Everybody Needs Money. That’s Why They Call It Money.
If you enjoy a good heist movie, then you can’t do much better than “Heist”. The film by David Mamet stars Gene Hackman as career thief who reluctantly agrees to a job for sleazy Danny DeVito. When DeVito asks why Hackman why he’s doing the job at all, Hackman says he needs the money.
That’s when DeVito replies with the title of this article.
The line is funny because it seems like an absurd thing to say. In the context of a heist film, Mamet is saying is that money is the thing itself, the need for it cannot be further reduced, as it is the root of all evil, and the object of all desire.
Yet in the context of life, there’s another meaning to the line. Everyone does, in fact, need money and the need for it cannot be further reduced. For without money, we have no way to live.
That wisdom applies to every single worker in every single organization, as well as to HR and Benefits personnel. Most of the world is based on the simple idea that one receives money in exchange for work. Money is an intermediate, yet required, tool for which we purchase the necessities of life.
Thus, everybody does need money.
(Entymology nerds will note the word “money” probably derives from the Latin word specie, which means “in kind”. So, yes, the “in kind” exchange of currency is why they do, in fact, call it “money”.)
There’s another observation that I imagine Mamet would agree with. There is always a time component associated with money. Over time, its value erodes due to inflation. So it must be invested in order to maintain purchasing power over time. Interest is directly related to time. Dividends are paid on a time schedule. The list goes on and on. That’s why “time is money”.
For you and your workers, bills and expenses must be paid on time. Failure to do so means penalties in the form of more money: late fees, overdraft fees, or payday loan fees. Research from the Financial Health Network and other financial service sources, including the Fed, show that your workers are paying an average of $200 every single month in these penalties. That’s $2,400 every year.
Everybody needs money, but they also need it on a timely basis.
HR and Benefits personnel have the power to get your workers the money they need on a timely basis, instead of every two weeks. Earned wage access costs you nothing. It costs the employee either nothing or a nominal fee.
It also stops productivity leakage from worker financial stress. PwC’s most recent financial wellness survey found that 30% of workers spend 3+ hours per week worrying about or attending to financial issues while at work. You have the ability to plug this leakage, and get your workers the money they need by implementing earned wage access.
So, with apologies to David Mamet, everybody needs money at a certain time. That’s why they call it on-demand pay.