Financial Education Factors and Retirement Plan Participation

Abstract

Using data from the 2018 National Financial Capability Study, this article examines the association between financial education and employees’ participation in their employers’ retirement plans. Four different measures of financial education are considered: (a) participation in financial education, (b) the source of financial education, (c) hours spent in financial education, and (d) the perceived quality of any financial education received. The results show that individuals who have participated in financial education are more likely to participate in an employer-sponsored retirement plan than those who do not. The results also indicate that individuals who received financial education from college only, employer only, or from all three sources (high school, college, and employer) have a higher probability of having an employer-sponsored retirement plan than those without financial education. The subanalysis results show that there is no association between total hours of financial education received and employer-sponsored plan participation among individuals who received financial education. Finally, a higher perceived quality of financial education is associated positively with participation in employer-provided plans.

Department(s)

Finance, Economics and Risk Management

Document Type

Article

DOI

10.1891/JFCP-2024-0045

Keywords

financial behavior, financial education, household finance, retirement planning, retirement savings, saving behavior

Publication Date

4-1-2026

Journal Title

Journal of Financial Counseling and Planning

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