Speaker 1: Indeed Jessie J's price tag saying it like it is
Speaker 1: and it's a lot of our life is about money,
Speaker 1: isn't it? Money is central to our lives, from managing
Speaker 1: day to day expenses to paying bills and sorting budgets,
Speaker 1: you know, all of us, we do think and talk
Speaker 1: about money regularly. I mean, it's often when we have
Speaker 1: dinner with our friends, we're always complaining about how expensive
Speaker 1: everything is, isn't it?
Speaker 1: Uh, also, uh, the thing is, money is still often
Speaker 1: a very sensitive subject and the way we talk about
Speaker 1: it with people close to us can influence or can
Speaker 1: be influenced by a range of social factors and can
Speaker 1: also impact the financial decisions that we make. So new
Speaker 1: research from financial services provider St. James's Place Asia reveals
Speaker 1: that
Speaker 1: More than a third of social media conversations about money,
Speaker 1: mentioning parents, children and spouses, well, they often contain some
Speaker 1: negative sentiment and the research titled How We Talk About Money,
Speaker 1: analyzed social media conversations and interviewed retail investors and SJP
Speaker 1: Asia partners in both Hong Kong and Singapore.
Speaker 1: And it found that family discussions about money can, yes,
Speaker 1: stir emotions, often negative ones. So let's get more into
Speaker 1: this now with Joel Carpenter, Chief Executive Officer at St.
Speaker 1: James's Place, Singapore. Joel, it's nice to have you on
Speaker 1: the show with us.
Speaker 2: Thank you, Sheryl. It's a pleasure to be here again
Speaker 2: this morning. Yeah,
Speaker 1: so, you know, like your findings show more than 1/3
Speaker 1: of money conversations on social media that mention parents, children
Speaker 1: and spouses contain negative sentiment. Can you, can you tell
Speaker 1: us a bit more about this?
Speaker 2: Yeah, sure, certainly. Look, we, we were really keen to
Speaker 2: understand not just what people are talking about, but, but
Speaker 2: how they do it and who they're talking about it with.
Speaker 2: And what we found is, is that people actually have
Speaker 2: truly honest conversations about money with a really small number
Speaker 2: of people, typically limited to your immediate family. They're much
Speaker 2: more cautious of having conversations about money with friends or or.
Speaker 2: Or more kind of broader family and, and that's really
Speaker 2: because there's a lot of caution about having those honest conversations.
Speaker 2: Trust is so important when we have conversations, and people
Speaker 2: are really cautious of it. And the the question is,
Speaker 2: is why are people so, so cautious of it? Um,
Speaker 2: and a lot of that is about that caution around, uh,
Speaker 2: family dynamics. So people.
Speaker 2: Don't want to, to rock the boat. People are cautious
Speaker 2: of causing friction within those families. Um, we've got that
Speaker 2: younger generation of people now who are starting to be
Speaker 2: quite financially astute, which is brilliant, that people have access
Speaker 2: to all kinds of, of information, and that they have a,
Speaker 2: a growing desire to be more financially independent, but they
Speaker 2: also know that that can, can cause tension within a family.
Speaker 2: We all know that family dynamics can.
Speaker 2: be quite complicated at times. I think my daughter's listening online,
Speaker 2: she'll probably tell you that as well so um but it's,
Speaker 2: it certainly is and it's something that people really struggle
Speaker 2: to get to grips with in terms of how they
Speaker 2: should be approaching those
Speaker 2: conversations.
Speaker 1: And I think, do you think the Asian context adds
Speaker 1: another layer of like cultural nuances to this because you know,
Speaker 1: I think among Asian families, you know, money is really really.
Speaker 1: sensitive, you know, things like salary, things like debt, um,
Speaker 1: it causes a lot of friction and people are just
Speaker 1: worried about, you know, being looking bad in front of
Speaker 1: their loved ones. Do you think that's that's why people
Speaker 1: are more cautious about money, money talks?
Speaker 2: Absolutely. It it's certainly something that people are are cognizant of. Um,
Speaker 2: people want to seem or want to appear like they
Speaker 2: have control of those things, that they have control of
Speaker 2: their their finances. um.
Speaker 2: And also that they're approaching these subjects in a way
Speaker 2: which is respectful to different generations of family too. Um,
Speaker 2: and that can be a really hard thing for, for
Speaker 2: people of different generations to, to navigate. People of different
Speaker 2: generations are exposed to different types of, of media, social media.
Speaker 2: Um, different views on, on, on finances and um it
Speaker 2: can be a really hard thing for those generations to approach,
Speaker 2: both the older generations, how they have those conversations with
Speaker 2: the younger ones around managing finances sensibly, managing things such
Speaker 2: as debt, how would they actually inherit wealth, things like that. Um,
Speaker 2: but also those younger generations want to seem like they.
Speaker 2: have it under control. Um, you know, they, they don't
Speaker 2: want to seem vulnerable in those contexts. So actually that
Speaker 2: can be a really hard thing for those two sets
Speaker 2: of generations to come together and have really robust and
Speaker 2: honest
Speaker 2: conversations.
Speaker 1: So how do you think we can kind of kind
Speaker 1: of overcome this negative sentiment? What should people be doing
Speaker 1: when when there is the need to talk about money
Speaker 1: with their loved ones?
Speaker 2: Yeah, look, two things, I think money is emotional. We
Speaker 2: know that money is an incredibly emotive subject. Um, so
Speaker 2: approaching it in ways which is much more focused around
Speaker 2: particular subjects can just help manage some of those emotions
Speaker 2: because you have a particular focus. Yeah. Um, and, and
Speaker 2: whether that be, for example, retirement plan.
Speaker 2: It was amazing to actually to see how many of
Speaker 2: our younger generations are thinking about retirement. It was one
Speaker 2: of the most prevalent conversations across social media, which is fantastic. Now, what,
Speaker 2: what retirement planning maybe to, to myself, maybe different to
Speaker 2: somebody who's just starting out their career, but giving it
Speaker 2: that purpose can really help focus a conversation.
Speaker 2: And secondly, actually, where, where you are having challenges and struggles,
Speaker 2: actually bringing in somebody who is independent to facilitate some
Speaker 2: of those conversations, somebody that you do trust.
Speaker 2: Um, and somebody that's going to approach those conversations in
Speaker 2: the right way can actually be really important. It can
Speaker 2: be incredibly empowering for somebody to manage through those things
Speaker 2: with you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's a good point having that independent third party which
Speaker 1: also brings me to my next question about financial advice
Speaker 1: because nowadays a lot of influencers online dishing out advice
Speaker 1: on social media, you can get it on YouTube and
Speaker 1: then there are the 1 to 1 financial advisors who
Speaker 1: try to get you to invest your money and grow
Speaker 1: your money so
Speaker 1: What are some of the common misconceptions that people have
Speaker 1: when it comes to financial
Speaker 1: advice?
Speaker 2: Yeah, so I think the first and the biggest one
Speaker 2: that we found is that financial advice is only for
Speaker 2: the either the rich and famous or the wealthy. Um,
Speaker 2: it absolutely shouldn't be, and if it is, then, then
Speaker 2: we're doing something wrong. Financial advice should be fought for everybody.
Speaker 2: It helps people as they start to start start to save.
Speaker 2: They start on that financial journey, um, through to how
Speaker 2: do they plan.
Speaker 2: For the, the speed bumps in the road, is that children?
Speaker 2: Is it things that happen unexpectedly? through to how do
Speaker 2: you start to, to, to kind of go into your
Speaker 2: golden age years and um start to transfer that wealth
Speaker 2: or or just enjoy it, travel more, whatever that may be. Um,
Speaker 2: so financial advice is absolutely for, for everybody, but it
Speaker 2: isn't always accessible to everybody, and that's the challenge.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so um the thing is, um, how do we
Speaker 1: then um kind of filter through the information, especially when
Speaker 1: it comes to social media where it's it's for everyone,
Speaker 1: but uh again we might not be able to differentiate
Speaker 1: theit information from from what is uh you know, really
Speaker 1: relevant to us, how do we see through this information overload?
Speaker 2: Yeah, and and and it is information overload which is
Speaker 2: is great on one hand that there is that access
Speaker 2: to information.
Speaker 2: Um, which there's never been before. There's we've never had
Speaker 2: access to so much financial information. But, but people are,
Speaker 2: you know, people are mistrusting over just the, the breadth
Speaker 2: of it. They don't know where to go for quality
Speaker 2: information and also what we found is, is that a
Speaker 2: lot of financial information is very short term focused.
Speaker 2: Um, you know, we, we all gonna click on a,
Speaker 2: a get rich quick scheme or, or what's the next
Speaker 2: best idea to make money tomorrow. Um, we see so
Speaker 2: much of that out there on, on social media or,
Speaker 2: or who, for example, that we're following, what are they
Speaker 2: talking about. Um, so how do we really find the
Speaker 2: quality information? And I think that's the key, finding good quality, trusted.
Speaker 2: Information. So what I would say is, is actually just
Speaker 2: finding those sources that you can resonate with that you
Speaker 2: understand that people that are are talking about things that
Speaker 2: resonate with, with you. Um, what resonates with me may
Speaker 2: be very different to what resonates with you, Cheryl, but
Speaker 2: finding that person that you can, that you can really
Speaker 2: uh kind of trust and understand.
Speaker 2: is very, very important. And thinking about good quality information.
Speaker 2: People that are there for the long term. So people,
Speaker 2: good quality information is information that should be there, not
Speaker 2: just on the upside, but also on the downside. People
Speaker 2: that are there to to help you through the ups
Speaker 2: and the downs. That's how you can really kind of
Speaker 2: find good quality sources.
Speaker 1: Um, Joel, you you mentioned retirement planning, which we're going
Speaker 1: to get into in just a bit, but what are
Speaker 1: some of the topics that
Speaker 1: Uh, people are searching or seeking out when it comes to, uh,
Speaker 1: money advice online. Are we looking at things like, I
Speaker 1: don't know, just day to day budgeting perhaps, spending, what's
Speaker 1: the content that people are, uh, that's popular among, you know,
Speaker 1: the masses.
Speaker 2: Yeah, people are people are definitely thinking about budgeting and
Speaker 2: and how to manage debt, you know, getting, getting and
Speaker 2: and understanding debt and managing debt is an incredibly important
Speaker 2: thing too.
Speaker 2: Um, actually, a lot of people are, are talking online
Speaker 2: about how to manage those conversations with your parents, um,
Speaker 2: with your loved ones, with your spouses, um, and, uh,
Speaker 2: and that's, that's really useful because you can actually get
Speaker 2: quite personal insights in terms of how to manage those,
Speaker 2: those things. And then the last one is that that
Speaker 2: point around you mentioned retirement is financial freedom. So you
Speaker 2: know what, what, what is in retirement actually is changing
Speaker 2: and a lot of people are becoming astute to actually
Speaker 2: how can they create more financial freedom.
Speaker 2: In their lives, whether that be the freedom to enjoy
Speaker 2: the things that they want to enjoy now, or the
Speaker 2: freedom to think about when they don't have to start to,
Speaker 2: to continue to work in the future. That's a really
Speaker 2: important point, and we're seeing that come through a lot
Speaker 2: of the social media conversations now.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 1: And uh so let's come back to that topic about
Speaker 1: retirement because uh I see that uh I think you
Speaker 1: found almost like 12,000 money conversations as part of your
Speaker 1: research across your audiences for the past year. That's a
Speaker 1: lot of retirement posts. Why do you think people are
Speaker 1: thinking about that, is it, is it something that, you know,
Speaker 1: because the government also talks about, you know, getting us
Speaker 1: to retire, the whole Central Provident Fund CPF is uh
Speaker 1: to help us all have something when we retire as well.
Speaker 1: Do you think that's just, it's just in Singapore that
Speaker 1: retirement is something that is top of mind even at
Speaker 1: a young age?
Speaker 2: Um, I, I certainly think it's becoming more prevalent here. Um,
Speaker 2: I think the government have done a great job in
Speaker 2: raising awareness of the importance of being financially prepared for retirement.
Speaker 2: Um, and I think that generations coming through are really
Speaker 2: understanding that actually your, your children may not be here,
Speaker 2: they may be somewhere else in the world as though
Speaker 2: the world becomes much kind of much more connected. So
Speaker 2: you can't always rely on them in your retirement. Um,
Speaker 2: you know, actually you've got to start to make those
Speaker 2: preparations yourself. So we are becoming more aware in Singapore. Um,
Speaker 2: plus we know that the cost of living.
Speaker 2: Has increased, um, so therefore we need to think much
Speaker 2: more about how we can continue to manage our day
Speaker 2: to day whilst thinking about the future.
Speaker 2: Um, so that whole conversation around retirement and also what
Speaker 2: retirement is, I mentioned it a minute ago, I think
Speaker 2: a lot of people actually, you ask them and they'll
Speaker 2: say that actually I'll probably, I'll never be able to
Speaker 2: afford to retire, but I'd like to have the option. Um,
Speaker 2: people are starting to think about that, it takes some
Speaker 2: of the pressure off what retirement could mean, but actually
Speaker 2: enables them to, to empower them to even make the
Speaker 2: little differences in preparation for
Speaker 2: it.
Speaker 1: Yeah.
Speaker 1: So I, uh, like you said, I think a lot
Speaker 1: of us are very forward thinking, so even if you know,
Speaker 1: in our 30s, it's never too early to just start
Speaker 1: even it may not be immediate steps but just thinking
Speaker 1: about retirement planning. I think it's worth thinking about even
Speaker 1: at a young age. Um, Joel, when it comes to
Speaker 1: how we can get better at talking about money, what
Speaker 1: are some of what what what are some tips or
Speaker 1: insights that you can share with us?
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, thank you, Cheryl. Um, so I think the
Speaker 2: first thing is, is that we need to make sure
Speaker 2: that we, we have a reliable sources of information. We're
Speaker 2: following the right people, we're getting advice from the right people. Um,
Speaker 2: and secondly, I would say give it a purpose. So
Speaker 2: financial conversations are.
Speaker 2: Always best when they are focused on something, whether that be,
Speaker 2: like we said, we talked about that, you know, about
Speaker 2: about retirement planning, or whether it be helping and thinking
Speaker 2: about what you need to do to support your parents
Speaker 2: or whatever that may be, maybe it's reti you're saving
Speaker 2: for for your children's education fund or something. Um, and
Speaker 2: the third one, I think this is the most important piece, is,
Speaker 2: is that we've got to think about the language that
Speaker 2: we use. We've got to think about how we have
Speaker 2: those honest conversations.
Speaker 2: Advice and conversations around finance should be accessible. Therefore, the
Speaker 2: language we use shouldn't be complicated, it shouldn't have lots
Speaker 2: of acronyms in it. It shouldn't be things that are,
Speaker 2: are inaccessible to to certain people. So we've got to
Speaker 2: think about as financial professionals having conversations in the right
Speaker 2: way that people can understand and.
Speaker 2: And engage with. that's how financial advice becomes much more
Speaker 2: accessible to more people.
Speaker 1: Yeah. So having a strong, a clear purpose when you
Speaker 1: talk about money and also the language that we use,
Speaker 1: and I like the point you mentioned about the third
Speaker 1: party advisor. So when do you think uh people should
Speaker 1: start thinking about engaging this financial advisor to come in?
Speaker 1: Is there a point?
Speaker 1: Uh, but it's just about mitigating disputes or is it
Speaker 1: more just just planning, you know, when they start to
Speaker 1: plan for their investments and their savings, for instance?
Speaker 2: Yeah, I would say that it's, you can never be
Speaker 2: too early, um, and there there's a huge number of
Speaker 2: different financial advisors out there in the market, so a
Speaker 2: guidance would be find one that works for you. Find
Speaker 2: somebody that can understand you. They may be a similar
Speaker 2: type of a person to you, similar age to you,
Speaker 2: they may have similar values to you. Find somebody that
Speaker 2: you can trust.
Speaker 2: Um, but you're never, it's never too soon to start
Speaker 2: having those conversations to put in place a financial plan,
Speaker 2: because if you're bringing somebody in at the point of
Speaker 2: conflict mitigation or.
Speaker 2: Uh, at that point of thinking about transfer, it's too late.
Speaker 2: Of those, the earlier you have those conversations, the easier
Speaker 2: these things are and the more help you can get
Speaker 2: in managing those conversations with family and loved
Speaker 2: ones.
Speaker 1: Yeah. The thing is I think in Singapore, a lot
Speaker 1: of us get very a little bit skeptical or overwhelmed
Speaker 1: because financial advisors tend to, you know, oversell certain things
Speaker 1: or they might might make us buy things that we
Speaker 1: weren't prepared to buy like investment plans and all that.
Speaker 1: Uh, do you have any thoughts on how we can
Speaker 1: manage that relationship with our financial advisor?
Speaker 2: Yeah, absolutely, and if, if somebody, if you ever feel
Speaker 2: like somebody's trying to sell you something and oversell and
Speaker 2: oversell you, and what I would say is not listening.
Speaker 2: Then they're probably not the right fit for you. So
Speaker 2: make sure that you find somebody that listens, that you
Speaker 2: feel like actually they can understand you, um, and that is,
Speaker 2: is giving you more of a, they're trying to sell
Speaker 2: you advice, they're not trying to sell you a product.
Speaker 2: That would be my biggest tip for for
Speaker 2: your show.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I love that selling advice, uh giving you advice
Speaker 1: and not selling you a product when it comes to
Speaker 1: picking your financial advisor and yeah don't be afraid to
Speaker 1: walk away.
Speaker 1: If that person is not working for you. Joel, this
Speaker 1: has been immensely insightful and helpful. Thank you so much
Speaker 1: for taking the time to speak to us. Uh, we're
Speaker 1: speaking to Joel Carpenter, Chief Executive officer at St. James's
Speaker 1: Place Singapore. If you want to find out more about
Speaker 1: the services by St. James's Place, you can go to www.SJP.asia/SG. Joel,
Speaker 1: thank you so much.
Speaker 2: Thank
Speaker 2: you, Cheryl, have a great day. You too.