Residents learn to manage finances, guard against scams

Mr Mirza Rusyaidi Juraimi Zhi Wei, 18, and Ms Shevarnee Kannan, 19, started investing in stocks and cryptocurrency two years ago.

Studying business in polytechnic gave them a head start in understanding the complex world of investing, but they said they still have more to learn, especially in assessing how some actions can lead to losses.

On Sunday, making wiser decisions with money was among the topics they and about 500 young people learnt at a networking session with local financial advisers.

The event at The Grassroots' Club in Ang Mo Kio kicked off a financial literacy programme by brokerage CGS-CIMB Securities to help young people, lower-income families and senior citizens in Sembawang GRC learn how to invest, navigate the high cost of living amid inflation, and guard against scams.

Surveys have shown that more than 50 per cent of Singaporeans feel they are not financially literate enough, said CGS-CIMB Securities group chief executive Carol Fong.

The programme will run for three months in Sembawang, Admiralty and Woodlands before expanding to other neighbourhoods.

Health Minister and Sembawang GRC MP Ong Ye Kung said at the session: "Always remember, good things come with bad things.

"When it comes to investing, the bad thing is risk and the good thing is reward.

"You want to earn more money,you come into the risk of losing all your money."

The event was also attended by the other Sembawang GRC MPs - Dr Lim Wee Kiak, Mr Vikram Nair, Ms Poh Li San and Ms Mariam Jaafar.

Mr Mirza, a second-year Republic Polytechnic (RP) student, said young people need to learn to accept loss. "When young people make money, they are very optimistic. When they lose, they are very negative, they say the market is a scam."

CGS-CIMB and lecturers from RP have also developed a free online course to help learners understand how to manage their savings, pay off debts and make better investment decisions.

The course can be accessed at www.cgs-cimb.com/en/finlit

Another aim of the financial literacy programme is to prevent residents from being scammed.

More than 14,300 scam cases were reported in the first half of this year, almost double the 7,746 in the same period last year.

Some months ago, Ms Shevarnee, who is also from RP, said her elder brother lost his earnings and got his bank account hacked because he fell for a scam on Instagram.

Over the next few weeks, teams comprising CGS-CIMB staff and grassroots leaders will visit coffee shops in the five Sembawang GRC wards to share basic information about financial literacy and educate seniors about scams through games.

Teams will also visit mosques to inform the Muslim community about investments that comply with Islamic law.

In June, the brokerage set up Singapore's first syariah-compliant trading account, iCash.