Money lessons to avoid financial regrets in old age

PETALING JAYA: It is common knowledge that many senior citizens regret not arming themselves with financial knowledge in their younger years, says Finance Minister Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz.

“Many senior adults regret their negative attitude towards money, and their lack of financial knowledge when they were young,” he said in a message at the opening of a financial planning workshop that is part of the outreach activities of the Malaysian Financial Planning Council (MFPC) yesterday.

Tengku Zafrul said one of the main crucial factors to ensure financial well-being is to plan one’s finances early in life, and he also highlighted how the notable Warren Buffett started investing at the tender age of 10 years.

“The aim of this programme is to improve the financial literacy of young adults.

“With the programme, the financial well-being of young adults will be increased,” he said in a pre-recorded message at the start of the event, MFPC’s first virtual workshop of the year under the “My Money & Me” series.

The workshop was held in conjunction with Global Money Week 2022, an annual international campaign of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) that is recognised as a national initiative.

Taking on the theme of Build Your Future: be smart about money!, the education sessions encourage young adults to look through the Budget 2022 portal for more information on financial assistance prepared for them specially by the government.

“The programme will not be a one-off learning (session) as MFPC has launched an elearning portal with free access on the event site for all wanting to gain financial knowledge.

“This initiative meets the public policy recommendations in MFPC’s 2021 study, Determinants of Financial Wellbeing Among Young Adults in Malaysia,” said Tengku Zafrul.

The “My Money and Me 2022” programme revolves around basic financial literacy, which is a collaboration involving stakeholders such as Bank Negara Malaysia, the Securities Commission Malaysia, Ombudsman for Financial Services (OFS), the Securities Industry Dispute Resolution Centre (Sidrec), the Employees Provident Fund, the Counselling & Credit Management Agency (AKPK), Life Insurance Association of Malaysia (Liam), Malaysian Takaful Association, Federation of Investment Managers Malaysia and the Inland Revenue Board.

The workshops cover topics that include asset protection, asset accumulation, asset management, and asset distribution.

More information can be found at www.mfpc.org.my.