Financial Attitudes

"We asked youths questions on how their financial habits and behaviour are like and their thoughts on the importance of adopting positive long term financial behaviour."

What does the word “long term financial behaviour” mean to you?

Daron: I think it is more of a long term financial habit that one should develop to have a sustainable financial goal.

Yucheng: I guess for me it would be more like thinking long term in 50 years time, things such as what I want to have in the future.

Owen: I don’t even know what it means to me. maybe, it's something that I have to commit to? Let's say if I tell myself I'm going to save 20% of my savings, no matter how much I earn, I need to stick to that sentence, which is quite tough.

Aiman: Saving up for your future, I guess. Long-term financial behaviour is for example if you have good financial behaviour, I guess you are saving up for your future, All the way under retirement, you just begin with the end in mind.

Jeslyn: I can be consistent in my savings even better if I can increasingly do the same thing

Leticia: You have a plan and you work towards it, you have to be persistent and not anyhow spend

Kieron: The first word I can think of is cultivated from young

Solihin: I am not sure if this is right but long-term financial behaviour means my behaviour towards savings and spending and about how I keep track of it.

Sabrina: Probably having a savings plan, goal and obviously abiding to it.

Loh Chuan Ren: I guess long term passive income, that’s probably my image of it. I’m not really sure.

Ryan Goh: I think something that you do very consistently ah like save consistently ah or invest consistently so like having more time in the market ah than timing the market.

Clara: Maybe like a habit that I keep long term to manage my finances, things I do long term to have a stable income

What do you think you can do in order to adopt a positive long term financial behaviour?

Daron: More practice on self discipline.

Yucheng: I guess constant reminders and keeping in check with the amount you want to use and save, on like excel sheets, are all good ways to start off.

Owen: Earn more ah ha ha. If I can earn more, this wouldn’t be a problem ah. Right now, right now is because, uh, let's say if I'm earning $250 and, um, it's barely, it's barely keeping me alive, but instead if I have $500 per week. Then maybe I can put some of it into savings, yeah.

Aiman: Planning, I guess, learn what to do with your money, because currently all I'm doing right now is just saving and spending, you know, setting 50% aside spending the other 50%. But I guess, you can do more like investments, you know, all this stuff, but I haven't really got into it. So I guess like planning far ahead what you want to do with your money.

Jeslyn: I think for me to read more, I need to be motivated by all this story, and also to read more about things like investment. And when I read it, I will think about the things I should do.

Leticia: First you need to have a plan and make financial goals, create checklists and project milestones for u to work towards

Kieron: Start now, start learning, start googling, start reading about people, start asking people I feel who are successful in their financials, making connections and all. I can do self research also on my end. I don't struggle with motivation on adopting a positive long term financial behavior especially since I limit my spending given my background now.

Solihin: Ermm… maybe I can learn from my fiancée and handle it on my own so I can understand and learn to manage it myself.

Sabrina: Well, it's important to have a realistic goal so obviously to start small. Have those savings accounts which automatically will transfer the money into the savings account every month on that specific date and those accounts you are usually unable to withdraw for at least about 2 years or you can set how many years you don’t want to touch the money for.

Loh Chuan Ren: What I can do is to manage my finances well in every department, such as comparing the values of anything that I purchase. And also investment for sure, that’s where the passive income comes from.

Ryan Goh: So I think my financial behaviour right now is not so bad ah for where I am right now so I think I will just continue on with that. Because since I can do it consistently I think I will just follow that

Clara: Maybe starting out small like regularly saving and setting an amount and planning out financial goals and maybe try to make a habit. I did not really sit down and thought about it.

Do you think it is important to make good financial decisions young? Why and why not ?

Have you tried to change your financial behaviour/habits before?

Daron: Yes because I believe that you should start young and starting young is good because we will adopt this good habit and this good habit will bring us through a long way

Yucheng: Yes because I have started doing investment so I learned more about how compound interest works and how rates will keep increasing over the years. And if you start early you can earn more than starting later. This helps in learning how to manage money from a young age and helps to reduce stress in the future. Like when they have to start planning and paying for loans, they would know what they should do.

Owen: I know it's important to make good financial decisions when I am 20 years old or something like that. I wouldn’t think about this when I am 16. But if I were to tell my 16 years old, like me when I'm 16 years old, I would ask him to buy an insurance investment plan. if you start early means you get the returns more if you prolong it. So, I guess I started a bit too late? But it’s better than nothing.

Aiman: I think it's always good to start young and so that as you grow older, it will be easier for you. For me, I haven't even started this yet, I think. And I'm already 19, but I'd probably start soon. I mean, if you're 16 also all the way to 25, I think it's important to make those financial decisions. Money is important and we can't deny that la.

Jeslyn: Because I'm still a single young person, I don't have to make big decisions, and the decision I make now is quite light and not serious, but I think it's important to make good financial decisions.

Leticia: Depends on how much the person has. If you have 100 dollars and then don't just spend it , don't bother saving. But if u have 10,000 dollar and u spend it all , then its really stupid.

Kieron: Honestly I wouldn't have a fixed answer as everyone has different goals in life, I can't say for everyone, for me I feel it's definitely important for now. But I believe that there is no need to start investing, more of cultivating good habits and actually planning my expenses. Because investing you can start young, but realistically it probably would not go too far, because you need capital to work. Right now I think having good financial habits and planning ability is more important than making decisions.

Solihin: Yes, definitely lah. The only piece of advice I can give is to learn to start saving no matter how rich or poor you are because you are not on top all the time. There are times you will fall, that is when the money will help you.

Sabrina: Yeah, I think it’s important because 16 to 25 is when we transition from teenagers to young adults and the habits created will last a lifetime.

Loh Chuan Ren: Definitely, it’s important to have a good starting capital to do anything you want in the future. That is very important, because without the capital you can’t do anything. For example, I am planning to move into the youtube industry and without any capital, I can't get the equipment needed and I can't start anything at all.

Ryan Goh: Of course, because at this age you have more free time so you can learn the basics of finances and learn how to invest. Since like now all the investment brokers are all online, and there is so much information on the internet, you can just spend like 10 to 15 mins everyday just watching videos to learn.

Clara: If you make those decisions wisely when you are younger than that is great, I don’t know about young people now ah but when I was young I don’t think many of us knew that much, we just get allowance from our parents, get side jobs and save a bit that's about it. But I guess now there’s more info and resources online. Maybe if I did the last time I would be richer now but I don't regret it though. Secondary schools also don’t really teach about finance, everyone knows saving is good ah but they don’t know much about anything else.

Daron: Whenever I learn something new I will try to adopt them as a different kind of strategy like the 70% to 80% savings I learnt. So these are the more successful habits that I have adopted throughout the months. Through the book “Rich Dad Poor Dad”, I also identified assets and liabilities so before i purchase something i will ask myself if is this putting money into my wallet or taking money out of my wallet

Yucheng: Yes, because during secondary school, I started working part time and earned quite a lot of money. But most of this money I spent at Starbucks, which was around 3k to 4k in 2 to 3 years. That was one thing I regretted lah.

Owen: Actually, I've never change eh. I've always spend without thinking. So, my financial habits is that if I have any excess money, within seven days, the money would be gone.

Aiman: Yes ah, I really could not save money and it was really tough for me. I don't know why it just, I didn't, I didn't have no discipline when it comes to finances. So when I reached year 3 afterwards, I cared about my money more and realized that I shouldn't just be spending on shoes, clothes that I think will be nice to have. So now the way I actually think about it is that now I actually just spent on essentials, some things I need, not like things I want.

Jeslyn: Yes actually, last time before i started to work , i didn't have any savings. Like i dont save from all my allowances and my part time job. So i really just spend whatever i have but at the start when i started to work , i started to change in the sense that i was calculating daily like what i has been spending on to see how much i have spend like my money and there were rare times that i will tell myself to eat something cheaper, there were a few times. But i realize i don't need to do that as I don't spend on things like clothes so i'll just spend on food can already as it is something that brought me joy

Leticia: I am not sure if this counts but I usually try to advise people to spend their money wisely and not waste it on useless stuff they buy. But after that I stopped. But for my own finances I didn't really change because I have been saving since young. Both personal and family influences, my family is not very wealthy and I come from a single parent family. My mom had to take care of 4 children on top of taking care of my grandparents. Being the oldest in my family, I had to take care of my brother and sisters. Maybe that's why i've always been savvy as my family wasn't very wealthy to start with.

Kieron: It's only during that one instance where I started to spend more.

Solihin: Yes, of course I have.

Sabrina: Erm, no not really.

Loh Chuan Ren: Definitely, being aware of the importance of money and also due to the people around me, they made me realise that investment is very important and they also made me more conscious of saving money ah.

Clara: Ya last time i’m a terrible saver and now i am saving slowly more and more. But actually it’s very irregular with my savings. I don't like to put aside a certain percentage of whatever I earn . There's no standardisation. I just go by how my brian works.

Ryan: So I used to not care much about my finances. I don't save and I just spend most of it ah, and my bank account would just constantly be under $100 dollars. So of course the first few months weren’t as easy, but now I have gotten used to it. It has gotten easier and easier so it’s like due to discipline. But I also get help by automating my finances. For example I set like a few hundred to be deposited to my brokerage account so I don’t have to think so much about it.

What were the challenges faced when changing your behaviour?

Owen: Don't know how, when I just check my bank on Monday, then Sunday I check gone already. Like got money then pay wave here pay wave there. That’s why paywave is a very dangerous thing ah. Yeah, then like Shopee, I tell you, 11.11 coming yeah.

Aiman: Definitely. It was hard, because yeah you kinda exactly see things and say oh, I see this I want to buy.

Jeslyn: The difficulty would be setting aside money from doing things that bring me joy like eating all the good food and expensive food

Solihin: I used to spend my money a lot on drinking, clubbing when I earned it. I thought you know how to earn money, so why not just use it lah. But then as time flies I realise that is where I went wrong because in the end I have debts growing.

Clara: I guess cause i kinda like the feeling getting money to spend and i kind of go overboard sometimes, maybe it’s just like impulse buys

Yucheng: I guess its more of impulses. I learn to control myself slowly lah in the sense that I will think whether it's a need or a want. Maybe previously I will buy more stuff but slowly I will try to cut down or not even open those shopping apps at all. I will also do other things like watching a show to distract myself.

Do you carefully consider before purchasing something?

Daron: It depends on the value of the product, if I think that it’s valuable to me I would think less, however if it's less valuable I would think more about it.

Yucheng: Yes, in a sense that I can take quite a long time just to buy something like on Shopee or Lazada, before adding items to the shopping cart. I would consider whether it is a need or a want, and sometimes It can take me up to 2 months to decide whether i want to get it.

Owen: Um, definitely after you heard me saying that I don't think I'm definitely impulsive. But about a time that I bought something expensive ah. definitely one is the laptop.

Aiman: Yeah, definitely.

Leticia: Yes, as I am not a spender.

Jeslyn: Generally I don't have the temptation to spend it on clothes when I go out and shop. And i dont spend on subscriptions and stuff. I don't have Spotify or netflix. Like recently I subscribed to netflix for a month and immediately removed it after a month as i don't want it to be a recurring expense.

Kieron: I think too much, I literally think too much, I research a lot, finding bad reviews first, and i'll target valuable stuff under the same category that I deem to be more worth the value I'm spending. The way I see it is something may be more expensive than the other item but it's benefits may not be that big of a difference compared to the cheaper item.

Solihin: Actually, I am not someone who enjoys purchasing. I am someone who enjoys spending on gold. But I do shop at times lah for clothes. But rarely do so.

Sabrina: Depends if there's a sale going on and even if I don’t need it, I might get it since it’s cheaper and I am still saving up a few dollars, but it doesn't happen all the time. Only when it’s really, depending on you know how much cash I have left and my mood.

Loh Chuan Ren: Oh yes definitely, if I really want to buy something I would do some research on it first lor at least the basics. I will just search online lor, the most important is to make sure it’s a credible source if not it might be a scam.

Ryan Goh: Ya I do, so I actually focus on like quality instead of quantity. A lot of my expenditure is on food, so I will try to get the best quality food at the most reasonable price.

Clara: Uh ya, depends on the thing, when it comes to shopping like clothes and all that I do think carefully whether I need or if it’s worth. For food I like spending it on my family, if I think it’s good I would spend money on food to share with my family. Even though you know the food if you eat it then it’s gone but it’s kinda like the experience so I guess that one sometimes you don’t think through.

Share with me about a time where you bought an expensive item/something that you knew was unnecessary but still bought it

Daron: I think maybe last year when I bought a tag heuer watch, it was 1.8k. It wasn't necessary and maybe I could have saved up more and bought a Rolex instead, which has a higher value. Maybe that was one of the bigger amounts I have spent that has quite low value and returns in a way.

Yucheng: Ok I guess the most unnecessary one was when I heard from my friend about this shoe that was very nice, then I just pressed the app button and bought it. But when it came and I looked at the shoe, I thought to myself that I feel like it doesn't really fit me and I won’t really wear it. I guess that was a more regretful moment.

Owen: Another thing is my Rollerblade. So, I spent about $350 and I only rollerblade like maybe five times and then I, uh, didn't use it anymore because I injured myself. So, I'm a bit afraid to play again. Yeah, actually, I bought a lot of stuff for my sports, like I bought bowling ball just cause I was into bowling. Then I bought a roller skate and badminton racket, yeah. That’s why is impulsive lor. Maybe like electronics also like I bought air pods pro, yeah, this kind of thing. Apple watch also. But then like I sold my apple watch already, cause I didn't use it as much as I thought I would. So, it is something that is unnecessary, but I still bought it in the end.

Aiman: Last time, I bought like I think three pairs of shoes at one shot. And I didn't thought it through man. It’s regret la. And I only wear one of the pairs now, because now that I think about it, the other two pairs look ugly. And yeah. And at that point I just saw the shoes, they were on sale, they were for a good price. Oh, then I like, I should buy this because I got limited shoes right and my shoes now is uh pretty old. So, at that point I just buy it you know, add to cart, checkout. And the moment it reach, I actually regretted it la, I realized that, oh, I actually just needed one pair, not three. So that was, that was one. And this was when I think the part time, when I was working in year two at a bar, yeah, all the money that I had now is all gone, I don’t have a single cent from that place, yeah.

Jeslyn: I don't think it was expensive but i bought a charging cable for my old phone and that was the first time i worked , so i was like i need this and i went out the way to buy the expensive one and because the apple store told me it was good and faster charging but it wasn't good at all

Leticia: Last time i used to love to go buy books , i felt that it is unnecessary but i still kept buying them, you know some books are quite expensive but i will still buy them. I know I can read them online and it will be a lot cheaper but the feel of a physical book makes me want to buy them. I felt that i don't really need books , i just want them for the pleasure.

Kieron: There was one time where I think I made an impulsive purchase on a Nike Shoe, because this was one of the rare times I did not research properly. Because it was a walk-in to a Nike store, my leg has this condition known as flat-foot which is quite serious that day I was complaining to my friend about it, then just nice that day when I walked into the store, there was a sales person who walked up to me and asked me if I had that condition because he saw my leg and he recommended me a shoe for my condition to try. After wearing the shoe I felt it was quite comfortable which was one of my most impulsive purchases ever. It was a $200+ shoe and it was new, I just bought it because it helped me fulfil my pain relief, like there was something to relieve my leg pain, but actually its not that good after awhile it kind of wear and tear. Because it was new there also wasnt much reviews on the shoe, and my phone ran out of battery on that day and I didn't get to search much of it and yeah the shoe I probably could have bought at a later time when the price decreased. But I still wear it now to play sports. Besides from the wear, I still feel the shoe is comfortable but doesn't work properly as a flat foot shoe. I feel I got hypnotised that day because the sales person understood my condition and pain very well and marketed to me a nice shoe for my condition, in which after I chose the design I thought was the best.

Solihin: I purchased 2 Nike shoes because I had the money, but it wasn’t necessary. I don't spend often but when i do i always go big and that is what makes me lose money.

Sabrina: I bought a Jordans for $300+ just to add on to my sneakers collection but it was a 100% unnecessary thing to spend on. Heh.

Loh Chuan Ren: This one is quite a simple one ah. Last time when I first got into gymming, I wanted a drawstring back for exercise purposes ah. Back then I didn't know about online shopping yet so I went straight to those retail shops and the bag cost $20. I went back home and I realised you can get a better bag for like $5. It was a shocking discovery.

Ryan Goh: So last time I used to be quite into pokemon cards ah, so after school I will buy a pack. So 1 pack is like $6 , so everyday $6 and 1 month it is like $180 so that was quite a lot ah.

Clara: There are times that I do buy clothes and shoes that I don't really wear, like I thought it was nice and I can imagine myself wearing it. Actually there was this time, during primary 6 but it wasn’t my own money. I really wanted these dr. Marten boots and I was P6 and it was really expensive. My mom bought it for me and who knew I grew out of it and my feet could not fit in it. I’ve been thinking of selling but I've been procrastinating. Actually my mom keeps complaining that I waste her money because she buys me stuff and I don't use it. So I guess quite a lot of things are on impulse.

Have you ever borrowed money or over-spent?

Daron: Overspent sure yes, but for borrowing money, it is borrowed from myself ah and not from others. Since I have 2 accounts, if I really need money I would borrow money from my investing/savings account.

Yucheng: Never borrowed before, but I have overspent, like at times I splurge a bit, when I buy a few shirts or shoes or a luxury product.

Owen: I borrowed quite a few times. But I mostly borrow from my second sister la. Because, in my family she's considered the most financially stable. So I would only ask money from her when I need it, like borrow money from her, not ask. I did overspend, it's like because of my insurance and the day that I need to pay my sister I fix is basically like maybe every seventh of the month, is when my insurance deduction will auto deduct from my bank account, and I need to ensure that my bank account has the amount for them to deduct right. But sometimes when I have the amount inside already, I would spend the money inside ah. Don't know how ah, I don't recall how I spend the money inside ah, but I did, it didn't happen to me once or twice ah then I didn't have enough money to pay the insurance, so I just delay the insurance until like end of month then I pay them again.

Aiman: I have borrowed money before. I guess not exactly borrow la but my friends sometimes treat me when I'm broke. And even though they say no it's fine, don't pay me back. I always do la because I always feel bad for using other people's money which they earn themselves you know.

Jeslyn: No, I have never.

Leticia: No, usually it's people who borrow from me. When i spend something expensive i will skip going out for the week to make up for it.

Kieron: I did borrow some money from my mom for driving classes expenses, which was a key factor to me overspending recently.

Solihin: Yes.

Sabrina: Yes, I have borrowed money before due to unexpected expenses but I have never really overspent other than the times where I had the unexpected expense, and I wasn’t able to save.

Loh Chuan Ren: No, I always have a rule of trying not go below $500 in my bank account, because if I go below that point, I am down bad that’s the point where everything goes bad so I always try to set a set amount to keep it above 500 and that’s my safe point. When it goes below, I would definitely a part time job straight away.

Ryan Goh: Of course I have done both. So I have borrowed like 10 to 20 dollars from my friend when I was younger. Of course now I don't think there is a point ah, there’s like not much that I spend on. For overspending I think last time when I was into that pokemon phase ah I would just spend recklessly

Clara: Ya maybe when I was in secondary school, when the allowance my father gave wasn’t enough for days when I stayed back for CCA so my grandma gave me extra money cause I did voice out it wasn’t enough. For overspend I think when it comes to food, it’s either food or clothes.

How did you feel when you overspent/borrowed?

Daron: I will be more stressed. Ok sometimes I may also regret it because I can pay back easily but I choose to slowly pay myself back but I try not to keep it a habit where I keep borrowing money from my savings account only to borrow it a few times.

Yucheng: You know like when you see your bank account amount drop from 2k to 1k like it would just shock me, just because I buy a few fabric and shoes.

Owen: Feel damn bad like 23 years old already still need to go and borrow money from people like it’s like damn paiseh. But then no choice cause sometimes like school fees, right, wa that one I tell you ah that one really I headache sia. Sometimes I not enough then I ask her to like help me pay first lor then I will just um pay her back?

Aiman: I definitely felt bad. I definitely felt that I should not do that type of thing you know. Uh, especially using other people's money, I'll never, and I will never just take it for granted.

Kieron: I feel that spending money on driving classes is essential as driving is a skill that will carry me a long way, its a long term skill.

Solihin: Bad but no choice.

Sabrina: Yes, I have borrowed money before due to unexpected expenses but I have never really overspent other than the times where I had the unexpected expense, and I wasn’t able to save.

Loh Chuan Ren: I feel like I am in danger and I limit all kinds of spending to basically none other than daily necessities. I will cut off all other spendings until I get to a safer point.

Ryan Goh: I’m quite okay with it since I was quite young but I don't think I should have done that and should have spent my money elsewhere, maybe instead of buying pokemon cards I should have bought food instead.

Clara: It's like when I reach the point I cannot really spend it’s a bit sad ah because you cannot really go out and like enjoy yourself.

Did it change your financial behaviors for the better?

Daron: After setting this goal I have become more aware of what I spend on. I will think before I spend my money and think whether it's worth anot. For things like food it's a need so I don't mind spending on it.

Yucheng: Yes in a sense that I learnt to stop chasing for branded goods that much ah. For example, if you buy a LV shirt, and the shirt quality is the same as uniqlo where its just the printing name that is different but the prices are massively different. So I would ask myself like what am I doing? I am spending so much on a logo only. You would have to learn from mistakes through past experiences ah.

Owen: I think I did? But just like small changes. Like I would try to restrain myself from spending on unnecessary stuff la actually. I would always remind myself what is the consequences of me buying it. Like I would have to borrow again like do I have to go through the whole phase again? Of owing people money. Yeah, it's not, it's not really a good feeling la.

Aiman: And it's just, it spoils the mood I guess, so you don’t want that to happen. So yeah. So now it definitely changed. It changed my financial behaviour for the better so I don’t want that to happen again. Yes, it did, it did 100%.

Kieron: I think one main thing that changed was me seeing even more value in money. Even though I am not from a rich family background, I feel I can see more value in money than most. Since most of the money I am getting its from myself, I see more responsibility in the money I have as well.

Solihin: Like of course.

Sabrina: Ya, because I knew the importance of saving and spending less because like that expense was really unexpected so I started to save and you know that if I started saving and such things come about in the future again, i wouldn't have to burden myself and anybody else and borrow money around.