The impact of the personal finance management of Stanlib Lesotho on investment behaviour of Maseru teachers

[摘要] Financial markets today are infused with a vast array of investment opportunities andproducts adding benefits in terms of liquidity, flexibility, affordability, diversification andprofessional management. However, individuals are not always using the investmentopportunities. As a means to promote financial education in Lesotho, STANLIB Lesothopartook in SUFIL (Support to Financial Inclusion in Lesotho), an initiative collaborated bythe Central Bank of Lesotho and UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) thatlaunched a campaign aimed at increasing individual financial awareness in the countryas well as motivate the Basotho people to improve their money management skills.STANLIB has taken diligent measures of ensuring increased financial awareness as wellas product awareness among Maseru teachers in the country, and yet very few teachersinvest in the company's products. This makes it difficult to measure and determinewhether programmes put in place are effective. It is unclear whether investors'understanding of financial products and concepts is clear and whether they can makemore informed choices and effective decisions to improve their financial wellbeing. Theaim of this study was therefore to explore the impact of the personal finance managementeducation of STANLIB Lesotho on the investment behavior of Maseru teachers.The teachers in six high schools around the Maseru district have been chosen for thisresearch comprising the sample of 192 people. Questionnaires on financial planning werepersonally administered and then analysed. The results show that more teachersresponded positively to financial planning than teachers who responded negatively. Theyunderstand the importance of financial planning and are diligently maintaining theirplanning and records of their spending and saving. However, a significant 78.4 % of therespondents indicated dissatisfaction with their current savings and investments, whileonly 21.6 % were satisfied. Furthermore, the study uncovers a substantial ignorancewhen it comes to retirement planning and pension fund planning. Only 58.55 % of the respondents have indicated they are members of the government pension fund, whilethere is a concerning 41.45 % who are not members of a pension fund upon retirement.

[发布机构] University of the Free State