Companies Pay Workers to Get Savvier With Money

A growing number of companies are paying employees to get their financial lives in order, reports the Wall Street Journal , reflecting concern over the impact money problems are having on employees' stress and productivity levels. The companies are handing out cash and other inducements to workers who take steps to shore up their finances by paying down debt, funding emergency-savings accounts, and attending financial-education classes with advisers. Among American corporations with so-called financial-wellness programs, 17 percent offered incentives for participation in 2016, an increase from 10.7 percent two years earlier. An additional 8 percent said they were considering such a move, according to the International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans.