As personal debt soars to near-record levels, looks
like debt management solution is becoming impossible. In fact employees
are bringing worries about their personal finances to the office.
Is there any proper debt management solution?
American workers are not putting away enough money
for retirement. Now, there's an even more ominous trend: In addition
to not saving for tomorrow, a growing number of workers also are
not spending wisely today.
According to a recent survey conducted by the Los
Angeles Times 27% of those responding characterized their personal
finances as shaky. A full 40 percent reported difficulty paying
installment loans, car payments or insurance premiums. This is a
bad trend.
Most employees report the two major stressor in their
lives relate to time management and money management. Almost everyone
has financial problems at one time or another. And most are looking
for a debt management solution.
We have shifted from a nation of savers to a nation
of debtors. Instead of setting aside extra money for savings, we
are buying more and more on credit, so we end up with debt instead
of savings. Years ago, credit was something you used in an emergency.
Today, for millions of people, it is a habit.
Some social critics blame schools, financial institutions
and even employers for failing to educate the public on the importance
of savings. Others blame modern society, which places a premium
on materialism and creature comforts. Still others contend the "get
rich quick" mentality of the recent economic expansion has
taught us to believe a monetary windfall waits just around the corner.
Regardless of the culprit--and the chances are that
all of these factors and more have played a part in the problem--it's
an issue employers have to face: Personal finances are distracting
their workers.
And that's true of employees at all levels--not just
low-wage earners.
A survey conducted by the Consumer Credit Counseling
Service (CCCS), a non-profit organization offering financial management
services and funded in large part by contributions from credit card
companies, found that employees experiencing financial stress wasted
13 percent of the workday dealing with money matters on the job.
But all is not lost. About two-thirds of people with
financial problems don't allow these problems to negatively affect
their work. In fact, such problems may cause many of these people
to work even harder, put in overtime, vie for promotions and so
on to extricate themselves from dire financial straits. However,
the one-third who do bring their problems to work can wreak real
havoc. Such problems can lower productivity, compromise physical
health, increase absenteeism and even cause accidents.
We advise to work towards a debt management solution
that will help you get out of debt in a couple of years.
