Financial Literacy Programme ”My Money & Me”
“Elevating Financial Planning Literacy of Malaysians” These programmes include:
• Financial Planning Workshop – My Money and Me
• Shariah Financial Planning Awareness Programme
Malaysian Financial Planning Council, Malaysia
Planning and managing finances for personal and professional purposes is a lifelong process. Learning and acquiring the necessary skills to do so is invaluable. Unfortunately, the level of financial capability and financial literacy of Malaysians is alarmingly low. According to the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association’s 2011 Report, many of the Malaysians declared bankrupt due to credit card debt were under 40 years old and 72 percent of them had no retirement plans. The report also stated that 47 percent of young employees were in serious debt with monthly debt payment of 30 percent or more of their gross income and had, on average, savings to last only four months if they had to stop working. Similarly, the Central Bank of Malaysia found that 72 percent of Employees Provident Fund (EPF) members who are at the pre-retirement age of 54 have savings of just RM 50,000 and below, which means that 50 percent of retirees will have spent their entire EPF savings within 5 years. If left unchecked, this situation will have a serious impact on the individuals, their families and dependents, as well as on Malaysia’s social and economic development.
Financial planning is a relatively new sector in Malaysia. The Malaysian Financial Planning Council (MFPC), set up in 2004, is a professional education organization entrusted by the Malaysian government to develop the profession and financial planning services. MFPC has introduced several initiatives and projects to redress the lack of financial literacy of Malaysian citizens.
The liberalization of the finance industry (Islamic and conventional) in Malaysia is expected to have a multiplier impact on the economy. This has resulted in a need to increase the pool of well-trained and professionally qualified financial practitioners to serve the emerging market and the general public. MFPC’s attempts to propagate financial planning knowledge has resulted in the Registered Financial Planner (RFP) and the Shariah Financial Planner (Shariah RFP) programmes, targeted at practising financial planners, new entrants into the profession, university and college graduates, and school leavers intending to take up financial planning as a profession.
The RFP, launched in 2002, is the first Malaysian programme designed to be adopted as a common benchmark qualification in the financial planning industry, signifying the twin pillars of professional education and practice excellence. The Shariah RFP which was launched in 2008 is a result of Malaysia’s vision to position itself as an international hub for Islamic finance following the phenomenal growth of Islamic Finance and Banking in the international arena. One of MFPC’s achievements has been the collaboration with 15 universities in Malaysia to introduce and embed the RFP and Shariah RFP into their curriculum. This provides students a better understanding and motivation to pursue careers in financial planning. Other initiatives include the partnership with Open University Malaysia to develop and offer the Executive Masters in Financial Planning, and the partnership with UCSI University to develop an Executive Masters programme in Financial Planning and Management. MFPC also conducts workshops, seminars and talks to educate MFPC members, civil servants, the public and young Malaysians on the importance of sound financial planning.
These programmes and activities initiated by MFPC are critical for filling the knowledge gap in financial literacy and planning, both in the short term through workshops, seminars and meetings, and the long term through mainstreaming financial planning and management in higher education curricula.
For registration please click the link below :
