Crisis in the making: 9 out of 10 young Singaporeans are not financially ready for the future

Students and young workers cannot deal with financial emergencies.

Majority of Singapore’s youth are overwhelmingly pessimistic about their financial situation, a survey released by Nielsen revealed.

Eight out of 10 are not confident about their current financial situation, while nine out of 10 feel they are not financially ready for the future.

The survey covered more than 1,000 final-year polytechnic students, university undergraduates and those who have just started working.

Majority believe that they need at least three months of their income for an emergency, which is a sizeable gap from the 10 months that financial planners recommend.

The average figure of $1,005,890 was cited as the perceived amount needed for retirement. The average age for retirement is estimated at 57 and the number of years they expect to live while in retirement is 23. 

Yet the mean projected savings by retirement age is only $382,872 – a shortfall of more than $675,000 and only a third of what they think they need.

Compounding the problem, seven out of 10 say they have not taken inflation into account when predicting what they need for retirement.