How to Invest with a Full-Time Job in Singapore

Added: 2026-05-10

[00:00:00]If you have a full-time job in Singapore, you  are already investing every single month and most of you don't even count it. That one  shift in mindset changes how you should think about everything else. In this video, we'll  discuss about how to invest with a full-time job because I know that many of you are busy with  work, no time to learn and educate yourself, or you have duties as a parent or  caregiver. Now, even if you're a ding, which is stands for dual income no kids,  or you are single, it is still applicable, as you cannot rely on other people once you are  old because you have to take care of your own retirement. Therefore, we need to be intentional  and build our wealth for retirement rather than just hope that someone will take care of us  when we are old. And if you are new here, my name is Chris, an excharted accountant turned  personal finance YouTuber, and I run a telegram group of close to between 3,000 members so you  can join us all financial discussions there.

[00:00:51]So, how to invest as a full-time working adult?  Number one, let's talk about CPF, and that's your silent compounder. Because most people think  investing means opening a brokerage account, picking stocks, watching charts. But if you are  employed here, your CPF contributions are going in automatically every month into your ordinary  account, special account, and medave account.

[00:01:13]You will contribute 20% of your employment income  to yourself as a employee contribution, and 17% of CPF will come from your employer. Total 37% of  your gross income going into the CPF every month.

[00:01:26]So what can you do with CPF? For OA, you can  use it for housing and for DPS insurance, and if you have excess even after paying for everything  else, you can use it for investments. Now for SA, special account is quite different because it is  to accumulate your retirement fund for CPF live payouts when it changes to RA once you turn 55. So  it's like a long-term retirement plan account. Now for MA, medicave account, it is mainly to pay  for your medic shield and cashew life plans, especially once you turn 30, and also  for medical bills up to an annual limit, also can be used to pay for your  private integrated shield plans.

[00:02:05]So all these three accounts of the CPM are  very useful depending on what you use it for.

[00:02:10]And if you look back at it, investing is not  necessarily just pure monetary investing, but in other forms, like using the OA, you're  investing in your ability to afford a primary residence. Using your SA, you're investing in the  future retirement funds. And lastly, using the MA, you're protecting downside with medical coverage.  So, did you realize that you are investing in a passive nature? You didn't schedule it. You didn't  remember to do it. It just happened. And that's actually the most powerful investing habit that  you can build. And that is automation. Because the biggest risk for working adults, which are very  busy people, isn't picking the wrong stock. It is spending the money before it even gets invested.  So, before you stress about which ETF to buy or which brokerage to use, give your CPF some credit.  And for those who don't know yet, your OA is earning 2.5% guaranteed. Your SA and MA is giving  4% peranom interest. And in fact, your first $60,000 in your CPF earn an extra 1% on top of it.  It is not exciting, but it compounds quietly every month without you doing a single thing. So that is  layer one and the foundation that I always cover in my investment videos, and it's already working  for almost every Singapore resident right now.

[00:03:26]With that, you move on to layer two, which is  cash investing. Where it gets a little bit harder because layer two is your cash investments. And  this is where busy people genuinely struggle. You see, cash investing needs active decisions, which  platform, what to buy, when to buy. Okay? And if you are investing in the US market, which most  long-term investors should consider, and given that the S&P 500 index has returned around 8 to  10% annually over the long periods, then I think you should really look at it. Now, I understand  that some of you viewers are already professional investors very long in the market. But I think  we have to understand that for most people, the best suggestion is to execute a dollar cost  average strategy where you just put in a fixed amount at a fixed frequency to be invested in your  preferred stock or ETM. And a good example will be $1,000 monthly on the 15th calendar day, and  the trading platform would execute it. Of course, I'm not telling you to follow this step. It's  just an example and it's not financial advice, right? So it's like a hands-off approach.  Then you can use it as a template that I would highly recommend for beginners to  start investing and getting their feet wet.

[00:04:35]So that's really for passive investing. But  what if you are more active, right? You are a day trader. That's even worse because everything  upwards or downwards will decide your next move.

[00:04:45]You're dealing with a market that opens from  9:30 p.m. and closes at 4:00 a.m. Singapore time. This is not a trading window, nor your  working hours. It is your sleep window and your sleeping time. And I have been there before,  being tired, the stock moved 3%, and suddenly you're making decisions that you wouldn't make  at 10:00 a.m. That is not discipline. That is sleep deprivation with a brokerage account. And  yes, I know it is very suffering to do that.

[00:05:12]So the smarter approach for someone  with a full-time job is to decide your position during the day, and when  your heat is clear, your mind is sound, so that you can set the order and you let the  platform execute it while you sleep. Then you just review it in the morning. That's it. And  many of you know I invest in the US market, but it's painful to stay up late till 3:00 a.m.  if you want to babysit your trades. So, Usmart, a MEAS regulated trading platform, is introducing  24-hour night trading and smart orders on their mobile app. And that works while you sleep.  Select your favorite stock, for example, Apple, on the use smart app, tap trade, then  smart order, and you can choose from different strategies to execute your trades. Now, you  can just set your smart orders during the day, then head to bed early for good health and wake up  next day to review your executions. If you prefer a hands-on walkthrough or just want to meet the  team behind the tech, USMart also has a physical hub at 178 Orchard Road that is open seven days a  week. So you can just walk in, chat with the team, and actually understand the platform before you  fund your account. I think that's a big deal, especially if you're just getting started. New  users also get welcome bonuses when you sign up for Smart account and even get 8.88% perom on  the May Bank money market fund. Sign up with my exclusive smart link in the description or scan  the QR code to find out more about Smart today.

[00:06:33]And with that, let's move on to layer three, the  final layer, supplementary retirement scheme or SRS. And this is where many working adults  overlook this layer because if you remember the SRS, which I talk about a lot, Singapore  citizens and PRs can top up $15,300 a year.

[00:06:50]Foreigners is around $35,700. So here is why it's  perfect for busy people, and it only requires one decision per year, and that is to transfer or  contribute to your SRS before December 31st and you invest the funds and you are done. So  for those of you who are unfamiliar with SRS, is a tax deferred account where you can enjoy  some tax relief when you contribute to your SRS account. So the tax relief alone is worth doing,  and that really depends on your income bracket, and you're looking at an immediate  7% to 11.5% of tax savings before your money even touches the stock market,  and that's real savings on your IRS bill, money that would have gone to tax but is now  compounding in your investment account instead.

[00:07:33]But that's just the first step of SRS contribution  because the next step you will need to put these SRS funds in low cost index fund or ETF and leave  it alone for decades to compound the returns. So you look at it, one SRS transfer, one investment  decision, then you forget about it until the next December. Alternatively, some may prefer to  split to smaller accounts for a DCA strategy, right? Like they split this 15,300 into 12 equal  contributions throughout the year for a DCA investing. So I think that's up to individual.  But the bigger question is what to invest with your SRS. Now this deserves an entire video  by itself. And I have already done up several videos to explain the nuances between each SRS  investment vehicle. So do subscribe if you want to learn more about SRS strategy which I have  covered in multiple videos on this channel.

[00:08:22]So to really wrap up the strategy  of how a full-time working adult should invest once they start working. I  think this video is provide clarity and a direction because I know that many  of you don't even know how to start.

[00:08:33]So you start from the foundation layer, layer  one CPF. Okay, it is already passive. You need to contribute it anyway. It's mandatory. It's  already running and quietly compounding every month without you lifting a finger. And that  is good. And CPF is something that I talk a lot on this channel as well. How to allocate, manage  your CPF, top up your CPF, how to invest the CPF.

[00:08:52]Then we move on to the next layer. Once  you're more advanced, and that's layer two, cash investing, right? Because you want to build  a system. You want to decide how much you want to invest, what to invest, how to invest,  and you want to decide during the day when your mind is clear, not in your sleeping mode.  Okay? You want to automate the execution. You don't want to babysit it overnight. So that's  why you should use the use smart order feature and also sign up for an account to qualify  for the welcome rewards while you are at it.

[00:09:18]And finally, the final layer, layer three, SRS.  For busy people, you just need to do a one-time transfer before the 31st of December  every year, then invest and leave it.

[00:09:28]Now, if you're still unsure what to invest,  you can contribute first before 31st December.

[00:09:32]Then you slowly watch my video, educate  yourself. Once you have better clarity, then you can decide for your own investments  because I cannot tell you what to invest, but I can show you what you can invest in.  And once you have figured out all these three layers of how to invest as a full-time working  adult, you'll realize that none of them require you to quit your job. Okay? I'm not telling you  to go and quit your job, go and watch the market all day and stay up past midnight because that is  not healthy. And as a mid-career professional, I'm sure you also want to take care of your health,  right? The goal is never to spend more time on this. It's just to build a system that works  while you are living your life because we are not full-time professional traders or investors.  All right? So, if you have more questions, especially on SRS supplementary retirement scheme,  I do have a video where I talk about the full guide of how you should utilize and invest your  SRS and you can refer to the video right here.