Expert warns of ‘financial disaster’ with early July salary for civil servants

Civil servants risk being in default of monthly repayments due in August if they use up their July salary which will be paid more than a week before Hari Raya Aidilfitri, according to a financial consultant. – The Malaysian Insider pic, June 29, 2015.

The 46-day wait for the next salary following Putrajaya's early payment of the July salary could result in a "financial disaster" for civil servants if they do not manage their finances well, a financial consultant said today.

Civil servants received their salary and RM500 bonus on June 25, and are scheduled to get next month's salary early on July 9 while the following salary will be paid on August 25.

Great Eastern Takaful financial consultant Ahmad Humaizi Mat Noor said civil servants have to set it in their minds that the salary paid on July 9 should be spent in August.

"This must be given serious attention because your life depends on that salary for 46 days before your account is filled again by the following month's salary," he told Bernama, adding that there were several ways civil servants could plan their finances.

Humaizi said the budget for Hari Raya Aidilfitri celebrations, expected to be on July 17, should be based on the salary received on June 25 as well as the RM500 given by the government, without touching the income received on July 9.

He said civil servants should immediately settle their monthly expenses for August, such as payments for the house, car, nursery, credit cards, because the reality is that the salary received on July 9 is for the month of August.

Humaizi suggested that if a person could not control his spending, he should transfer the remaining money to a different account where he does not have an ATM card such as Tabung Haji or Amanah Simpanan Bumiputera (ASB).

"Once the salary cycle goes back to normal, then you can withdraw the money out as usual to be used in August," he said.

He also urged the public to avoid last-minute shopping which would tempt them into buying unnecessary items as the festive mood very often overtakes logic.

"Although Raya is once a year, do not let your finances for the whole year be ruined by Syawal. Practise moderation so that you are not burdened," he said.

In the case of civil servant Siti Hanom Hamdan, 34, she said she would put aside the monthly commitments such as house rental, daily expenses and money for her mother, as soon as she received the July salary.

"I am also planning to transfer most of the early payment to a separate account," Siti Hanom, who is an assistant producer in Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM), said.

Siti Nurfauzani Idrus, 33, who works as an administrative assistant at the Sabah Immigration Department, also has the same idea to keep the salary in a separate bank account.

"I will not withdraw my money immediately after getting my salary and will behave as though the money has not been banked in until the end of the month or keep it in ASB," she said. – Bernama