The Role of Financial Behavior, Financial Literacy, and Retirement Planning in Enhancing Lecturers' Financial Well-Being
Abstract
Background: Financial well-being among lecturers in private higher education institutions has become an important concern, particularly in developing countries where many lecturers receive relatively low salaries despite carrying substantial academic responsibilities. Financial well-being is essential not only for individual quality of life but also for maintaining productivity, job satisfaction, and institutional performance. However, empirical evidence regarding the determinants of financial well-being among private university lecturers remains limited. This study aims to examine the influence of financial literacy, financial behavior, retirement planning, and income on the financial well-being of lecturers in private higher education institutions.
Methods: This study employed a quantitative research design using a cross-sectional survey approach. Data were collected from 310 lecturers working at private higher education institutions through an online questionnaire distributed via Google Forms. The measurement instruments were adapted from established scales in the financial well-being literature. Data analysis was conducted using Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to evaluate the measurement model and test the proposed structural relationships among variables.
Results: The findings reveal that income is the strongest predictor of lecturers’ financial well-being (β = 0.543), followed by financial literacy (β = 0.442) and financial behavior (β = 0.264). The results indicate that lecturers with higher income levels, better financial knowledge, and healthier financial management practices tend to experience greater financial well-being. These findings highlight the importance of both economic resources and financial capability in shaping individual financial outcomes.
Conclusion: The study concludes that improving lecturers’ financial well-being requires a multidimensional approach involving income enhancement, financial literacy development, and the promotion of positive financial behavior. Policymakers, higher education institutions, and relevant stakeholders should collaborate to provide financial education programs, retirement planning support, and policies aimed at improving lecturers’ economic conditions. Such initiatives can contribute to achieving sustainable financial well-being and improving the overall quality of academic life among private university lecturers.
References
Anghel, M. S., & Pochea, M. M. (2025). Financial literacy and financial well-being: Empirical evidence from Romania. Borsa Istanbul Review, December. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bir.2025.100776
Ankrah, D. T. (2017). Assessing the impact of training and development on employee performance in the tertiary education sector of Ghana. (A case study of the University of Energy and Natural Resources, Sunyani). Jenrm, 4(3), 70–80.
Brooks, R. (2001). Winning with wellness. Occupational Health & Safety (Waco, Tex.), 70(7), 97–99.
Brüggen, E. C., Hogreve, J., Holmlund, M., Kabadayi, S., & Löfgren, M. (2017). Financial well-being: A conceptualization and research agenda. Journal of Business Research, 79, 228–237. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.03.013
Cheng, M., Adekola, O., Albia, J., & Cai, S. (2022). Employability in higher education: a review of key stakeholders’ perspectives. Higher Education Evaluation and Development, 16(1), 16–31. https://doi.org/10.1108/heed-03-2021-0025
Ikhsan, S., & Susdiani, L. (2022). Analisa Determinan Kesejahteraan Keuangan Keluarga Usia Pensiun di Kota Padang. Jurnal Manajemen Stratejik Dan Simulasi Bisnis, 3(2), 92–104. https://doi.org/10.25077/mssb.3.2.92-104.2022
Jackson, D. (2024). The relationship between student employment, employability-building activities and graduate outcomes. Journal of Further and Higher Education, 48(1), 14–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/0309877X.2023.2253426
Jaffar, N., Mohd Faizal, S., Selamat, Z., Awaludin, I. S., & Sulaiman, N. A. (2024). Financial literacy and financial well-being of low-income women in Malaysia: a capability view. Cogent Social Sciences, 10(1). https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2024.2388826
Ketchen, D. J. (2013). A Primer on Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling. Long Range Planning, 46(1–2), 184–185. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lrp.2013.01.002
Length, F. (2014). Motivation and Job Performance of Non-Academic Staff in Private Universities in Nigeria ( Babcock University as A Case Study ). Global Advanced Research Journal of Management and Business Studies, 3(2), 39–54.
Lotkowski, V. A., Robbins, S. B., & Noeth, R. J. (n.d.). The Role of Academic and Non-Academic Factors in Improving College Retention ACT POLICY REPORT. www.act.org/research/policy/index.html
Lusardi, A., & Messy, F.-A. (2023). The importance of financial literacy and its impact on financial wellbeing. Journal of Financial Literacy and Wellbeing, 1(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1017/flw.2023.8
Malkowska, A., Tokarz-Kocik, A., Drela, K., & Bera, A. (2022). Employee FinancialWellness Programs (EFWPs) as an Innovation in Incentive Systems of Energy Sector Enterprises in Poland during the COVID-19 Pandemic—Current Status and Development Prospects. Energies, 15(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/en15062102
Mercy Kenya,(2013)--Effects Of Employee Motivation on Job Satisfaction in Institution of Higher Learning in Kenya-1. (n.d.).
Muhammad Syaifulloh. (2025). Impact Of Lecturers’ Quality Of Life On Academic Welfare And Productivity In Private Higher Education Institutions. Journal of Information Systems Engineering and Management, 10(35s), 758–767. https://doi.org/10.52783/jisem.v10i35s.6054
Orozco-Orozco, K. M. (2024). Financial Literacy and Financial Well-Being Among Alfabetismo financiero y bienestar financiero entre. Revista Mexicana de Economía y Finanzas, Nueva Época, 19(1), 1–25. https://doi.org/10.21919/remef.v19i1.965%0A(Received:
Peña, I., Andrade, S. M., María Muñoz, R., & Barba-Sánchez, V. (2024). Wellness Programs, Perceived Organizational Support, and Their Influence on Organizational Performance: An Analysis Within the Framework of Sustainable Human Resource Management. SAGE Open, 14(1), 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440241229358
Copyright (c) 2026 Sunarmi Sunarmi, Y.S. Barusman, Andala R.P Barusman, Defrizal Defrizal, Yenny Marthalena
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
The authors who publish in the journal agree to the following terms:
- The authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgment of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- The authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgment of its initial publication in this journal.
- The authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work.
- The authors warrant that the article is original, written by stated author(s), has not been published before, contains no unlawful statements, does not infringe the rights of others, is subject to copyright that is vested exclusively in the author and free of any third-party rights, and that any necessary written permissions to quote from other sources have been obtained by the author(s).
Jurnal Ekonomi dan Bisnis Manajemen Syariah (SEMB-J), Yayasan Darussalam Bengkulu is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Based on a work at https://siducat.org/index.php/sembj/.
