Overcoming the hurdles of employer cost and potential discrimination for student loan benefits
How can viable solutions for such a huge personal financial issue have such a low adoption rate?
44 Million people are saddled with $1.4 Trillion in debt.
Financial stress is the number one stressor in employees' lives.
While student loan debt isn't the only contributing factor, it’s a major one.
Employee productivity, absenteeism, presenteeism, and employer recruiting and retention suffer because of it.
Yet, according to SHRM, only 4% of employers are offering any type of student loan related benefits.
The employee benefits marketplace is abuzz about the emerging solutions as employers want to help with their employees improve their overall financial well-being.
But the significant budget required for an employer-funded student loan repayment assistance plan is a huge hurdle.
How many employers can get a budget approved for an additional $1,000 - $3,600 per employee per year (for employees with student loan debt)?
Plus the employer will increase their payroll tax liability and pay management fees.
What about employee discrimination or fairness issues for giving one employee a significant benefit and ignoring others in the same class?
For cash-flush employers who can get comfortable with the fairness issue, employer-funded student loan repayment assistance plans are a great benefit for their participating employees.
For the majority of employers who can't significantly increase their benefits budget, there are alternative, voluntary, and low-cost solutions available in the marketplace.
With little to no cost, employers can check-the-box on offering a student loan benefit and save employees an average of over $300 a month in pure cash flow.
In addition, these packages offer other financial wellness benefits that all employees can take advantage of… not singularly focused on student loan debt.
Ask your benefits broker about affordable alternatives to an expensive employer-funded student loan repayment assistance plan.
Ben Rozum
Founder | Start-up Entrepreneur | Company Culture Creator | Executive Leader
Connect with me on: LinkedIn
StuLo is an affordable benefit solution that is focused on financial wellness, student loan debt relief and credit repair services that is designed to help employees and association members. StuLo is easy to implement because it has a voluntary option that requires no cost and no administration. To learn more, visit https://StuLoWellness.com.