Determinants of retirement confidence among working adults in Northern Region of Peninsular Malaysia

Retirement confidence among working adults has been highlighted as one of the major concerns of every nation in the world due to rapid growth of the aging population. As a developing nation, this issue has also impacted Malaysia. Therefore, this study is aimed to identify determinants of retirement confidence among Malaysian working adults, guided by the Theory of Planned Behaviour (TPB). The independent variables were demographic (gender, age, education, income) and the retirement planning factors were (expected retirement age, financial practices, financial literacy, attitudes towards retirement, goal clarity of retirement, financial socialisation, insurance planning). The mediator variable of this study is the intention to plan for retirement. The quantitative method with stratified random sampling technique was applied and data was collected through questionnaires from the government and private sector employees. The sample of this study consisted of 567 public and 542 private sector working adults from the northern region of Peninsular Malaysia. Using SPSS analysis, this study revealed significant differences in retirement confidence between gender based on living area (urban and rural), age cohort, education and monthly income among working adults from the government and private sectors. Goal clarity of retirement was found to be the prominent predictor of retirement confidence among working adults followed by financial literacy, attitude towards retirement and financial socialisation. On the mediation relationships, intention to plan for retirement was found to partially mediate the independent variables and retirement confidence. The findings of this study provides essential insights to policy- makers, employers, future retirees and young working adults in developing effective financial planning strategies such as designing retirement-based financial products and providing financial-based education programmes. This is aligned with the Malaysian National Financial Blueprint to promote financial capability as an essential skill in facing retirement life confidently