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