Does Your Wellness Program Include a Wealth Factor?

July 13, 2010

I just got off the phone today with an employee who remembered a quote I had made during a recent Retirement Readiness workshop he had attended where I talked about the 3 ingredients to a secure retirement – Health, Wealth, and Happiness. I was so amazed he remembered it, but he said he had never thought about how his health could impact his retirement, and it had really struck a chord with him. Our health is very important, since all the money in the world can’t buy back our physical well-being. However, our finances DO have an impact: money problems are the number one cause of stress and stress-related illness.

If you have a wellness program for your employees, and have successfully implemented a financial component, I’d love to hear from you, as we are compiling a massive database of best practices in this area. We believe this will be one of the most predominant trends in wellness over the next decade– especially with recent health care reform. Employers who are able to best control health care costs will be those who most successfully prevent claims in the first place.

In the meantime, here’s a link to a case study that Aetna has done to integrate financial wellness into their overall wellness program for employees.