The vast majority of Singaporeans were unable to set aside money during the outbreak of covid-19, a survey of 1,000 people conducted on behalf of Quilter found.
Just 17% claimed they were able to save more.
Over a third said covid impacted their savings, and 25% revealed that they now save less, with 11% losing their income and not being able to save at all.
The most affected age group was 45-54-year-olds, which saw 30% forced to reduce the sums they used to put towards their savings, with an additional 12% saying they lost their income.
At the same time, the younger generations in Singapore seem to be the least hit.
Half of 25-34-year-olds said that the pandemic had either not affected their savings habits or enabled them to save more, with only 19% reporting a fall in how much they set aside.
Don’t let it derail financial plans
Eryk Lee, chief executive of AAM Advisory, said: “This research highlights how badly the pandemic has impacted people’s savings habits.
“While Singapore has done well at containing the virus, lots of people have still experienced a fall in income and the economy suffered a huge shock when we went into the circuit breaker.
“It is, therefore, no surprise that more than a third of people had to readjust their saving habits to cope in these unusual and difficult circumstances.
“It is times like these where financial advice comes into its own and shows its value by making sure that these short-term shocks don’t derail your long-term financial plans.
“Sorting through finances is complicated and, as hard as we try to be rational, there is a level of emotion involved which can hinder your decisions especially during stressful circumstances such as this pandemic.”
