Chapter One

Background of The Study

A. Introduction
In today’s time, almost everything is revolving around money. Everything we look
at now has its own monetary value. Almost nothing is free; even the most necessary
things humans need to live in this world. It is also undeniable that the prices of goods
keep on getting higher each time. In the situation of our country, the Philippines, many
people cannot afford to buy everything they need to survive. Filipinos are budgeting their
hard-earned money for their family. Sometimes, the amount that they earn is not even
enough to feed the family three times a day. A bigger population of people who experience
poverty exists here in our country. With our economy that is fluctuating and is causing an
inflation, more and more Filipinos are currently living in poverty.
Saving money and having financial literacy is important so that all of us will know
how to spend our money wisely. People, especially the youth, should start as early as
now practicing how to save money for their future. The social media, especially those
Social Networking Sites (SNS) such as Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter is a good
avenue to spread awareness. In fact, there have been a lot of posts lately that are
teaching the readers some basics about financial literacy. These kinds of efforts help
educate millions of social media users.
Bachelor of Science in Business Management Major in Financial Management is
a program currently offered by San Beda College Alabang. According to [Link],
it is a four-year college course recommended for people who plan to make a career in
Banking and Finance Industry. The program aims to help students acquire analytical
skills, perception, and competencies necessary for sound financial decision making in the
business world. It focuses on financial analysis, economics, investment strategies,
management systems, banking and commercial planning. One good thing that students
of Financial Management is also learning is how to be smart when it comes to money and
becoming financially literate. Not every course in college gets to discuss this topic that is
why it is an advantage for the students taking up Financial Management that they get to
learn about those kinds of things early on.
 Financial Literacy is the knowledge gained to implement the most effective and
successful money management practices. Financial Literacy is vital for an individual's
professional and personal growth. According to [Link], financial literacy is the
confluence of financial, credit and debt management and the knowledge that is necessary
to make financially responsible decisions that are integral to our everyday lives. Financial
literacy includes understanding how a checking account works, what using a credit card
really means, and how to avoid debt. In sum, financial literacy impacts the daily issues an
average family makes when trying to balance a budget, buy a home, fund the children’s
education and ensure an income at retirement.
Not everyone can have the opportunity to formally learn about financial literacy
and the Financial Management students of San Beda College Alabang have that
opportunity. This study will be able to prove whether there is a relationship between
financial literacy and saving habits of the Financial Management students. In order to
research thoroughly, the researchers will seek to answer the specific questions that will
be based on the research problem. By analyzing the data gathered from the answers of
the Financial Management from the questionnaire and by studying related literature about
the topic, the researchers will be able to answer if there is such relationship.

B. Significance of the Study

Being able to know the relationship between financial literacy and saving habits of
the Financial Management students of San Beda College Alabang will be helpful for us
to understand whether taking up the course really helps the students achieve financial
literacy. With that, the researchers will be able to know if having financial literacy from the
subjects learned by the students are helpful with their saving habits. The researchers also
believe that this study will be beneficial to the financial management students, the
professors, and the future researchers.

Financial Management students will be able to understand deeper what are the
other advantages of their course are. They will be able to know if gaining financial literacy
is helpful when it comes to their saving habits. The students will gain more knowledge
about what are the effective saving habits and what it means to have financial literacy.
The students will be able to gain more interest in their course upon learning its advantages
financially.

The Professors will also benefit from this study because they will be able to know
if their financial management students are gaining more knowledge in the course. With
that, the professors can weigh if they are teaching their students effectively or not. This
study will help them to be able to understand their students better. They may also acquire
new ways of teaching their students about financial literacy and how to save smart with
this. The professors will also be helpful in teaching the Financial Management students
to spread awareness about financial literacy.

Future researchers may use this study as a reference for their research. This study
will be helpful for them to understand the topic further and will become an aid for them in
answering their research questions. This study may also be used as comparison to their
study so that there will be an increase of resources about financial literacy.

C. Statement of the Problem

Today, being financially literate can be really helpful for many people to be able to
save up for the future. It is a positive thing that some of the students of San Beda College
Alabang are having an opportunity to learn those things in an institution. This study aims
to know the relationship between financial literacy and saving habits of Financial
Management students of San Beda College Alabang.
The researchers intend to answer the following questions that will help them attain
more insights and understanding about the subject matter:
What is the the relationship between financial literacy and saving habits of Financial
Management students of San Beda College Alabang?
1. How does taking up the course financial management help the students gain
financial literacy?
2. What aspects of the course Financial Management are helping the students in their
saving habits?
3. Do the students taking up Financial Management think that being a financial
literate can be helpful when it comes to their saving habits?
D. Scope and Limitations
This study will only focus on the relationship between financial literacy and saving
habits of Financial Management students of San Beda College Alabang. A total of _
students taking up Bachelor of Science in Business Management Major in Financial
Management of San Beda Alabang in the Academic Year 2018-2019 will be the main
source of data collection. This population was chosen because it is within the reach of the
researchers and the population of the Financial Management students is accurately what
the researchers need. A questionnaire will be used to collect the data coming from the
said students. This will help the researchers further understand and answer the main
problem of this study. With the information that will be gathered from the respondents, the
researchers will be able to know the academic literacy rate of the Financial Management
students.
Moreover, students taking up other programs and those from the higher year levels
will not be covered by this study. The researchers believe that those will not be of help in
the whole process of this study. No other form of data gathering will be used by the
researchers, eg., interviews. Using survey as a form of data gathering will already be
enough to cover the questions needed to be answered by this study.