| Employee Benefit Life Planning in the Workplace Life planning programs are a unique new benefit designed to help employees meet the ever-increasing demands of both work and personal life. One of the objectives of these programs is to encourage employees to look at their lives as a whole and to assess their relationships, emotional and physical well-being, career decisions, spirituality, and financial situation. The outcome for the employee is a personalized “life plan”—a flexible and dynamic tool for achieving life goals and life satisfaction. The result for the employer is a happier, more loyal, and more productive workforce. What makes life planning unique as compared to other work-life benefits is that it addresses all aspects of an individual’s life. Other benefits focus on specific areas such as flextime, stress management, career planning, financial planning, childcare, eldercare, and so on. In contrast, life planning allows employees to assess every area of their lives and to build a working life plan that can change over time. This is important because transitions and choices in one area of life will affect other areas of life as well. Because life planning programs are holistic in nature, they are also effective models for retirement planning education. They stress that transitioning into retirement requires planning and preparation in all areas of life. In addition, these programs teach that life is a continuum, and that the most successful and satisfying retirement experiences are based on a series of thoughtful, future-focused decisions made throughout one’s life. Skills, values, attitudes, resources, and relationships developed and honed during earlier stages of life all contribute to meeting the challenges and recognizing the opportunities presented in retirement. Sources: “Total Life Planning: A New Frontier in Work-Life Benefits” by Jean B. Traynor, Employee Benefits Journal (December, 1999); and “Life Planning: An Effective Model for Retirement Planning Education” by Joyce Cohen & Carol A. Anderson, Retirement Planning: Journal of the International Society of Retirement Planning (Summer, 1999). Are You Building Career Resiliency?
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