This study addressed the issue of poor personal financial management practices among teaching and non-teaching personnel in higher education institutions. The main objective was to explore the underlying factors influencing their financial behaviors through data-driven analysis. Employing a quantitative research design, the study involved 333 teaching and 238 non-teaching personnel from a higher education institution. Simple random sampling was used for the survey, and data were analyzed using Exploratory Factor Analysis (EFA) to identify latent financial management dimensions. The results for teaching personnel revealed key factors such as budgeting discipline, savings behavior, and investment awareness. For non-teaching personnel, the analysis highlighted retirement planning, purchase discipline, and insurance awareness as dominant factors. Both groups demonstrated similarities in budgeting practices and saving habits, but differed in financial priorities, with teaching personnel focusing more on investment and non-teaching personnel on protection planning. These findings imply the need for differentiated financial education programs that consider role-specific financial concerns, aiming to enhance financial well-being across all employment categories in educational institutions. SDG #: 1 No Poverty; 4 Quality Education; 8 Decent Work and Economic Growth Article visualizations:
Gono et al. (Sat,) studied this question.