How much savings do we put aside to invest?

Follow the 50/30/20

Im currently an undergrad in NTU. As a NSF who was offered a 6 months Short Term Contract (Regular Pay of 2.6k monthly for 6 months) I was lucky to have a relatively higher income than my other peers during my army days.

However, it was sad to say that I blew quite a bit of money purchasing luxury items with no real cash value (Yeezys, Offwhite.etc). Looking back, I would have definitely followed all the advices to invest a good amount of your income into investments. Luckily, I did not really spend on clubbing and drinking (Huge money trap in army days) and managed to save a good portion of my income (about 10k) entering Uni. I wasn't into investing then (So lucky you!) and these savings was mainly use to help cushion my parent's expenditure by paying for my own hall residence fees (Really expensive actually but indisposable experience IMVHO)

So in the end, it is good to have a long term goal of how the money can actually benefit you, even when you look back at it. I have no regretted a single cent spent on spending time with my good friends, travelling with my loved ones and to help lighten the burden of my parents in Uni. So it really depends! Just dont spend your hard earned money to "impress" your "friends" in army. It is your life at the end of the day!

Cheers bro, you are doing good :)

When it comes to investment, play by percentage and not numbers. WHY? If I told you that you should set aside $400 every month to invest, that might be a challenge for a recruit while an infantry officer might have the financial capability to do so.

It depends if you are stay in or out personnel. Stay out = transport and more meals purchased. Stay in = everything under one roof

There are some considerations to take into account before investment.

1. Make sure you got no high interest debts (cos your investment interest return might not outweigh your debts)

2. Some sort of basic insurance coverage

3. Time horizon

4. Risk appeitite

5. What you look for in a investment instrument. (liquidity/dividend payout/fees)

For an amateur, I would suggest Robo advisors like Stash away or Syfe with very low start up.

Alternatively, you can try saving plans like POSB Save as You Serve (SAYS).

https://www.posb.com.sg/personal/deposits/savin...

2% guarantee interest + up to 0.25% pa

• short term

• as low as $50

• better than bank interest

Be reminded that if you ever need to draw the money, there is some sort of penalty so do your own homework first.

Anon, I feel you should first ascertain if your savings are sufficient. Very much linked with which phase of life are you in right now. For myself, I always maintain 2 accounts, savings and expenditure. After tracking and understanding my expenditure, I transfer a fixed amount to be transferred into my expenditure account. After which, I spread my savings across saving account like OCBC 360, DBS Multiplier. Once the max amount is close to be reached, I started to divert some into investments.