It seems that Malaysian millennials are always in the news for the wrong reasons. Just recently, it was revealed that a whopping 65,000 Malaysian youths have been declared bankrupt since 2013 and that’s really worrying! I apologise for my own generation and admittedly, I’m not any much different than them!
We, who always think we know better than our elders have been shunning our parents’ advice to “save for a rainy day” and instead splurge well beyond our means. This has been proven by many studies as well!
So, how exactly are we so reckless and financially irresponsible? WORLD OF BUZZ decided to delve into the matter and we found these 5 scary reasons that hit close to home for most of us!
1. Being on social media influences millennials to constantly splurge
Source: Shutterstock
Do you know that the average Malaysian millennial spends 27 hours a week looking at their phones? Comparing that stat across the globe, our millennials rank amongst the highest weh! Most of these hours are spent on social media and this can’t be good because based on a couple of researches:
- 57% of millennials spend money they hadn’t planned to because of what they saw on social media
- 61% of millennials feel inadequate about what they have in their life based on what they saw on social media
- 88% of millennials compare themselves to others on social media
- Most feel pressured to keep up with friends’ spending based on social media so they splurge out!
Even worse, many Malaysian millennials are even willing to withdraw from their savings just to cover these lavish lifestyles such as overseas travelling, gadgets, fashion and beauty products! I mean, RM16 just for a small cup of coffee, seriously?!
2. The high cost of living but stagnant salary levels
Source: FriedChillies
How many of you guys think Singapore is expensive? Minus their high home and car rentals, you’d be surprised how cheap it is to live there. SGD$2,500 – 3,000 (RM7,500 – 9,000) fresh grad salary and SGD$3 – 4 (RM9 – 12) for hawker food? Yes, please! Our hawker food costs about RM8 but we don’t earn as much as them!
Malaysia’s costs of living are inevitably pretty high but unfortunately, our salary increments aren’t getting any better.
- In 2017, the average salary increase rate in Malaysia declined to 5% as opposed to the 7% from the previous year
- There’s a rampant increase in prices by retail and F&B outlets (with excuses that petrol prices increase/implementation of new taxes etc)
How lah?
3. Obsessed with getting the latest and most expensive smartphones
Source: investcyberjaya
Did you know that smartphone users in Malaysia have doubled since 2013? What’s more, according to MCMC, 45.9% of the users in 2017 are millennials, by far the most in Malaysia! With RM6.8 billion spent by Malaysians on smartphones in 2016, MCMC projects this expenditure will only move upwards.
What’s making this worrisome is that, statistically, most of us Malaysian millennials tend to upgrade our phones every year seemingly just to follow the trend rather than based on necessity!
Some even go to the lengths of getting personal loans just to get their hands on a brand new RM4000+ smartphone when there are cheaper alternatives available with similar features. No wonder only 6% of Malaysians have savings to last them six months (or less)!
Cannot like this la weh!
4. The money we’re saving up is just sitting in our bank accounts and not being invested
Source: Comparehero
Another thing that many of us do not understand is the benefits of delayed gratification. We do not see the bigger picture and do not even bother to commit to any type of investment, as we do not see the benefit of early investment and the effect of its returns!
Most Malaysian millennials see investments as something unnecessary and leceh especially due to the research that’s needed to put into it. What most of us don’t know is that even a mere 1% increase in their average investible asset can mean an extra RM1 million ringgit by the time they reach retirement age!
5. They’re forking out large sums every month for an unnecessary and expensive car loan
Source: bm.cari
Remember us mentioning that 65,000 Malaysian youths were declared bankrupt earlier? Well, the number one reason why they went bankrupt is actually due to car loans! It was reported that out of all these expenses, youths were spending on things like:
- Car loans (26.63%)
- Personal loans (25.48%)
- Housing loans (16.87%)
- Business loans (10.24%)
There’s nothing wrong with owning a car but if you can’t afford one, just DON’T BUY ONE! The extra cash could be used for other important matters such as investing for the future or setting up an emergency fund.
That car debt-free life is what SOCAR has in mind for Malaysians for their Merdeka Kereta campaign where they are giving you the chance to be merdeka from car loans! Here’s why you absolutely need to check it out:
- SOCAR will be paying car loan instalments for one month for four people capped at RM1,500
- No membership fee will be charged for new sign-ups during this period
- To be selected, members need to be registered with the SOCAR App and need to make a booking at least once
We’ve personally tested out the SOCAR before (this part not sponsored) and it was really amazing to use!
Simple right? So what are you waiting for? Merdeka yourself from car loans this Merdeka Day with SOCAR!
Since its inception in Malaysia in January 2018, SOCAR has been working to empower Malaysians to go carless and adapt to a multiflex lifestyle. This gives an individual the choice to get to point A to B with the flexibility of choosing how you wish to travel. To find out more about SOCAR, click here.
