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| Health Benefits |  The needs and importance for better employee benefits also increases as the economy expands.
Harris Interactive, an American market research company, was commissioned by the Principal Financial Group, the nation's 401(k) leader, to conduct an online research survey called the Principal Financial Well-Being IndexSM Executive Summary-First Quarter 2007. The survey was conducted between January 24-February 5, 2007 and with employees of small to middle-sized businesses (that being an employee count of between 10-1,000 people). The aim of this survey is to identify concerns about health and retirement advantages, as well as workplace "trends".
 Main findings
• Health insurance is evaluated as the most essential benefit and the benefit that most employees feel needs improvement
• There's been an growth in deductibles
• The costs of co-pay have increased
• Availability of voluntary benefits (dental, vision, short- or long-term disability) have risen
• Two-thirds of employees believe that proposing better employee benefits will entice employees to work harder and perform better
• If financial planning was offered by employers, three out of four employees would use it
• When it comes to wage increase versus a 401(k) matching plan, almost 60 percent of employees would take the wage increase
• Of those who have Defined Contribution Plans and have money in their account, almost half haven't made changes nor rebalanced
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