Riitsalu Leonore, Sulg Rene, Lindal Henri, Remmik Marvi, Vain Kristiina
University of Tartu, Johan Skytte institute of political studies, Tartu, Estonia.
Estonian Business School, Tallinn, Estonia.
J Fam Econ Issues. 2023 Jan 28:1-14. doi: 10.1007/s10834-023-09886-z.
Financial well-being is becoming more prominent in policy, research, and the financial sector. However, there is a lack of understanding of its meaning, and the vast majority of financial well-being research employs quantitative methods whereas recent literature reviews advocate for qualitative studies into the meaning of financial well-being and its associations with age. We contribute to that by conducting exploratory qualitative research into the phenomenon of perceived financial well-being and its components. It is based on three studies each of which used in-depth semi-structured interviews ( = 47). The first key finding is that youth perceive financial well-being to be comprised of three components: keeping the current lifestyle and making ends meet; achieving desired lifestyle; and achieving financial freedom. In contrast, older groups distinguish only two: keeping and achieving the lifestyle in the present and in the future. The second finding is that the definition of financial freedom differs across age groups. Young people aspire to become financially independent, while middle-aged individuals prioritize supporting their children, and older people are afraid of becoming a financial burden. Third, regardless of age, many do not plan, save or invest for securing their financial well-being. We conclude by proposing implications for increasing financial well-being in different age groups, and suggesting paths for further investigation.
财务状况良好在政策、研究和金融领域正变得越来越突出。然而，人们对其含义缺乏理解，并且绝大多数关于财务状况良好的研究采用定量方法，而最近的文献综述主张对财务状况良好的含义及其与年龄的关联进行定性研究。我们通过对感知到的财务状况良好现象及其组成部分进行探索性定性研究来为此做出贡献。它基于三项研究，每项研究都使用了深度半结构化访谈（共47次）。第一个关键发现是，年轻人认为财务状况良好由三个部分组成：维持当前生活方式并收支平衡；实现理想生活方式；以及实现财务自由。相比之下，年长群体只区分两个部分：维持和实现当前及未来的生活方式。第二个发现是，财务自由的定义在不同年龄组之间存在差异。年轻人渴望实现财务独立，而中年人则优先考虑支持子女，老年人则担心成为经济负担。第三，无论年龄大小，许多人都没有为保障自己的财务状况良好而进行规划、储蓄或投资。我们通过提出针对不同年龄组提高财务状况良好程度的建议以及进一步调查的路径来得出结论。
