Poor financial management resulted in 22,663 Malaysians under the age of 35 being declared bankrupt between 2011 and September 2015, according to the Malaysian Financial Planning Council (MFPC). Bankruptcy at a young age can be harmful and would affect our future and daily life. Youth plays an integral part of shaping the country’s future and therefore it is important to be well-equipped in managing our finances and be financially independent. In fact, few of youth knows how investing works, hence participation towards investment is low. Therefore, this forum hopes to be the platform for youth to have clear understanding on how investing works for them.

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Does investing relevance to youth?

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     Bad experiences from other people, not having enough money, thinking it’s too complicated or just not knowing their options are the excuses that come up for not getting involved in investments. It does take more effort and knowledge before diving in investments in which one needs to get some background knowledge to understand the various types of investments available. Besides, most college/university students live on a tight budget, this means that we have limited source of money and have to ensure not running short by the end of month. All of these reasons somehow raise a big questions to youth ‘Does investing relevant to us?’

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Shaping the future

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     Starts earlier as a young investor is a major advantage because we have time to let our investment to mature, which is a critical and valuable piece of investment. Nothing can make up for the miracle of compound interest, it is the process by which a sum of money grows exponentially due to the compounding earnings on earnings. Discipline is needed in controlling money by rolling them into savings. If we lose our first investment, we will have the rest of life to make it back. Young investors have enough time to recover investing mistakes by learning from our failures. Are there any reasons why youth should consider getting involved in investment other than the miracle of compound interest? What are the common mistakes that youth investors make? What are the differences between savings and investment? Above all, we would like to discuss future in this forum.

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Be Realistic About Risk

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     All investments involve with degree of risk, therefore for those who wishes to start off investing must be clear-headed about the risks beforehand. Measuring and evaluating the risk involved in any investments is a little more complex especially in today’s volatile market. Investor should consider the different types of risk that could affect its performance before deciding the best type of investment. Make the effort to learn about investment instruments, start planning early, figure out your goals and risk tolerance – either on your own or with the help of a financial professional can improve the chances of enjoying a comfortable future. These steps may seem overly simple, a lack of action can have huge consequences for financial future. Therefore, through this forum, we would like to know more the concept of risks and what are the first step need to be taken in order to choose the best investment opportunities.