‘Travel first and worry later’ is a top money sin here

Locals and tourists ina street with decorative lights set up in the run-up to the Christmas season in downtown Tokyo. More people are splurging on holidays like there is no tomorrow even though the economy is not exactly out of the woods.

- Tan Ooi Boon

You would think that many people would now be keen to save more for rainy days after surviving almost three trying years of pandemic, but the reality is just the opposite.

More of us are splurging on holidays like there is no tomorrow even though the economy is not exactly out of the woods. When OCBC surveyed about 2,000 people in August, it found that many were not saving for rainy days but for fun and entertainment, even though half of them confessed that they did not have enough savings to tide them over if they lost their jobs or suffered pay cuts.

“Despite the gloomy outlook, Singaporeans are prioritising pleasure over belt-tightening,” the bank noted. With the post-pandemic recovery encouraging revenge travel and spending, more Singaporeans are allocating their savings to pleasures like travel rather than investments, retirement, or emergency funds.”

Indeed, the overall result of the survey showed that the financial wellness of Singaporeans has regressed to the same shaky situation seen at the start of the pandemic in 2020. But the difference is this time, there is no 100 billion bailout from the Government.

To top it all, the poll showed that more people are indulging in these five money sins:

GAMBLED MORE THAN THEY CAN AFFORD TO LOSE