Indonesians struggle to save for future
Indonesians struggle to save for future
The Jakarta post, Jakarta
For taxi driver Sandy, in his 20s, meeting his family's daily
needs is a hard task, and it is even more difficult for him to
put money away in a savings account. The burdens on him have
gotten heavier since the government's decision to increase fuel
prices by 29 percent on March 1.
But Sandy, who has worked as a taxi driver for a year, still
manages to allocate a little money for his top priority: his
children's education.
"I just recently paid Rp 1 million (US$105) to enroll my five-
year-old daughter in a kindergarten," said the father of two.
With a monthly income of about Rp 1 million, Sandy has to seek
extra money to feed his family by running a small-scale printing
shop.
"The printing shop has helped me and my wife so that we can
save a little bit," he said.
According to a recent survey by market research firm
ACNielsen, savings came in at number one, when respondents were
asked where their spare money goes.
The company said on Thursday that 57 percent of its 510
respondents nationwide preferred to put their spare money into a
savings account over other expenditures. The figure is slightly
lower than last year's 59 percent.
The online survey, conducted between April 11 and May 10,
shows that paying off debts, credit cards and loans is second
with 36 percent.
ACNielsen Indonesia Executive Director Catherine Eddy said in
a press briefing that consumer spending for holidays had
increased to 28 percent in the first half of this year from 26
percent in the corresponding period last year.
Surprisingly, cash allocations for retirement funds were the
lowest with only 5 percent, although the figure is higher than
last year's 2 percent.
"Indonesians lack of interest in putting their money into
retirement funds is similar to many neighboring countries such as
Australia, China, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Malaysia, the
Philippines and Thailand," said Chaterine.
According to ACNielsen -- which interviewed 21,261 respondents
worldwide over the internet in 38 markets for the survey --
spending patterns emerged in different areas when it came to how
the respondents allocated disposable income.
More than one-third, or 36 percent, of the world's consumers
put extra money into savings, followed by out-of-home
entertainment, holidays or vacations and new clothes.
In Europe, most consumers put cash into savings accounts for
upcoming vacations or buy new clothes, more than any other
region. By contrast, Asians remain the world's super savers with
51 percent putting their money away for a rainy day.
For Sandy, who occasionally has the desire to buy new outfits
or take vacations, saving for his family's future has become his
main goal in life.
"I have long for a better living, but surely hard for me to
even have a glance at it with the country's existing economic
condition," he said. (001)