With persistent inflation, rising healthcare and education expenses, and market volatility, employees are more reliant on their employers for financial assistance. As a result, financial wellbeing programs have become a key area of focus.

Empower your people strategy with exclusive data and actionable insights from over 4,000 organizations that participated in our 2025 US Benefits Strategy & Benchmarking Survey. Coupled with analysis from our consultants, this report reveals how focusing on financial wellbeing and retirement plan benefits can help you foster your employees' financial confidence and success.

5 trends to watch in financial benefits

Increasing focus on financial wellbeing

Nearly 1 in 2 report financial wellbeing has increased in importance in 2025.

Improving retirement readiness

58% have added one or more optional SECURE 1.0/2.0 provisions to date.

Enhancing retirement savings

56% leverage auto-enrollment and 32% leverage auto-escalation to boost retirement savings.

Integrating retirement planning and financial wellbeing

Self-service tools (81%), one-on-one appointments with financial planners (67%) and enrollment and investment selection advice (64%) are the top support options employers offer to retirement plan participants.

Tuition assistance gaining popularity

2 in 3 offer tuition assistance.

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Empower your people to manage their finances with greater confidence and less stress

Inside the report, you'll find guidance and data on:

  • Enhanced retirement plan flexibility: Discover how 92% of employers are leveraging single employer defined contribution plans for greater control and alignment with organizational goals and employee preferences.
  • Boost participation with SECURE 2.0: Learn about the new automatic enrollment requirements for 401(k) and 403(b) plans, designed to increase participation rates and enhance retirement savings.
  • Strategic use of nonqualified plans: Explore how nonqualified retirement plans are being used as strategic tools to recruit, retain, and reward key talent.
  • Comprehensive financial wellbeing strategies: Understand the importance of integrating retirement planning into holistic financial wellbeing strategies.

In this report: Dig deeper into the data and view detailed findings broken out by region, size and more.

Employers like you helped fuel this report

Data was collected from:

Every US region; 60% for-profits; 40% nonprofits; 23 industries; more than 4,000 employers


Disclaimer

The intent of this Survey is to provide you with general information regarding current practice within the employee benefits environment. The data does not constitute recommendations or other advice regarding employee benefit programs, and the user is in no way obligated to accept or implement any information for use within their organization(s). The decision to utilize any information provided rests solely with the user, and application of the data contained does not guarantee compliance with applicable laws or regulations regarding employee benefits. Information provided by the Survey, even if generally applicable, cannot possibly take into account all of the various factors that may affect a specific individual or situation. Additionally, practices described within the Survey should not be construed as, nor are they intended to provide, legal advice.

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