Investing vs saving in Malaysia: What’s the right choice?
Many Malaysians want to be better with money, but don’t know where to start. Should you save your money in the bank, or is it better to invest and grow your wealth? If you’ve asked yourself this, you’re not alone.
Understanding how to manage money in Malaysia is an important first step — especially for beginners. In this article, we’ll explain the differences between investing vs saving, and show you why you don’t have to choose one or the other.
What is saving?
Saving means putting money aside regularly for future use. Most Malaysians save by keeping their money in a bank savings account or fixed deposit. It’s the safest and most basic way to manage your money.
The main goal of saving is to make sure you have cash available when you need it — whether it’s for an emergency, a big purchase, or just daily expenses. Unlike investing, saving doesn’t carry much risk because your money doesn’t go up or down in value. However, the trade-off is that the returns are very low.
In fact, the interest earned from many savings accounts is often lower than the rate of inflation, which means your money may lose value over time if you only save.
How to save in Malaysia:
Basic savings account – Safe and easy to access but almost negligible returns. Available at all banks.
High-interest savings account – Gives slightly better returns. Examples include MAE by Maybank, OCBC 360, and CIMB OctoSavers.
Fixed deposits (FDs) – Lock your money in for a set time (like 6 or 12 months) in exchange for a slightly higher interest rate.
eWallet savings features – Some e-wallets, like TNG eWallet allow you to save and earn returns at the same time through products like GO+.
Saving is important for building an emergency fund, preparing for short-term goals, and keeping your finances stable. Once your savings are strong enough, you can start to explore how to grow your savings in Malaysia through low-risk investments.
Benefits of saving:
- Low risk
You don’t have to worry about market ups and downs like in investing when you save your money in a bank account or fixed deposit. However, the returns for savings accounts are very low, while fixed deposit accounts often come with a lock-in period making your money less liquid if there is an emergency.
- Easy access to cash
Savings accounts allow you to withdraw your money anytime, whether through an ATM, online transfer, or eWallet top-up. This is good for emergencies or sudden expenses.
- Helps you build good habits
Saving regularly teaches you financial discipline. Even if you start small, the habit of putting money aside every month can help you take control of your finances and reduce stress.
Downsides of saving money:
- Low interest rates
Most savings accounts in Malaysia offer very low interest rates, usually below 2% per year. This means your money isn’t growing much, even if you save regularly.
- Inflation can slowly reduce your money’s value
Over time, the cost of living goes up. If your savings grow slower than inflation, your money can actually lose value. For example, RM100 today won’t have the same buying power five years from now if prices continue to rise.
This is already happening right now. Most basic savings accounts offered by banks comes with an interest rate of 0.8%, but the average annual inflation rate over the last 5 years is 2%.
- Not suitable for long-term goals
Saving is great for emergencies and short-term spending, but it’s not the best option if you're planning for things like retirement, buying a home, or your children’s education. You’ll need investment tools to grow your money for those goals.
If you want to save money in Malaysia in 2025, you should always start by building an emergency fund and planning your spending.
A better way to save: GO+ by TNG ewallet
However, not all savings tools are the same. Digital platforms like TNG eWallet’s Go+ offer a more flexible and rewarding way to save. While most bank savings accounts earn less than 1% interest, GO+ lets you earn daily returns that are generally higher — with no long-term lock-in.
Your balance in GO+ stays accessible too, so you can still pay bills, top up, or shop using your eWallet anytime. This makes GO+ a smarter choice for Malaysians who want better returns without losing convenience or flexibility.
What is investing?
Investing is when you use your money to try and make more money over time. Instead of keeping all your cash in a savings account, you put some of it into things that have the potential to grow in value. This could be unit trusts, stocks, real estate, gold, or even robo-advisors.
The main goal of investing is to grow your wealth over the long term. It helps you earn more than a regular savings account and can protect your money from inflation.
Investing in Malaysia is now more accessible than ever. You don’t need to be rich to start. In fact, many platforms let you invest with as little as RM10. If you're wondering how to invest in Malaysia, you have plenty of options that suit different goals and risk levels.
How to invest in Malaysia:
Unit trusts – professionally managed funds available through banks or platforms like Principal.
Robo-advisors – platforms like StashAway or Wahed Invest manage your investments based on your goals.
Stocks – buying shares in companies listed on Bursa Malaysia.
EPF i-Invest – lets you use part of your retirement savings to invest in unit trusts.
Benefits of investing:
- Better long-term growth
Compared to saving, investing our money has a higher chance of growing over the years.
- Keeps up with inflation
Helps your money maintain its value as prices rise.
- Builds wealth
Helps you reach big financial goals like buying a house or retiring early.
Downsides of investing:
- Returns are not guaranteed
Unlike saving, investing doesn’t come with fixed returns. The value of your investments can go up or down depending on the market. This means there may be times when your investment is worth less than what you originally put in, especially in the short term.
But that’s also part of how investing works: over the long term, many investments have the potential to grow. The key is to invest based on your goals, timeline, and risk comfort, and not expect quick gains.
- Limited access
Most investment instruments come with a lock-up period, a period of time where you are not allowed to access your money.
- Requires some research and planning
Investment isn’t like saving, where you simply set money aside and can use it anytime. With investing, it helps to take a bit of time to understand your options and how much risk you're comfortable with. While some people like to check their investments often, others prefer to take a hands-off approach and let it grow over time. The good news is that with platforms like TNG eWallet, you can start small, explore different choices, and learn as you go.
Investing vs saving: which one is better?
| Feature | Savings | Investing |
| Risk | Very Low | Medium to high |
| Returns | Low | Higher (but not guaranteed) |
| Access | Instant | Can take time |
| Good for | Short term usage | Long term growth. |
There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. It depends on your goals, timeline, and risk comfort. Saving is safer and gives you quick access to cash. Investing gives better long-term returns but comes with more risk.
Ideally, you should do both.
Why choose? You can save and invest with TNG eWallet
If you're looking for a simple way to get started with both saving and investing, TNG eWallet is the perfect eWallet for you. It lets you do both: save and invest, all in one app.
Saving with TNG eWallet
You can use GO+ to save money and earn daily returns with competitive return rates.
GO+ is a money market fund, which is a type of low-risk investment that puts your money into short-term, stable assets like government bonds or bank deposits. These funds aim to offer better returns than regular savings accounts, without the high risk of other types of investments.
But the difference of GO+ and other normal money market fund is that your money stays liquid, meaning you can still use normally to pay bills, transfer, or shop online.
Investing with TNG eWallet
For longer-term planning, TNG eWallet gives you access to a range of trusted investment options including offerings from Principal, e-Mas, ASNB, and Bursa e-Trade. These investments are managed by licensed financial partners, and your funds are held securely by them.
TNG eWallet acts as a convenient platform that brings these services together in one place, so you can explore and manage your investments more easily. This setup ensures that your investments are not only accessible, but also safe and professionally handled, making it a beginner-friendly way to start investing in malaysia.
Whether you're just starting with investing or saving, or looking for the best way to start saving in Malaysia, TNG eWallet provides a balanced way to manage and grow your money.