I am 25 and I have saved $100,000 in cash. What else can I do with my money (besides investing) to make it work for me?

Hello anon :)

Adulting is tough, even for me nearing 30! But having money is a good problem haha. Below is sharing what I did to sort my finances out before my wedding and now, just waiting for my keys to my bto! To set some context, my husband and I had been regularly saving into two accounts; one for wedding + honeymoon, the other for house Reno. We gave ourselves 4 years and thanks to covid, we managed to save $10k for wedding expenses but notice we forgot to save for furnishings? Blessing in disguise xD

1. Settle insurances. Forward thinking on health insurance and how I will pay for the ever increasing premiums especially if I intend to hold onto the 100% coverage.

2. Set aside emergency funds. (Yes, I've never had any but thankfully, no emergencies to face so far.)

3. Bought an endowment plan (Pru wealth II) because was afraid to invest. This gave me an option to withdraw any amount next time and allowing the rest to continue compounding as long as there's minimum funds retained. Possibility of passing it down to my future child, if any. (If none then will just enjoy life with hubs!)

4. Invest with Syfe and Endowus. Figured I already have my safety net from my endowment plan so I went with full equities (and REITS+ 100%) for both.

What I would do in your case as below. Please do discuss your options with your partner as eventually you guys will stay together :)

1. Set aside 3 to 6 months of emergency funds in a high interest savings account, or even those cash management accounts.

2. Settle insurance. In order of priority, personally I feel hospital shield plan and whole of life CI + ECI plan is a must. Term plan to cover death/TPD and also to exempt from paying for Home Protection Scheme when you use cpf to pay for your house loan. PA plan if you're prone to accidents (like me! Haha)

3. Start investing with a robo. Pick your preferred one maybe based on lower fees or their investing approach or how holistic their platform is (cash only? Cash and srs? Cpf, cash and srs?). I would have 2 portfolios. One with minimal risks like cash management accounts for wedding + honeymoon + Reno + furnishings and another high risk for retirement.

4. Learn to DIY invest. (For now, I rather invest more time in upgrading myself and in work areas so this is not part of my plan. Will it ever be? I'm not sure but I don't mind paying a robo to manage my funds so at night I can sleep well.)

You have time on your side. Use it to your advantage :)

Hello there! Congratulations on saving $100k in cash! I am also 25 years old with similar savings as you and thought it may be helpful to share how I plan my finances for your reference.

I put 80% of my savings in investments (stocks and Roboadvisor) and 20% in bank account as emergency savings.

If you do not have a specific goal, I will advise against getting an endowment plan as that would mean your money would be tied in the plan for an extended period of time. You do not have the flexibility to withdraw the money freely when there is an emergency. I prefer to have full control of my money hence I choose to invest in stocks and Roboadvisor.

If you don't know how to start investing, I will recommend using an Roboadvisor (I use Stashaway). I am also very bad with numbers and the technical terms confuse me. But Roboadvisor makes investing much easier. I like how easy it is to use the app and you can choose your risk preference. It is always scary taking the first step in investing (nobody wants to part with their money) but I assure you it will get easier once you take the first step.
I've been putting $800/ month since January 2020 and the returns are 10% so far, which is a lot higher than bank interest rate! You can use my referral code and get up to $10,000 SGD managed for free for 6 months: https://www.stashaway.sg/referrals/juetongt3bnz

I've also BTO-ed with my partner last year and the bulk of the BTO fees can be paid with CPF. I am planning to put aside a sum of money for the renovation (~$25k). I do not plan to have a wedding banquet to save money.

I am also thinking of taking a course next year (~$10k) to upgrade my skills for my career. Are there any courses/ skills that interest you? You may consider taking it up for self-improvement.

Hope this helps and all the best to you :)