CHAPTER ONE Introduction 1.1 Background of the study

Retirement planning is a complex issue which involves a process that is related to behavior (Topa et al., 2009). The idea of retirement planning behavior has made considerable impacts within organizational psychology. Gutierrez & Hershey (2015) have defined retirement planning behavior as a series of stages in retirement planning which encompasses situation assessment, formulation of goals and how to achieve them in the future as well as monitoring the progress towards achieving the desired goal. It is also a process of planning for retirement where awareness is created, and goals of post-employment period are pursued through strategic behavior.

Retirement planning touches different aspects of life such as finance, health, social and interpersonal relations, leisure and recreation, real estate, retirement age, postretirement works and community development programs. Retirement planning focuses on multiple stages of post-retirement livelihood across the public-sector (Taylor & Doverspike, 2003) and private-sector (Reitzes, Mutran & Fernandez, 1996). It is clear that not all workers participate in planning for retirement before retiring from work. However, participating in planning before quitting the job will assist in smoothing the transition process and provide a realistic picture of retirement livelihood (Gutierrez & Hershey, 2015).

The Nigerian government established the National Pension Plan (NPP) to ensure that every employee who has worked in either the private or the public sector receives retirement benefits to manage the poverty that commonly challenges retirees (National Pension Commission, 2012).  The challenge confronting most retirees is the delays caused by pension funds administrators who often fail to release pension funds to retirees in a timely manner (Akhuemonkhan, Raini & Sofoluwe, 2013). Employees in both the public and private sectors in Nigeria work for 35 years before mandatory retirement (National Pension Commission 2012).

In the civil service sector, up to 90% of workers retire without having obtained any knowledge about business before retirement (Umukoro, 2013).Frequent job rotation, lack of specialized on the job training, and inadequate business skills development are some factors responsible for employees failure to acquire knowledge about entrepreneurship while they are employed before retirement (Mathew &Mary, 2012). Entrepreneurship involves identifying and exploiting strategies and opportunities for creating wealth (Obong, Roson, &Huagh, 2014) employees should learn the strategies and opportunities of entrepreneurship during their years of employment and before retirement because this knowledge could provide alternative income streams to retirees at retirement (Herr, 2013).

Development of knowledge about small-scale business operations could enable retirees in Nigeria to be responsible, enterprising, and have self-life learning experiences. By taking risk, managing results and learning from the outcomes of embarking on several business, individuals in Nigeria could have an alternative source of income at retirement (Baker, Islan, & lee, 2014). In providing the resources by which employees could carry out small-scale business information acquisition effectively, employers could create teams for the development and exploitation of business ideas, as well as mixing of staff with different educational and training backgrounds in the work place (Bjerke &Hultman, 2002).

1.2 Statement of the problem

The contribution of entrepreneurship to the development of entrepreneurs and the society at large cannot be over emphasized. Entrepreneurship has brought about employment opportunities, improvement in the standard of living, of Nigerian citizens and increase in the nation’s gross domestic product. In spite of the numerous roles played by entrepreneurship in the society. Many civil servants do not consider its practice a worthwhile exercise. They depend solely on salaries which investing in business that can generate additional income for them and guarantee a dependable source of livelihood at retirement.

This lack of retirement planning can cause civil servants to face frustration at retirement when salaries are no longer coming and their retirement entitlements are not paid as and when due. This frustration can result in serious illness which can cause them to die before their time. These issues raised the concern of the researcher in examining how entrepreneurship development can be used as a strategy for retirement planning in Nigeria. This study, therefore, investigates the effect of entrepreneurship development as a strategy for effective retirement planning among public and private sector workers in Nigeria.

1.3     Objectives of the Study

The general objective of the study was to examine how entrepreneurship development can be used as a strategy for effective retirement planning in Nigeria. The specific objectives were,

• To examine the effects of innovativeness on effective retirement planning in Nigeria.
• To find out the effect of proactiveness on effective retirement planning in Nigeria.
• To assess the effect of risk taking on effective retirement planning in Nigeria.
• To determine the effect of competitive aggressiveness on effective retirement planning in Nigeria.

1.4     Research Questions

• What are the effects of innovativeness on effective retirement planning in Nigeria?
• What are the effects of proactiveness on effective retirement planning in Nigeria?
• What are the effects of risk taking on effective retirement planning in Nigeria?
• What are the effects of competitive aggressiveness on effective retirement planning in Nigeria?

1.5     Statement of Hypothesis

HO₁: There are no significant effects of innovativeness on effective retirement planning in Nigeria

HA₁: There are significant effects of innovativeness on effective retirement planning in Nigeria.

HO₂: There are no significant effects of proactiveness on effective retirement planning in Nigeria

HO₂: There are significant effects of proactiveness on effective retirement planning in Nigeria

HO₃: There are no significant effects of risk taking on effective retirement planning in Nigeria.

HO₃: There are significant effects of risk taking on effective retirement planning in Nigeria.

HO₄: There are no significant effects of competitive aggressiveness on effective retirement planning in Nigeria.

HO₄: There are significant effects of competitive aggressiveness on effective retirement planning in Nigeria.

1.6    Significance of the study 

The findings of this study would be beneficial to the researchers, Pension Board, and students. The findings would provide useful information to the pension administrators on the appropriate strategies to be adopted that will bring about effective performance.

This study would also be significant in the sense that its finding would serve as reference materials for future researchers to carry out further studies in the field of knowledge under study.

The Nigeria Pension Management Board would benefit from the findings of this study in view of the revealed indices on how to manage pension of the retirees which will form the basis of their seminar/workshop on retirement planning. Finally, the outcomes of this research would to be of immense benefits to students and other stakeholders because its revealed information on the use of technological tools to improve on the strategies for retirement planning.

1.7    Scope of the study

The study was delimited to effect of entrepreneurship development as a strategy for effective retirement planning pension office, Uyo as a study.

1.8    Limitation of the study

In every research work, it is likely that the researcher may encounter some limitations. The researcher encountered some challenges during the period of carrying out this research. Some of these challenges include the dearth of materials for a proper and effective research work constituted a major limitation. Again, how to get the true and required information from the respondents through questionnaire also constituted a constraint in the study.

 

1.9 Definition of Terms

The terms used in this study should be taken to mean the following: