CONTACT:
David Nutter
(540) 231-6669
[email protected]
MONEY STRESS STRIKES MILLIONS OF AMERICANS
Personal Finance Education Can Save Nation Billions In Lost Productivity
BLACKSBURG, Oct. 31, 1998 -- The stress of personal money problems and the failure to save for retirement is taking its toll on American workers. Research shows that one-half of all workers have money problems and providing personal financial education could save billions of dollars.
These findings and others will be the focus of the third national Personal Finance Employee Education (PFEE) conference which will be held in Roanoke, Va., on Nov.10 -11 at the Hotel Roanoke. The conference will bring together heads of private and non-profit organizations, human resource managers, directors of employee assistance programs, retirement plan administrators, plan sponsors, providers of information, education and services, and others who want to remain on the cutting edge of issues that affect workers and worker productivity. This group will discuss ways in which employers can improve worker productivity by offering financial management and retirement planning programs to their employees.
The keynote speaker will be Dennis Ackley, a consultant with Watson Wyatt Worldwide, speaking on "Retirement is Not Going to Work Unless Employees Buy It." The second day keynote speaker will be Lesley Alderman, associate editor, Money Magazine, speaking on "Personal Finance Education is the Most Important Worker Benefit for the 21st Century." Other speakers include more than 30 experts from industry, academia, and government, presenting research on model programs in employer sponsored retirement plans, employee benefits, credit and money management, consumer laws and regulations, and financial education and worker productivity.
E. Thomas Garman, a professor of personal finance employee education in the College of Human Resources and Education at Virginia Tech, is hosting the PFEE conference. He has conducted extensive research in the areas of personal finance and worker productivity.
Some statistics from Garman's research include the following:
* approximately 15 percent of workers in the United States are experiencing stress from financial problems to the extent that their productivity on the job is negatively impacted; * over 1/3 of America's workforce report that money worries sometimes hamper job performance; * 34 percent of workers rate their financial stress as high to extreme; * 75 percent of workers report that they have made better financial decisions as a result of financial education; * 54 percent of workers worry about how much they owe; * 53 percent of workers report dissatisfaction with their personal financial situation; * 56 percent of workers reported their financial situation had improved because of workplace financial education.
"There are substantial costs to employers caused by the stresses associated with the poor personal financial behavior of employees," says Garman. "This is the most glossed over and ignored worker issue today." Garman estimates the return on employer investment in a personal finance employee education program is as high as a 9-to-1 dollar ratio. "The smartest employers today are broadening their perspectives about financial education and moving beyond just retirement education to offering comprehensive financial education."
The PFEE conference is sponsored by Virginia Tech's Center for Organization and Technological Advancement (COTA), an outreach program established to foster economic development and continuing education initiatives with a special emphasis on connecting university research to the needs of industrial, commercial, governmental, and professional organizations.
For further information, contact Tom Garman, Virginia Tech professor and COTA Fellow, at (540) 231-6677, fax (540) 231-3250 or e-mail: [email protected] or [email protected]. Bookmark the Personal Finance Employee Education Web Site located at www.chre.vt.edu/pfee. It contains pertinent research papers, speeches, and information on conference presentations. To contact Garman during the PFEE conference, leave a message with the Hotel Roanoke Business Center at (540) 853-8242.
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