South African household savings rate has come last when ranked against the G20 countries, showing that too many people in the country are living in debt or eating into their capital, savings fintech start-up My Treasury said today.

Warren Kopelowitz, chief executive at My Treasury, said efficient saving can make a massive difference to one’s wealth. For instance, moving cash from a call account that offers returns of three percent to a long-term fixed deposit with an interest rate of 10 percent, would effectively double your wealth over ten years.

“Savings accounts are a great way to encourage smarter wealth management. Just about everyone has a bank account, and by urging people to see their ordinary bank accounts as tools for actively generating income, we hope to make South Africans keener to save,” Kopelowitz said.

“It doesn’t cost you anything to get higher returns on your cash, but you need to know how to compare and where to look”.

My Treasury’s finding are consistent with the worrying picture painted by Old Mutual Savings Monitor that among urban working households, an alarming 40 percent of respondents said they have no form of formal retirement savings at all.

– African News Agency (ANA)

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