Personal Financial Management Practices of Secondary School Teachers in Kisii County: Kenya

Abstract

Personal financial management plays a critical role in enabling people make financial decisions that are important life shaping decisions. Failure to manage personal finances well leads to serious negative and long term consequences not only to individuals but also to enterprises and society. Studies have shown that there is a set of modern financial standard behaviors that are beneficial in managing personal finances and lead to financial success. These behaviors have been developed to a set of recommended financial practices that have been proved to positively influence financial decisions and promote responsible financial behavior. Even though personal finance experts and educators advocate for the use of these standard practices, research has shown that many people have not embraced their use. This study sought to establish whether secondary school teachers in Kisii County, Kenya use these recommended practices in managing their personal finances. A descriptive survey design was adopted and primary data collected using a questionnaire from a sample of 360 respondents. Data collected related to teachers’ practices in saving, expenditure, investment and borrowing. Data was analyzed using percentages and mean scores. The findings revealed that 33% of the teachers sampled used the standard practices in managing their finances, 30% used the practices some of the times and 37% did not use the practices. The conclusion from the findings was that a high proportion of teachers (67%) have not fully embraced the use of these standard practices in managing their personal finances. The implication was that many of the teachers are likely be facing challenges in their financial management. Either, they have not understood the importance of using the standard practices or there are probable underlying factors that influence their financial behavior. The study recommended that the Ministry of Education as the employer should implement workplace financial education or incorporate financial education in teacher training programmes to enable them understand and embrace the use of these standard financial practices for good financial management. Keywords: Personal Financial Management Practices, Saving Practices, Expenditure Practices, Investment Practices, Debt Practices DOI : 10.7176/RJFA/10-6-09 Publication date :March 31 st 2019