Singapore youth not confident about financial future: Survey

SINGAPORE - Youth in Singapore are overwhelmingly pessimistic about their financial situation and readiness, a new NTUC Income survey has found.

Eight out of 10 are not confident about their current financial situation, while nine out of 10 feel they are not financially ready for the future, according to the survey.

More than 1,000 final-year polytechnic students, university undergraduates and young workers between the ages of 18 and 29 were polled in the survey, which was conducted by Nielsen.

The poll found that young people have some financial literacy skills, but they need guidance to understand proper financial planning better.

Eight out of 10 believe that they need at least three months of their income for emergencies, which is a sizeable gap from the 10 months that financial planners recommend.

Mr Marcus Chew, vice-president for strategic marketing at NTUC Income, said the survey aims to identify the gaps in financial planning knowledge among youth in Singapore.

"We would like to get them thinking about financial planning early and to help them understand that the decisions they make today will have an impact on their financial well being later in life."

NTUC Income has also launched a campaign for youths, to create awareness of their financial needs.

The campaign, called Future Made Different, includes a Future Starter venture fund that will grant $100,000 cash to one person or team, for their future business dream.

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