Financial Attitude and Pension Savings Among Informal Economy Workers in Ghana: Application of the Theory of Planned Behaviour

Abstract

The Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB) was applied to examine the financial attitude of informal economy workers in pension saving. This was against the background that informal economy workers were left out of formal pension schemes while micro pension schemes (MPS) remain as options that can guarantee economic security after retirement for people with the right financial attitudes. We used interview schedules and interview guides to collect quantitative and qualitative responses concurrently on key issues such as financial knowledge, financial planning, and financial risk tolerance which constitute the financial attitude of a worker. Using logistic regression and synthesis from interviews of key informants that yielded themes, we concluded that informal economy workers with financial attitudes such as financial planning exhibited higher probabilities of contributing to MPS compared to those who have less or no financial attitudes. We therefore recommend that informal economy workers should strive to acquire an attitude of financial planning for retirement at an early stage when they enter the labour market. This can be done by enrolling in financial planning education programmes on retirement savings through corporate trustees.

Keywords: behaviour, financial attitude, Ghana, informal workers, micropension, savings