We work at a financial services company. Many of us literally help clients build wealth for a living. So let’s talk about return-to-office in terms that should be very familiar to leadership: compounding, assets, and long-term value.
Parking in the city where I work is $19 a day. That’s not unusual.
$19 × 5 days × ~48 weeks = $4,560 per year just to show up.
Not gas. Not wear and tear on a car. Not lunch. Just parking.
Over time, that turns into real money:
• 10 years = $45,600
• 15 years = $68,400
• 25 years = $114,000
That’s before growth.
If that same $4,560 per year were invested in a Roth IRA or brokerage account at a modest 7% return:
• 10 years ≈ $63,000
• 15 years ≈ $119,000
• 25 years ≈ $315,000+
That’s the difference between an employee retiring stressed and an employee retiring secure.Now think about this from the company’s perspective.
Right now, that money is flowing into:
• Parking garages
• Gas stations
• Downtown lunch spots
What if, instead, that money was flowing into:
• Roth IRAs at our bank
• Brokerage accounts at our bank
• Deposit balances at our bank
Flexible work doesn’t just “make employees happy.” It redirects thousands of dollars per employee per year into assets held at the institution they work for.Which makes the timing of the new “Total Rewards” program especially interesting.
We’re being encouraged to consolidate deposits, investments, and cash with the bank. Leadership clearly understands the value of employee assets sitting here.But at the same time, we’re being required to spend thousands of dollars per year just to be physically present — money that could otherwise be sitting in those very accounts.You can’t ask employees to bring their cash to the bank while also designing policies that drain that cash into parking garages.
That’s a contradiction we can see very clearly, because this is what we do for a living.We talk every day about helping customers build long-term financial security.
Why are we designing policies that force employees to divert thousands of dollars a year away from their own financial future and into parking infrastructure?This isn’t about culture. This is about capital flow.
You can choose:
Employees investing in their futures at your institution
or
Employees funding city infrastructure to sit in a cubicle
One of those builds loyalty, assets, and long-term value.
The other builds parking revenue.
For a company that understands compounding as well as we do, this feels like an odd choice.