Many employees may not participate in their company share schemes for various reasons but perceived affordability could be a key issue.
Financial education can not only help employees understand how they can cut costs and save money in order to be able to afford to contribute, but it can also inform employees about the various benefits of the different types of share schemes and key considerations to think through such as levels of risk and tax.
For example, employees can learn about linking a Share Incentive Plan (SIP) with a pension to benefit from double tax relief; or they can discover how to shelter Save as you Earn (SAYE) gains from tax by linking to an ISA.
This encourages longer term saving which can result in greater financial wellbeing, and in turn, improve employee retention.