Top Questions by Topic
Debt
How do I deal with my creditors?
Am I a candidate for credit counseling?
Should I consider bankruptcy/foreclosure?
How can I refinance or consolidate my debt?
How can I check/improve my credit rating?
Budgeting and Savings
How do I put together a budget?
How do I manage my financial affairs after a divorce?
I am having trouble making ends meet, what can I do?
I need help evaluating my financial situation due to a change in employment status.
How do I manage the stress of money problems?
Taxes
I have specific questions on the deductions I am eligible to take.
How do I find someone who can help me with my taxes?
How do I estimate the tax withholding allowance on my paycheck?
Which tax forms do I use?
How do I determine my filing status?
Retirement Planning
How do I choose the right investments in my retirement plan(s)?
How much do I need to retire and how much should I be saving?
I have general administrative questions about my company retirement plan.
What type of retirement account (company plan, traditional IRA, Roth IRA, etc.) should I contribute to?
What is a 401(k) and why should I participate?
Finding a Financial Planner
I have never met with a financial planner before and am interested in what a FP can do for me.
I need someone to help me plan for retirement.
I need someone to help me assess how my investments should be allocated.
I have questions about my stock options and how they impact my overall investment strategy.
I need help evaluating my financial situation due to a change in employment status.
Homeownership
What steps are involved with the purchase of a first home?
Are there any programs available to help me purchase a home?
What are the benefits of renting vs buying a home?
When is it a good idea to take out a home equity loan?
What are the tax consequences of selling a home?
Trend Analysis
About the Data
Financial Finesse´s Financial Helpline is available to approximately 300 different companies and 250,000 employees. The companies represent a wide range of industries and are located in different cities and towns across the country. Since the service is generally available to all employees within the companies, callers range from CEOs and executives to frontline employees who work in factories. We do not track specific demographics such as race and income from callers, but we believe the callers are representative of the population as a whole based on the demographics of our client companies and the wide range of financial questions we get from callers.
Key Trends
Employees are under increasing financial stress. 39% of employees in Q1 2003 called to discuss a debt issue vs. 31% in Q1 2002-representing a 26% increase. In addition, call duration increased over 10% from 20 minutes to 22 minutes, there were a greater percentage of return callers, and debt issues were more serious in nature. The number one question in both Q1 2003 and the calendar year 2002 was "How do I deal with my creditors?" and this was followed by questions on credit counseling and bankruptcy-indicating a trend towards higher levels of debt than we have seen in the past.
Seasonality affects how people think about their finances. This trend has held constant since we launched our Financial Helpline service in 2000. In the beginning of the year, employees become more proactive about their finances, most likely the result of New Years resolutions. They are more focused on planning for retirement and financial planning in general and less focused on solving immediate financial problems. In Q1 2003, retirement planning questions increased by 20% over Q4 2002 and the questions themselves were much more proactive in nature-focusing on choosing the right investments and saving for retirement in Q1 vs. 401K rollovers and accessing retirement funds to pay off debt in Q4.
Debt was also less of a factor at the beginning of each year as people shift from "reactive" financial issues to "proactive" planning (39% of total calls vs. 48% in Q4), though we have seen a strong year-to-year increase in debt calls since we started the Financial Helpline in 2000.
As expected, there is also a rise in tax calls in Q1, at 13% of total calls vs. 5% in Q4. In Q1, calls were more focused on tax preparation than tax planning as people scrambled to file returns before the April 15th deadline. The number one question on April 15 was "How do I file an extension?" and in most cases callers were surprised they had to pay estimated taxes even if they filed an extension.
Employees have increasing concerns and skepticism about their employer-sponsored financial benefits, 401K and stock options plans in particular.
In 2002, we had a record number of calls on employees taking out loans against their 401K plans (the second most popular retirement question in 2002) and asking about the effects of lowering their contributions. While this trend abated somewhat in Q1 as people became more proactive about retirement planning, there was still a pervasive pessimism about company financial benefits.
Most stock options calls were tax related, and most callers had a much greater fear of tax liability than was merited.
In terms of defined contribution plans, a greater percentage of employees called in to review the basic terms of their plans in order to determine whether or not it was worthwhile to participate. This was a new trend. While calls to review terms of the plan have generally been quite common (usually among the top 5 retirement questions), only recently has this shifted to an emphasis on whether or not it was even worthwhile to participate. In addition, we started to see callers evaluating the trade off between participating in a Roth or Traditional IRA and participating in their company-sponsored retirement plans. In Q2, this was the fourth most common retirement question, while it was not even in the top 5 in previous quarters.
About Financial Finesse
Financial Finesse was founded with a single mission: Provide people with the information they need to become financially independent and secure.
Today, we provide unbiased full service financial education programs to over 300 corporations and credit unions across the country. We work with each of our clients to design company-specific programs that address their business and HR needs.
Clients use our services to recruit, retain and motivate employees who are under increasing financial pressure from rising health care costs and declining balances in their company-sponsored retirement plans. We also develop solutions to prevent discrimination testing fines and employee financial benefits lawsuits. And with most corporate clients, we help at-risk employees deal with significant financial problems that are draining their productivity.
