How does Singlife compare with Elastiq? If I am thinking of starting off with 10k, would investing in the former or latter be better?

I have been using Singlife from a few months back. Although the rate is not guaranteed , the interest returns are decent so far and I really appreciate that there is no lock-in period for the amount put in, so I can withdraw any amount I want anytime. Thus, I would recommend signing up for Singlife first!

However, because the high interest only acts on the first $10k in the account I did not bother putting beyong that amount in Singlife. Just recently, I signed up for Elastiq because I wanted to park some of my savings which I used to put in high-interest bank saving account. Elastiq is especially attractive in this time where bank interests are unlikely to rise to before in the coming months. This is what I have gathered on this product so far and hope this helps:
Pros:

1. 1.8% p.a. guaranteed crediting rate for the first 3 years

2. Lock-in period of only 90 days (unlike other endowment plans outside which can be 5-10 years long)

3. Flexible withdrawal - withdraw from your account without penalty or interest claw back 90 days after the policy issue date

4. Adhoc Top-ups - may perform a one-off top-up of a minimum of S$500

5. No penalty or interest clawback during withdrawal

6. Non-guaranteed bonus of 0.3% will be given every 3 years if no withdrawal has been made before.

Cons:

1. Lock-in period of 90 days

2. Minimum S$500 and in increments of S$500 per withdrawal

3. Nominal service fee would apply if your average daily account value for the policy month falls below S$5,000.

Bonus benefit: receive Etiqa eWallet credits worth 0.5% of policy’s premium value ($50 for $10k, $100 for $20k etc..!) when you tap on the referral promotion now. Reach out to me if you are interested in a referral code.

Hey Anon,

I would say Singlife first! Mainly because of the liquidity and 2.5% p.a. interests with no catch, no fall below fees. Yes, they did mention that interest rates are not guaranteed, but lowering the 2.5% p.a. would likely be their very last resort since it is their main selling point. There has been a recent discussion on Seedly as to whether Singlife is able to sustain its interest rates, you can check it out here!

On the other hand, Elastiq offers 1.8% p.a., slightly lower than Singlife but guaranteed for 3 years. Note that there is also a lock in period for the first 90 days, but you are free to withdraw any time after that. There are also fall below fees if the average daily account value for that policy month falls below $5k.

Furthermore, if the amount is $10k, it is just nice to put the full amount into Singlife since they have capped their interest rates at 2.5% for the first $10k. I would advise to leave some money in your normal bank accounts for your expenditure though, because Singlife actually has a slight delay of a few hours when you make withdrawals.

Hope this helps!