Determinants for Retirement Savings of Employees in Tertiary Institutions of Zimbabwe

Retirement savings are critical role for ensuring financial security of employees in the post-retirement phase, and a variety of factors significantly influence employees` ability to make retirement savings. The existence of retirement savings is important when planning for retirement mainly in the face of increased life expectancy, high cost of living, and the increased retirement age of employees in Zimbabwe. This research sought to examine the determining factors of retirement savings among employees in tertiary institutions with focus on one institution in Harare. The determinants that affect workers` retirement savings are identical across all other tertiary institutions hence the findings from the study would be a representative of other tertiary institutions across Zimbabwe. The study adopted a positivist paradigm and was a case study research where a sample of sixty respondents out of an accessible population of six-hundred staff establishment. The population was stratified into lecturing and non-lecturing staff. Simple random sampling was employed to come up with a sample size of sixty (60) respondents. Structured questionnaires and interview guides were used for collection of data. The study established that retirement savings were affected by age, marital status, gender, family size, family expenditure, level of education, financial literacy levels, interest rate, income level, exchange rate, and inflation rate. The study recommended that employees should attend financial literacy trainings together with savings and investment conferences so as to acquaint themselves with the general savings and investment management process that they could use. Such trainings would expose employees to various financial products such as shares, term deposits, unit trusts, cash savings, gold coins, investment in livestock, properties, diversified asset portfolio, fixed savings accounts, income generating projects, and other small business entrepreneurial ventures and start-ups. The management of tertiary institutions were recommended to positively influence employees to engage in retirement savings by funding employees to attend financial literacy and investment management training such that they would acquire the necessary knowledge to make savings and investments for post-retirement. Furthermore, institutions were recommended to hold quarterly and semi-annual seminars and conferences on retirement planning and retirement savings and make attendance by employees’ mandatory such that their attitude on retirement savings increases.