3-2-1...Launch! Welcome to StuLo, a Student Loan Debt Relief and Financial Wellness Benefit
As an alternative to employer-funded student loan repayment assistance benefits, StuLo provides significantly more benefit value at little to no cost to the employer.
Student Markets Group Inc. has announced the launch of StuLo, an employee and association-member benefit program that is focused on financial wellness, student loan debt relief, and credit repair services.
The program was created by employee benefit veterans and Student Markets Group co-founders Ben Rozum and Aaron Cook to make a meaningful difference in employees lives by providing a solution to the issue of student loan debt in the United States, along with the many rising financial issues employees face.
"By offering a voluntary benefit option, employers do not have to commit a huge budget toward a student loan repayment benefit. They can offer a meaningful benefit with StuLo that will help employees with immediate monthly cash flow savings.”
With student loan debt taking center stage in the marketplace, many are working to find a solution. Today, 44 million Americans—including recent graduates, parents and grandparents—are paying off student loans. And in 2016, college graduates averaged more than $37,000 in loan debt. With $1.3 trillion dollars of total student loan debt in the U.S., the student loan relief benefit is rising in popularity. According to Forbes, it is one of the hottest employee benefits of 2017.
Emerging companies that are looking to provide a solution in the employee benefits marketplace tend to be singular-focused solutions from outside the benefits industry who are technology-platform companies, banks, or financial institutions. StuLo differentiates itself by being an employee benefits-based company and taking a wholistic-approach to offering a benefit solution for all employees, and not just those with student loans.
“Coming from an employee benefits background, we understand how HR professionals and benefit advisors look at non-core employee benefit programs,” said Ben Rozum, Co-Founder and President of Student Markets Group, “The solution can’t just help a small segment of employees. With StuLo, we offer a wholistic approach to financial wellness for all employees, and not just those saddled with student loan debt.”
StuLo aims to provide a solution for employers and employees alike. Millennials consist of the largest generation in the workforce and surveys show they want (and expect) their employer to help them with their financial issues. Moreover, the studies reveal that a student loan relief benefit ranks as the 3rd most important benefit behind health insurance and 401(k) match. The benefit can not only provide financial relief for employees and improve productivity in the workplace, it can also be used as a recruiting and retention tool for employers.
StuLo consists of four core services:
1. Student loan consolidation and refinancing marketplace to reduce monthly payments, lower overall interest payments, and potentially qualify for federal student loan debt forgiveness. 2. Financial coaching that provides telephone counseling and online tools to help balance everyday financial stresses and provide overall well-being. 3. Credit repair, which includes advocacy and document processing with creditors and credit bureaus to significantly increase credit scores. 4. Insurance and other benefits, such as debt payment protection, identity theft security, and other related insurance products and financial protection services.
In addition, StuLo includes a concierge-level of service that provides employees with over-the-phone support to access financial coaches, student loan specialists, and credit repair consultants.
“Financial concerns and student loan issues are complicated. They are not a ‘DIY’ solution that employees should be left to figure out on their own through web-based technology tools,” says co-founder Ben Rozum. “With StuLo, we’ve partnered with industry-leading providers to offer a concierge-level of telephonic services to help employees fully understand their situation to make informed and confident financial benefit decisions.”
This packaged benefit solution will be distributed through employee benefit brokers and consultants to employers, exchanges, associations, and affinity groups. StuLo can be offered on a completely voluntary basis via an employee’s credit or debit card, or as an employer-paid benefit. As an alternative to an employer-funded student loan repayment assistance benefit, StuLo is easy for employers to implement because it has a voluntary option that requires no cost and no administration.
For more information on how to offer StuLo to employees or association members, contact your employee benefits broker or call Student Markets Group Inc. at 602-888-3090 or visit the StuLoWellness.com website.
Student Markets Group, Inc. is majority owned by Coterie Advisory Group, Inc.