Financial management practices and life satisfaction: Mediating effect of financial satisfaction

Abstract This study examined the mediation effect of financial satisfaction on financial management practices and life satisfaction relationship among secondary school teachers. A convenience sample of 263 respondents took part in the study via the completion of self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and Partial Least Squares based on Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) were used in examining respondents’ profile and the research model and its related hypotheses, respectively. Financial management practices significantly and positively affect financial satisfaction and life satisfaction. Also, a significant positive nexus existed between financial satisfaction and life satisfaction. Further, the study shows that financial satisfaction mediates the nexus between financial management practices and life satisfaction. Teachers as well as education workers at all levels can take a cue from this study on how best to ascertain financial satisfaction and life satisfaction through quality financial management practices. This study provides useful information for all education managers and stakeholders in promoting life satisfaction among teachers through the organization of financial education courses and counselling programs to build financial literacy skills. Similarly, the study indicates an urgent need to improve the financial management practices and competencies of teachers. This research broadens the literature on the application of the spillover theory in issues of financial management, financial satisfaction and life satisfaction.


Introduction
Human life is very complex, and people's needs continue to increase and change (Niharika & Kiran, 2014).However, resources to meet these increasing needs are limited.Consequently, healthy financial management practices are increasingly significant to individuals (Brüggen et al., 2017).Prudent financial management practices affect individuals' financial well-being (Netemeyer et al., 2018).Financial management practices are becoming increasingly imperative in household consumption habits among the working class, since employees must make more sophisticated financial choices and develop financial management practices (Dowling et al., 2009).Aripin and Puteh (2017) asserted that employees continually face financial pressures that affect their quality of life, which seems to have been further aggravated by the negative consequences of COVID-19 on every economic sector globally (Chang et al., 2020;Haleem et al., 2020) and individual levels (Chang et al., 2020;Crick & Crick, 2020;Goodell, 2020).Joo (2008) pointed out that effective financial management practices and behaviors positively improve financial well-being.Similarly, Coşkuner (2016) posits that positive financial behaviors/management practices significantly contribute to financial and life satisfaction.
Financial satisfaction, a key component of financial well-being, is an important issue for every individual.Financial satisfaction refers to an individual's subjective perception of the adequacy of their financial resources (Dale, 2015;Hysmith, 2017) and is vital to quality of life and life satisfaction (Fan & Babiarz, 2019;Ng & Diener, 2014).The literature asserts that financial satisfaction contributes to life satisfaction (Brzozowski & Spotton Visano, 2020;Lee & Lee, 2019).According to Arruda (2019), everything regarding individual finances stresses workers and affects their financial well-being (Mokhtar et al., 2015).For example, in the USA, several mainstream corporations have pointed out that employee performance as a result of financial stress costs about half trillion dollars every year (Arruda, 2019).Similarly, Joo (2008) asserted that failure to control financial affairs may have significant long-term negative social implications.
Although empirical studies suggest that both financial management practices and financial satisfaction are significant factors that predict individuals' life satisfaction (Baryła-Matejczuk et al., 2020;Chang et al., 2020;Joo & Grable, 2004;Xiao et al., 2009), most of these studies have concentrated on developed countries (Ampofo et al., 2017;Błachnio et al., 2016;Cain et al., 2018;Das & Choubey, 2018;Xiao et al., 2009;Zhang et al., 2015), with a dearth of research on financial indicators of life satisfaction in developing countries such as Ghana.Furthermore, a review of existing literature suggests that the use of financial management practices and financial satisfaction as indicators of life satisfaction among academic staff appears to be a grey area that needs to be researched.Although some dotted articles can be found on life satisfaction among academics in countries such as Turkey and Indonesia where life satisfaction has been evaluated in relation to variables such as organizational support, leadership, work and academic related factors, teaching efficacy and self-esteem among others (Bernarto et al., 2020;Cerci & Dumludag, 2019;Çevik, 2017).Again, literature can be found on predictors of financial satisfaction and wellbeing among post graduate students in a university of Ghana (Owusu, 2021).It therefore appears that a lack of collective study on financial management practices, financial satisfaction and life satisfaction among teachers in second cycle institutions especially in Ghana.
Finally, although existing theories suggest that both financial management practices and financial satisfaction are significant antecedents of life satisfaction, no study has examined financial satisfaction as a mediator in the relationship between financial management practices and financial satisfaction among teachers at all levels of education.Arguably, looking at the critical roles that teachers play in advancing education in all disciplines especially at the second cycle levels, it is necessary to examine how financial management practices affect them since it can have cascading effects on other aspects of the delivery of their teaching services.Similarly, given that financial management practices based on teachers' enumerations can affect their financial and life satisfactions, it become imperative to research on these variables and come out with results and suggestions that can help stakeholders and managers in prudent management of resources especially among teachers in second cycle institutions.
The objectives of this study are therefore two-fold.First to the relationship between financial management practices and life satisfaction among second cycle teachers.Second to investigate the mediating effect of financial satisfaction on the direct relationship between financial management practices and life satisfaction among teachers in Ghana.This study contributes to the existing literature in the following ways.First, it expands the research on financial management practice, financial satisfaction, and life satisfaction by focusing on the educational sector in sub-Saharan countries.Second, the study extends the life satisfaction literature by investigating the mediating effects of financial satisfaction on financial management practices and the life satisfaction nexus.

Theoretical framework
This study is underpinned by spillover theory (Bruhn et al., 2020;Frischmann, 2009).Spillover theory informs on the value of positive third-party effects and how certain non-rival resources are tailored to support activities, the worth of recognizing, supporting, and producing spillover activities, and acknowledges the study of relationships between complex human resource systems (Frischmann, 2009).Gopalan and Pattusamy (2020) and Caligiuri and Cascio (1998) advocated that complications in one domain affect the other domain.This finding indicates that life satisfaction generally affects satisfaction in many other areas (Sirgy et al., 2001).Generally speaking, according to Xiao et al. (2009), positive behaviors in one area may affect satisfaction in other areas if skills and abilities can be transferred to other areas.By deduction, proper financial management practices will have a positive spillover effect on individuals' financial and life satisfaction.Thus, spillover theory supports the perception that financial management practices, financial satisfaction, and life satisfaction are unified, and adopting prudent financial management practices may have a positive spiral effect on both financial and life satisfaction (De Sousa, 2013).

Financial management practices
The concept of financial management practices, also referred to in the extant literature as financial behavior (Hilgert et al., 2003;Xiao et al., 2006Xiao et al., , 2009) ) has been defined in several ways.For example, Van Horne and Wachowicz (2002) defined it as the acquisition and prudent utilization of financial resources to attain one's overall financial objectives (Van Horne & Wachowicz, 2002).Refera et al. (2018) view it as the utilization of monetary information, aptitude, and demeanor in the administration of cash in different forms.Musah et al. (2018) posit that financial management practices include all aspects of management that affect individual financing.It stands to reason, therefore, that financial management practice deals with the evaluation of activities, including self-control, prudent management, and dispersal of one's financial resources in light of the improvement of monetary issues (Prihartono & Asandimitra, 2018).
According to The Financial Regulator of Ireland (2009 cited in Loke, 2017, p.35), the four key areas that define good financial management practices are the management of money, forecasting, appropriate product selection, and up-to-date information.There is conflicting empirical evidence on financial management practices across countries.For example, Anthony and Sabri (2015) examined clinical experts in Malaysia and reported good financial management practices in 35% of the sample.Similarly, Acedillo (2018) reported poor financial management practices in a study of public school teachers in the Philippines.Nyamute and Maina (2011) also studied financial management practices of financially literate and illiterate workers and reported that financially educated workers, including bankers, accountants, and auditors, showed lower degrees in standard financial management practices.

Life satisfaction
Life satisfaction is an evaluation of an individual's life in accordance with set criteria (Shin & Johnson, 1978), and is described as the cognitive component of subjective well-being (Branch-Allen & Jayachandran, 2016;Zhao & Zhang, 2020).Life satisfaction connotes the understanding of one's life, his/her feelings, and attitude towards what he wants to achieve, and is measured in terms of mood, satisfaction in relation to other achieved goals, self-esteem, and "self-experienced ability" to deal with everyday life (Chanda, 2015).The judgment of how fulfilled people are with their current status depends on an examination with a norm or goal that an individual sets for himself (Al-Ghamdi & Rhodes, 2015).
Two types of life satisfaction are discussed in the literature: general and specific.General life satisfaction relates to the subjective assessment that sets the ideals for quality of life, while specific life satisfaction focuses on the definite evaluation of diverse areas of life, such as family, health, education, and job (Chen et al., 2020).Life satisfaction is a multi-faceted concept that can be weighed from different angles, as well as the practices or behaviors that enable one to achieve ultimate life satisfaction, not excluding the management of the income factor (Campara et al., 2017;Cheung & Lucas, 2015).
According to Sousa and Lyubomirsky (2001), life satisfaction can be attained through excellent health, a decent income, and an active lifestyle.Luhmann and Hennecke (2017) found that individuals' life satisfaction accounts for motivational consequences, and may explain its positive effects on major life outcomes.In the existing literature, higher levels of life satisfaction have been found to be related to healthier job success (Boehm & Lyubomirsky, 2008), more optimistic life events (Luhmann et al., 2013), fewer health problems (Diener & Chan, 2011), longevity (Diener & Chan, 2011;Wiest et al., 2011) and long-lasting and healthier relationships, and higher incomes (Oishi et al., 2007).

Financial satisfaction
Financial satisfaction continues to attract scholarly attention in the domain of personal and family financial decision-making (Saurabh & Nandan, 2018).Financial satisfaction is ultimately related to the overall financial well-being and satisfaction of individuals (Robb et al., 2019) and the subjective measure of an individual's self-perceived happiness is dependent on financial health and fiscal position (Lee & Lee, 2019;Xiao & Porto, 2017).According to Sahi (2013), financial satisfaction refers to the level of satisfaction that individuals feel in relation to various aspects of their financial conditions.Therefore, it alludes to the fulfilment an individual sees with different parts of his monetary circumstance, pertaining to salary, emoluments, wages, and others, and the capacity to take measures against monetary crises and address essential issues (Saurabh & Nandan, 2018).However, financial satisfaction is not attached to a particular measure of cash, as two individuals may experience different levels of fulfilment regarding similar monetary circumstances or comparable monetary assets (Rutherford & Fox, 2010).

Financial management practices and financial satisfaction
Good financial management practice is an essential aspect of everyday life that affects several life outcomes (Dowling et al., 2009;Yap et al., 2018).For example, several studies have demonstrated a significant link between sound financial management practices and financial satisfaction (Brüggen et al., 2017;Coşkuner, 2016;Xiao et al., 2006).For instance, individuals who practice sound financial management are more financially satisfied than are those who do not (Joo & Grable, 2004;Kim et al., 2003).Davis and Runyan (2016) explored the personality determinants of financial satisfaction among alumni of a public university in Southwest United States and discovered a strong positive association between financial management practices and financial satisfaction.Dowling et al. (2009) also examined financial management practices as precursors to financial difficulties and dissatisfaction among young male Australian workers and reported financial management practices as a significantly unique predictor of financial satisfaction.Lastly, Baryła-Matejczuk et al. (2020) found that financial management practices have a positive influence on increased satisfaction with the financial status of married individuals.
Research has shown a correlation between money and happiness; therefore, individuals acquire life satisfaction when their financial well-being is buoyant (Boyce et al., 2010;Cohn et al., 2009;Ericson & Vinson, 2012).For example, Xiao et al. (2009) found a positive relationship between financial management practices and life satisfaction in a study of undergraduate university students in the USA.Similarly, Heo et al. (2020) found that financial factors are positively related to farmers' life satisfaction.Based on the above evidence, the following hypothesis is proposed: H1: Financial management practices positively affect financial satisfaction H2: Financial management practices positively affect life satisfaction

Financial satisfaction and life satisfaction
Theoretically, Campbell et al. (1976) suggest that individuals' life satisfaction correlates with their level of satisfaction in different areas of life, including work, family, community, health, and finance.Several scholars (Brüggen et al., 2017(Brüggen et al., , Ҫera et al., 2020;;Woodyard & Robb, 2016) averred an employee's financial satisfaction is of paramount importance when evaluating one's life satisfaction (Brüggen et al., 2017(Brüggen et al., , Ҫera et al., 2020;;Woodyard & Robb, 2016).For example, Lee and Lee (2019) conducted a comparative study on the link between financial satisfaction and life satisfaction in the United States and South Korea and reported a strong positive financial-life satisfaction nexus in both countries.Similarly, Ngamaba et al. (2020) reported a moderately positive relationship between financial satisfaction and subjective well-being including life satisfaction.Based on this evidence, we hypothesize the following: H3: Financial satisfaction positively affects life satisfaction

The mediation effect of financial satisfaction
Empirical support exists for the association between financial management practices and financial satisfaction (Arifin, 2018;Falahati et al., 2012;Xiao et al., 2009) and life satisfaction (Ngamaba & Soni, 2018;Schnettler et al., 2017;Yap et al., 2018).Similarly, financial satisfaction predicts life satisfaction (Lee & Lee, 2019;Ngamaba et al., 2020).In line with the above empirical works, it can be deduced that teachers who adopt prudent financial management practices would attain an appreciable level of financial satisfaction, which would ultimately enhance life satisfaction.Thus, financial management practices may indirectly influence life satisfaction through financial satisfaction (Xiao et al., 2009).

H4:
The relationship between financial management practices and life satisfaction is mediated by financial satisfaction

Methodology
This study used a cross-sectional survey.Data were collected from 263 respondents using a census survey (Nafula, 2017;Singh, 2015).The census survey was adopted because it helps to achieve a comprehensive coverage of target population and create a sample that mirrors the population's characteristics (Lakens, 2022;Sasa & Yellow Horse, 2022).The respondents were teachers selected from seven senior high schools in the Hohoe Municipality of the Volta Region of Ghana.The data were collected using an online survey instrument (Google Forms) and paper-and-pencil questionnaires.The data collection process took two weeks.Prior to undertaking data collection in schools, permission was obtained from the institutional heads.The nature and purpose of the study were explained to the participants during the data collection process, and they were assured of anonymity and confidentiality.

Financial Management Practices (FMP)
FMP was measured using a 7-item scale adopted from Dew and Xiao (2011), Wolmarans and Meintjes (2015), and Kelloway et al. (1992).Sample items are (i) "I always save money from every income I get" and (ii) "I keep records of all expenses".Each item is rated on a five-point scale ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

Financial Satisfaction
Financial satisfaction was assessed using the six items adopted from Ali et al. (2015).Some sample items are (i) "I am satisfied with my current financial situation" and (ii) "I can do little to improve my current financial situation".All items are rated on a five-point scale ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

Life Satisfaction
It was measured using a five-item scale adopted from Diener et al. (1985).Some sample items were (i) "I am satisfied with my life" and (ii) "If I could live my life over, I would change almost nothing."All items are rated on a five-point scale ranging from 1=strongly disagree to 5=strongly agree.

Data analysis
The data were processed using SPSS version 24.The respondent profiles were analyzed using descriptive statistics.Both the direct and indirect relationships in the proposed model were examined using Partial Least Squares based structural equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) (Hair et al., 2019).PLS-SEM was used for the analysis because it can predict relations, including mediation analysis in complex models that aim to explain and predict (Hair et al., 2017).Based on the guidelines of Hair et al. (2019), the measurement model was first assessed, followed by the structural model.

Respondents profile
As presented in Table 1, 60.8% of the respondents were male, and 39.2% were female.About 35.8% of the teachers were in the 31-35 years age bracket, and more than half (54.3%) were married.Regarding respondents' level of education, 43.5% had a bachelor's degree.Finally, 34.1% of the respondents had 5-8 years of teaching experience.

Descriptive statistics of concepts
Table 2 presents the descriptive statistics for the three constructs examined in this study: financial management practices, financial satisfaction, and life satisfaction.A mean value of 3.2 was utilized to distinguish between positive and negative perceptions, with scores ≥ 3.2, demonstrating a positive observation, and < 3.2, suggesting a negative observation (Castro & Martins, 2010;Ledimo, 2012).The overall average mean values for financial management practices, financial satisfaction, and life satisfaction were 3.15, 2.67, and 2.89, respectively.The mean values indicate an average level of financial management practice and a low level of financial and life satisfaction among teachers.
The mean values for financial management practices ranged from 2.85 3.65.The leading financial management practices was "I pay all my bills on time."(M = 3.65) followed by "I do save money for things like education and a home" (3.41).The mean values for financial satisfaction ranged from 2.45 to 2.83.The findings reveal that "I can do little to improve my current financial situation" (2.83) and "Sometimes I feel that my income does not quite cover my living costs" (2.81) were the two most important financial satisfaction issues that respondents listed.The mean value of life satisfaction (LS) ranged from 2.63 3.28.The main life satisfaction items rated by respondents include "In most ways my life is close to my ideal" (3.28) and "I am satisfied with my life" (2.97).

Measurement model assessment
The results of the quality assessment of the measurement model, as reported in Table 3 and Figure 1, indicate an adequate model for the structural analysis (Hair et al., 2017).As presented in Table 3, the composite reliability (CR) and Cronbach alpha (CA) values of all three constructs exceeded the cut-off point of 0.70 (Bagozzi & Yi, 1988;Nunnally, 1978), and the average variance extracted (AVE) for all constructs was > .50,confirming the reliability and convergent validity (Hair et al., 2019;Shmueli et al., 2019).
Discriminant validity was examined using Fornell and Larcker (1981) and Heterotrait Monotrait (HTMT) criteria (Gold et al., 2001;Henseler et al., 2015;Teo et al., 2008).As presented in Tables 4  and 5, the square roots of the AVEs and HTMT meet the recommended requirements (Hair et al., 2013).For example, the square root of the average variance explained for financial satisfaction (0.737) was greater than the matching row correlation (0.259) and column correlation (0.346).Hence, the three latent constructs used in this study differed from each other (Table 4).Similarly, the results of correlations among pairs of variables were less than the HTMT = 0.90 threshold values.As a result, the three latent constructs used in the research model varied, indicating the quality of the measured constructs (Table 5).

Analysis of structural model
The path coefficients of the model were assessed using bootstrap t-statistics based on 5,000 subsamples, a bias-corrected bootstrap (Anderson & Gerbing, 1984) and a conventional significance standard of 0.05.Model fit was assessed using the Standardized Root Mean Square Residual (SRMR) (Henseler et al., 2016).The SRMR for the sample was 0.076 < 0.08, suggesting good model fit (Hu & Bentler, 1998) (Table 6).The explanatory power of the model was assessed using R 2 criteria (Shmueli & Koppius, 2011) (Table 6).The results suggest that financial management practices account for 25.6% of the variation in financial satisfaction (Table 6).In addition, the collective effects of financial management practices and financial satisfaction explained 51.1% of the variation in life satisfaction.These results show that the model has an acceptable level of predictive power (Hair et al., 2019;Usakli & Kucukergin, 2018).
As presented in Table 7, the results of the path coefficients and p-values showed that both the direct and interaction path relationships were significant.Thus:

Mediation type Partial Mediation
H 1 was supported because the relationship between financial management practices and life satisfaction was positive and significant (ß=0.477;t-value=10.951;p = 0.000).
H 2 was supported because the relationship between financial management practices and financial satisfaction was positive and significant (ß=0.509;t-value=10.547;p = 0.000).
H 3 was supported because the relationship between financial satisfaction and life satisfaction was positive and significant (ß=0.345;t-value=6.961;p = 0.000).
H 4 was supported (see Table 8), as the mediation effect of financial satisfaction on the relationship between financial management practices and life satisfaction is positive and significant (ß=0.345;t-value=6.961;p = 0.000).

Discussion
This study sought to examine the interrelationship between financial management practices, financial satisfaction, and life satisfaction among 263 teachers using PLS-SEM.Consistent with earlier studies (Coşkuner, 2016;Xiao et al. (2009), the findings reveal a significant positive relationship between financial management practices and life satisfaction.This corroborates the studies of Baryła-Matejczuk et al. (2020) and Owusu (2021) that indicate that judicious financial management helps individual wellbeing and life satisfaction.Chen et al. (2020) suggest that life satisfaction is "a subjective and comprehensive evaluation index that is influenced by various factors."Consequently, the findings suggest that when individuals are prudent in the application of financial knowledge, skills, and attitudes in the management of income in various forms (Refera et al., 2018) such activities improve their life satisfaction.In agreement with earlier studies (Coşkuner, 2016;Davis & Runyan, 2016;Xiao et al., 2006), the findings reveal a significant positive association between financial management practices and financial satisfaction.The findings suggest that positive financial management practices, including credit and risk management, coupled with proper budgeting (Nkundabanyanga et al., 2017), yield financial satisfaction.The results suggest that providing teachers with financial management education geared towards effective financial management practices may help reduce individual financial stress and improve their financial satisfaction.The results are in line with the studies of Sawitri (2018), Dowling et al. (2009), andHasibuan et al. (2018) who undertook research on the relationship between financial management practices and financial satisfaction among lecturers, workers, entrepreneurs and respectively.The study further revealed a significant direct link between financial and life satisfaction.This study corroborates previous theoretical and empirical studies (Brzozowski & Spotton Visano, 2020;Lee & Lee, 2019;Ngamaba et al., 2020).These findings suggest that financial satisfaction promotes life satisfaction.In other words, satisfaction with life is influenced by financial satisfaction.
Financial satisfaction mediates the relationship between financial management practices and life satisfaction.This finding confirms Xiao et al. (2009) study, which suggested that financial management practices may indirectly influence life satisfaction.The findings suggest that financial satisfaction is the mechanism through which financial management practices influence teachers' life satisfaction.It can therefore be deduced that, as teachers practice good financial management, their financial satisfaction is enhanced, which in turn improves their life satisfaction.The mediating effect of financial management on the relationship between financial management practices and life satisfaction is supported by spillover theory (Frischmann, 2009).The findings support the expectation that teachers' adoption of judicious financial management practices has led to a positive spiral effect on their financial and life satisfaction.

Practical implication
This study has practical implications for promoting life satisfaction among teachers.For example, financial education courses and counselling programs should be organized for teachers to enhance their financial literacy.There is an urgent need to improve teachers' financial management practices and competencies based on the significant positive relationship between financial management practices and financial satisfaction.Teacher unions such as the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the National Association of Graduate Teachers (NAGRAT) should organize financial literacy training programs for teachers to equip them with financial literacy knowledge on financial planning, savings, and investment opportunities.These programs will help teachers identify potential strategies that can be adopted to improve their financial situation.The finding that financial satisfaction positively relates to life satisfaction has implications for the Ghana Education Service and Ministry of Education.Since income has been found to improve financial satisfaction in prior studies, it is important to improve the income levels of teachers.Enhancing teachers' income levels will lead to improvements in their life satisfaction.

Conclusion
Life satisfaction is of critical importance when it relates to financial management and life satisfaction as this practically affects other areas of life.In examining the relationship between financial management practices and life satisfaction as well as the mediating role of financial satisfaction on this relationship among teachers in the educational sector in Ghana, this novel research has contributed to the indicators of life satisfaction among teachers as well as broadening understanding on financial management practices and financial satisfaction.Significantly, the results of the study show that management practices and financial satisfaction affect both the cognitive and physical welfare of teachers.
The study draws attention to the inadequacy of research on financial management, financial satisfaction and life satisfaction even though they play pivotal roles in affecting the performance of teachers.The research enhances understanding of these variables among teachers and throws light on innovative ways through which individuals can advance the financial management practices.Future research areas which can also be explored among teachers/workers to promote their financial freedom.Thus, it will create greater avenues for teachers/workers to pay more attention to their tasks of teaching and others, given that financial issues when not managed well can lead to associated conflicts.

Limitations and directions for future studies
Data collection was limited to a population of senior high school teachers through the census, which may not have allowed the examination of other groups of teachers, such as those in primary and tertiary institutions.However, the data are reliable, as they capture the target group selected for the research.Future research can broaden the scope of this study by including other groups of teachers to determine whether the findings apply to all categories of teachers.Furthermore, other moderators and mediators, such as job satisfaction, financial anxiety, financial distress, and financial education could be introduced into the model in future studies to broaden the literature on financial management practices, financial satisfaction, and life satisfaction.