BALANCE – AN EMPLOYEE BENEFIT THAT WORKS
In-depth financial assistance is an integral part of any EAP work-life program. Adding BALANCE to your service package will enhance your program easily and efficiently, while giving you the advantage you need in today’s competitive EAP marketplace. BALANCE is the one financial fitness program that promises and delivers confidential, comprehensive assistance and outstanding service to all clients, regardless of location.

When you include BALANCE financial counseling and education in your service package, you become a full service EAP and increase your appeal to employers.


In The News...

MONEY WORRIES can impede job output, so some employers offer help.

Accountants, consultants and others may cash in as more employers add financial planning to their job benefits. Part of the goal is to limit any company liability on pension management, but there is also a wish to relieve employee stress caused by money woes, says William Arnone of Ernst & Young, New York. The services, which can range from lessons on balancing a checkbook to private investment counseling, are still in their infancy at most firms.

"But the baby is crawling and starting to take steps," says Mr. Arnone, whose firm is also taking steps to expand in the field. Chicago's Cambridge Human Resource Group finds "financial illiteracy" is the most critical unaddressed workplace issue, according to its survey. In response, outfits such as Transamerica's Commercial Finance unit in Rolling Meadows, Ill., aim for a career partnership in which workers take more responsibilty.

-Wall Street Journal

 

  
Employers benefit from employees who are able to settle their financial problems before they develop into crisis. Financial stress has a direct impact on worker productivity, morale, and absenteeism. It impacts the employee’s ability to contribute to employer-sponsored retirement plans and can result in the emotional and administrative nightmare of wage garnishments. By offering BALANCE to your client companies, you are providing employees access to respected experts in the field. After all, we've been helping people achieve their financial goals since 1969.

FROM FINANCIAL CRISIS TO FINANCIAL PLANNING-BALANCE HAS IT ALL

In addition to the main program services, our EAP partners also have access to STRATEGIES, our low-cost financial planning service.

STRATEGIES combines low fees with quality financial planning. Our certified financial planners do not sell any financial products, so any suggestions made during the planning session are offered objectively, with only the employee's financial well-being in mind.

After making a Strategies appointment, we will promptly mail the employee a comprehensive financial analysis form which the certified financial planner (CFP) will use to assess their current financial status.

With this information, the planner will discuss financial strategies to meet specific goals. During the 90-minute meeting, the employee and a CFP can expect to cover one of more of the following topics:

CASH MANAGEMENT
Budgeting, cash flow analysis

RISK MANAGEMENT
Review of life, health, and disability insurance

INVESTMENT PLANNING
For home purchase, college, and other important financial goals

RETIREMENT PLANNING
Needs assessment and asset review

 

  
CONVENIENT PROGRAM ACCESS

We make sure that services are easy for your staff and your clients to use. To access BALANCE, an employee needs to make just one call - to you.

After your EAP counselor handles the intake and assessment, you can transfer the caller directly to our InfoLine. Based on the client's needs, we'll provide the appropriate information or service immediately. For more complex cases, we'll schedule an appointment for a comprehensive counseling session.

BALANCE ensures that our programs are being used to their full advantage. We offer monthly program utilization reports to help you with billing and summarize common employee concerns so employers can be notified in the event of a problem.

Our website, www.balancepro.net, provides the resources and information that members of your EAP will use on a regular basis. Included is a full range of financial calculators, an extensive library of consumer education articles, and quarterly newsletters – all designed to keep consumers on track and continue them on the path to financial wellness.