Financial Education: Avoiding a Mega Millions Mess

January 25, 2011

Winning the lottery is every worker’s dream, but for Holly in Idaho that dream is about to become her nightmare.   If you haven’t heard the story, Holly recently bought a winning lottery ticket worth $190 million.  Who could be more lucky?  How about her estranged husband, who heard about Holly’s jackpot from a reporter.  Even though they have been legally separated for years, most attorneys are saying that the continued marriage means the husband gets half the winnings.  If Holly tries to fight his claim, her winnings could be tied up in court for years and unfortunately she already quit her job 6 days after the winning numbers were announced.  How could this mess have been avoided?

Employees’ personal issues follow them to work, and can have a significant impact on the overall productivity and health of the workforce.  The reality is that almost half of all marriages end in divorce, and this can be a big concern regarding an employee’s emotional and financial well-being.  By offering guidance for your employees in the case of a divorce or family money issues, you can help those in a stressful situation with navigating the steps they should be taking with their finances.

This can be achieved  by providing on-site financial education facilitated by a CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ (CFP®) professional or by giving your employees confidential access to a Financial Helpline staffed by knowledgeable CFP®s  that they can talk to about their individual situation.  A CFP® providing financial education either in a group or individual session can teach your employees the skills needed to manage their finances, such as budgeting and credit management.  These are two areas of personal finance that can be hard to navigate during a divorce situation.  So the next time everyone is pitching in to the lottery pool, go ahead and dream.