On April 4, Astellas invited award-winning personal finance journalist Jean Chatzky to its Americas headquarters to help promote the launch of a new addition to its StarLife program. Introduced in March 2018, the Financial Wellness program offers Astellas employees and their families access to a variety of free tools and resources to help navigate life’s financial challenges and stressors, including refinancing student loans, preparing for retirement, setting up college savings, and more.

Chatzky spoke to over 300 employees about the financial strains that surface at various stages of life, and shared advice and best practices for achieving financial wellness. She also explained how to make more informed decisions, both now and for the future.

“When it comes to your health and money, short-term solutions won’t do it,” said Chatzky. “You have to fight back. In terms of financial stress, this means having a plan in place to address whatever the underlying problem happens to be so you can proceed down that road.”  

Financial well-being is an important component to one’s overall health and wellness. From emergency savings funds to retirement investments, financial security can help relieve significant stress families face when presented with an unexpected set back or cost.

Astellas launched the Financial Wellness program as part of its commitment to supporting and Changing Tomorrow for employees. Benefits of the Financial Wellness program include access to a financial analysis tool to help identify personal strengths and gaps; tools and resources for budgeting, savings, debt management and investment; access to professional financial advisors for planning and advice at no cost; and access to student loan education and consolidation resources, along with advice for saving and paying for college.

In addition to Chatzky’s presentation, advisors from Fidelity Planning and Advice Professionals and Social Finance, Inc. (SoFi) were onsite to answer questions and schedule one- on-one appointments. Approximately 130 appointments were made to help employees receive customized financial advice for their families and their situations.

Collette Taylor, senior vice president, Human Resources and Facilities, explained the importance of financial wellness and the motivation behind Astellas’ new program. 

“Total well-being extends beyond just physical health,” said Taylor. “Astellas is dedicated to supporting employees by helping them feel more in control of their finances today and better prepared for tomorrow.”  
 

More about Jean Chatzky
Jean Chatzky, the financial editor for NBC’s TODAY show, is an award-winning personal finance journalist, AARP’s personal finance ambassador and host of the podcast, HerMoney with Jean Chatzky, on iTunes. Jean is a best-selling author; her most recent books are Operation Money, a free financial guide for military service members and families; and Money Rules: The Simple Path to Lifelong Security. She believes knowing how to manage our money is one of the most important life skills for people at every age and has made it her mission to help simplify money matters, increasing financial literacy both now and for the future. In 2015, Jean teamed up with Time for Kids and The PwC Charitable Foundation to launch Your $, a financial literacy magazine reaching 2 million schoolchildren each month. She lives with her family in Westchester County, New York.