As employee benefits professionals, much of your focus is probably towards ensuring employees are saving in the company-sponsored retirement plan. Participation rates, deferral amounts, and match formulas might fill your day-to-day thoughts on the financial standing of employees, and it's for good reason: An employer-sponsored retirement plan has steadfastly become the primary vehicle people in the United States use to save for their futures. 

It's no secret that Financial Wellness programs have been rising in popularity for quite some time. There has been an increasing awareness on the part of employers to invest time, energy, and resources into ensuring that employees are financially stable. Historically though, the focus has heavily centered almost solely on retirement planning. Retirement readiness projections, savings rates, and automatic enrollment seem to have been what has primarily been on the minds of Human Resource professionals when it comes to employees' financial lives. 

In August of 2015, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index (S&P 500) fell by more than 10% for the first time in over 1,400 days. This correction capped the 3^rd longest streak in the history of the US stock market*, which had seen company values in both indices more than tripled since March of 2009.