Don't take that career break warns HSBC

Almost three quarters of Singaporeans who took a career break found themselves worse off, survey finds.

A survey from the banking giant on Singaporeans found that several work-related events stand out as having a negative financial impact. Nine in ten (93%) people who were made redundant said this had a financially negative impact. Almost three-quarters (74%) of those who took a career break said this had a negative impact on their finances, as did three in five (59%) of those who started a business.

Other work-related events stand out as having a positive financial impact. Starting a first job is almost universally perceived as a financially positive event (91%) as is starting a new job (89%) and changing career (65%).

Having friends around when a job goes south was also important, the survey found.

People had relatively low levels of financial support for work-related life events. Only 12% received financial support when made redundant (while 35% received emotional support) and similarly 13% received financial support when changing career (compared with 32% who received emotional support). Financial support was greatest for those who retired (21%), although even here emotional support was more common (27%).

Another startling find - half of Singaporeans who got married said it had a negative impact on their finances.