Your employer may offer employee benefits (perhaps they refer to these as ‘group arrangements’). However, you may not realise exactly what these benefits are, or how essential they are to you.

The past year has been an exceptionally tough time for families, businesses, and the world in general. Financial health (not to mention physical health) has been extremely difficult to maintain. In times of high pressure and stress, you may be tempted to dip into your savings, decrease contributions to retirement funds, or cancel these products outright. However, it is exactly in these times when good financial products – backed by expert advice on how to maximise their potential – can see you through difficult times.

A typical employee benefit package includes both financial and health benefits

These often cover not just the employee, but the employee’s family too. A benefits package from Alexander Forbes offers financial advice to help families manage their day-to-day expenses, make big financial decisions, and plan for the future. This means that you can live comfortably within your means. With good financial planning, you can even have money left over to save. Tax-efficient savings and investment products will help you make the most of your money, regardless of how much you earn.

Financial benefits

Financial stability means you can plan for everything:

• From things you don’t want to happen, such as retrenchment or illness
• And things you hope will happen, such as buying a house or sending your children to tertiary institutions
• To things that will inevitably happen, such as retirement

Health services

In addition to financial services, a benefits package from Alexander Forbes also offers health services, which may extend to spouses and dependants. Medical aid advice helps your family choose the best cover for your needs. Life and disability cover ensures that your family is protected should anything happen to you or your spouse. And some employee assistance programmes will even include counselling to ensure your mental and emotional well-being.

Retirement savings

Employers often have a contribution matching policy, which means that for every Rand you contribute to your employer’s retirement fund, your employer will contribute one Rand more. This helps you accumulate retirement savings in half the time. The employer contribution also generally covers the cost of benefits and fund expenses. Additionally, as part of a workplace fund, you’ll get institutional rates, which are not available to individuals. This means that your savings and investments will cost you less in management fees, giving you more room for growth.

At Alexander Forbes, we partner with employers to personalise your employee benefits with these expert solutions. We also provide financial literacy training throughout your working life – and beyond. Together, these can help you and your family maintain financial and physical well-being throughout your lives. Now that’s something you can count on. DM