Malaysians feel freelance work or a side business can help their finances

How financially-savvy are Malaysians?

According to a Vase.ai  survey of 1,525 Malaysian youths, 80% of them feel in control of their finances and 78% have been saving part of their income.

That said, 32% of savers, save less than 20% of their income, 61% of them felt their income is sufficient for their needs, and 52% said their finances could be better if they took up freelance work or started a side business.

In line with that, 52% of Malaysians who save part of their income revealed they engage in freelance work or have a side business to achieve their goals, while 48% said that they downgrade their lifestyle.

Of those who save, 58% allocated between 1-25% of their savings into insurance (retirement plan, investment linked products, etc) while 50% of respondents allocated 1-25% of their savings into EPF (additional self-contributions).

As for the non-savers, 55% said their income is just enough to maintain their lifestyle, while 32% say they do not know how to save.

by Jerene Ang, Human Resources Online, 21 August 2019