Younger employees should be taught financial retirement planning

Employers in both the public and private sectors should send their employees staff for financial retirement planning seminars to help them prepare their retirement savings at an early age.

HIJRAH Wealth Management Sdn Bhd founder, Rohani Mohd Shahir, said the best time to attend such courses was right after they had entered the labour market.

"By sending employees at the right age for this kind of seminars, we can avoid the problem of employees not having enough money for retirement," she told Bernama.

She said most employers sent their staff for retirement planning seminars at the age of 45 and above, which was rather late in terms of planning.

Besides learning on retirement plans as they entered the workforce, parents can also play a major role in educating their children on financial planning.

This allows children to understand the mechanics of money management, how it works, and the importance of good financial decision-making.

However, some parents spoil their kids with money, she said, adding that parents should educate their children while they were young and teach them what they should not have if they could not afford it.

As for civil servants, Rohani said they should analyse their finances consistently as there had been many cases of civil servants defaulting on personal loans, pushing them into bankruptcy.

She cited easy access to personal loans, as well as easy payment schemes as the reasons for the mismanagement of financial resources.

Rohani asserted that civil servants should avoid becoming bankrupt, instead they should enhance their knowledge on personal money management.

Knowledge on retirement planning is also important for employees in the private sector as the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) savings alone is not enough for retirement, she said.

"The EPF data shows that most EPF members spent all their money within three years upon withdrawing their savings," she said.

According to the EPF Annual Report 2015, only 24,458 of 14.55 million EPF members have savings exceeding RM1 million.

The EPF has a fund size amounted to RM684.53 billion at end-2015. -- Bernama