Chapter 1
Introduction
There are many factors that influence the financial behavior of an individual. To
the millennial nowadays specifically employees, knowledge of a certain financial
management skills and money management helps them in making such a good
financial decisions. According to the Philippine Statistic Authority reported January 2019
millennials are the largest number of employed person, with 27.5 % of the total
employed. There are 42 million millennial Filipino employees who are part of the
workforce. By 2020, the millennials are expected to make up approximately 50 percent
of the global workforce. When it comes to money management, almost 62% of
millenials are living paycheck to paycheck and only 38% feel financially stable
(leonhardt, 2019). Moreover, millennial employees who work in RVM School may have
knowledge and skills in handling their personal income. However, they are still unable to
manage their personal income and tend to go deep into debt because they have low
level of financial literacy.
In the research study of Mudzingiri, Mwamba and Kesyser (2018) revealed that
low financial literacy in university students can lead individuals to settle for lower return
financial choices. They also added that low financial literacy students are risk loving,
impatient, overconfident and it can cause ignoring crucial market information in decision
making. Which strengthen the argument of Lusardi and Mitchel (2005) that individuals
have a high level of financial literacy achieve better life outcomes, in contrast low level
of financial literacy individuals achieve poor financial outcomes. In addition, less
financially literate individuals are less likely to plan for retirement, less likely to
participate in the stock markets and more likely to have more costly debt (Lusardi and
Mitchel, 2011)
Some researchers have already study the level of financial knowledge that can
influence financial behavior among student such as Kasman, Heuberger and Hammond
(2018), Mitchell (2016) and Herawati, Candiasa, Yadyana and Suharsono (2018).
Herawati, Candiasa, Yadyana and Suharsono (2018) mentioned that there are three
factors influencing the financial behavior of the student in Bali such as financial literacy,
self-efficacy and social economic status. Based on the data they found out that financial
literacy has positive and significant effect on financial behavior and having sufficient
level in financial literacy is the factors that make the student succeed in their careers
and life (Mitchell, 2016). Moreover Kasman, Heuberger and Hammond (2018) cited that
an effective way to improve knowledge and attitudes about personal finance is that
allow students to allocate allowances according to their financial goals. The result of
their study can influence the student financial behavior. However there is no findings
that how millennial behave in savings, budgeting and spending in regards to their level
of financial knowledge.
The purpose of this study is to measure the level of financial literacy among
millennial who work on RVM school in Cagayan de Oro City and to know if their level of
knowledge can influence on their financial behavior. The researchers also choose this
topic because they want to find out whether the level of knowledge and their application
in real life will differ on their age, gender and personal income that they have. And by
this, the researchers will be able to come up with a result that could answer whether
their behavior would vary depending on the knowledge or there is no relationship at all.
Theoretical and Conceptual Framework
This study is hinged on the assumption that the level of financial literacy in terms
of personal factor, saving and budgeting and investing has influence on the financial
behavior of an individual. Specifically, the Social-Cognitive/Learning Theory (SCT) was
used to establish the direction of this study.
The Social-Cognitive/Learning Theory (SCT) was created by Albert Bandura
in1986. The theory explains that environmental influences, personal factors and
attributes of the behavior itself have great effects on individual’s financial behavior
(Ozmete & Hira, 2011). SCT also explains the environmental influences to individual
such as parents and peers influence on the young’s financial knowledge, attitudes and
behavior.
Financial Planning and Management. Planning and money management can
influence a person’s knowledge in terms of decision making. Munohsamy (2015) cited
that personal financial knowledge allows a person to control his/her income and
organize its expenses through a detailed financial planning. The importance of financial
planning and management is reflected in all areas of personal and business life.
According to J.Scott (2009) as cited by Munohsamy (2015) states that only having
personal financial knowledge is not enough, it needs planning, organizing and
managing personal finances.
Saving. Saving is one of the components of personal finance. According to Sood
& kaur (2015) saving of money help an individual in the long run and if an individual has
savings for future, then the uncertainties can be faced by him and stress will be less.
Moreover, In terms of behavior, millennials are different from earlier generations
regarding to saving. They have already saved and planned for their future. Douwes &
McIntosh (2018) states that millennials are saves earlier than previous generations. In
addition, according to Generation Money Talks study of Chase as cited by Douwes &
McIntosh (2018) at the age of 23 millennials starting saving for their retirement,
compared to the later generations like gen x and baby boomers, they start saving at the
age of 30 and 40.
Budgeting. Budgeting is another component of personal finance; it is a process of
creating a plan that allocates future personal income towards expenses, savings and
debt repayment. According to Walther (2009) relative to acquiring and using resources,
a budget is a detailed financial plan that tells future expectations and actions. Moreover,
study shows that inspite of some stereotypes that millennials are self-absorbed and
foolish with money, not long-term planners or still dependent with their parents, it turns
out that millennials are better than other generations when it comes to managing money
(Bank of America, 2018).
Investing. Investment is defined the commitment of current financial resources in
order to attain higher gains in the future. It deals with what is called uncertainty
domains. According to US SEC Savings and Investing, when you invest you have a
bigger chance of losing your money than when you save. The money you invest in
mutual funds, securities and other alike investments usually is not federally insured. You
could lose your principal or the money you’ve invested. But you also have the
opportunity to earn more money out of your investment. Millennials ages range between
16 to 36 years old who outnumbered the Baby Boomer generation and also set to
become the most educated generation in history (US Chamber of Congress). However
they face financial challenges because Millennial have a lot of competing goals for their
money like paying mortgage and home-related costs, paying off debt, raising a their
own family, their lifestyle, and taking a vacations citied by (Maximizer CRM). It is
probably why Millennials are always stressed out about money.
Financial Behavior. Financial behavior can be defined as any human behavior
that is relevant to money management such as: saving and budgeting. According to
Herawati, Candiasa, Yadnyana, Suharsono (2018) financial behavior is related to
personal financial management. It is an individual activity comprises with financial
planning, management and control. Moreover, a study of Bank of America/USA today
(2015) states that millennials are better than other generation in money management.
However, Bank of America/USA today (2018) newest findings states that even
millennilas are more confident about money and more focused in their finances, they
also experiencing stress. Due to factors that out of their controls, including volatile
global economy, a changing job market, and student debt.
Schematic Presentation of the Study
Personal Profile
Age
Gender
Personal Income
Financial Behavior
Financial Knowledge
Saving
Budgeting
Investing
Planning and
Management
Statement of the Problem
This study seeks to determine the level of financial literacy of the millennial
employee’s in terms of saving, budgeting and investing to financial behavior.
Specifically, it answers the following questions:
1. What is the profile of the respondents according to:
1.1 Age
1.2 Gender
1.3 Personal Income
2. What is the perception of the respondents according to:
2.1 Savings
2.2 Budgeting
2.3 Investing
2.4 Financial Behavior
3. Is there a significant difference between savings, budgeting, investing , and
financial behavior when grouped according to:
3.1 Gender
3.2 Personal Income
4. Is there a significant relationship between savings, budgeting, investing, and
financial behavior?
5. Is there a significant influence on savings, budgeting, investing, to financial
behavior?
Hypothesis
Problems 1 and 2 are hypothesis-free. On the basis of problems 3, 4 and 5, the
following hypotheses are:
Ho1.a There is no significant difference between savings, budgeting, investing, and
financial behavior when grouped according to Gender.
Ho1.b There is no significant difference between savings, budgeting, investing, and
financial behavior when grouped according to personal Income.
Ho2.a There is no significant influence on savings, budgeting, and investing to financial
behavior.
Significance of the Study
The result of this study is significant to the following:
Teachers. The findings of this study could help the teachers to assess how
effective are the lessons taught in school. In this way, the teachers will know what
needs to be improved in the curriculum and instruction.
Students. The result of the study could help the students to gain insight to their
behaviors in term of financial behavior. They will know and understand better what
affects their behavior and how their knowledge had helped them in their money
management.
The Parents. The result of this study will be beneficial to the parents as it will
help them in understanding the kinds of expenditure their children have. It will also give
them insight on what needs to be improved in their children’s financial literacy and they
will be able to guide their children accordingly.
Future Researchers. Future researchers can use the result of this study as point
of reference for a more comprehensive investigation particularly in exploring the
personal finance knowledge and its effectiveness to financial behavior of students not
only in the field of business but also in other fields.
Scope and Limitation
The study was limited to employees in RVM schools in Cagayan de Oro city
2019-2020. The study was focused on determining the level of financial knowledge of
RVM schools employees if their level of financial knowledge can influence financial
behavior. With the limited time given to conceptualize and finish the study, the
researchers limit the participants to all millennial RVM school employees only.
Definition of Terms
Financial literacy. Financial literacy is defined as the knowledge and
understanding of financial concepts, and the skills, motivation, and confidence to apply
such knowledge and understanding in order to make effective decisions across a range
of financial contexts, to improve the financial well-being of individuals and society,
and to enable participation in economic life (PISA 2012 Financial Literacy
Framework, 2010)
Personal Finance. Personal Finance is the financial management which an
individual or a family unit performs to budget, save, and spend monetary resources over
time, taking into account various financial risks and future life events.
Saving. Saving is the portion of disposable income not spent on consumption of
consumer goods but accumulated or invested directly in capital equipment or in paying
off a home mortgage, or indirectly through purchase of securities.
Budgeting. Budgeting is the process of creating a plan to spend your
money. A budget is an itemized summary of likely income and expenses for a given
period.
Finance. Finance is the study of money and how it is used. Specifically, it deals
with the questions of how an individual or company acquires the money needed and
how they then spend or invest that money.
Behavior. Behavior or behaviour is the actions and mannerisms made by
individuals, organisms, systems or artificial entities in conjunction with themselves or
their environment, which includes the other systems or organisms around as well as the
physical environment.