KUALA LUMPUR – The number of Malaysians who say they are unable to save money every month increased by two percentage points this year to 21% compared to 19% last year, according to the RinggitPlus Malaysian Financial Literacy Survey (RMFLS) 2021 survey.
RinggitPlus co-founder and director Hann Liew said the credit crunch was due to the current pandemic and economic situation.
“21% of Malaysians told us they cannot save a single sen each month, increasing from 19% of respondents last year.
“People that can save less than RM500 or do not manage to save each month was 56% this year versus 49% last year, and the people that can save RM1,500 or more each month was 15% versus 20% last year.
“In summary, saving has been more difficult than ever before and we can tie this to the pandemic and the economic situation,” he said at the virtual RMFLS 2021 event today.
The RMFLS 2021 survey involved 3,000 respondents across all income groups in Malaysia.
In addition, Liew said the survey also recorded a huge percentage drop in people who believe their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) savings are enough for retirement.
“15% of our respondents this year said they believe that their EPF savings are enough for retirement versus 30% last year – this is a whopping decrease of half the people that told us.
“85% of respondents think their EPF savings alone may not be sufficient for retirement and almost half of them – 45% – aid they have not started any retirement planning – this is an equally worrying metric. Similar to last year, the differences are far bigger than we expected,” he said.
The survey also stated that 52% of respondents said they cannot survive more than three months if they lose their job; 44% spend exactly or more than what they earn, and 76% believe they are in control of their money.
“This year, building an emergency fund was the top reason Malaysians saved money,” he said, adding that the pandemic has been and remains a huge wake-up call to Malaysians, exacerbated by previous poor financial habits around saving and spending.
Hence, to find a solution for them, he said RinggitPlus has been working with its partners to introduce RinggitPlus Financial Healthcheck and RinggitPlus Financial Planning Services to help people smoothen their financial management.
“RinggitPlus Financial Healthcheck is a checking tool that checks your financial health across cash flow, debt management, insurance, and wealth management.
“Our second product, RinggitPlus Financial Planner, is our digital one-on-one financial planning service where you can get a certified licensed expert directly online without having to go anywhere,” he said. – Bernama, October 13, 2021
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