Malaysians save less, most don’t have enough retirement money: survey

KUALA LUMPUR-Malaysians are in their worst financial situation in 2022 compared to the last five years, and a looming recession could put them at risk as savings dwindle, combined with the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic .

A recent survey by Malaysian financial services website RinggitPlus revealed that 70% of Malaysians will be saving less than RM500 (S$153) per month in 2022 or not at all.

“This is the biggest year-on-year increase since 2018, compared to 52% of Malaysians who have less than RM500 in monthly savings in 2021,” said the Ringgit Plus Malaysian Financial Literacy Survey 2022.

But even more worrisome is that some Malaysians are unable to guarantee retirement as nearly 3.6 million Pension Fund Employee Provident Fund (EPF) members have accounts of less than RM1,000 as of November 2021. . December 2021.

The country’s largest pension fund said in September that members retiring in the next few years would need around RM600,000 to live a decent retirement.

The survey also showed that 63% of Malaysians could live no more than three months on their reduced savings if they lost their jobs.

However, in 2021, the majority of Malaysians were confident of surviving three to six months on their savings, according to Bank Negara’s Financial Stability Review’s H1 2022 report.

In 2021, the central bank announced a surge in personal savings since lockdowns were imposed to curb Covid-19. In June 2021, his current and savings account balances reached RM306.5 billion, Bank Negara data shows.

Reports suggested that the increase in savings was due to lower consumer spending after businesses closed during the lockdown.