The cost of college education continues to rise. Children born this year can expect to pay nearly $500,000 for a private college.
For employees with children, the thought of saving for their future is always top of mind. But as college costs rise, so does the stress of paying for it.
Many parents want to help their children avoid student debt by helping them pay for tuition.
Luckily, benefits like Gradifi allow employers to offer matching contributions to employees.
College Saving Assistance Benefits
While saving for college is important, it’s hard for some employees. Short-term financial goals like paying down debt take priority.
College saving assistance with matched contributions to 529 plans can help speed up these efforts. They make it easier to save and encourage employees to take action sooner.
While planning for college on your own can feel like an uphill climb, matching contributions can help reduce employee stress by knowing they have help with their long-term goals.
Learning Opportunities
Programs that helps employees fund their child’s college tuition have additional benefits too.
Currently, about 70% of Americans don’t even know what a 529 plan is or how it works.
College saving benefits can help employers address this problem. They can teach employees how these plans can benefit their financial future. Similarly, they can outline how matched contributions can accelerate the fund’s growth.
Talking about college saving can also open the door to inspiring more employees to take an active role in other areas of their financial lives.
The new partnership between Edukate and Gradifi allows employees to learn about how their college contributions fit into their overall financial plan and helps them feel confident about saving for college.
Organizational Benefits
The benefits of a college-saving matching plan go beyond goodwill. They’re also a great way to stand out in the job market.
With unemployment rates trending lower, college saving contribution matching can help employers attract talent.
It also speaks volumes about a company’s brand . It shows they care about employees’ financial wellbeing.
Company’s with a college saving benefit like Gradifi can also retain additional employees with a strong savings plan. Ongoing benefits like 529 contributions can go much farther than a single employee bonus or a scholarship program with a vesting period. Even if a benefit isn’t currently being used by an employee, knowing that they can take advantage of a savings plan when they’re ready to have children or start saving themselves adds peace of mind.
Overall, employees with less financial stress perform better at work. By offering an effective mix of college saving and loan repayment support at your organization, you can reduce overall employee stress.
By offering access to Gradifi, Edukate hopes to amplifying employers’ benefits offerings by helping their employees save for college and continually make more confident financial decisions.
To learn more about Gradifi’s tools and services, visit Gradifi.com.
If you are already an Edukate customer and would like to offer Gradifi to your employees through Edukate, contact us directly at sales@edukate.com