Freshen Up Your Finances

Get your financial house in order and head into the New Year with peace of mind – here’s why you should do it, and how.

- Zara Zhuang

After the New Year’s Eve party confetti settles, you’ll likely start thinking about how you want your 2022 to pan out. Your resolutions might include health-focused goals like quitting smoking or conquering a 10K by the time the year’s out, but don’t ignore your financial health. Taking stock of your finances might not immediately sound like an exciting undertaking, but you’ll be better off for it in the long run.

If you’re looking to evaluate your financial health, you’re in good company. Singaporeans are now paying more attention to financial management, reveals the results of the latest OCBC Financial Wellness Index, released in November 2021. The online survey of more than 2,000 working adults in Singapore, conducted from August to September 2021, showed the overall index score was 62 last year, up from 61 in 2020.

Through measuring 10 pillars of financial wellness – savings and gambling habits, regular investing, protection from emergencies, regular investing and financial reviews, excessive speculation, borrowing money, spending beyond means and managing debt – the survey results indicated that over the last two years, Singaporeans had grown more confident about accumulating sufficient funds to cover a crisis and to sustain six months of possible unemployment, while fewer had unsecured debt, and more were able to pay off housing loans.

“I’m glad that in our financial wellness index, we found that more Singaporeans have started to save, because of what we have been through the last two years,” says Tan Siew Lee, OCBC Bank’s head of wealth management in Singapore. “This pandemic has taught us not to think the world will be good forever; large unforeseen events like this can happen.”