Consumer Education Strategies in Financial Management for a Rewarding Retirement Period Among Staff of FCT College of Education, Zuba-Abuja

Abstract

In most contemporary societies, Retirement has become an interesting topical issue for research. It is an important phase of transition in life characterized by new adjustments and changes in daily living, new relationships, and vocation. It is a period, when an individual exits a paid job after service and upon the attainment of a specified age. Every worker both in private and public establishments looks forward to the retirement period. Of the greatest challenges that face typical employees throughout their working career is financial so they have to prepare for retirement well ahead of time. This study, therefore, investigated consumer education strategies as a stimulus for financial management for a rewarding retirement period. This study was guided by two research objectives and two research questions, respectively. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. The population was made up of 200 respondents; comprising 100 academic staff and 100 non-academic staff of FCT College of Education Zuba, Abuja. All the population in the study constituted the sample, and the census sampling technique was used. A structured questionnaire titled "Consumer Education and Financial Management Questionnaire" was the instrument for the collection of data. The content validity of the instrument was determined. The internal consistency was derived through the use of the Test-retest method of reliability. The reliability index was obtained through Cronbach's alpha (0.89). Out of the 200 questionnaires administered, 178 were returned valid, representing an 89% success rate. Data collected was imputed into the SPSS (25) software package where descriptive statistics, in the form of tables were generated. The study discovered among others, that many employees do not have effective financial management preparation for the retirement period and most of them wait until they retire before they start thinking of accommodation and even where to relocate. The study concludes that consumer education strategies are effective in financial management for a rewarding retirement period. The study however recommended among others that consumer educators should organize seminars, conferences and workshops for employees to sensitize them on the dangers of inadequate financial management during the retirement period.