The secret to a great retirement? Avoid holding too much cash, says BlackRock

Portfolios need to be more diversified.

Singaporean investors are too reliant on cash savings to meet their retirement needs. However, a survey by multinational investment corporation BlackRock revealed that this fondness for cash might be the reason why Singaporean investors are failing to meet their targeted returns.

The Global Investor Pulse Survey showed that the average actual cash holding in Singapore is 48%, compared to the ideal cash holding of 36%. Meanwhile, the target annual returns on all savings and investments stands at an ambitious 8.4%.

Such reliance on cash is likely to continue into retirement, with a significant proportion of Singaporeans (38%) planning to hold their savings in cash upon retirement.

“There is a significant gap between current holdings and financial goals, which makes it even more challenging for Singaporeans to generate their target annual investment returns of 8.4%,” said Kevin Hardy, Country Head of BlackRock Singapore.

Additionally, saving money is ranked by 53% of Singaporeans as their top financial priority over growing wealth (50%). Allocation to other asset classes includes equities (18%), property (8%), bonds (5%) and alternatives (3%).

Such reliance on cash is likely to continue into retirement, with a significant proportion of Singaporeans (38%) planning to hold their savings in cash upon retirement.

“With a longer lifespan and rising cost of living, more needs to be done to make savings last through retirement,” Hardy noted.