Financial Health of Undergraduates in Malaysia: An Empirical Study on the Underlying Factors

Abstract

This study aims to identify factors that influence the financial health of students in Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM). Among the factors studied are financial socialization, childhood experience, financial literacy and academic qualifications. The sample of this study consists of a total of 173 students that were randomly selected. A questionnaire containing a Likert scale to measure each factor influencing the financial health of students was used as a research instrument and multivariate analysis was used to analyse the data. The results showed that financial literacy have a significant relationship on the financial health of students while financial socialization, childhood experience and academic qualifications had a non-significant relationship. In particular, students valued financial literacy to increase savings rates, obtain insurance, prepare retirement plans and use credit cards to achieve a high level of financial health. Lastly, we provide some recommendations on how to increase the financial literacy amongst young adults in Malaysia.