“You start the day you get a job”: a life-course perspective on retirement preparedness among Ugandan academics

Purpose The study aimed to explore how academic staff in Ugandan public institutions understand the concept of retirement preparedness throughout their life course, with a focus on the influence of timing, financial knowledge, social influence and personal attitudes. Design/methodology/approach Using a life-course conceptual model, we carried out semi-structured interviews with 13 university academic staff from eight public universities in Uganda. The participants were purposively selected, and the data were analysed for themes using ATLAS.ti 25 software, paying attention to temporality, agency and relational embeddedness in which planning takes place. Findings Three main themes emerged, namely: “Early Thinking, Better Planning”, “Learning from Others” and “Living Forward”. Gender roles and the instability of the institution also influenced how people prepared for retirement. Practical implications These results suggest that retirement preparedness should also be understood through the lenses of health management, social inclusion and life course timing, in addition to the financial perspective. Policymakers should invest in comprehensive models of retirement planning that are more context-sensitive. Originality/value The study adds to life-course theory and contributes to the gerontological literature by focusing on the real-life experiences of academic staff in Uganda.