Author: Michelle Brown
A new financial success story seems to capture attention every few weeks: someone retiring decades early, building a substantial investment portfolio or achieving financial independence far sooner than most people expected. These stories can be inspiring. They can also encourage people to think differently about money and take positive action for the future.
But they can also create an unintended challenge: comparison. When financial success is measured against somebody else's milestones, it can become harder for people to recognise their own progress.
Financial wellbeing is personal
There is no universal definition of financial success. For some people, progress may mean increasing pension contributions or planning for retirement. For others, it may mean paying off debt, building an emergency fund, buying a first home, supporting family members or feeling more in control day-to-day.
For employers, this is important because everyone's financial starting point is different. Recent Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) research found that one in four UK adults have low financial resilience, one in ten have no cash savings, and 21% have less than £1,000 available in an emergency.1 With this in mind, financial wellbeing support should be practical, relevant and designed around people's real circumstances.
Against this backdrop, stories focused on accumulating substantial wealth or retiring decades early can feel increasingly disconnected from the financial realities many households are navigating today.
The stories behind the headlines
Financial success stories often focus on the outcome: retirement age, investment balance, savings targets or financial freedom. They rarely show the wider circumstances that helped shape that journey, such as income, financial knowledge, family commitments, housing costs, career opportunities, health, timing or access to guidance.
Without understanding the wider context, comparisons can become unhelpful. Rather than inspiring positive action, they can leave people feeling as though they are somehow falling behind even as they make more meaningful progress towards their own goals.
Financial wellbeing isn't a competition
Social media, personal finance blogs, podcasts and financial success stories can unintentionally make financial wellbeing feel like a race: retire earlier, save more, invest more, optimise more or build wealth faster. But for many people across the UK, financial wellbeing isn't about retiring at 45. It's about being able to pay an unexpected bill without panic, building an emergency savings buffer, managing debt effectively, supporting a family, putting something aside for the future and increasing financial confidence.
These achievements may not generate headlines, but they are every bit as important.
Confidence is key to financial wellbeing
FCA research also shows that one-third of people with a defined contribution pension have less than £10,000 saved, while almost four in ten don't know how much they or their employer are contributing to their pension.2 These findings should not automatically be interpreted as complacency. They may reflect competing financial priorities, rising living costs, uncertainty or a lack of confidence when it comes to managing long-term finances.
As Andreas Hunter, Head of Wellbeing and Strategic Lead - Corporate Consulting, explains: "Effective financial wellbeing support needs to connect with people's own stories, goals and lives. More information isn't always the answer. The priority is helping people cut through the noise, understand what is relevant to them and take action towards their own objectives."
Every strategy, journey and destination is different. That is why employers need to help people understand what progress can look like for them. Small, practical actions are often the foundations on which long-term financial wellbeing is built.
For example:
- Increasing pension contributions by 1% this year
- Slowly building an emergency fund
- Seeking financial guidance for the first time
- Taking a first step towards long-term financial planning
Use financial products as tools, not solutions
One of the most common challenges in financial wellbeing is the temptation to look for a single "best" solution. Should people save more, contribute more to their pension, invest, pay off debt or build an emergency fund? The answer is often the same: it depends.
Pensions, savings accounts, ISAs, investments, financial guidance and advice are all tools. Their value depends on how well they reflect someone's circumstances and what they are trying to achieve.
As Catherine Lockyer FIA, Partner at First Actuarial, a Gallagher company, points out: "A financial wellbeing offering can range from a comprehensive digital programme available around the clock to a simple tool and an annual presentation, or anything in between. Budget should not be a barrier to providing something useful and valuable. The most successful programmes recognise that people have different needs, levels of understanding and capacity to focus on their finances at any given time. Finding the right balance is crucial, enabling individuals to engage with the support available and make progress towards their own goals."
This means employers don't necessarily need to provide more support. More information, tools and content will not automatically lead to better decisions and, without a clear purpose or route through them, can leave people feeling overwhelmed. The priority is to provide the right support, bringing together relevant benefits, tools and communications in a way that connects, reassures and resonates, and helps people identify the next step that is most relevant to them.
The real story we should be telling
Ultimately, some of the most valuable financial lessons come from simple moments of reflection rather than extraordinary outcomes.
For example:
- Recognising the importance of financial resilience
- Building a safety net
- Preparing for uncertainty
- Developing confidence
- Taking greater control of the future
These are lessons that can benefit everyone, regardless of income, age or aspirations.
Supporting people to define their own success
Financial wellbeing isn't reserved for the wealthy, nor is it defined by an investment balance, retirement age, savings target or social media milestone. It's about helping people build confidence, resilience and a clearer sense of what progress looks like for them.
For employers, the opportunity is to provide support that helps people understand the options available to them and the steps that align with their own goals and circumstances.
True financial wellbeing begins when people are supported to define their own version of success, rather than chase somebody else's finish line.
Turning insight into action
Effective financial wellbeing support isn't simply about providing people with more information. Information alone rarely creates action. Support needs to connect financial decisions to people's own goals, priorities and everyday lives, helping them build the confidence, knowledge and resilience needed to make informed decisions over time.
That means understanding where people are on their financial journey, what may be preventing them from acting, and which tools, guidance and communications could help them make their next best decision.
At Gallagher, this is where behavioural insight, audience understanding and practical tools can make the difference. The aim is to help employers meet people where they are and support small, meaningful actions that build confidence over time.
That might mean using segmentation to understand different money attitudes, designing journeys around life stages, bringing together relevant benefits and services, or providing interactive tools and modellers that help people see the impact of their choices in a simple, practical way.
If you would like to explore how financial wellbeing support could be better tailored to your people, we would welcome the opportunity to continue the conversation.
