Personal Financial Management Practices and Demographic Factors on Financial Wellbeing of Medical Doctors Employed in Public Hospitals Nairobi County, Kenya

Abstract

Financial wellbeing is very important in both a personal and organizational level. Medical doctors are among the well-remunerated workers in Kenya. However, according to Kenya Medical Association 2017 financial information, it indicates that 70% of medical doctors employed under public hospitals in Nairobi City County Kenya are struggling financially. This study sought to determine the impact of financial knowledge on financial wellbeing of medical doctors employed in public hospitals Nairobi County, to determine the effect of demographic factors on financial wellbeing of medical doctors working in public hospitals Nairobi City County, to establish the effect of financial disposition and budgeting habits on financial wellbeing of medical doctors employed in public hospitals Nairobi County, to find out the effect of financial saving behavior on financial wellbeing of medical doctors employed in public hospitals Nairobi County and to define the moderating effect of economic condition on the association between personal financial management and financial wellbeing of medical doctors employed in public hospitals Nairobi County, Kenya. This study was anchored on Keynesian absolute income hypothesis, Prospect theory, Lifecycle savings theory, Permanent income hypothesis, Relative income hypothesis, and Savings and investment hypothesis. This study used descriptive research design and data was collected from a target population of 259 doctors employed by the Nairobi City County government. The Yamane formula was used to obtain the sample size. Primary information  assembly was done utilizing a semi-structured survey provided to the specialists through dropping and picking later strategy. Descriptive statistics was used to analyze the gathered information; mean, mode, middle, standard deviation, tables, figures, rates, and frequencies. The relationship between the variables was established by the use of inferential statistics. The knowledge of financial products (b=.354, t = 5.429, P<0.05), financial disposition and budgetary habits (b=.117, t = 2.397, P=.018), and financial saving behavior (b=.110, t = 5.316, P<0.05) had a positive statistically significant association with financial well-being of doctors. A unit increase in personal financial management increased financial wellness by 0.104 (b= .104, t=5.089, P<0.01) and was not moderated by the economic condition of doctors statistically significantly, P=.811. This study concluded that personal financial management was a predictor for financial wellbeing of doctors employed in public hospitals Nairobi City County. Overall, as personal financial management increased, the financial wellbeing increased. The recommendation was that training programs on financial products and diversification of investments are needed for medical doctors at the County level, as a large proportion of medical doctors did not own financial products nor attended training on personal financial management.