Manulife's Investor Sentiment Index in Asia found that:
- 44% believe that the next generation will be financially worse off than they are.
- Only 29% believe job security has improved since their parents’ generations.
- Only 38% of Singapore investors were happy with their financial situation (compared to 61% who are happy with their social relationships and heath)
My comments:
I believe the survey fairly represents the common sentiment among the younger generation that all is not well with them. We live in a generation in which we cannot be considered as ‘third world’ country. We live in a prosperous country. Yet, majority does not feel very secure. They do not have a good outlook for the next generation.
If you think about it, if parents need to fork out large sum of money to help their sons and daughters to buy the first property, it means the current generation cannot support themselves. Yes, I do know of parents forking out huge amount of money to help their children buy properties.
In the olden days, we never heard of financial planning. This is because in the past property prices were cheap and salary increased rapidly. Anyone who had purchase a property especially private ones would be a multi-millionaire by now. Medical cost was cheap too. These days, everything is so expensive. In other words, the older generation became rich because they were lucky to be born earlier.
In my view, as these asset-rich millionaires enter into their retirements, there will be a downward pressure in property prices because of the need to monetise these hard assets. This means the younger generation who have bought such properties at high prices could be facing a glooming outlook in properties. This view is also shared by Professor Benedict Koh. You can view his comments in the show Common Cents EP 6 – Financial Planning - Young and Single . Just move the video forward to 18:18 to hear his financial advice to a young girl.
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