Expert Says 90% of Malaysians Do Not Have Enough to Retire Comfortably, Here’s Why

Everyone in the workforce definitely knows it’s important to save up for retirement, but how many of us actively do it?

According to financial planner Dr Niki Shuhada Shukor, a large proportion of us aren’t doing it right!

“A survey carried out by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) for this year showed that household savings in Kuala Lumpur and other big cities as well as in the rural areas, found that over 90 per cent respondents are not having enough saving to retire comfortably,” she told Bernama after appearing on the news channel’s talk show, Nine11 yesterday, according to the Malay Mail.

“They feel it is not important to start saving today, that it can be done later but when they finally realise it, it’s probably too late, and we do need the money for our retirement, as our source of income will be shrinking or we become less healthy that it will require us to have a strong financial back up.”

She cited the lack of awareness on retirement financial planning among the Malaysian public to be one of the main reasons why many of us aren’t saving enough.

Although we do have monthly commitments like homes, bills, and meals to pay for, Niki Shuhada stressed the importance of always setting aside some amount of our monthly income, saying,

“When we retire, we need financial resources to sustain us. Proper financial planning  will ensure that future commitments are met. The easiest way is to save 10 per cent of our monthly income for retirement.”

Niki Shuhada also said another possible reason for Malaysians not saving enough was the wrong choice of lifestyle that’s beyond one’s means, saying,

“They don’t make any saving due to their urgent monthly commitment, perhaps they have expensive cars, a house as well as a luxurious lifestyle.”

“Mobile phones are constantly evolving and taste for expensive meals will also use up the money without much thought about saving for the future.”

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Also read: Survey Says Most M’sians Have No Extra Cash to Survive 1 Week Without Income