Financial insecurity up among S'poreans

FINANCIAL insecurity among Singaporeans has nearly doubled in the last six months, according to the Investor Attitudes Report released by Friends Provident International (FPI) yesterday.

In an April survey, 36 per cent of Singaporeans indicated that they felt financially insecure, up from 19 per cent in the previous edition of the survey, conducted in October last year. Married couples, however, felt more financially secure than singles - 45 per cent of married couples said they felt financially secure, compared to just 37 per cent of single Singaporeans.

Chris Gill, general manager for South-east Asia at FPI, attributed much of the growing insecurity to external events such as China's economic slowdown and the Ukrainian crisis.

He added: "Closer to home, the rising cost of living including the high property prices could also be key elements that have contributed to perceptions of financial insecurity."

In terms of savings, the top two savings priorities for Singaporeans remained retirement and "rainy day" emergencies, according to the report

Among Singaporean respondents, 61 per cent indicated saving for emergencies as their savings priority. Additionally, 72 per cent intended to save for retirement, which was the number one savings priority among Singaporeans.

Saving for medical expenses came in third place, with 39 per cent of Singaporeans considering it a priority. It overtook saving for children's education in the savings priority rankings for the first time.

"It is encouraging to note affluent investors are aware of the need to put aside part of their savings in a bid to provide them with the assurance that their retirement and future medical bills are taken care of," said Mr Gill.

In terms of investor sentiment, a fall in the FPI Investor Attitudes Index for Singapore from 22 points in Oct 2013 to 13 points in the recent report was indicative of investor uncertainty in the current investment climate.

Despite the fall in the indices, investor sentiment may be more bullish going forward, said James Tan, managing director at FPI.

"We see a higher risk appetite among Singapore respondents," said Mr Tan. "Gold, collectibles, money/

currency markets are losing their popularity and property dropped most, while equities/shares remain the most attractive class among others. We also see a slightly more positive sentiment on developed markets which have not entirely recovered from their crises."

The survey was conducted from April 7 to 16 through online interviews, with more than 1,000 respondents hailing from Hong Kong and Singapore. There were 501 Singaporean respondents, all of whom had at least $80,000 in investible assets.