Addressing Debt Key to Financial Wellness for African Americans, Latinos

Sixty-eight percent of employees chose retirement planning as a top concern in 2016 making it the most often cited concern, but it was actually getting out of debt that continued to top the list of concerns for African American (76%) and Latino (65%) employees, according to Financial Finesse’s 2016 Year in Review report.

Cash and debt management concerns continue to contribute to overall lower financial wellness levels among African American and Latino employees.

Planning for retirement was a top concern for 74% of white employees and 63% of Asian employees, compared to 50% for African Americans and 55% of Latino employees. Meanwhile, managing cash flow was a top concern for 62% of African Americans and 56% of Latinos, compared to 38% of Asians and 46% of whites.

Higher concern for debt may be contributing to financial stress as both Latino and African American employees reported higher levels of unmanageable financial stress. In 2016, 31% of African Americans and 25% of Latinos expressed unmanageable levels of financial stress, compared to 12% of Asians and 19% of whites.

All of Financial Finesse’s research is based on tracking employees’ most pressing financial concerns through their usage of the firm’s financial education service. The report uses an expanded data set based primarily on the analysis of 67,089 financial wellness assessments completed January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2016. The report can be found at https://ffinesse.box.com/v/2016-Year-in-Review-Report.