It’s clear that financial wellness is becoming a table-stakes benefit, and the current offerings are no longer enough. Only 22% of Americans feel that they are ‘financially well’. Fiduciary planning and other financial wellness solutions could play a big role in bridging that gap for the other 78% of Americans. It’s not a coincidence that only 16% of Americans use plans built with a financial professional, a similar share to those that consider themselves financially well. Financial planning has long been focused on high-net-worth individuals, and many of the current solutions for low- and middle-income individuals are heavily focused on budgeting tools.

Employers have also identified financial wellness as a key focus area for employee benefits to address the impact on productivity from financial stress, but also to differentiate themselves and retain talent in the wake of the Great Resignation. Surveys done by Bank of America and TIAA demonstrate these trends, with results showing that 95% of employers feel a sense of responsibility for the financial wellness of their employees, up from 81% in 2015. Furthermore, more than 8 in 10 employers agree that financial wellness programs result in greater productivity and more satisfied employees.

Solution

LearnLux is a workplace financial wellbeing provider that blends fiduciary digital planning with access to one-on-one guidance from Certified Financial Planner™ (CFP) professionals. LearnLux's program equips employees with a financial plan to guide them through key decision points across all life events. On the tech platform, employees can complete a quick financial checkup, set goals, and get an individualized financial plan. If employees need more support, they can book a free video call with a CFP. Employees usually start with a check-up to establish a baseline and identify blind spots and priorities. Subsequently, the platform gets into personalized elements such as health insurance and retirement planning.

Once a strong foundation is in place, the platform addresses more sophisticated elements such as savings for real estate, managing education loans and tax optimization. The platform also enables employers to speed up their onboarding process by helping new hires make benefit decisions, communicate the economic value of the benefits they are providing to differentiate themselves from other employers, and drive retention.

Why We Invested

We’ve been really impressed with the founders, the sister-brother duo of Rebecca Liebman (CEO) and Michael Liebman (COO). Both have focused on financial inclusion in different ways throughout their careers so far. LearnLux is serving people across income brackets, and the product was designed from the beginning for both blue collar employees and executives alike, giving LearnLux a differentiated positioning in the market and strengthening the impact potential. So far, customers of LearnLux have been similarly impressed, with all choosing to grow their relationship with LearnLux from year to year. Lastly, we see significant tailwinds as employers prioritize the financial wellness of their employees to reduce stress, improve productivity and retention, and differentiate themselves from other employers.

Impact

LearnLux enables the 78% of Americans that don’t have financial planning support to access unbiased financial planning and advice. We expect LearnLux to drive important results including reduction in financial stress for employees, greater use of pretax products, on-time retirement, and healthcare savings. LearnLux is inclusive across all ages, income levels, and job types; and the employee base it serves includes traditionally hard to reach populations like manufacturing, construction, retail and hourly workers.