Weyerhauser, a forest product company with annual sales of $19.9 billion and 55,000 employees worldwide, has offered financial literacy training programs to their employees for years. The latest program "Special Considerations for Women in Planning Their Financial Future" has reached as many as 1,000 women in the company. Sally Hass, benefits education manager for Weyerhauser, believes that benefits can differentiate a company, but without education about how these benefits integrate with people's lives, employees cannot realize their full impact.

In 1996, E. Thomas Gann reported that 15 percent of American workers experience financial distress in a way that diminishes their productivity at work. New research he has done shows that one-fifth of American workers are in debt and financially distressed. Gann estimates that if employers offered even slightly more financial education to their employees, they would realize a $450 annual return per employee from reductions in absenteeism and time wasted dealing with financial concerns and problems.

Women face special challenges when it comes to financial security. They outlive men by an average of seven years and must stretch their retirement income further. Women without husbands face a high rate of poverty, with 28 percent of single older women at poverty level or below. When widowed, women's Social Security benefits decline, and few have pensions. Women also face more gaps in their careers for child-rearing or caring for elderly parents, are more likely to work part-time, and earn median wages less than men. All these factors lead to an increased possibility of poverty in retirement years.

Hass tells women to stop procrastinating about money and to begin to take positive steps to improve their financial outlook before it is too late. A national survey shows that more than 90 percent of women believe that a comfortable retirement is important and a majority is more involved in financial decisions. Yet, 40 to 50 percent aren't confident that they've sufficiently prepared to meet their goals, and 80 percent want help with financial decisions. Also, only 12 percent of women are confident they won't outlive their savings.