Nearly half of Singaporeans say they will never achieve financial freedom: survey

SINGAPORE – More than two in five people in Singapore believe they will never achieve financial freedom based on their current trajectory, a survey found.

Of the 3,000 respondents, 29 percent said they could achieve financial freedom, 27 percent said they had already achieved it, and 44 percent said they would never achieve it.

The main reasons they cite for their lack of financial independence are: insufficient income, unforeseen personal or health circumstances and job insecurity.

The results were part of the second Financial Freedom Index of the composite insurer Singlife.

The index results were collected through an online survey of 3,000 Singaporeans and permanent residents aged 18 to 65 between April and June 2024.

In 2024, respondents scored 58 out of 100 points on the index, a slight decrease from the 60 points achieved in 2023.

Respondents said they were most stressed by inflation, insufficient savings for retirement, and paying medical expenses.

More than two in five – or 44 percent – believe that having children will slow them down on their path to financial independence. This group estimates that having children will put them 15 years away from financial independence.

33 percent of the rest are neutral and 22 percent do not believe that children will slow them down.

The belief that having children leads to a financial delay in financing is more common among those aged 55 to 64, as well as among people whose youngest child is older than 16, and among people with a high monthly household income.

Half of the 3,000 respondents believe they would need more than $500,000 to raise a child here until age 21.

The index also found that more than half of respondents (55 percent) said they knew how to achieve financial freedom.

The remaining 45 percent are people who are not yet sure and those who have never thought about it. The unsure are usually between 35 and 44 years old, and those who have never thought about becoming financially independent are usually women with low monthly household incomes.