Financial Literacy and Retirement Preparedness: A Critical Review of Determinants and Policy Using Scopus AI Analytics

Retirement preparedness has become an increasingly urgent concern considering demographic shifts, rising life expectancy, and economic uncertainties. However, despite its importance, many individuals remain inadequately prepared for retirement due to limited financial literacy, behavioural biases, and structural inequalities. This critical gap underscores the need to examine the determinants of financial literacy and their implications for retirement planning. The present study aims to analyse how financial literacy and its key determinants—such as education, income, gender, behavioural attitudes, and health literacy shape individuals’ retirement preparedness, with a particular focus on policy implications. To achieve this, the study employed a systematic review method using Scopus AI (25 September 2025), incorporating tools such as Summary and Expanded Summary, Concept Map, Topic Experts, and Emerging Themes. This approach enabled a comprehensive synthesis of evidence across diverse contexts and time periods. The findings reveal a consistent and positive relationship between financial literacy and retirement preparedness, indicating that higher financial knowledge enhances savings behaviour, investment diversification, and long-term planning. Determinants such as education and income emerged as critical enablers, while gender disparities and behavioural factors (e.g., overconfidence and under confidence) significantly influenced outcomes. Emerging themes highlighted the need for integrating financial literacy with health literacy and recognizing the moderating role of financial advisors in shaping retirement outcomes. Theoretically, this study contributes by consolidating fragmented insights into a holistic framework linking financial literacy, behavioural finance, and retirement preparedness. Practically, the findings underscore the importance of policy interventions that enhance financial education, promote digital financial literacy, and address gender and socioeconomic gaps. Limitations include reliance on secondary data and varying contextual differences across countries. Future research should employ longitudinal and cross-cultural designs to deepen understanding and test the effectiveness of policy-driven interventions.