Can average Singaporean workers be financially independent on reaching retirement age and more importantly, during their retirement period? Or will they be dependent on social welfare? This major question continues to confront workers, consumers, economists and the Government. The Singapore population is rapidly ageing with impending crisis that confronts the baby boomers with issues of inadequacy in retirement provisions apart from the basic defined contributions of the Central Provident Fund (CPF), rising unemployment and market unreliability. Inevitably the responsibility for adequate retirement preparation will shift from the Government to the workers. / Although investing for retirement is considered one of the most critical aspects of our life, many do not invest sensibly (O'Donoghue and Rabin, 1998). Even a person who knows the benefits of a superior investment will weigh it up against the short-term costs, many people will continue to procrastinate, believing that they will make the effort soon (O'Donoghue and Rabin 1998). Beal and Delpachitra (2000:1) highlight the significance of this when they noted that many have 'not attempted to come to grips with the problem of their post-retirement incomes and have neither planned nor started pre-retirement wealth accumulation'. / The purpose of this research is to explore and analyse the attitude of Singaporean Chinese workers towards the adoption of retirement planning as an innovation. The study also investigates whether financial literacy will affect the decision making of workers and at the same time identifies some of the behavioural patterns associated with this process of decision making. Factors and barriers that affect diffusion of innovation and the different mindsets of adopters and non-adopters are also investigated. The scope of the study focuses only on the Singaporean Chinese working adults between ages 20-59. / There are several evolving literatures about ageing populations and retirement planning but little research has been done on the study of the attitude and level of preparedness of workers for retirement and the financial planning for retirement. These attitudes are impacted by various factors including the level of financial literacy; cultural values and beliefs; rate of diffusion of innovation; and the environment of the workers. These will be studied in particular contexts. This is the first academic study conducted in Singapore involving Singaporean Chinese workers and their attitude to, and level of preparedness for, financial planning for retirement. This study begins to fill the literature gap not from the point of view of the economics of retirement planning but the social aspects of financial planning for retirement. / Mixed methodology design with data triangulation was employed in this study, including the use of a focus group for survey questionnaire design, surveys and interviews. / The study produced some interesting and significant findings that suggested an overall inadequacy of the provision for retirement with a low adoption rate of only 12.6% from the surveys and 11.9% from the interviews. Both the surveys and interviews revealed that the majority of the workers (87.4 % and 88.1 % respectively) did not adopt retirement planning. Some barriers were also identified, and many workers believed CPF was adequate. It became apparent that, many workers were not interested in retirement planning. The level of financial literacy was not encouraging and many respondents did not trust financial planners. Some were relying on faith in God, cultural belief of destiny and fengshui without any sense of urgency towards retirement planning. Finally, the attitude of workers towards adoption of retirement planning was found to be affected by the Singapore cultural mentalities of kiasuism, kiasiism and guanxi. / Thesis (PhD)--University of South Australia, 2005.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/267431 |
| Creators | Or, Kum Hoong. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | copyright under review |
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