Other Democratic contenders, like Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have proposed more sweeping fixes that include writing off loans.
’Win-Win’
“Helping employees get out of debt faster is a win-win, both for the employee and for our productivity,” said Katie Wandtke, director of human resources at Cybrary, a cyber-security firm based in College Park, Maryland.
It’s not just smaller shops adopting the benefit. Larger companies, including professional services powerhouse PricewaterhouseCoopers, are catching on too.
Live Nation began offering the benefit in early 2017 and has helped employees save over $4 million. More than 80 of the company’s workers have been able to completely pay off their loans, according to Live Nation.
The event organizer works with startup Tuition.io, which specializes in helping companies set up such programs and has clients including Fidelity Investments and Staples. There are other platforms in the market too, including Goodly, which works with Cybrary, and Gradifi, used by PwC since 2016.
Paying an extra $30 a month more than the minimum, like Read says she does with her employer’s help, makes a difference.
For example, for a 10-year loan of $50,000 at 5%, it would save close to $1,000 in interest payments over the life of the loan – allowing the borrower to clear the slate eight months early.
“Jobs in the entertainment industry like this one, they’re not high-paying jobs necessarily,” said Read. “So this kind of helps offset that wage difference and it’s really helpful for people like me.”
This article was provided by Bloomberg News.