Feeling Money Stress? Your EAP Can Help

When it comes to stress, money worries top the list for many people.  A study by Your Money Line revealed that more than 43% of participants said they felt financial stress monthly. Generation Z and women reported the highest stress levels, with 26.2% of Gen Z and 22.9% of women reporting that they always felt stressed about money. Many reported that money worries led to postponing significant life milestones, such as retirement, home buying, and starting a family. Financial anxiety often triggers a domino effect: those experiencing high financial stress frequently struggle with depression, anxiety, and health problems.

Here are a few best practices to reduce money worries and get your financial house in order:

Educate yourself about money and finances • Build and follow a spending budget • Track household spending  monthly • Work to reduce debt • Find ways to spend less • Save every pay period • Create an emergency fund • Save for long-term goals like retirement and children’s education • Review insurance needs and keep beneficiaries updated • Learn about common types of financial fraud and scams • Ensure online security to protect financial accounts • Check credit scores annually  at AnnualCreditReport.com.

Your EAP has a wide variety of financial benefits and tools. These include:

• Certified Financial Coaching: Get help with managing debt, home purchasing, saving and spending, retirement planning, and creating a budget.
• Personal Finance and Investing Courses: Take charge of your finances at your own pace with online finance webinars and courses.
• Self-Help Financial Tools: Access a variety of articles on money-related topics. Don’t miss Tools for Tough Times, which offers money-saving ideas and resources to do more with less.
• Financial Calculators: Test financial scenarios to weigh potential outcomes, such as buy vs. rent, debt paydown, investing, loans, and more.
• Lifestyle Savings Benefits: Explore thousands of discounts, rewards, and perks in a variety of categories from your favorite brands.
• Counseling & Coaching: If money worries affect your mental health, tap into counseling and coaching benefits for stress management or dealing with life issues that may be contributing to money problems.

Explore these and other free tools by logging in at: www.theEAP.com or call 800-252-4555 for help!

Featured March Webinar

Developing Critical Thinking Skills

The ability to make good decisions quickly and to creatively solve problems is what sets some people apart. Learn to cultivate critical thinking skills in this webinar.  To access this webinar and related resources, simply log in to www.theEAP.com during March.   

Tax Time Tips

• You know it’s tax season because the fraudsters are out full force trying to intercept tax returns, and thieves are very creative about finding new ways to steal. Don’t fall for tax scams.
• Individual federal income tax returns are typically due by midnight on April 15, unless the date falls on a weekend or holiday. State tax deadline may vary so check with your state’s Department of Revenue.
  The IRS offers a handy step-by-step guide on How to File Your Taxes.
• Have you been victim of a disaster? Check Tax Relief in Disaster Situations.

Spring Training 

There’s never a bad season for personal and professional development, but why not challenge yourself to make a little extra push for Spring training? Choose from thousands of training topics – new ones are added monthly. We offer a few suggestions below. Simply click on “Member Login” at www.theEAP.com, sign in, and click on the comprehensive training library in the “Training Center.”  

• Personal Financial Health: Establishing Goals You Can Keep | Course ID: SVL_1020542
  In this 8-minute video lesson, learn how to create financial goals that meet SMART criteria: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound.
• NEW! 5 Ways to Prioritize | Course ID: SVL_1022877
  In this 8-minute video lesson, learn five methods/tools for prioritizing tasks to help better manage your busy life: the urgent/important matrix; the effort/impact matrix; the 5/25 rule; the ICE scoring method; and the Ivy League method.
• Making Better Decisions with Framing | Course ID: SVL_102325
  This series of 11 short video lessons (5-7minutes each) will teach you what framing is, how to know when it is being used on you, and how to effectively use it on others to achieve better outcomes.

Learn More!

How to Scan a QR Code

1. Open the camera app.
2. Select the rear-facing camera in Photo mode.
3. Center the QR code you want to scan on the screen and hold your phone steady for a couple of seconds.
4. Tap the notification that pops up to open the link. (You will need to be connected to the internet to do this.)