We have heard about many kinds of festivals all around the world. But have you ever heard about World Savings Day?
At first thought, you might think that it’s about “saving the world.” But hey, look closer at the word “savings”. What it really means is “savings for money”!
Every year on October 31st, the world celebrates World Savings Day, also known as World Thrift Day, to raise awareness of the importance of saving money for the country’s economy and individuals. It’s celebrated in Austria, Italy, Belgium, Colombia, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Germany, India, Indonesia, and more. The campaign has been successful in developed countries, where the vast majority of people now have their own savings account. However, there is still work to be done.
Fun fact: in certain countries, World Savings Day is celebrated and declared as a public holiday! The idea behind this is to remind and encourage people to save their money into their bank accounts instead of keeping it under their mattress. That’s rather brilliant, isn’t it?
History of World Savings Day
World Savings Day didn’t exist just like that. It may sound new to us but this celebration started more than 90 years ago when the first International Savings Bank Congress (World Society of Savings Banks) was held in Milan, Italy.
On the last day of the convention, Italian Professor Filippo Ravizza marked the day as “International Savings Day” on October 31, 1924. The aim was to raise public awareness of the importance of saving money, mainly because people were not confident about saving anymore after the First World War.
Savings banks also collaborated with schools, offices, sports, and women’s organisations to promote savings. After World War II, World Savings Day started to gain popularity. Since then, World Savings Day has been observed in a number of countries.
Why is World Savings Day important?
Every year on World Savings Day, a certain theme is chosen to convey its message to the entire world. “When you save a bit, big things follow” was chosen as the theme in 2020.
What’s the theme to be exactly? Well, the choice of this theme helps to communicate the message of saving money and increase people’s curiosity that leads them to participate in this event that will ultimately benefit them.
Savings are important on many levels because you never really know what will happen.
Especially in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen the majority of Malaysians lack of savings when they face salary cuts and job losses due to the economic shutdown. Even worse, they began to tap into their Employees Provident Fund (EPF) savings through i-Sinar to finance daily expenses, pay rent, and support their families.
That’s why saving money is vital to give you a sense of financial stability and security. It also helps you make large purchases, avoid debt, relieve financial stress, and provide you with greater financial independence.
How to take part in World Savings Day?
First of all, World Savings Day is not about a day’s celebration, but it’s a consistent practice for a lifetime. We should save as much as possible and set up a pool of contingency.
While saving money is not easy as it seems, it’s good to instill regular habits in saving.
Psst… If you’re in need of a little money-saving motivation, check out our tips and tricks into saving money. You’re welcome!
What better way to save than to put your sleeping cash to good use and earn money as you sleep? Since many of us love to hold our cash and depend heavily on Fixed Deposits and EPF savings, we don’t know where else to invest our money.
Therefore, it is time for you to learn more about low-risk alternatives.
Thanks to the rise of the internet and technology, a digital cash management tool known as Versa has been designed to help you save and solve your financial issues. It’s not only low-risk, with high liquidity and zero lock-in periods (withdraw at any time with no penalties), you also have the ability to control your money and earn higher returns on your hard-earned savings. Hurray!
This way, it would be great to have a World Savings Day as a new way of life to encourage people to develop better ways of saving and spending.
