Piloting SaverLife as a Tool for Workplace Financial Wellness
Many American households lack emergency savings, including 37% that would not be able to cover an unexpected expense of $400. At the same time, research shows that small amounts of precautionary savings may make a significant difference in the stability of lower-income households. With just $100 in savings, a family is significantly better able to maintain payments on utilities, while balances above $250 are correlated with increased housing security. A savings balance above $100 is also strongly correlated with a greater likelihood of financial satisfaction in life and avoiding high-cost borrowing (like payday and auto title loans).
In 2019, the FINRA Investor Education Foundation and SaverLife began a collaboration to create a scalable and sustainable savings program for use by community nonprofit providers of workplace financial wellness programs. This brief describes the design and implementation of a pilot program conducted in cooperation with two such providers. It summarizes the outcomes of the pilot for employees and employer participants and describes key findings about program implementation. The brief concludes with a description of the customizable SaverLife Solutions available to community nonprofit workplace financial wellness program providers.
Key Findings
The introduction of an online savings tool for lower-income employees presents both opportunities and challenges for workplace financial wellness program providers.
Employees trust services offered by their employers and a reputable nonprofit, but they still have a healthy skepticism when it comes to an offer that “sounds too good to be true.”
Nonprofit providers should consider integrating SaverLife as a tool within their workplace financial wellness programs in a way that accommodates employee and employer needs.
Background
A growing number of working adults report that they are stressed about their finances, and not having enough emergency savings is a primary cause. In 2019, a national survey found that a lack of emergency savings was the top financial concern of 62% of Millennial and 55% of Gen X employees. While Baby Boomers were somewhat more concerned about being able to retire when they wanted to (52%), not having enough emergency savings was also a top concern (44%).3
SaverLife is a nonprofit organization that uses an online platform and behavioral science to help working families build a savings cushion to avoid financial hardship. Since 2016, SaverLife has provided more than 500,000 members with financial education content, savings tools, and opportunities to receive cash matches and prizes for saving. SaverLife members are encouraged to share their saving success stories through a community forum. SaverLife initially reached and recruited members through social services agencies and community-based asset building programs. In 2018, SaverLife began developing customized programs to meet the needs of employers looking for ways to help employees improve their financial stability.
The Financial Wellness at Work program, jointly administered by the FINRA Foundation and United Way Worldwide, provides training, tools, research, and other resources to expand the capacity of community nonprofits to provide high-quality workplace financial wellness programs. The Financial Wellness at Work network includes more than 20 community nonprofits providing workplace financial wellness programs to meet the needs of local employers and employees across industry sectors.
