34% Dutch people concerned about their own finances
The importance of financial care is great. For example, it has a stronger correlation with happiness than income itself, but also, for example, than the number of friends someone says they have. More than a third of the Dutch are concerned about their own financial situation.
This is evident from de Volksbank's Financial Care Barometer; a scientifically based study among nearly 1.400 Dutch people.
Results
The barometer shows that various (personal) characteristics are associated with the degree of financial anxiety. Level of education, level of income, age, living situation and happiness are related to a person's financial concerns. Like this:
- are less educated people more financially anxious (37%) than people with a higher education level (29%);
- people with a below-average income (41%) have more financial worries than those with an above-average income (26%);
- renters are more concerned about their finances (44%) than homeowners (30%);
- Dutch people over the age of 66 are the least concerned about their finances (29%). Where young people between 26 and 35 years old are most concerned (40%);
- people in higher management (23%), in the military (26%) or as teachers and researchers (27%) are the least financially concerned.
The barometer also included the relationship between financial anxiety and happiness on a one-off basis. This shows that financial anxiety is strongly associated with happiness. The association of financial concern with happiness is significantly greater than that of actual income or the number of friends a person claims to have.
Why are the Dutch financially worried?
The reason why the Dutch are financially anxious is related to four psychological factors; financial planning, sense of control, self-confidence and avoidance behavior. Most striking is the avoidance behavior of the Dutch. One in four finds it annoying to open or view bank statements. In addition, almost one in three prefers not to think about his or her financial situation.
When it comes to financial planning, the Dutch are mainly concerned with the here and now and not with the future. One in three respondents indicates that they are only concerned with what needs to be paid now and four in ten do not put any money aside for later. A third of the Dutch feel they have little control over their financial situation. The same group has little confidence in their own abilities in the event of financial problems.
The undertone in many reactions to financial problems among Thai people is often that they cannot handle money. And as the above article shows, many Dutch people are the same way.
You better look in your own mirror before you say something about someone else.
And those Thais are always heavily in debt: smartphones, SUVs and the like. Well, household debt in Thailand amounts to 70 percent of the gross domestic product, nothing to write home about. Household debt in the Netherlands amounts to 210 percent of the gross domestic product, three times as much as in Thailand. Who is more financially careful: Thailand or the Netherlands?
Dear Tino, that's comparing apples to oranges. The Dutch have a high household debt because the mortgage is also included. If you ignore that, the picture is completely different.
No, Peter, Thai household debts also include mortgages. Here is an overview of the type of debt in different countries:
https://www.bangkokpost.com/learning/advanced/761552/household-debt-makes-economy-fragile
In Thailand, the mortgage is about half of the debt, a quarter is car and the rest is credit card and personal. In most rich countries, the mortgage is around 80 percent of the total debt. So you are right in that if you do not include the mortgages in the Netherlands AND in Thailand, the residual debt burden is approximately equal to the gross domestic product. (35-40 percent).
From other sources I get that only 10 percent of Thai households have a mortgage. Now it is said that a mortgage is a less dangerous debt, after all, the value of the house is offset against it. But between 2008 and 2013, the average value of a house in the Netherlands fell from 250.000 to 200.000 euros, and only returned to the old level of 2017 in 250.000.
The debts of a population (if measured in the same way at all; in Thailand many debts are not officially registered and many will not really admit their debts to family, friends or loan sharks when asked) expressed as a percentage of GDP is nice for economists but says nothing at all about the population's prudence. Other measures would have to be calculated for this: the debts as a percentage of the personal assets in return; debts as a percentage of fixed income (the risk that debts will be repaid or the security against the debts).
I am quite sure that these data will show that the Thais and the Thai banks are much more careless than the Dutch.
Chris,
Let me just respond briefly to your comment that Thai banks are much more careless than Dutch banks. That is not apparent from the figures.
You can reasonably measure the carelessness by the amount of non-performing loans (NPL): loans that have not made any payments to the bank for 3 months. This concerns loans to individuals and companies.
In Thailand the percentage of NPL is 2.68 and in the Netherlands 2.71. In Cyprus it is no less than 47 percent and in Greece 37 percent. Thai banks therefore do just as well in terms of caution as Dutch banks.
We will not talk about the bunch of thugs who go through life as loan sharks.
https://www.theglobaleconomy.com/rankings/Nonperforming_loans/
That is indeed not apparent from the figures and that is because the definition of what exactly constitutes a non-performing loan differs per country. The World Bank does have a definition (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-performing_loan) but it is not used everywhere.
My wife is a construction entrepreneur and does business with the 4 largest banks in this country for financing. If she is more than 90 days overdue in repayments, the bank does not immediately record an NPL. And that is the case with many more 'friendly' companies and certainly with 'friendly' private individuals of the bank. This is one of the reasons that there are some people who own a lot of real estate. Patronage? Especially in Thailand.
The Netherlands is one of the most prosperous countries in the world. Stop for heaven's sake from always -unparliamentally expressed- whining about the best country in the world where you can say anything about politics and the royal family and where we live in great prosperity. No country in the world is better!
That's your opinion, others, including me, have a different opinion. I, for example, can't wait for the moment when I can say goodbye to the Netherlands for good and fortunately that will only take a few months. The best country in the world is where someone feels most at home in my opinion and that does not necessarily have to be the Netherlands for a Dutch person.
It is a pity that you do not understand that, precisely because you were born in the wealthy Netherlands, you have the luxury of choosing where you want to live. Many other Earthlings do not have such opportunities.
Not my fault that I was born in the Netherlands. Never felt at home here and worked and lived across the border from my first job. The last few years in this country because of a job that I have poured my heart and soul into.
And the rich Netherlands. Think that you have now put on rose-colored glasses when you look at the Netherlands. The wages here may be reasonable, the tax burden and the prices you pay for something here are absurd. The (hidden) poverty is increasing hand over hand.
Dear Rob, In a few years you will be able to say whether you belong to that group that is really having a good time in Thailand.
It may just as well be that you belong to a group, which constantly has to prove to the home front that they are extremely happy, while the truth is quite different.
Before you there have been more people who thought that the grass was greener elsewhere than in the Netherlands, while now deep in their hearts they clearly think otherwise.
Often, in the same conviction as you, they have burnt all their ships behind them, and are incapable of correcting their once-made mistake because of age or other reason.
Everything you blow so high off the tower now remains nothing but a suspicion at most, because you have never lived there permanently.
That's right, don't live there permanently yet. The last 10 years about 4 months a year and who knows, after a few years I don't feel comfortable there either. Well, then I will move to another tropical country. Am not bound by anything.
I don't know how old you are now, but there comes a time in life when things may go a little less, and you will be very dependent on bonds.
Also the high blowing of the tower, then suddenly becomes nothing more than a lukewarm smell, where you could just come to think that your old native country, which you now love to deceive, was not so bad after all.
Many before you, who usually do not report here, because they have also spoken very much before, have already come back on hanging legs, while you also have, where the legs are already hanging in such a way that a return is no longer possible .
The Netherlands, which you think is terrible, with so much hidden poverty, is now exchanged by you for a country where poverty is not hidden, but clearly visible, and most people cannot even pay taxes because of their meager income.
Welcome paradise, and shame on the Netherlands, if your opinion wasn't so sad, I'd laugh out loud.
As said, everyone has an opinion. Apparently, despite living in Thailand, you still feel connected to the Netherlands. Of course you can, I haven't and never have. And paying no or less tax also seems wonderful to me, I have been working here for 4 years now and it still annoys me that I have to pay more than half of my income to the tax. But yes, that will also be over in a few months and then I will pay a lot less because according to the SVB, from which I received a letter, I am entitled to 12 percent of the WAO benefit. (may they love me too)
Dear Rob,
You know so much about the Netherlands that you do not know what WAO is and that the SVB is not about the WAO. If you mean AOW, then this means that with a right to 12 percent AOW you have not built up more than 6 years. That is also your own choice.
The fact that residents in the Netherlands pay relatively high taxes has everything to do with the fact that the level of care that is offered to residents is also high. If you do not live and work in the Netherlands for a long period of time, you do not use that level of care and you do not have to pay tax for it.
You can also waive an AOW benefit from the Dutch government. An additional advantage is that you do not have to pay any taxes.
type error must be AOW of course
I've been living in Thailand for 1,5 years now and I definitely don't regret my choice. Apart from the fact that I have more scope with my income in Thailand than in the Netherlands, that is not the main reason for my, I must say, our choice. Bringing my wife and daughter to the Netherlands was a no go for me. Integration courses, missing family, the cold and the completely different mentality I couldn't do to the ladies. My wife has spoken to several Thai people living in the Netherlands, including an older sister, and everyone told her to stay in Thailand and that my proposal was not so crazy, but very good. We are happy with the 3 of us in Thailand and although the language is occasionally a stumbling block, I am fully integrated in Thailand in my own way.
joseph,
You call it high wealth in which we live? Not for everyone.
As a self-employed person, you have paid the maximum AOW annual premium for more than 40 years. Due to my marriage to an Asian lady, I now receive just 600 AOW per month. incl. my foreign discount of 20%.
I'm lucky that I have another source of income and so I don't have to bite hard. But not everyone has additional income. So for a lot of people there is also poverty.
Yes, not for the ING gentleman, or the DWDD presenter.
And freedom of speech? We can currently cite enough examples where we can put question marks. I am thinking of pre-printed declaration forms to eliminate an elected representative, the smear campaign currently against the lavender prince of FvD.
Unfortunately, NL is no longer the good country where we lived roughly 15-20 years ago.
Dear Brabant man,
From 1 January 2018, an AOW benefit for a single person is € 1.107,04 net with a tax credit and healthcare insurance contribution excluding holiday allowance. This amount is based on 70 percent of the minimum wage, taking into account housing costs and living expenses in the Netherlands.
Two people who choose to run a joint household will each receive 50 percent of the minimum wage when they reach retirement age, i.e. 100 percent together. If one of the “partners” has not yet reached retirement age, the government assumes that those who have not yet reached retirement age can provide their own income. Partner allowance no longer exists. If you choose to get married and run a joint household with your spouse, your state pension will fall back to 50 percent. If your spouse has not previously lived in the Netherlands and has therefore not accrued AOW entitlement, she is expected to provide her own income. However, you can apply for a supplement at social assistance level. I notice that you have another source of income. This means that that source of income is taken into account.
If you also go to live outside the EU with your partner, you may be faced with a discount due to the country of residence principle. Then the level of expenditure for living expenses in the country of residence is taken into account.
For many people it is difficult to make ends meet on an old-age pension alone. Of course, despite the standard of living in the Netherlands, there is also poverty. In your case I don't think so.
Comparisons with the “ING gentleman” or the “DWDD presenter” have nothing to do with this, of course. Like your nonsensical political remarks and with nostalgia, you live in a world gone by.
Dear Joseph,
I can find myself in your writing.
Only I am surprised if you live in -better- country there are people who go back for whatever so-called reason, then always comment that everyone explains differently in their own way.
“On one occasion, the barometer also included the relationship between financial anxiety and happiness. This shows that financial anxiety is strongly associated with happiness.”
That seems quite logical to me. When my financial anxiety decreases, it makes me happier.
But what is the difference between Dutch people living in the Netherlands and Dutch people living in Thailand?