Men in Kenya Optimistic of Strengthened Personal Finances by December 2024

Ahead of Father’s Day on Sunday, Old Mutual has released its latest Financial Services Monitor (OMFSM), which reveals that men in Kenya are optimistic about the future, with over 75 percent confident of strengthened finances in the next six months.

The OMFSM is an annual publication that generates key insights on the financial behaviour and attitudes of Kenya’s working population. It reviews several critical topics including their confidence in the Kenyan economy; financial outlook and stress; working life and sources of income; savings goals and risk inclination amongst others.

The latest edition reveals that in order to achieve their long-term financial goals, many men have had to readjust their lives over the past four years with 90 percent of those surveyed reported earning less than or the same as before the Covid pandemic, leading to less purchasing power.

In terms of financial priorities, working men are generally focused on income/job security and cutting down expenses as their top priorities. This is while many focus on getting good investment returns and building emergency savings.

This also aligns to how much more risk they are willing to take with 50 percent of men in Kenya ready to take above average and substantial financial risks.
“Old Mutual is committed to supporting men in Kenya in achieving their financial goals, upon the understanding that many of their priorities revolve around securing their income and investments. Our support emerges through insurance products that secure their families’ futures, as well as investment solutions that help them achieve critical personal goals,” said Old Mutual Group CEO, Arthur Oginga.

As per the new OMFSM additionally, at least 30 percent of men in Kenya have been shown to be poly-jobbers (i.e. supplement their incomes through a side job, contract work or second job above their regular job), with almost half of those surveyed (49 percent) also claiming to own a business.

When it comes to debt, males mostly make use of credit cards (37 percent), followed by 25 percent that borrow from friends and family. Unexpected expenses and emergencies are among the leading reasons for taking out loans. These emergencies include medical or health expenses (47 percent); education (36 percent) as well as household maintenance repairs (30percent).

Significantly more males have taken out loans to buy or pay for a particular item or service for example appliances, car or car service, tech/gadgets, etc.

Amongst all the debt taken, almost 9 in 10 males say that they can manage their current debt levels well.
Looking at savings, the top three savings goals amongst males are education, business needs and emergency savings. Retirement is the 9th savings goal among this demographic, although just about one third of working males (32 percent) are currently saving for retirement. And while many men are eager (but not yet able) to save towards retirement, over 50 percent are betting on their children to support them when they are old. Involvement in Chamas is also much less pronounced among men in Kenya as only 28 percent belong to a group.

Finally, only 15 percent of Kenyan working males make use of a financial adviser and 41 percent are not sure who to turn to when it comes to their finances.

By Ann Nyambura