24 February 2021
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New research from AAM Advisory has revealed that the covid-19 pandemic has caused the majority of Singaporeans to reduce how much money they save.
When respondents were asked whether they had been able to save more during the Covid-19 pandemic, just 17% said that they were.
However, over a third of all people surveyed said that the pandemic had affected their saving with 25% of respondents saying they were now saving less and 11% said they had lost their income altogether and could not save at all.
It is no surprise that more than a third of people had to readjust their saving habits to cope in these unusual and difficult circumstances."
The middle aged were the most impacted with 30% of 45-54-year olds saying they had had to reduce their savings with a further 12% saying they had lost their income.
Meanwhile younger generations seem to have been the least hard hit with only 19% of 25-34-year olds saying they are saving less than they were prior to the pandemic. Half of younger people said the pandemic had either not affected their saving habits or that they were able to save more
Eryk Lee, CEO of AAM Advisory said: "This research highlights how badly the pandemic has impacted people's savings habits. While Singapore has done well at containing the virus, lots of people have still experienced a fall in income and the economy suffered a huge economic shock when we went into the circuit breaker.
"It is therefore no surprise that more than a third of people had to readjust their saving habits to cope in these unusual and difficult circumstances.
"It is times like these where financial advice comes into its own and shows its value by making sure that these short-term shocks don't derail your long-term financial plans. Sorting through finances is complicated and as hard as we try to be rational there is a level of emotion involved which can hinder your decisions especially during stressful circumstances such as this pandemic."
