KUALA LUMPUR: The number of Malaysians who said they are unable to save money every month increased by two percentage points this year to 21 per cent compared to 19 per cent last year, according to the RinggitPlus Malaysian Financial Literacy Survey (RMFLS) 2021 survey.

RinggitPlus co-founder and director Hann Liew said the credit crunch situation was due to the current pandemic and economic situation.

"21 per cent of Malaysians told us they cannot save a single cent each month, increasing from 19 per cent of respondents last year.

"People that could save less than RM500 or do not manage to save each month was 56 per cent this year versus 49 per cent last year, and the people that could save RM1,500 or more each month was 15 per cent versus 20 per cent last year.

"In summary, saving has been more difficult than ever before and we can tie this to the pandemic and the economic situation," he said at the virtual RMFLS 2021 event today.

The RMFLS 2021 survey involved 3,000 respondents across all income groups in Malaysia.

In addition, Hann said the survey also recorded a huge percentage drop in people who believe their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) savings are enough for retirement.

"15 per cent of our respondents this year said they believe that their EPF savings are enough for retirement versus 30 per cent last year - this is a whopping decrease of half the people that told us.

"85 per cent of respondents think their EPF savings alone may not be sufficient for retirement and almost half of them - 45 per cent - said they have not started any retirement planning - this is an equally worrying metric. Similar to last year, the differences are far bigger than we expected," he said.

The survey also stated that 52 per cent of respondents said they cannot survive more than three months if they lose their job; 44 per cent spend exactly or more than what they earn, and 76 per cent believe they are in control of their money.

"This year, building an emergency fund was the top reason Malaysians saved money," he said, adding that the pandemic has been and remains a huge wake-up call to Malaysians and this is exacerbated by previous poor financial habits around saving and spending.

Hence, to find a solution for them, he said RinggitPlus has been working with its partners to introduce RinggitPlus Financial Healthcheck and RinggitPlus Financial Planning Services to help people smoothen their financial management.

"RinggitPlus Financial Healthcheck is a checking tool that checks your financial health across cash flow, debt management, insurance, and wealth management.

"And our second product - RinggitPlus Financial Planner - is our digital one-on-one financial planning service where you can get a certified licensed expert directly online without having to go anywhere," he said.

-- BERNAMA