Interview: Key Points

"Below are the chosen questions, key points & common responses we gathered from the 12 interviewees that helped us gain a better understanding about the financial behaviours of youths."

GOAL DIGGER'S FYP INTERVIEW

Interviewees

Interviewer

"What are the long term financial goals you are working towards?"

Aiman: So, I plan to go to uni. Yeah. So I think that's really the main reason why I'm saving much right now, more right now. Sorry.

Jeslyn: I think I'm saving for university education.

Yucheng: Education lor, and maybe up to a certain age maybe like 50 or 60 years old, I want to be financially free, so I don't have to worry about money like for retirement lor.

Leticia: I am planning to save for my higher education, I want to study at an overseas university. Have to have a set amount of money for things like daily expenses there. Future studies is the key.

What motivates you to be more financially aware?

Daron: I think it comes down to being responsible for your life ah, right now I can see that many of my peers are not being financially literate. I can see that some of them are suffering financially and I don't want that to happen to me in the future as well.

Yucheng: I guess it would be when I look at other people struggling with how they manage their money, which worries me for my future.

Sohilin: I am from an average family. I have been supporting myself since I was 14 years old. I understand the value of money, and it motivates me to be more financially awake about it.

Kieron: Because my mom is not that well-off and my dad used to be fine but now he is not so well-off also. So I think that made me value money more.

What are some of the struggles in order to achieve your long term financial goals

Aiman: I can say, social issues. Now, when you go out with your friends, you tend to spend more and sometimes you lose track of your spending and you know sometimes it just happens ah.

Sabrina: The struggles would be temptations to get what I want, and it is not really a need and online shopping and all the impulse purchases.

Clara: Firstly it is procrastination and secondly it is lack of self control. I think because I never really took full responsibility of my finances

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.

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

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

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.

Were there any challenges you faced changing your financial behaviour?

Owen: Just maybe I, 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, I also maybe haha.

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

Yucheng: I guess it's 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.

What are your current spending habits, and what are the majority spent on?

Daron: More on food and entertainment.

Sabrina: I spend the majority on food and entertainment like movies, bowling, and entertainment like that.

Ryan Goh: Nowadays I spend most of my money on food ah.

Loh Chuan Ren: I would say food is a good 70% of what I spend right now, then probably like 20% is from online shopping ah.

Clara: Right now the majority of my spending goes to food.

Do you actively track your expenses on a regular basis?

Do you think the people surrounding you affect your spending habits/behaviours?

Kieron: I don't track my expenses on a regular basis

Clara: I used to for a moment but then I didn’t really see like that much point of it because in the end I can see the total in my bank ah and that’s all matters to me.

Owen: Definitely not la

Leticia: No

Jeslyn: I do not track them actively now , but the first few months I track them on the things I buy and the amount people owe me when I help them buy stuff and make sure they pay me but after a while it's very tiring as I realise it's a bit tiring and difficult to track. I just make sure I don't spend this amount every month.

Daron: Yes, because sometimes, maybe they will be like “eh bro that one quite nice want to buy a not?"

Chuan Ren: Of course, sometimes you can get influenced quite easily. Lets say my family members buy some products, and I end up seeing it and will take a look at it and will be intrigued to get it myself also that kind of thing. So I feel like it will affect me quite a bit.

Jeslyn: Yes, I think they do because when you hang out with them . you just do what they do.

Clara: I spend a lot and I am someone who actually cannot control my finances well and basically I spend a lot. On many things like food,

especially wherever you go out with friends, you would just spend a lot. There’s also online shopping, clothes but mainly food.

How do you do your research while investing ?

Daron: Sometimes it is more of peer to peer sharing, sometimes I would just buy because they say it's a good buy. However, I would see the value of the stock and if it’s value is ok then why not.

Ryan: A lot of it would be on youtube, I would do some due diligence on my own also such as technical and fundamental analysis. But sometimes I get influenced by friends, so for example some of my friends dabble a bit in crypto so they will say like this coin is good that coin is good, maybe this stock is good that stock is good and I would just put a small position in it.

Kieron: For investments, I avoid talking to my friends on the topic. We all have different investment opinions, I dont get influenced by others but for one of the investments I did try asking a friend to invest together with me, but it didnt go well in the end.

Is retirement important to you? Why or why not?

Daron: Yes, because I don’t want to work for the rest of my life

Yucheng: Yes, if I want to live a happy life

Kieron: Its definitely important, because I probably will burn out along the way. I am not even at the mid-life crisis stage, for sure everyone needs to retire one day, we can't always be bent on work.

Loh Chuan Ren: Yes, of course you need to be able to enjoy after working hard for sure.

Ryan Goh: Absolutely.

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