← Back to Resources
REPORT · 2026
WELLHANA
RESEARCH BRIEF · 2026
FOR HR & PEOPLE LEADERS

Employee
Financial
Wellbeing

The facts. The business impact. What works.

A practical look at the financial pressure employees are facing, what it means for employers, and the results good financial wellbeing support should create.

2026

Financial pressure.
Employee results.
Business impact.

A bright, uplifting photo of a parent and child at home
PUBLISHED BY Wellhana
Financial wellbeing for your workforce
WELLHANA EMPLOYEE FINANCIAL WELLBEING
PAGE 1
THE QUESTION Who should financial wellbeing support work for?

The whole workforce.

Employees have different incomes, responsibilities and financial starting points. Good support has to be useful across all of them.

Hourly and lower-income employees

Everyday costs leave less room for error.

Housing, food, transportation and healthcare take a larger share of income. An unexpected expense can quickly become debt.

Early-career employees

Major financial demands arrive early.

Rent, student loans, credit cards and first major financial decisions often arrive before much savings has been built.

Parents and caregivers

More responsibilities compete for the same income.

Housing, childcare, healthcare, education and family support can make saving and paying down debt much harder.

Mid- and late-career employees

Long-term decisions become harder to postpone.

Retirement, healthcare, debt and whether savings are truly on track become increasingly important.

And the pressure is widespread.
59%

of employees say they are financially stressed.1

37%

could not cover a $400 emergency fully with cash or its equivalent.2

75%

say cost of living is a challenge to their financial security.3

1 PwC · 2026 Employee Financial Wellness Survey
2 Federal Reserve Board · Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2025
3 Bank of America · 2026 Workplace Benefits Report
01
WELLHANA EMPLOYEE FINANCIAL WELLBEING
PAGE 2
THE QUESTION What does employee financial stress cost the employer?

Financial stress follows employees to work.

→

Money problems take work time to deal with.

→

Financial worries compete for focus and motivation.

→

Across a workforce, that lost time becomes a real business cost.

3+
HOURS / WEEK

spent dealing with personal financial issues during work hours.1

Valoir found an average of 3.3 hours per week across hourly and salaried employees.

8%

Productivity

Estimated average productivity lost to time spent dealing with personal financial issues at work.1

74%

Work motivation

say financial stress affects their motivation at work.2

$1.1T+

Employer cost

Estimated annual U.S. employer cost from productivity lost to financial stress.1

Financial wellbeing is an employee issue
AND
a workforce-performance issue.
1 Valoir · Employee Financial Wellness · February 2026
2 CAPTRUST · Financial Wellness Survey Report · January 2026
02
WELLHANA EMPLOYEE FINANCIAL WELLBEING
PAGE 3
THE QUESTION What should employer financial wellbeing actually accomplish?

Help employees take action — and keep progressing.

Financial information only matters if employees can use it. Good support helps people take a practical next step today, then gives them an easy way to keep moving forward.

01

Serve the whole workforce.

Support should be useful whether an employee is managing everyday expenses, paying down debt, building savings or preparing for retirement.

02

Turn information into action.

Employees should leave with something practical: a working budget, a savings target, a debt plan or a clear next financial decision.

03

Make progress easy to continue.

Financial wellbeing is built over time. Employees need an easy way to come back, update their plan and take the next useful step as their situation changes.

ONE PROGRAM, DIFFERENT PRIORITIES

The support must work for everyone while allowing each employee to focus on what matters most at their stage of life.

Action today. Easy next step. Support at every step.
03
WELLHANA EMPLOYEE FINANCIAL WELLBEING
PAGE 4
THE QUESTION What should employees actually achieve?

The financial foundation is surprisingly simple.

Most employees need a short list of results: 1) know where their money goes 2) build protection against surprises 3) get debt moving down and 4) put more money towards their future.

CASH FLOW

A working monthly budget.

Income, expenses and the amount left over are clear. Employees know where their money is going and where they can create more room.

RESULT More control over each paycheck.
SAVINGS

An emergency buffer.

Money is set aside specifically for the car repair, medical bill or other expense that was not in the plan.

RESULT Fewer surprises have to become debt.
DEBT

A clear debt payoff plan.

Balances, minimum payments and priorities are known. Employees know which debt they are attacking and what happens when it is paid off.

RESULT Debt moves down on purpose.
WEALTH

Consistent long-term saving.

As the financial foundation gets stronger, more money can move toward retirement, investing and other long-term goals.

RESULT Net worth starts moving up.
WHAT TO MEASURE

Measure financial wellbeing by what employees build, not by how much content they consume.

04