What drives working adults to be better prepared for their retirements?

Abstract

Purpose

This study aims to understand the drivers that help working adults to be better prepared for retirement, by examining the relationship between financial literacy (FL), financial attitude (FA), financial well-being (FWB), financial behavior (FB) and retirement preparation (RP). RP includes multidimensional measures, which are retirement confidence, retirement planning, long-term financial planning and private retirement schemes (PRS) participation.

Design/methodology/approach

This was a quantitative study adopting non-probability sampling with self-administered questionnaire distributed to all working adults. Descriptive analysis was used to examine the 294 useable data, and the multiple logistic regression analysis was adopted for hypothesis testing.

Findings

The empirical results show that FB is positively associated with RP and then followed by FWB on retirement confidence. Although insignificant influence is found on FL and FA, better FL and FA will still improve individuals' RP.

Research limitations/implications

The study provides insights to working adults that practicing positive FB and good FWB will improve RP. Besides, for financial institutions, income level is the main determinant for consumers to participate in PRS; for policy makers, to incorporate financial attributes knowledge as part of the school curriculum since early school years.

Originality/value

This study is one of the few studies in Malaysia that explored FL, FA, FB and FWB on retirement planning, respectively.

Citation

Chua, S.M. and Chin, P.N. (2022), "What drives working adults to be better prepared for their retirements?", Managerial Finance, Vol. 48 No. 9/10, pp. 1317-1333. https://doi.org/10.1108/MF-07-2021-0327