Nearly one in five workers had access to financial planning benefits in 2017

As a new year begins, many people think—or worry—about finances. In 2017, about one-fifth of private industry workers were offered free or subsidized financial planning services from their employers. These services help employees make decisions about savings, borrowing, investing, home buying, education expenses, or retirement. While union and nonunion workers had similar rates of access to financial planning services, access varied based on size of establishment, wage level, and industry.

Employees in larger establishments (100 workers or more) were three times as likely to have access to financial planning benefits as employees in smaller establishments (1–99 workers).

Workers in higher wage groups were also more likely to have access to financial planning benefits as workers in lower wage groups.

Nearly half of workers in the information and finance and insurance industries had access to financial planning benefits. Fewer than one in ten workers in construction and leisure and hospitality had access to financial planning benefits.

These data are from the National Compensation Survey — Benefits program. For more information, see our most recent annual bulletin on benefits.