Pointless to have saving schemes without education, say experts

Financial planner Robert Foo says initiatives such as the Anak Malaysia Trust Fund must have features which will encourage people to save.

Malaysians must be taught to save without having to depend on government schemes, say experts. (File pic)

PETALING JAYA: With a decision yet to be made on whether a trust fund for children to promote saving and investment will proceed, an experienced financial planner says education plays an important role in getting people to save without depending on initiatives from the government.

“If people were educated enough on how to start their own savings, it could be done anywhere and anytime without having to depend on anything,” Robert Foo told FMT.

Foo said people needed to be aware of what they were investing in, adding that the Anak Malaysia Trust Fund (ADAM50) would be just another scheme if it did not have features that would motivate people to keep contributing.

ADAM50 was introduced by the government in collaboration with Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) for babies born between Jan 1, 2018 and Dec 31, 2022.

It is aimed at promoting the culture of saving and investment by Malaysians through the granting of free incentive units credited to Amanah Saham Bumiputera (ASB) accounts as an initial investment capital.

PNB had earlier said that ADAM50 would continue as originally planned.

However, Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail said the finance ministry would decide whether the scheme should proceed.

She said the initiative would involve a large amount of state funds and that the country now had a swollen deficit.

Foo said it was pointless to have a scheme where there were no features to encourage people to continue saving.

Another financial planner who wished to remain anonymous agreed that education was important to get people to save without depending on government initiatives.

He said such initiatives would only create a negative impact on the mentality of Malaysians and increase the people’s dependency on the government. -FMT