4 things that prevent young Singaporeans from investing
PUBLISHED ONJune 24, 2016 2:00 PMByDenise Bay
This article was originally on GET.com at: 4 Things That Prevent Young Singaporeans From Investing
Are you a young one who hasn't started immersing yourself into the daunting world of investments? Fret not, because you're not alone.
According to GYC's survey which polled roughly 1000 young people in Singapore between the ages of 18 to 30 on the subject of investment, they found that millennials are actually keen on investing but don't know how to go about doing just that.
Here is a list of 4 things that prevent young Singaporeans from investing.
1. Shortage of spare cash
This might sound whiny but where exactly can young people get a sizeable sum of spare cash meant for investing when they're still studying or have just started working their first real, full-time job?
Some millennials have greater financial liabilities compared to others who are luckier; I've got friends who are practically quite broke every month since they have banks going after them for the tuition fee loans they'd taken a couple of years ago.
2. Inadequate financial knowledge
Nobody knows how to go about investing without first learning about it, reading up, researching, or simply putting in the effort to get to know about seemingly boring things that help us take charge of (and be accountable for) our finances.
The key is to get the ball rolling when it comes to financial literacy. For starters, here are 5 things newbie Singaporean investors should know and a guide to what you can invest in if you have a certain amount of spare cash that you could tap on.
3. Most investment products available are beyond millennials
It was also highlighted in the news report that 75 per cent of the young people between the ages of 18 and 30 could afford to invest a monthly amount between $100 and $500 while most investment products call for bigger, lump-sum investment amounts.
That said, there are options out there for young people who'd like to start small while embarking on their investment journey. If you haven't heard, one only needs to invest a minimum of $500 in Singapore Savings Bonds.
This investment is practically risk-free since it's backed by the Singapore government, so don't expect to reap sky-high returns - the effective rate of return may not sound like much but they're still leaps and bounds higher than the pathetic 0.05 per cent interest on deposits most banks offer.
4. Live in the now mindset
Even though living for the moment sounds alluring because one can't turn back time nor predict what is going to happen in the future, it doesn't sound like a great plan to not bother about one's future at all.
Retirement and saving sufficiently probably wouldn't be on most young people's minds since we're only in our 20's, but what we young people have to realise is that inflation erodes our spending power and all the money we've saved so hard is stashed in our deposit accounts quicker than we know it.
Without making an effort to plan for our future, how are we supposed to live with a peace of mind when, obviously, our financial liabilities would increase as we grow older and enter different phases of our lives?
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