stand to benefit from financial wellness, too, says Kent.
“This is a crisis, and someone in our industry has to stand up and provide some leadership,” says Kent. “If we don’t, we’ll go the same way as the health care industry—and who do we have running our health care plans today? Not the doctors, not the nurses.”
For its study, AFS 401(k) interviewed 1,500 U.S. workers in 2016, supplementing its results with case studies of three employers utilizing its own financial wellness services.