PurposeThis study sought to examine the impact of financial knowledge, financial attitude, locus of control and income on financial behaviour.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed the reasoned action approach framework by Fishbein and Ajzen (2010), with formal sector workers in three districts of Ghana as the population. Questionnaires were used to collect data and analysed using partial least squares structural equation model (PLS-SEM).FindingsThe results of the study revealed that perceived financial knowledge, financial attitude and locus of control had a significant positive relationship with financial behaviour intention. The assertion that actual financial knowledge and income influence actual financial behaviour was not supported by the findings. However, income moderated significantly the intention–actual financial behaviour relationship.Practical implicationsThe findings imply that having financial knowledge or earning a higher income in itself does not guarantee the good financial behaviour of people. It is recommended that financial education must focus on developing good financial attitudes and beliefs to enhance the needed behavioural change.Originality/valueTo the best of the researcher's knowledge, there is no study of financial behaviour that adopts the methodology and variables used in this research in Ghana.