Laying the foundation of personal finance

In the government’s bid to inculcate financial education among Malaysians from young, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and the Ministry of Education are collaborating to incorporate financial management education into the school curriculum in stages from next year.

“Part of the financial education elements have been introduced this year in Bahasa Malaysia and Maths subjects, ahead of the targeted date,” Abu Hassan Alshari Yahaya, assistant governor of BNM said during the launch of the Financial Literacy Month.

To Instill Financial Education

Alshari Yahaya said financial education needed to be inculcated continuously from a young age to adulthood to help instill discipline and increase their financial management skills.

The curriculum would cover money management, planning, savings and investments, credit and debt management and insurance.

According to Alshari Yahaya, there was a 10% increase in the number of consumers going to BNM for financial advice and information between January and August this year, compared to the same period last year.

As a strong advocate of financial education regardless of age, iMoney has been working towards the same goal by providing sound and useful financial advice to consumers to make the most of their money.

“We believe by providing everyone the right and easy to understand information, will help them manage their finances better,” said Lee Ching Wei, co-founder of iMoney.

“Do your homework. If you are getting a home loan, find out what is available in the market currently and compare them to get the best rate,” he added.

Fomca’s research arm Consumer Research and Resource Centre found in a survey that many young Malaysians were living beyond their means.

“Their personal debts were too high and they had too little savings,” Fomca president Datuk Dr N. Marimuthu said.

To give Malaysian a helpful boost towards the right financial direction, iMoney provides online calculators and tools to compare various types of loans and credit cards available in Malaysia. Application for these products can be done on the site, with no charges incurred by the consumer.

Want to get started? Read up on personal finance here.